KEEPING MY DRAC

Greed and prejudice put the love between a human and a shape-shifting dragon to the test in this erotic fantasy.

Princess Ophelia keeps her regular rendezvouses with Arik a secret. As a drac, Arik can easily shift between human and dragon forms. He’s also the dragon chieftain’s son. But the real problem with their union is that dracs have long hidden themselves from humans, who once hunted dragons. So every new moon—when a flying dragon is less likely to be spotted—Arik and Ophelia meet for unbridled sex. Then one day, the kingdom of Penyasegat, which neighbors Ophelia’s Devantdemar, mercilessly kills and dismembers a dragon. Penyasegat’s king, Niklau, sanctions the slaughter of other winged creatures so his people can reap the dragons’ magic. This secretly horrifies Ophelia (“I want to know how they’re harvesting magic from dragons and how they could kill these majestic beings”). But a spying Arik mistakes her smiling public persona as consent and, therefore, betrayal. As he essentially severs the couple’s relationship, Ophelia has no way of communicating with him. So how will she warn him when Niklau, rather than merely capturing dragons, aggressively seeks more of their magic to harvest? Landon’s novella, which bounces back and forth between Ophelia’s and Arik’s first-person narrations, sizzles with erotica. The couple’s brazen scenes subvert innuendo, with Arik taking a rough, dominant role, and their saucy, dirty talk will make most readers blush. While there’s little in the way of a conventional romance, the two unquestionably have a bond that seems unbreakable. The author proves a commendable fantasy writer as well, particularly in describing eye-catching sights like the dragons’ polychromatic scales and the humans’ lavish attire. The engaging cast includes Ophelia’s royal father, who’s apparently keen on harvesting magic in the same way as his neighbors, diminishing the chances that he’ll approve of the princess’ choice of a mate. This series opener further hints at an intriguing backstory that the sequel can explore.

This gripping tale of faraway lands sears with passion, magic, and allure.