Dragon Actually

Written by G.A. Aiken

Narrated by Hollie Jackson

It's not always easy being a female warrior with a nickname like Annwyl the Bloody. Men tend to either cower in fear—a lot—or else salute. It's true that Annwyl has a knack for decapitating legions of her ruthless brother's soldiers without pausing for breath. But just once it would be nice to be able to really talk to a man—the way she can talk to Fearghus the Destroyer.



Too bad that Fearghus is a dragon, of the large, scaly, and deadly type. With him, Annwyl feels safe—a far cry from the feelings aroused by the hard-bodied, arrogant knight Fearghus has arranged to help train her for battle. With her days spent fighting a man who fills her with fierce, heady desire, and her nights spent in the company of a magical creature who could smite a village just by exhaling, Annwyl is sure life couldn't get any stranger. She's wrong . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781515981268

G.A. Aiken

G.A. Aiken is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Dragon Kin Series and the Scarred Earth Saga. When she’s not writing about sexy dragons and feminist blacksmiths, she’s writing about hot wolf, lion, tiger, and other fang-filled predators as Shelly Laurenston, the acclaimed and bestselling author of the Pride series, the Call of Crows, and the Honey Badger Chronicles. Originally from Long Island, she now lives on the West Coast and spends most of her time writing and making sure her rescued Pitbull doesn’t love everyone into a coma. Please visit her online at www.GAAiken.com.

[sarahcita · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved this story! The writing was so great: funny, exciting, surprising. What ruined this experience for me, and caused the drop of a star was the narration. She sounded bored with the whole thing. Her pacing was terrible, and at times sounded like she didn't even know where a sentence ended. She had almost no change in the character voices in some cases. It was a very disappointing experience because I loved the book itself!

[carpelibra · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a great book! It has everything a fantasy lover like me wants and with a little extra there are dragons, maidens and romance. What more can you ask? ^^

[Ceren Sığak · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was one of my fav bedside book, now I can listen non stop. Thats so perfect

[Dar Good · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun and exhilarating tale to start this series! Great characters, great world building, great story!

[addictofromance · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Annwyl, is a warrior and a leader and nothing defeats her. Having to never show any sign of weakness to anyone, she has had to remain strong, knowing that she must be able to destroy her brother, who has destroyed many innocent lives. Then Annwyl is injured in battle, an Fearghus, a dragon comes and swoops down and carries her to his cave and sanctuary to care for her while she heals. Fearghus has never cared about humans, and Annwyl is the only one he is starting to have genuine feelings for. He desires to help train her for her fight against her brother, and is determined to make sure that she stays in his life, desires more than anything that she love him for himself as both a dragon and in his human form...Dragon Actually is the first installment in the Dragon Kin series, and I just randomly picked it up from a shelf from the library...I wasn't even looking for it and I can hardly wait to read the rest of the books in the series. I found myself in some kind of enthrallment when I started reading this one, and I couldn't pull myself away. Usually for this type of book...I can...I sometimes have a hard time with tough heroines, and one that loves killing more than anything...I wondered before I started reading how much I would enjoy it...but I was definitely wrong...because I just loved it! It was definitely unexpected, but I found both main characters to have a lot of depth to their personalities....and the more you got further into the book, the more you just fell in love with them. There was also a tender sensuality side to it that just drew you in to their passion. Seeing the family of Fearghus was also fun and entertaining, and there were many laughs in the story line as well....A True Keeper!!!

[bookconcierge · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

From the prologue: Fearghus the Destroyer. A black dragon who likes being alone in his cave and has no desire to change that. Until Annwyl the Bloody drops into his life. So welcome to the world of handsome warrior dragons and the bloodthirsty females who love them.

My reactions:
The plot is thin: Annwyl (a human) is at war with her brother and his forces. Seriously injured in a battle fought very near to Fearghus’s cave, she’s rescued by the dragon, nursed back to health, and then begins serious battle training with a mysterious (and incredibly sexy) knight. Her anger turns to lust and there’s a lot of hot sex.

Meanwhile, Fearghus’s siblings begin to arrive and his mother, Queen Rhiannon, gives Annwyl an audience. At the end of the Annwyl - Fearghus story is a bonus novella that gives us the background of Rhiannon and her consort (and their hot dragon sex).

It was a fast read and somewhat entertaining, if repetitive. I have to say I most enjoyed the family interplay between Fearghus, his siblings and parents. But I think I understand the “panties went poof” tag now.

