This book is just … fun. The writing is super smooth and polished, and the pace is tight and focused. The action scenes are never too long, and the story moves from one scene to the next without any lulls or drops of tension. The romance is nicely built up, and while the dragons are the focus, there’s also enough time given to the town itself, the dragon hunters and the werewolves to make all three plotlines come together in a nice, tidy bow.

The world building, like the characters, is done with bold, simple strokes, but it’s clear there has been thought put into how everything works together. From dryads, dragons and werewolves — and hints of a more complex magical system leading into book two — there’s a lot here, tucked between the lines.

The dragons are adorable, the characters sympathetic, the plot clever, and the ending sweet. Even if you think you know what this book is about, you’ll be surprised at how it gets there. Honestly, I had so much fun reading this, and I hope you do, too.

Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read the ARC.

Funny and touching at the same time, this was a great weekend read. I definitely recommend that you give this book a try, its well worth it!!

Now this was just delightful. This urban fantasy is set not in a city but a country: small town, backwoods Oklahoma. It's a place with small town problems: wildfires caused by backwoods meth-cooking, having to deal in Oxy to get by because your disability is being held up and denied for no reason, thugs running the place out of the local all-mart, corrupt cops, everyone knowing each other's secrets. Except the thug who runs everything is a werewolf, and the protagonist and his best pal, "Daisy" and "Wild-Eye", the local volunteer fire-fighters, just found a dragon he smuggled into the country. And the dragon, of course, is also a metaphor for abusive relationships of the kind very familiar to small-town folks like Daisy.

It's incredibly fun and extremely hard to put down. Everything has respect for this small-town culture even while showing the problems there, the characters are charming and flawed, and the dangers are very real. People get hurt, badly, and I was never entirely sure how it was going to work out -- even while I was very sure it WOULD work out in some way.

My only issue with it was that a lot of time things worked out without the characters necessarily having put in the work -- characters coming by and instantly being on board with plans, or helping out before the protagonists could even ask for help. Likewise, the convenience occasionally comes through in the narration; Daisy will be thinking about something, and another character will immediately pivot to talking about that thing without it being prompted aloud (though that could be them knowing Daisy well). I like Daisy a lot, and I can see why a character would be into him, but I'm not sure why <i>Lily</i> specifically was -- not that I doubt the relationship, but I'd have loved to see more specifically about the specific things she liked in him. But none of these stopped it being incredibly readable, nor were the stakes ever lowered.

Queer content: I originally picked this up because I saw it was queer and thought the name was going to be a reference to the protagonists being drag kings, which they are not! It's just coincidental. Wild-Eye is gay -- and a great character, by the way. Just mentioning it because I imagine other people might make the same assumption!

Fantastic read, really great. 4.5 stars, rounded up.

One of the most entertaining spoofs of every action packed thriller you've ever read. I laughed as the characters blundered their way through the trials, tribulations.....and of course, dragons......that life threw at them everyday. I recognized far too many of the towns and characters for my comfort....I'm not sure the book does much for the reputation of Oklahoma and/or it's residents, but it was certainly a different tale to be told.

Sometimes I like to sit and think about what if certain magical or fantastical creatures existed in the world today. Naturally, one of the first magical creatures that comes to mind is the dragon. Dragons in myths are often reptilian in nature, with leathery wings, spiky tails, and fiery breath. What would it be like to have something like that exist in the world today? How would people react? Where would the dragons live?

Well, in the world of The Dragon Kings of Oklahoma that's exactly what has happened. Dragons exist, but they are only legal in Germany where they are kept under strict control for "conservation." Apparently dragons are going extinct, at least in part to their use as weapons during prior wars, but also because their habitats are endangered. It is strictly against international law for dragons to live anywhere in the world except Germany, and it is especially illegal to smuggle and sell said dragons for a profit.

So, when Daisy and his best friend Wild-Eye, the only members of the Douay, Oklahoma Volunteer Fire Department, are tasked with putting out a fire in the nearby Ouachita Mountains, they figure someone's drug lab exploded. It wouldn't be the first time, and in this dirt poor area of Oklahoma, it certainly wouldn't be the last. Rolling up to the fire, they see what they expect, at first. There's a burned out, still smoking trailer in a forest clearing, but upon further investigation, they see a dead body and a mother dragon sitting on a brood of eggs.

Naturally, this complicated matters. Not only do they have a dead body to deal with, but the presence of an illegal dragon and her babies threatens to turn this into an international incident. Wild-Eye immediately tries to convince Daisy they should raise and sell the wyrmlings themselves. Reluctantly, Daisy agrees, and thus begins a wild few days in rural Oklahoma filled with angry dragons, corrupt policemen, even more corrupt local business owners, and two down-on-their-luck "yee-yee's" just trying to survive it all...and maybe get a pay day at the end of it.

