Reviewed by Tammy
TITLE: Dragon Herder
AUTHOR: K.M. Mahoney
PUBLISHER: Amber Quill Press, LLC
LENGTH: 17,000 Words
BLURB:
Torgny may be a burly, uncivilized mercenary, but even he has his limits. Hired to rid a village of a dragon, Torgny gets quite a shock when he finds the marauding menace is a tiny pink dragon named Jezebel, who takes one look at him and decides she’s found a new best friend. Much to the annoyance of her handler, Noel, who seems to believe most people are prejudiced idiots. Torgny’s not sure Noel’s wrong about people, but he would really like to be the exception to that opinion. Noel is tall and attractive, and Torgny falls into a case of instant lust. When Noel decides it’s time to move the dragons to safety, Torgny tags along, determined to explore this attraction between them. It’s a journey fraught with danger, interfering gods, and rambunctious baby dragons, but if they can survive, they might just find a life for which neither realized they were seeking.
REVIEW:
This could have been a very gruesome short story about Torgny, the dragon slayer and Noel, the dragon herder but thankfully the author decided to put a light-hearted spin on it!
Torgny is a fearsome dragon slayer who has been hired to rid a small village of their dragon problem, the only issue is when he lays eyes on the “problem dragon” it turns out to be a tiny pink baby dragon named Jezebel! One look at Jezebels green eyes and Torgny is in love. Noel is frantic when he discovers Jezebel and Torgny together because he knows a slayer when he sees one. The only problem is Jezebel has fallen in love with Torgny and isn’t the slightest bit happy when Noel carry’s her back to their cave.
Luckily for Noel and his dragons when there is a fire in the village Torgny knows it couldn’t possibly have been started by a dragon because the only dragon close to town can’t do more than blow a little bit of smoke! When Torgny finds Noel and the dragons he warns them it’s time to leave because the villagers are coming to kill them. Noel does everything he can think of to get rid of Torgny because as far as he’s concerned all humans are prejudiced idiots and only want to harm him and his dragons. Torgny on the other hand doesn’t really care what Noel thinks and has decided he’s going to help move the dragons and that’s all there is to it!
It’s while they’re on their journey that Torgny finds out that not only is Noel a Demi-God but he can also shift into a large dragon so he can carry the babies who can’t fly. Noel discovers that Torgny isn’t your average barbarian dragon slayer, instead he’s intelligent, witty and sensitive. He also has a very childlike wonder towards the dragons and has developed a permanent attachment to Jezebel. Once Noel relaxes his guard and realises Torgny is in fact someone he could love and Torgny, well, Torgny just has it bad for Noel!(and his dragons).
What they say about opposites attracting must be true, these two are polar opposites who fall in love because they put aside their preconceived ideas and just learnt about each other. This is a very short novella that I loved. If you love dragons and want a short story to lift your spirits, this is the one for you!!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
I’m not into dragons, but after reading your review, I’m going to give it a go.