[lexilewords · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

According to the author's note this was originally e-published in 2004 under the title "To Challenge a Dragon" (from Triskellion--which I'm sure many of us will curse for a long while yet for having interesting titles yet failing so bad), also you can purchase the e-book through Samhain Publishing, but there's no difference between the print and ebook version.

First off--I came upon this series after reading the novella in Everlasting Bad Boys about Fearghus' ancestor Ailean (the Wicked...or Whore depending on who you ask). I really enjoyed that story and rushed to find out if there was more. There was! Three more books in fact (with, if I understand the old news bit correctly, at least another 2 more on the way!). My joy, see it manifest.

Dragon Actually, like its novella cousin, is full of humor, sexy times and fun involving characters. Its pseudo-medieval fantasy (think Dragonheart!) which I would not ordinarily enjoy as a romance. Except I can't get enough of this Dragon family. They're ridiculously funny. The pranks they pulled on each other (cutting off the tip of a younger brother's tail and playing catch? shaving all the hair off their youngest brother?) were obviously done in affection and Gwenvael (whose adventures are chronicled in the latest release, What A Dragon Should Know) has managed to bring sibling irritation to a whole new level.

I love every single one of them. Including their icy mother (whose novella is included in the book). The humans, with the exception of Annwyl kind of get the short stick--Annwyl's army all being filled with just, loyal and battle hardened soldiers and her brother employing only gutless, despicable slimeballs--in development, but I was okay with that. There isn't a whole lot of time spent around the humans, most of the story taking place while Annwyl recovers with Fearghus, but I did find her second in command, Brastias, to be interesting, especially in his interest of Fearghus' sister the Dragon Witch Morfyd.

Heifadd-hen (these names, they kill me to remember how to spell them), I would have liked to learn a bit more about. Mostly the magicks he was using. He wasn't a good guy, he was a downright evil as evil does guy. Everybody--human and dragon alike--were pawns for his amusement and agenda.

Annwyl's brother, demon-spawnLorcan was pretty one-dimensional as a villain. He pretty was either intensely angry or intensely scared. That rounded out the issues he had. Though there is talk about how cruel and tyrannical their father had been, there isn't much detail given other then he hated being disturbed. And liked to sleep around. And he scared Lorcan and Annwyl equally. He was amusing however, with his petulant rages and 'KILL HER KILL HER' screeches.

Also, I'm still not convinced that Annwyl isn't a crazy crazy person. She says and does things no SANE person would even think of committing when stoned, drunk and blindfolded. She honestly doesn't understand why people repeatedly say to her 'Annwyl don't get yourself killed' and 'Are you crazy?'.

[funstm · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dragon Actually

I adored this. Annwyl the Bloody is bloody fantastic. She's everything you want in your heroine. She's fierce and funny and ruthless. She's snarky and utterly unapologetic. Fearghus the Destroyer is her perfect match. The romance between them is hot and sweet and totally swoonworthy but as in all the best romances, it begins with friendship. Annwyl falls in love with the dragon she thinks he is and is in nothing more than lust with the knight. And it's just perfection.

The plot of Lorcan and Annwyl's quest to rid the world of her brother is interesting and I love the addition of Fearghus' family. Morfyd is kind and funny and undoubtedly Annwyl's best girl friend. I loved the friendship between Annwyl and Morfyd. Plus Morfyd is so supportive of Fearghus and his desire to pursue a relationship with Annwyl. Gwenvael is amusing and so hard to deter. I mean how often does Annwyl have to hurt him for him to get the hint? And omg, Queen Rhiannon. Fearghus' mum is hysterical. She and Annwyl totally meet their match in each other - both of them are totally ruthless and harsh in their remarks. I loved it. She clearly loves her family and wants the best for them but I love that she's also actually impressed by Annwyl's reign.

I was giggling my way through this entire book. It was just so funny. I adored it. I loved it. It's an absolute favourite. 5 stars.



CHAINS AND FLAMES (in Dragon Actually)

Addiena has always hated her daughter Rhiannon. As a white dragon and full of magic, Rhiannon is a threat to her rule and Addiena will do anything to get rid of her. And so, sapping her magic and forcing her into her human form, Addiena gives her over to Bercelak, the commander of her armies and the most likeliest dragon to break her. But unfortunately for her - Bercelak has been in love with Rhiannon since he first saw her - and he'll do anything to keep her.