Dragons showing up in somewhere like New York would be one thing, but dragons in almost any rural area of the Midwestern or Southern US would likely result in a similar story to the one depicted in this book. The Dragon Kings of Oklahoma is simultaneously commentary on the struggles of rural Americans and a satire of Southern & Midwestern rural culture and stereotypes. Daisy is the latest generation in a line of farmers trying to stay afloat. All that's left of his grandfather's farm is the house, and Daisy has maxed out all his credit cards just trying to keep the taxes and bills paid to keep it. Daisy is also out of regular work due to an on-the-job injury, and he's struggling after waiting months for disability benefits.

Even if Daisy is granted disability benefits, he will never be able to work, at least not legally, if he wants to keep that money coming in. Also, since his injury, he's become addicted to opioids, and he's doing his best to manage both the addiction and the pain while keeping a roof over his head. These are struggles that real people face every day in the US. Even though the book mostly used these issues as points of characterization and world-building, these are very realistic struggles. To be honest, it made the whole story more amusing. Imagine having to worry about having enough money, food, and medicine to live while also now worrying about baby dragons and how to sell them. I feel the story managed to balance the more serious aspects with the fantastical ones in an entertaining and realistic way, even if it sometimes leaned into the stereotyping a bit more than was necessary.

Throughout the story, Daisy and Wild-Eye are the antiheroes, but the true villain is corruption. The owner of the local All Mart (a thinly veiled jab at Wal-mart stores) is struggling to keep the store afloat. This is a sweet bit of irony considering the All Mart is the only store in town due to its business strategies putting smaller stores out of business. This has driven many residents to move elsewhere, which means dwindling funding for the local police as well. Couple the need for funding with a wife at home who's dependent on the pain medicine controlled by the very same owner of the All Mart, and the local sheriff gets folded into the corruption as well. Once again, this is not a surprising situation for a small town.

The surprises in this book are all of the magical variety, and I would love to learn more about the magic in this world. It was mostly hinted at, other than what directly involved the dragons. For example, Daisy's mother was a druid. The way druids are described, though, is almost like they aren't totally human but humanoid magic users that are deeply tied to nature. Magic in this sense isn't explained, probably because everyone in the story just takes it for granted as being a normal part of their world. I'm hoping the next book will explore this world's more fantastical elements a bit more.

I gave The Dragon Kings of Oklahoma by Ferrett Steinmetz four out of five stars. I really enjoyed how realistic Steinmetz made the story feel, and even though Steinmetz leaned into the stereotypes a bit too hard at time, it made for entertaining reading and layered characters. The story also managed to address serious issues such as the opioid crisis, animal rights, and the struggles of poverty and disabilities. Rather than being mired down by these issues, the story still managed to inject humor that kept it in the satire category, and it didn't feel preachy. I would encourage anyone who is looking for a short, funny read to give this book a try!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I picked it up based on the amazing cover and couldn't resist the short blurb I read. I figured I'd be getting into a silly nonsensical book that was more filler than anything else, but I found that this book was very well written, the plot was engaging and I fell in love with Daisy, Wild-Eye and of course Mama Turkey and her brood. I found at multiple points of the book I was laughing, kicking my feet and even had MANY heartwarming moments! I loved getting lore surrounding how the dragons are a highly protected species in Germany and smuggling them is VERY illegal. I love that they somehow end up in Oklahoma. I love that at the beginning we get a scene right out of Breaking Bad but instead of finding a mess of meth, we find a dragon and her eggs!

We follow Daisy and Wild-Eye on their quest to help raise and hide a brood of rowdy baby dragons. They quickly find that the dragon that fathered the babies has stuck around and he is FAR more than anyone could have bargained for. We also run into a problem when the big-wig of the town, a werewolf of course, has big plans for the dragons that he thinks he's misplaced. The ensuing battles, skirmishes and unlikely friendships that form are all an absolute delight. We also have to add in that most of the characters in the book are addicted to Oxy and are also dealers. Now that they've decided to try taking on dragons they realize it just might be a bit more than they can handle. With help from a German dragon soldier and a town who bands together, we see the demise of daddy dragon, his vicious reign and an end to Dusty the Werewolf's terror.

I definitely recommend this book and plan to read the next in the series!

First of all, the cover is what got me. We love a redneck dragon wrangler with a pickup. This book was such a nice surprise. Genuinely funny and heartfelt.

