Reviewed by Sarina

TITLE: The Last Dragonet

SERIES: Dragon Prophecies #1

AUTHOR: Shannon West & Susan E. Scott

PUBLISHER: Dark Hollows Press

LENGTH: 146 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 20, 2016

BLURB:

Luca Wessex is Dragon Spawn. Son of a human mother and a Red Dragon father, he has been trying his best all his life just to survive and get by. His father is abusive, his mother is dead, and most recently, a vicious and dangerous group of neighborhood Spawn have begun trying to recruit him as a member of their gang. When a pushy and gorgeous Golden Dragon named Dmitri appears, full of questions about the gang and his role in it, Luca tries to cooperate, but he’s no snitch. Suspicious, the gang attacks Luca one evening while he’s working, and he’s rescued by Dmitri, who then kidnaps him and—for his own safety, he claims—takes him to his home in what some say is the most remote spot on Earth, an area of Russia called the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Dmitri has come home with a treasure, because what Luca doesn’t know is that he isn’t a Spawn at all but a species called a dragonet and the very last one of his kind. Because of a mysterious prophecy, Dmitri has discovered the beautiful boy’s life is in danger and he wants desperately to save him. But Dmitri is up against not only another Dragon, but also a powerful mage. Dmitri takes Luca under his wing—literally—and they begin to navigate a minefield of love and dangerous ancient prophecy. For the first time in Dmitri’s life, something is becoming more important to him than treasure, if only he can hold onto it.

REVIEW:

You know, I have to say that this one surprised me; from the different types of dragons and their ‘origin’, to a plot that had a surprising amount of depth to it, I enjoyed this one from start to finish.

Luca was a great main character; he had a rough upbringing, ignored and abused in turns. Yet, in spite of all that, he refused to turn to the gangs like so many others in his situation did and is grateful everyday for the chance at a job and to live the way he wants to. Besides all that, Luca is feisty and has an attitude much larger than his smaller frame would suggest. Dimitri is arrogant and pushy and used to getting his way but I really didn’t expect any less based on how he was raised and his dragon type. Colors denote certain characteristics when it comes to dragons in this book and while someone reading about Dimitri might hate him for his sense of self entitlement, I just took it in stride. What made Dimitri great was when he finally had his big epiphany about Luca and made plans then and there to fix things.

There was a lot of unexpected action early on in the story which served to grab my attention and every time I started to settle into the story, something else would happen that would keep me glued to the pages. Like I said, there was a lot more depth to this than I was originally expecting and by the end of the book I was hooked. There is a scene near the end that confused me at first and I ended up re-reading it but it does get explained for anyone that doesn’t know what happened. That was really my only complaint about this; I just love where the authors took the story and the set up for the rest of the series has me really looking forward to reading the sequel!

If you enjoy urban fantasy, dragons, and a plot that’s a bit more convoluted than expected, I’d recommend giving this one a look.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Dark Hollows Press

Amazon