I really enjoyed this. Rhiannon is mean - but that's just how Bercelak likes her. For all this was a novella, there was a lot of depth. Part of that was the world building, the Dragon Kin world is full of life - with a tonne of characters and backstory and humour. Part of it was that Bercelak and Rhiannon really did seem to be well matched. Honestly, having a mum like Addiena - it's a surprise Rhiannon is even half as well adjusted as she is. I liked that she got to experience what being part of a family felt like and having the love of a partner who'll have your back. Fun, flirty read. 3.5 stars.


Family Tree: Ailean and Shalin are the parents of fifteen children including including Hew, Adain, Cai, Rhys, Baudwin (named after Shalin's father), Ghleanna (#0.4: Dragon on Top), Maelona, Caerwyn, Addolgar (#0.2: A Tale of Two Dragons) and Bercelak (Chains and Flames found at the back of #1: Dragon Actually).

Bercelak falls in love with Rhiannon - a white dragon who is the daughter of Addiena. Rhiannon and Bercelek have Fearghus (#1: Dragon Actually), Morfyd, Keita (#4: Last Dragon Standing), Eibhear (#6: How to Drive a Dragon Crazy), Briec (#2: About a Dragon) and Gwenvael (#3: What a Dragon Should Know).

[pnrlist · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Tough-ass warrior heroine. Dragon shifter. Funny dialog. Sex. Why did it take me so long to get to this series?

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Dragon Actually
3 Stars

Note: this book contains two stories Dragon Actually and its prequel Chains and Flames. This review pertains to the former only.

Synopsis
Anwyl is a fearsome warrior with a reputation of beheading the ruthless soldiers sent by her brother to kill her. That is until the day she is brought back from the brink of death by a dragon. By day, Fearghus the Destroyer is a man training Anwyl to defeat her greatest foe and by night he is the dragon she can pour her heart out to. Will she ever learn the truth that the man she desires and the dragon she loves are one and the same?

Review
The characters are well-developed and the dialogue is witty, especially when the other members of Fearghus's family put in an appearance. The dual identity motif together with Fearghus's reluctance to reveal his true nature for fear of being rejected make an otherwise overly simplistic plot more appealing.

Nevertheless, the world building is particularly under-developed with very little detail given regarding the origins of the dragons and their abilities. The writing mainly flows but there are some clumsy transitions between scenes.

All in all, the romance, the steamy scenes and the secondary characters are all good enough to continue with the series.

[fierce_bunny · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

B+

Super cute! Irreverent humor and strong characters.

[myntop · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another novella, eventually I will get to the full books! Rhiannon & Bercelak are such a great couple. I enjoy the dynamic between them and how she's the only one who makes him smile. It's interesting watching Bercelak's family react to how he reacts around Rhiannon. I have to say I hated Addiena even more in this book than I had previously. I'm happy with the way things worked out.

Merged review:

I really adored this story! I think that Annwyl is pretty bad ass, and I love how vulnerable the dragon in this story seems. He's strong of course, but vulnerable in an emotional way. I also really liked the secondary characters...especially Morfyn. Getting to see older versions of Rhiannon and Bercelak was great too. I'm anxious to read more about the "grandkids" of the original couple.

[theyodamom · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Sweet, sexy and lusty a tale of a blood thirsty warrior woman and the dragon that saves her then falls for her. The characters are humorous at times snarky and bold. The heroine fights to save her country from her evil brother, whom wants to kill her. The dragon, who is also one Hot man fights is desire for her. It's been told before, many times, but the author does a decent job of making it fresh. The side character dragons are intriguing.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Annwyl the Bloody has been fighting to overthrow her tyrant brother for some time. One day she is battling his men in the Dark Glen when a mortal blow is struck and Annwyl believes that she is dying. She is saved by the dragon who lives in the glen and who has a terrible reputation. Fearghus the Destroyer nurses her back to health and gradually becomes her friend. He agrees to teach her what she needs to know to defeat her brother.

Annwyl doesn't know that dragons can shift to human form and is confused about her feelings when Fearghus imports a knight to teach her. She is physically attracted to the knight but she longs to spend time with the dragon because she can feel safe with him. Fearghus doesn't know how to tell her that he is both man and dragon.