This cover 100% caught my eye. I love old school covers like this one.

I started the book expecting a quick, lighthearted read, which it was! Quite funny with good-hearted characters that find themselves in some silly circumstances. A small, rural town steeped in community. Just regular ole' people trying to live their lives in a world much like our own, except with dragons and other creatures.

I was surprised by the depth in here-it's a commentary of sorts on living in rural America, which has its own issues. Nestled in these pages are issues like drug addiction and poverty. And there is an understanding of rural diversity which I believe is far more accurate than not. Somehow the author managed to include all of this without making the story feel bogged down or heavy. I really enjoyed it.

This was funny and unserious but reflective and absolutely serious at the same time. In some ways you get exactly what you expect with a title like that. But you also get a much deeper discussion on community and the lengths people will go to for the things and people they love. The fantastical side of the world is not really fleshed out. You just kind of have to accept the fact that there are dragons and werewolf’s and what not but I had such a good time with the story it didn’t even bother me. I’m very much looking forward to the next one.

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a lot of Dragon Kings of Oklahoma. Curiosity got the best of me especially after someone told me that they actually enjoyed it…

And well I absolutely loved it. It was completely different than I expected. It was hilarious and I really liked the story and the characters….especially the dragons ❤️.

The ending made me drop a star. I wasn’t a huge fan. And I didn’t think anything supernatural was needed. I’ll definitely pick up the next book. I can’t wait to visit Douay again.

Thanks to Netgalley and Ferrett Steinmetz
for a copy of Dragon Kings of Oklahoma in exchange of an honest review.

What comes to your mind when you hear about rural Oklahoma? A town with barely 500 residents, the protagonist Daisy's family long lost their farmland to the bank, him waiting on a decision on his disability payments after an accident at a local meet-processing factory years ago and side-hustling as a dealer of prescription drugs as the only source of sustenance... Until one day, in the ashes of a fire he attended to as the town's volunteer firefighter, Daisy finds a dragon with five eggs about to hatch.
Because, you know, this is also a world where there are all kinds of magical creatures. Druids. Werewolves. And dragons. But the latter ones native exclusively to Germany's Black Forest mountains, carefully protected by a very serious special corps and strict international laws, since there's great interest for dragon eggs in the black market.
So, that seems to be Daisy's chance to finally make it: sell the eggs, salvage his house from the bank, and start a family. But the plan appears to be not as bullet-proof as initially thought, and very soon everybody is after our guy and his dragons: the sheriff, the local criminal boss whom the dragons were bound to be delivered initially, and the German Drachensichern corps. Oh, and Daisy starts doubting being able to part with the dragons because of the special bond he makes with the unexpected "pets."

This is a hilarious combination of these seemingly mutually foreign things. And that's not even that much a combination of rural Oklahoma with the dragon story but more so the fantasy adventure with the satire on the struggles in a capitalist exploitative society. And the combination of the aesthetics of this setting that cries "rednecks" with its every detail with a surprisingly inclusive ethics of the story. (I still haven't reached a final thought on what this latter discrepancy does in terms of a further-fetched cultural message, but that's outside the scope of this brief review).

And it's also nicely short. Don't get me wrong, I am not implying that it's badly written or anything so I am glad that it's not a long read. Quite to the contrary: by abandoning the current seemingly ubiquitous longing to reach the 300+ page range to be called a novel, this story is extremely well-paced, no scenes leaving the uneasy feeling of lack of understanding why they were necessary here.

There's a second installment announced, and I will definitely be on the lookout for that!

4.5 stars

I have been provided with a free eARC of this book through Netgalley, which I am grateful for; the review about is my fully independent opinion of it.

What a fun mixed bag! It has some pretty heavy topics, but I'm sure other reviews will list the content warnings more thoroughly than I could because I FLEW through this book! It was like looking up and realizing you ate a whole sleeve of oreos. This is my first book I've read by Steinmetz, but I can absolutely tell it's a series I'd want to read during fall/winter, some junk food reading you enjoy more than you wanna admit! I personally will probably wait until the right time of year, when that feeling hits me, and binge the rest of Steinmetz's work!

My recommendations:
1. check the content warnings-it is in a soft setting not a dark grimy realistic one, but it's still important no one gets blindsighted by a personal trigger
2. do not be too critical of the setting, this is a world where dragons exist, we don't need to take it too seriously
3. enjoy yourself! This is definitely a fluffy read, so amongst some admittedly heavy topics, enjoy the warm fuzzies that come with it.

