and you'd get ready for bed and there you'd be curled up under the covers all snuggly warm with your favorite toy waiting for a bedtime story...maybe, it's a story about kings and queens, fairies, dwarves, elves, a circus filled with lions, tigers and elephants or maybe it's a story with mystical creatures unicorns, griffins, a phoenix...dragons?

Whatever, the story as children it was a special time...a time filled with the magic of going to a far away land...a different place and time, filled with magic and adventure shared with just one other person...that person reading the story to us...maybe, it was mom, or dad, a brother or sister or even a grandparent.

Whoever it was. It was in those moments that many of us first discovered the magic of books and the wondrous things they have to share with us...the people, places, adventure, mysteries and magic...all of it is magic. Magic that transports us to places and on adventures all without ever having to leave the safety of our cozy, comfortable beds. It's a magic that we get to keep with us our entire lives every time we open a book it's there waiting for us. 

Ok...so now you're probably kind of wondering what this actually has to do with a specific book...one called 'The Dragon's Devotion'...well, you see this story took me back to my childhood to the magic of fairytales and happily ever after...there was a dragon and yes, we all know I'm a total pushover for dragons but this one...well, I have to say I think Corentin is going to be one of my favorite dragon's ever. He's large and majestic and his scales are such a deep purple that they're almost black, he has beautiful violet eyes. He's fierce and brave and at the heart of him is a man...a man who is intelligent, kind, loyal, handsome and knows how to love. Yeah...I sorta...kinda have a crush on Corentin.

But as wonderful as dragon's are they weren't the only thing in this story to hold my interest. There was also Bastian or more accurately there was the mystery that Bastian brought with him...you see for me Bastian was ok, I didn't dislike him. I just wasn't enamored of him. To be honest at times he annoyed me, but I also felt badly for him he lost his parents at an early age and being the oldest child of an Earl, he suddenly had a huge amount of responsibility thrust upon him. Not only was he suddenly the Earl but he has 3 younger siblings that he is also responsible for...two brothers and a sister and it's responsibility that he takes very seriously...read...micro-manage and too serious. But it's done out of a sense of love, responsibility and family obligation...so maybe his course of action wasn't always the best but his intentions were and that definitely counts for a lot.

And on a sidebar...can I just say that I was far more interested in Bastian's brothers, Griffen and Mathis...especially Griffen, I think there's definitely a story to be told about that young man and I for one would be so willing to read it...just sayin'.

Now about that mystery that Bastian brings...you see years earlier Bastian's parents and Prince Philip's parents were killed in an accident...or was it? This is the question that plagues Bastian when he receives a mysterious note telling him that what they had assumed was an accident wasn't. Leaving Bastian wondering 'what to do?' and 'who to trust?' *no spoiler here folks, it's in the blurb.*

'The Dragon's Devotion' was a wonderful blend of romance and mystery with a subtle touch of fairy tale for some added magic. The romance was a sweet slow burn...but there was definitely a romance, one involving sweet kisses in the rain, dinner's out with a side of attempted murder...opps, maybe not such a romantic thing...but did I mention...dragon to the rescue? See...what i did there, how romantic is that?

Now, just one more thing before I leave on another adventure. 'The Dragon's Devotion' is the fifth book in Antonia Aquilante's 'Chronicles of Tournai' series and as it says in the blurb this one can be read as a stand alone. I haven't read the first 4 books and while I very much enjoyed this one I have to admit I do wonder if I had read the previous books if this might not have turned out to be a 5 star read for me? I honestly can't say for sure, but what I can say is that at no point did I feel lost or confused about this story.  I think readers who have read the previous books will probably enjoy it all the more for having the background of some of the secondary characters and while I loved that there were characters from the previous stories in this one, I truly didn't feel like I was missing anything that was relevant to this story so much as that I think when I have a chance I'd like to go back to Tournai and catch up on what I missed by not having read the first 4 books.

'The Dragon's Devotion' is a wonderful story reminiscent of childhood but  wrapped in magic for adults. 

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An ARC of 'The Dragon's Devotion' was graciously provided by IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review. 

Amy Lane does family like few others do. There's the family you're given and the family you make. Sometimes you got to love and keep both but often times it's the one you make that nourishes your soul.

I really enjoyed this one. It was a bit of a slow burn on but worth the wait when things finally came together. As always Ms Lane knew what she was doing and I was left with a short, sweet romance that came together beautifully. 

Philip Alces was the narrator for this book and I quite enjoyed his voices for both Emmett and Keegan and was given an enjoyable narration that enhanced a really sweet story.

This one definitely worked for me so far it's my favorite from these stories. But I've still got 2 stories to go...so we'll see what happens.

While 'Tales from the Curious Cookbook' is a series there really doesn't seem to be an order to how the stories are read. The connection from story to story is the cookbook but other than that the order is really flexible which is a good thing for me since I've just been clicking play on whatever title is next on the list.

'For a Rainy Afternoon' is R.J. Scott's contribution to this series and as with pretty much anything R.J. Scott, I very much enjoyed this one and I was treated to a new narrator. Ian Gordon was the narrator for this one and while I'm normally a sucker for a good British accent and there was definitely one or two of those. It was the voice of Jason Young the American that totally enchanted me and like Robbie MacIntyre I was more than happy just to sit back and listen to Jason talk. 

good story + good narration = WIN!

I have to admit the saving grace on this one was Michael Stellman's narration I definitely enjoyed listening to this narrator. Unfortunately the story while it sounded good in concept for me feel short in the execution and that's the end of that. 

It's only about 2 hours and 14 minutes listening time on this one so I'm not going to spend a lot of time examining the whys and why nots of this one because the next book is waiting for me.

This was fun!


I'm a little irregular when it comes to the Tucker Springs series. I've read some of the books, but not all of them, and certainly not in the correct order. Which is not necessary, because these books work fine on their own.

In this onstallment, we get to meet Paul. I immediately liked him. He was lost and depressed after being dumped by his girlfriend. While he smack in the middle of "I need you to come back." and "PLease go to hell.", he has some pretty big financial fish to fry. Thanks to his ex, he's stuck with a house he really can't afford, a job he doesn't exactly love and a collection of crap he never really uses. Enter pawn shop owner El, who might be able to help Paul out - but only once a day. Or so he says.

I enjoyed the journey of these two a lot. Especially Paul grew on me so much, I really rooted for him and his pursuit of happiness. El, in comparison, stayed a little pale throughout the book. Which might have something to do with this little pet peeve of mine. I was constantly told that El's behavior, ever since meeting Paul, was so atypical and unusual. Which is fine, but I never got to actually SEE that irregularity. And I always have a hard time buying the change in a person when I can't witness it - at least a little. On the plus side, the relations and interactions between El and his famliy were wonderfully written and grabbed me right where it hurts.

All in all, I had a lot of fun reading this, keeping my fingers crossed for these two, waiting for them to finally get it all together.

Definitely recommended if you're looking for something low on the angst, big on the feelz and a little deeper than a garden pond. And let's not forget the sexy times - because Heidi Cullinan rocks the steam like nobody's business.