This book was funny and romantic. I mean, characters named Annwyl the Bloody and Fearghus the Destroyer are not your typical romantic hero and heroine. I loved Annwyl who was afraid of nothing except her brother and who treated really fearsome dragons as though they were kittens. I also really enjoyed Fearghus's relationship with his various brothers and sisters.

This was a fun story and a nice romance. It is also the first book in a series of six.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun. Not deep, and the romances themselves were...a trifle facile. The dual identity and lying, in the first book, was...occasionally amusing, often annoying. In the second story, the villain was pretty much the point - the "romance" was pretty close to pure lust. In both stories, the sex was explicit and a little (only a little) BDSM - but the proper stuff, not the abuse that passes for it in things like the 50 Shades books. Definitely consensual. Not quite my style, but pretty good. The dragon culture was very interesting, and how that culture interacted with two odd families. The human culture was a bit vaguer - I'd say generically medieval, except for the several-times-referenced "two suns" (which were only mentioned, twice, at dawn, as I recall...speaking of vague). Characterization is a bit simple, but well carried out; they behaved in character throughout. I enjoyed reading them and I'll keep an eye out for others. The teaser chapter at the end is nice, and appropriately intriguing - but I don't want Briec's story, I want Morfyd and Brastias!

[dawn772 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very entertaining paranormal romance with lots of action that included humor, steamy scenes and some gory parts but what I really liked was the heroines strength of character. Dragon Fearghus saves warrior Annwyl who was dying at his doorstep. The steamy bonus story about Fearghus' parents was also enjoyable.

[deshanya · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While fighting for her life, the heroine comes up against a dragon. Half-dead, she's the only one who doesn't run away when the dragon appears. Why, yes, she's crazy.

The plot itself is so straightforward that it's dull. See bad guy, kill bad guy. It's the main characters, their interaction and the story-telling that makes this book so interesting. The heroine is not your typical female and the way she reacts is unpredictable and amusing. The dragons' reactions to her are equally amusing. I'd definitely say that the characterization make this book. I like how she falls in love with the dragon, and the interactions between the dragons.

The little asides and snarky comments make it worth reading. I liked it a lot.

[cynical_ames · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The first story, fierce and dying human warrior woman meets reclusive dragon shifter, was a bit disappointing. I kept checking my reading progress. The dragon's argumentative family's constant squabbling amongst his siblings and their royal parents' unconventional relationship kept a smile on my face. 3 stars.

Strangely the second story was a prequel of the first, describing how the dragon parents got together and ascended to the royal throne. I much preferred this story. It was fast-paced, funny, with a poor excuse of a mother as the scheming villain. It also gave me a different perspective on parenting styles. 5 stars.

Dragons are bloodthirsty and fierce creatures not be messed with. I like!

[msralways · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fun, fast and enthralling read! You just can't go wrong with Shelly Laurenston. here we have a dragon shifter, which was my very first time reading about them and then we have Annwyl the Bloody being her incredibly entertaining self all the freaking time! Fearghus was awesome too and they made me laugh so much, but then again, Laurenston's writing will do that to you. Pure magic!

[debbie97462 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it! Cant wait to read the rest of the series.

[fidget78 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

(12 Mar 2012) Review upcoming on the Pure Textuality website.

[snownsew · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I finished this book. And, that is the best thing that I can say about it. I read the other rave reviews people had written. I read the sample before I purchased.

It appeared, to me, to be mostly smut. The vocabulary used was vulgar and made me cringe. The character development was extremely poor. The driving point of the plot seemed to revolve around the bedroom. Had my sample lasted another 3 pages, I would not have purchased the book.

That being said, I did finish it. The dialog moved along at a fair clip and that is what kept me in the novel. I did find myself skipping large portions of it. While I do not mind a little sex in my fantasy, I do not enjoy a little fantasy with the sex. When the story was finished, I felt as if it just stopped. It did not come to a pleasing conclusion. I feel as if the story could have been so much more than it was had the author worked harder to develop her characters rather than their sexcapades. I felt extremely let down that there was not more there. In either story.

[aoibhealfae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book of The Dragon Kin series which consisted of the story Annwyl and Fearghus and also a novella prequel at the back about Fearghus's parent, then-Princess Rhiannon and Bercelak. There's also another story I read prior to this about Bercelak's parents which are directly associated with the plot of secondary story. Its not really confusing when you actually read the books according to the series.