Thank you to Steinmetz and Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have been a fan of Ferret for quite awhile and have read most of his books. That being said, I really didn't know what to expect with this book based on the premise.
I really enjoyed the book and it read very quick. The characters were fun and if you grew up in a small town, they definitely reminded you of people you knew back home. I would call it fun popcorn fiction where it doesn't take itself too serious and you'll come out having had a fun little escape while reading.

I don't even know where to start with this. This was the best book I have read in a long time. It was witty, a little TV style trashy, a whole lot of unexpected depth. This book has it all AND it has dragons. I went into this with zero expectations. What I found was a pretty compelling story of a backwoods town full of the kinda community spirit everyone should experience. A whole lot of guns and shenanigans and a surprisingly tender string of moments. This book hits some really heavy topics including drug addiction, cheating, torture, domestic abuse (between dragons), animal trafficking and death of a parent (off page). I think that they were all done well, as someone who has dealt with a few of these things in real life I didn't feel that they triggered me as much as they normally would. The surprisingly tenderness and love between Daisy and Ace was really something and I did find myself getting a little teary eyed at the end. I cannot wait to read book two and Steinmetz has a new fan for life.

This book was the equivalent of trash reality TV in the best way. It hooks your attention and doesn’t let go until you realize that the book is done. Fair warning, though, reliance on OxyContin is referenced many times for those that are sensitive to that subject. For a book that you go in knowing not to take to seriously, I was impressed by the depth of the story. There’s a likable cast of diverse characters that are dealing with fairly complex underlying issues not counting the dragon problem. I also loved the relationship between Daisy and Ace. They formed such a sweet bond. There’s also so many comedic aspects that help offset the darker themes. Overall, I was surprised by how much I ended up loving this, would definitely recommend it, and can’t wait for book two.

Mullet ✅
Beat up, past it’s prime truck ✅
Porn stash ✅
Cut off sleeves ✅
Cute baby dragon ✅

If those aren’t elements that entice you into picking up a book, we may not have the same taste in light hearted reads. Add in the main character being a dudes-dude named Daisy, with an oxy problem and a queer lifelong bff, who lives in a podunk town in Oklahoma with a sudden dragon influx and clearly this book has the makings to be the best can’t look away, good time from a book one might have all year. It had my immature sense of humor laughing over and over again. Being a satire, no one is supposed to take this book too seriously. Even still, the characters are extremely likable. It kind of felt like the hillbilly version of Twyla and Frank to me.

I found this book to be a fun time. I’m not mad I took the time to read it with my eyeballs - and that’s saying something. There is a strong addiction theme (specifically to OxyContin) so please keep that in mind when deciding if this book is for you.

Thank you NetGalley and Ferrett Steinmetz, for this eARC.

Thanks so much to Victory Editing and Netgalley for providing me with an arc!

I requested this book because i´m a sucker for everything that has a dragon, and the description sounded fun. I got exactly what i wanted and more. This book was also surprisingly deep and heartfelt. Steinmetz is good at navigating back and forth between jokes about dragons and living in the rural country side, to very real everyday problems; capitalism for example. How tourism can negatively impact a whole town and all of it´s citiziens. How even tho it feels like there are, there are no real winners. No one truly gains anything and the only way you´re able to push through is with some good old helping hands. Community! Was also really nice to see some diversity in a rural town, something you can never get enough off!

All in all a really nice kinda supernatural, rural town, with dragons read!

Excited to see where this series will go!

Overall, Dragon Kings of Oklahoma was good, solid, entertaining fun. Steinmetz does a great job of telling a story in an engaging yet easy-to-follow way. The way he builds a cast of townspeople and structures an adventure around them reminds me of the Sookie Stackhouse series, and he includes some great queer, disability, and POC rep that is often missing from these sorts of stories.

However, the redneck rep isn't quite as accurate as it could be. The casual drug use, appreciation for guns and hunting, and love of good food was on point, but the word "yee yee" was overused and I don't think there was a single mention of bonfires, four-wheelers, or camo. Overall, I got the feeling that Steinmetz doesn't really have a lot of first-hand experience with that sort of thing, but the broad stereotypes were still amusing enough.

The Dragon Kings of Oklahoma is a fun and original take on 'urban' fantasy, trading the hustle and bustle of the city for small town shenanigans.

I enjoyed reading it, and found the take on dragons to be especially strong

I originally clicked on this because I thought it was insane and in a way I was right but I didn't expect to end up loving it. Most modern fantasies take place in New york or California so it's interesting to see waht would happen in a more rural place that doesn't have the big city aspect to it. Surprisingly fun to read and I look forward to getting it for my library, I can't be the only one who would like something like this.