The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart

By Stephanie Burgis

Aventurine is the fiercest, bravest kind of dragon, and she's ready to prove it to her family by leaving the safety of their mountain cave and capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human.

But when the human she captures tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, she finds herself transformed into a puny human girl with tiny blunt teeth, no fire, and not one single claw. She's still the fiercest creature in these mountains though – and now she's found her true passion: chocolate! All she has to do is walk on two feet to the human city, find herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she'll be conquering new territory in no time … won't she?

Wild and reckless young Aventurine will bring havoc to the human city – but what she doesn't expect is that she'll find real friendship there too, along with betrayal, deception, scrumptious chocolate and a startling new understanding of what it means to be a human (and a dragon).

A pinch of Ella Enchanted, a sprinkling of How to Train your Dragon and a generous helping of Eva Ibbotson –The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart is entirely delicious.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Feb 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781408880302

Stephanie Burgis

Stephanie Burgis grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, but now she lives in Wales with her husband (fellow writer and ebook cover designer Patrick Samphire), their two sons, and their very vocal tabby cat, Pebbles (who basically owns Steph's Instagram account). She writes wildly romantic historical fantasy for adults (most recently, Scales and Sensibility, Good Neighbors, and the Harwood Spellbook series) and fun, funny MG fantasy adventures for kids (most recently, The Raven Heir and the Dragon with a Chocolate Heart trilogy).

Reviews for The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sweet, almost too sweet, but spicy too and with a pinch of chili.

[herenya_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Aventurine is a young dragon turned into a human girl by a food mage. Unable to return to her dragon family and with a newly discovered passion for chocolate, she sets off for the city to get a job in a chocolate shop.I've just noticed that the blurb describes it as “A pinch of Ella Enchanted, a sprinkling of How to Train your Dragon and a generous helping of Eva Ibbotson”, a fairly accurate description of what the book is like, although none of those comparisons occurred to me while I was reading it.(Instead I was reminded a little bit of R.J. Anderson’s A Pocket Full of Murder, because of the combination of magic, kitchens and a twelve year old girl having adventures in a city, and Laura Florand’s adult romances, because of the chocolate shop setting. I was then surprised -- and amused -- to see both Anderson and Florand amongst those thanked in the acknowledgements, for having critiqued “all or part of the finished manuscript”.)

[foggidawn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Aventurine is a headstrong young dragon who doesn't understand why she should have to stay in the family cave for another 30 years waiting for her scales and wings to grow strong. When she sneaks out one day in search of a little adventure, she gets more than she bargained for: a food mage gives her a cup of hot chocolate that turns her into a human girl. Being a human makes her feel both frightened and angry, but on the other hand, she has discovered her passion: chocolate! Since she feels that she can't go back to her family in her new condition, she makes her way to a human city, and seeks out a chocolate house where she can learn more about her new obsession. Of course, it's not as easy as all that -- and what will happen when her family discovers that she is missing?Guaranteed to make you crave chocolate in all its forms, this book is much more about chocolate than about dragons, though of course they do play a key role, and I'm guessing that they will feature more prominently in the sequel. This book wraps up the story without major cliffhangers, but there's definitely more to be discovered in Aventurine's world. Recommended to readers of middle grade fantasy.

[billiebook · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Basically food porn for the MG set, but with dragons (which it honestly needs more of).

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Aventurine is a young dragon; her scales aren't even hard yet. She is also impetuous, impulsive, and eager to prove herself to her elders. She hasn't yet found her passion but she thinks venturing out of her protected cave might lead her to it. Unfortunately the first person she runs across is making hot chocolate and happens to be a food mage. Rightly fearing that Aventurine intends to eat him after finishing the chocolate, he casts a spell that makes her a small twelve-year-old human. He suggests that she find her way to the nearest city to make her fortune.Aventurine finds the human city crowded and very, very confusing. Luckily, she is taken under the wing of Silke who helps her acclimate. After being thrown out of the two most popular chocolate houses in the city, she happens on the third just as the current apprentice is being tossed out the front door. Aventurine is given the job and realizes that she has found her passion.Unfortunately, the owners of the shop have been taken in dislike by the Lord Mayor who is doing all sorts of sneaky things to make the shop look bad. Things come to a head when the King, the Crown Princess, and Princess Sofia arrive incognito and the Lord Mayor's people pull a surprise inspection and spread rumors that the shop is failing health standards. It gets even worse when dragons begin coming near the town. The King and Lord Mayor fear that the city will soon be under attack. The mages want to test their mettle against the dragons. It takes some fast talking from Aventurine to save the city. I loved Aventurine both because she finds her passion and because she learns a lot about both humans and dragons in this story. I like the magic and I really like the chocolate. This is a very entertaining middle grade fantasy.

[annawaffles · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Gosh, this was a lovely middle grade book. Aventurine had a lot to learn about the human world, but she wasn't stupid. And oh, the descriptions of chocolate... heavenly.

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this one, but it was lots of fun -- especially Aventurine's tendency to roar and gnash her teeth. Hooray for plucky girl adventurers, hooray for clever marketing, hooray for chocolate! This is a great choice if you like Jessica Day George (either Tuesdays at the Castle or Dragons Slippers) or Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons).

[brighterudite · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully delicious read that leaves you wanting another taste!