“A Dragon Inside”

Description:

“She is a princess. He is chained in the dungeon. They don’t trust each other, but they are Solvar’s only hope for escaping war.

Ellie
When I discovered that my brother imprisoned a dragon rider, I plunged head-first into a whirlwind of political drama, mysterious history, magic, and an alluring prisoner.

Now the secrets I uncovered keep growing deeper. I wanted to save my people from war, but that was only the beginning. My brother and our inheritance complicated everything, and I must find new ways to deal with rebellions, assassinations, and an attraction to an impossible prisoner.

Deryk
I expected to die, but everything changed when the fearless princess swept into my prison cell. Now I must choose between loyalty to my family and dragon or a dangerous trust to an unnerving princess.

A Dragon Inside is a no-spice fantasy romance book with high stakes, adult characters, a slow-burn love story, incredible magic, love, betrayals, and overcoming impossible odds. It is the first half of a duology. The slow-burn, no-spice romance is perfect for fans of books by authors like K.M. Shea and Tara Grayce.”

Personal Thoughts:

This is a duology (a 2-book series), and it is on Kindle Unlimited. (The first book ends on a cliff hanger, so you are forewarned.)

I must say I had some mixed things. At the beginning it was hard for me to really get into it. I have been in a bit of a reading slump lately so that might have been part of the issue. The description sounded fun though and it was clean, and I REALLY did not want to DNF it, so I pushed through and I am so glad I finished it. I have to say when I found out that the second book wasn’t published I was SO MAD! It’s not possible to explain how overjoyed I was when I found out the book coming out in a month (now in about a week!!)

The characters were very realistic. I did get annoyed with the characters at times, mostly at the beginning, but I did enjoy reading it still. The Point Of Views switched between Deryk and Ellie.

Ellie in particular came off as a bit naive, and slightly immature. Not selfish–just so we are clear. She is sweet, believes in justice, and chooses to do the right thing even when she is afraid (that sounded so cliche), she just seems very young. At the same time, it was nice to have a change in character, because there are so many 15-20ish characters who act way more mature than they are, so the character was written on point.

Deryk was a nice, respectful character. Very sweet. I don’t have a lot to say about him, but he was a great character. (I blame him for the cliffhanger, at least partially, but still– great character.)

Ellie’s brother got on my nerves a bit, mostly because he was unaware of some things going on, but he had good intentions and redeemed himself in my eyes.

Spoiler: Highlight to read.

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I also have hope in an additional side romance with two other characters, I have hope anyway, so that’s exciting.

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Christianity(magic/spoilers)- There are dragons, who talk. Several characters have “magic”/”powers”. One character is accused of being a witch, they are not. Details below:

Spoiler: (highlight to read)

Ellie has fire magic, and she is learning to use it. She is accused of being a witch once, she is not. Deryk can talk to his dragon using Telepathy. Ellie’s brother Brindon also has powers to teleport.

There wasn’t a ton about the dragons, which was a bit disappointing, but I think the next book will be much more focused on them.

Profanity- none.

Romance- feelings of attraction. A few hand kisses. A kiss on the cheek. One kiss. Hugs.

Violence- Deryk is treated very roughly in jail. He is beat up, and a character threatens to whip him, and it does happen. A character dies on scene (no graphic or gore-y), characters are killed off scene. Being drugged. There are an anarchy and fighting.

Spoiler/Disclaimer (highlight to read):

Ellie’s parents both died, and it is suspected that they were murdered. Ellie’s cousin tries to overthrow her brother as king, and is killed in a duel by her brother. Ellies is drugged by the cousin and thrown in jail and the intention I believe to use her as a hostage. Not graphic.

I recommend this for 15+.

I personal rating is 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