I read the first book in this delightful series, Nice Dragons Finish Last – see my review longer ago than I care to think, fully intending to pick up the rest of them. But somehow Life and other books got in the way. But I’m back here now – and delighted to see the whole series is available on KU. I am linking this review with Wyrd and Wonder 2020.
BLURB: After barely escaping the machinations of his terrifying mother, two all knowing seers, and countless bloodthirsty siblings, the last thing Julius wants to see is another dragon. Unfortunately for 
him, the only thing more dangerous than being a useless Heartstriker is being a useful one, and now that he’s got an in with the Three Sisters, Julius has become a key pawn in Bethesda the Heartstriker’s gamble to put her clan on top.
This is a real delight. I love the partnership and unfolding romance developing between Julius and Marci – not that they have too much time to dwell on their feelings for one another. Julius belongs to one of the most ambitious Dragon clans on the planet. When one of his higher ranked siblings decides that he is somehow crucial to the crisis Estella is creating, he finds a steady stream of his brothers and sisters dropping in to complicate matters further.
One of the complicating matters is his mortal partner and mage, Marci, has not just got a nifty set of spells at her disposal, her otherworldly familiar, a ghost cat creatively named Ghost is more than he seems. In fact, this is one of the delights of this enjoyable series, Aaron is very good at delivering a cracking plot where you think one thing is happening, when it actually transpires that there was something else going on all the time. I do love it when authors successfully pull off this technique – and Aaron is a whizz at it.
Julius is an interesting protagonist. In a genre where power and talent are always highly prized and opens doors for our plucky heroes and heroines – all Julius has to offer is… niceness. Dragons are not nice. They are greedy, ambitious, ruthless, cunning and devoted to gaining more power at the expense of their competitors, who quickly transform into their enemies. It takes strong writing to make such a weak protagonist prevail against the might of far more powerful peers – and allow us to continue finding him interesting. Fortunately, Marci isn’t quite so nice, although her edges appear to be almost cosy in comparison to your average dragon.
The pages turned by themselves and I found myself facing the final page far too quickly. This is a classy, well executed urban fantasy full of my favourite creatures magnificently portrayed. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished. Highly recommended for fans of quality urban fantasy.
9/10
May18
Brainfluff 
I bought the first book in the series, but it languishes on my Kindle as so many books do. I’m glad you’re continuing!
And if you are looking for a quirky, amusing read – this will tick those boxes… but of course, your TBR tends to be brimming with all kinds of wonderfulness, anyway:))
This sounds delightful. I need to clone to help me get through all the great reads out there. Great review and thanks for the recommendation!
Oh… don’t get me started! I’ve been whining for YEARS about having a clone – or several… to read… to write… to do the housework…
The reading clone has to be able to upload into my brain at night. The cleaning clone – I don’t need to know. 😀
Ha ha ha! I have a disclaimer on my kitchen wall which is a big fat lie – My house was tidy last Friday – sorry you missed it! And that snag is that it hasn’t been properly clean or tidy for longer than I care to think!
I think housekeeping is a common problem for writers. It’s just not that high on our priority list!
Oh absolutely! I can always think of something better to do than the flipping dusting!
How interesting! GREAT review, Hon.
Thank you, Rae:)). It’s a lovely series for anyone seeking a bit of escapism…
Wonderful review. This series sounds like a lot of fun! The way the dragons are portrayed really intrigues me.
It’s fabulous – those dragons are a real mixture. And the story progression is wonderful – so many twists that make absolute sense of incidents and events that have gone before, which I love. So glad I haven’t yet finished this series:))
I read the first one in this series some time ago, and I remember it as a nice, fun read. Maybe it’s time for me to see how the story progresses… 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
I very highly recommend it – not only is it loads of fun, the story twists and progression are clever and thoroughly enjoyable.
Oh I love this series, thinking about it gives me all sorts of warm and fuzzy feelings! Glad you enjoyed this one so much 😀
Yes, I’ve read a couple more since I wrote that review – I’m soooo behind with so many reviews stacking up!! And the story progression is sheer delight.
Ditto Tammy’s comment above. I’ve owned this for ages but just never found time to give it a try. Good to see it’s working so well for you and I do like the idea of something fun so it’s not like I’ve discounted it.
Lynn 😀
While the first two books are mostly just a really fun read – what has impressed me is the very intelligent way this series progresses. So that some aspects that were introduced in the early books suddenly become a THING later on… So clever and twisty! I try quite hard to do the same thing in my own books because I LOVE that effect:)). Aaron is a mistress of this dynamic…
Ditto. I bought this whole series on audio and haven’t read it yet. UGH I am trying to read more things I own this year and somewhat succeeding. I need to continue on that path. Excellent review!
Never mind – what a treat you have in store for you, Anne:))). I hope you love it as much as I do!
This sounds like a fun series and I like the sound of the premise with the main character being nice while dragons aren’t nice. And that cover looks great too with that ghostly cat.
This series has it all – grumpy dragons… furious elemental beings… ghosts… magic… and it ALL works beautifully in a lovely unfolding story. It is one of the highlights of my reading year and I’m stretching it out because I don’t want the fun to stop!