Before anyone could say anything about it, the book doesn't end with this one novel nor does their story ended by the sixth book. The story between Annwyl and her dragon were still a major factor through the subsequent books. 'Dragon Actually' is really just an introduction of the two character. As a rereading, I began to remember Annwyl before she claim the throne and her characterization as herself since she became a side character most of the time in the series and it doesn't help much when others narrating the story doesn't really understand how her mind work. (As most of the time, Annwyl was written as a crazy bitch with deadly mood swings)
Of course, this is a paranormal romance filled with explicit erotic things that might shock new readers into her books. If you look past to that, you'll see that this book is about a fight of freedom against oppressors, dragon politics, the on-going romance between two characters (which is not insta-love as many would associated with the genre) and decent amount of gore and humor. Because dragons like to eat people and I lost count on how many people got fried, eaten or turned into a mush in both stories.

Although I didn't burst into laughing fits by the rereading, but I do appreciate the humor in this book and since the story is continuous and you can get lost in the sequels, this book is a good refresher for the Dragon Kin series since by the end of the series, it have taken more darker path around the dragon politics than romance.

[moriahjovan_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

2.5 stars

Meh.

The saving grace of this book was the concept and the dragon family interaction. Other than that, it was like a middle-grade book got lost in the erotic romance section of the bookstore.

The characters had quirks--oh boy, did they have quirks--but quirks do not interesting characters make. They needed depth to go along with their breadth.

It also needed the writing to be more sophisticated. The vocabulary, along with the characterization and plot, was appropriate for a middle-grade book.

The heroine was continually referred to as a girl. Her rage, which at the beginning was well justified, at the end made her simply childish (which was not explained away well enough by the sole line, "She was a wartime leader, not a peacetime one").

And the GIRL was leading (and had been leading for two years) an ever-increasing army and garnering financial support and allies of neighboring kingdoms. I grew VERY impatient with the fact that her army could not seem to function without her. She has a trusted officers' corps and they were timid without her leading them. That's a cheap way to point to the heroine's kick-ass awesomeness. An army who can't function under its second-in-command needs a new second-in-command. That, too, made her look childish and weak.

There were other problems of logic and structure, but I kept getting distracted by the writing.

So, yeah. Middle-grade. I'd let my kid read it except for the sex, which seemed kinda thrown in as an afterthought and...childish. For an adult, it was in no way as sophisticated as the concept promised or as it should have been written.

But the little dragon family was cute and I DID actually finish the book in one sitting, so SOMETHING kept me there. That something is why this is a 2.5-star instead of a 2 star (which is a "meh" in my grading system). I have to acknowledge that I kept reading.

[capnrandm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much more accessible now that I started from the beginning, this is a cute origin story for Annwyl the Bloody and her fierce black dragon. After seeing Rhiannon and her grumpy husband, it was wonderful to read the story of their romance as well.

[lauren4castan · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was ok. Racy romance smothered the actual story.

[stmelo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This one was a surprise. Very funny, good to read and with a nice mix of romance and sensuality.

[ladyisis_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book has two stories in it. The first is very entraining. I love the world that Ms. Aiken has created and the creatures and characters that inhabit it. I think that dragons should be part of every world if they are all like the ones of Ms. Aiken imagination. There is lots of fighting and the taking of enemy heads and there is an evil dragon to deal with as well. There is also a good deal of discovery by the two main characters which can be quite funny at times. The second story is how Fearghus' parents get together. It is also an amusing story and I am sure that most shape shifter fans will love it.

[lizard_698959 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a very cute and interesting Dragon shifter Book. The plot was good Annwyl is a bastard Princess warrior who’s brother is trying to kill her. Her brother has hated her since she was born and tried to kill her many times since childhood. When she got rescued by a rebel army she took charge of them in hopes to get revenge on her brother and to finally see him dead. It never really says what time or place the setting is but to me it’s a mix of old England and other planet scify. Where ever they are located is a place where magic is abound and there are two sun’s so it is not earth. There is also no technology and there is mention of castles and dresses so that led me to assume old England especially since some of the names are Welch. It matters not the time or place because the story is great. The characters are interesting and funny. There is also a really cute short story in the end of the book about the Dragon’s parents which was quite funny also.

[virginiagill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

G.A. Aiken was an absolutely delight discovery. The depths of the characters and their relationships made the books interesting and highly entertaining. So enjoyed Dragon Actually that I ended up reading all four of the currently published books over the past week and am eagerly awaiting the next release come September. If you love dragons, adventure, politics, spys, and great family tales don't miss these books.