If you love a light read, with very cute/sappy moments mixed in with DRAGONS and fantasy- this is your book.
The title alone was what really hooked me and, although after reading it I don’t agree, it was recommended for Samantha Shannon fans. Yes, there’s dragons and fantastic lgbtqai+ relationships in this book, but the world building is NOWHERE near what Shannon puts out. Please take this recommendation VERY slightly, lol.
This book has a FMC, Lotte, who is a dragontongue, aka she can speak to dragons. Lotte is one of “the lucky ones' ' who lived long enough to become an exterienced dragontongue and can now communicate with even the most fierce human-eating dragons of the world. One of these fierce dragons has now taken a village hostage in their quest to accumulate gold and treasures. Enter, Maryse. Maryse fights alongside Lotte to save the village and its hostages. Only, this dragon is deceiving and cunning and puts everything Lotte holds dear to her heart at risk. If she fails, everyone dies.
There’s a lot of sweet moments in this book and “tell-all” heart to heart moments that really hit you in the feels. I loved that the characters were kept minimal so I could really grasp everything that was going on and really get attached to them. I’m very happy that it was a short read, because a lot of moments could have been dragged on, but Hollis divulged JUST enough information that I felt satisfied and understood.
I think the book was just a little bland for me to give it 4 or 5 stars, which actually makes me really sad because I really enjoyed this book. What knocked it down for me, was I imagined myself chatting with fellow readers about this book and if I would recommend it. YES, I would, 100%. But if they asked if they should read Hearts Forged In Dragon Fire before another book… I would have to tell them to wait and get to it when they want a short, cute read that’s still in the fantasy genre. HOWEVER, I would definitely recommend this to young readers, even preteens that are getting into fantasy! The book is definitely YA and works perfectly for that audience. Perhaps the reason I gave it 3 stars is because I am a 29 year old combat heavy fantasy junkie nerd who enjoys an easy YA read every once in a while!
All in all, due to the way I rate books, I gave it 3 stars- but would recommend it to specific audiences in a heartbeat!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for sending this book for review consideration! All opinions are my own.

DRC provided by Entangled Publishing, LLC, Entangled: Teen via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire did not surprise me. In a good way! It was exactly what I expected and I really enjoyed it.

This is an adventurous story about a young woman who can speak to drangons in their own language. She is hired by a townsguard to try to speak reason to a new dragon who is greedy and threatening their city. With thr crown leaving the little city on their own. She is their only hope at ending this dragons greedy actions. But there is more to this than Lotte is prepared for and with time running out She is running out of options to end this peacefully. With secrets being revealed and her crush on a girl in the city her choices become clouded. The city and the people within are depending on her, but can she accomplish this impossible job or will it be for nothing? Full of twists turns shock and awe moments this book brings a soft burn romance and adventure right to your finger tips. I give this review honestly of my own choice as I've received this as an ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book. This book was a fun adventure filled with dragons and romance. This book is great if you enjoy books filled with fantasy, romance, and adventure.

A beautiful fantasy with dragons! I loved the dragon speech element to the story. This almost had an air of mystery about it, which kept my interest. I do wish some of the characters felt a little less "flat" so that when things happened to them, some more emotion would be invoked from readers. Overall, it was a really enjoyable read, and I would highly recommend it.

Thank you to Entangled for an ARC of this book!

Things I Loved

sapphic
DRAGONS
DRAGONS
good side characters

Hello my gorgeous beautiful sapphic dragon loving friends. This book was adorable to the extreme. I enjoyed every minute of it. Hollis has a great and engaging writing style, and the whole book flowed very well. All aspects of queerness were integrated very well, we had a non-binary character, our main characters were sapphic, but it was done so naturally. It wasn't the focal point of the book, it was just apart of it, which I loved.

This was definitely a different take on dragons, ones I hadn't seen before, and I liked that.

Lotte is an excellent main character -- her character arc was fabulous. Even the side characters were nicely developed. One of the things about the plot was obvious, however, it didn't detract from the overall story, because while there was an action based plot, much of this book was character driven and about the choices they do and don't make.

There was a tiny bit of gore in this book, but not too much. There were also quite a few parts that deal with parental trauma and childhood trauma. Having not experienced those things, I can't say as to the accuracy, but they do play a part in the story of our characters.

Overall, this was a well crafted standalone book about two girls who fall in love while a dragon is terrorizing a town.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this book. I really enjoyed this book, it took me a little while to get into but once I was there it was a great read. The characters got a little getting use to put I got them in the end, over all this a great book and I would recommend it to fantasy fans. 4 stars.

Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire is an entertaining read. The story read slower and the story pacing was steady. There were some twists and betrayals. The romance was slow building, and developed realisticly. There was great character relationship development. There is a great cast of diverse characters. There are characters to root for and characters to dislike. I felt the ending was both bittersweet and satisfying. Overall, Heart Forged in Dragon Fire was very well written. I would recommend Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire to readers who enjoy YA Romance and YA Urban Fantasy featuring Dragons, and to readers who enjoy a steadier plot placing.

Thanks so much to the publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC copy of this book!

I have scheduled promotional posts around release day for this book and I will provide a full review on my Instagram once I am able to get to this read.

Rating 5 stars on Netgalley as a placeholder for me to update later once the review is complete.

Will also complete a review on Goodreads once read.

Thanks again!

I absolutely loved this and couldn't put it down. The characters were amazing the plot was perfect. Uhhh I can't wait till this is out in the world so I have someone to talk to!!

Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire
by Erica Hollis
Pub Date: 26 Jun 2023

For fans of Abigail Owen and Samantha Shannon comes a breathtaking, energetic novel where the only way to defeat a dragon is to outsmart it…

Most dragontongues don’t live long enough to learn from their mistakes. Lotte Meer is luckier than most, surviving long enough to communicate with the fierce, sullen, and temperamental dragons who are not above enjoying a human as a light snack. And she has the scars to prove it.

Now a massive, foul-tempered dragon has taken over the town of Morwassen's Pass, taking the citizens hostage. As long as they bring him their gold and treasure, he won’t reduce their city to a smoking heap of ash and death. Only, the treasure is running out and Lotte—with the help of sharp-tongued, unbelievably cute Maryse Basvaan—is their last and only hope.

But this dragon is more cunning—and more cruel—than any other. Not only is he holding Lotte’s estranged mom captive, but he has a taste for betrayal…and somehow he’s stricken some kind of secret deal with the girl who’s already gone and stolen Lotte’s heart.

Lotte won’t fail. She can’t.

The premise of Erica Hollis’ HEARTS FORGED IN DRAGON FIRE has promise.

Lotte is a dragontongue, who is gifted with the ability to communicate with dragons and help instill peace between the majestic, sometimes volatile beings and the humans that live among them. Until she meets her match in one dragon, who has lots of collateral they’re holding over Lotte’s head — the least of which being the fate of her mother.

Most of the problems rest in the writing style — the dialogue is consistently choppy, taking up too much of the text and relying heavily on ‘telling’ when ‘showing’ through descriptive context would be a better fit. The foundation of the plot itself is great, but it’s difficult to follow it because of the storytelling format and general lack of world-building.

I can see the appeal of HEARTS FORGED IN DRAGON FIRE for readers, particularly younger readers that won’t get tripped up by some of those structural issues — but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.*

This book was absolutely wonderful! Cautious queer romance (that isn't the central part of the queer characters' identity), a new twist on dragons within the context of fantasy, interesting worldbuilding, complicated family relationships, and more. You would think this was a lot to pack into one book, but Erica Hollis does it flawlessly. 10/10 recommend! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advance copy.

With Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire and author Erica Hollis brings Entangled Teen a new and fresh face.
This is a LGBT PNR read and tells Lotte's story.
Lotte Meer is a dragontongue, able to communicate with Dragons. They're dangerous creatrures and she has the scars to prove it. When the citicens of a town hold by a dragon, Lotte is their last hope. Help comes in form of Marys Basvaan. Together they take a stand against the cunning lindworm.
A fast paced read, full of unexpected twists and turns, this book had me in suspense from start til the last page.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own**

I was really excited when I was approved to read this book in advance on Net Galley. I inhaled the entire story in one day and could not put it down. I really didn't even want to stop to eat.

The world-building in this young adult fantasy novel pulled me in from the beginning. We're in a land where dragons exist and only a few humans can speak their language. Dragons need gold, silver and jewels to eat, and in this land that has mostly worked out, though the dragons are thinning out as the humans expand. There's a great line early on in the book that laments that fact that humans use for money the same things that dragons need to eat. But most dragons only need to eat once a year, and if you leave their hoard alone they mostly leave you alone.

Lotte Meer may only be sixteen, but she's one of the few Dragontongue's left. A natural born talent, she's been honing it to feed herself and her nana since she was sixteen. Lotte's one of those characters that pulls you in right away. She's got a healthy respect for dragons, is a protector by nature, has some parent issues and has a fun, slightly sarcastic first person voice that carries the whole book from quiet to more suspenseful moments.

When Lotte's enlisted to leave her country home for a job in a nearby city she's convinced she can reason with the dragon terrorizing the people. But this dragon doesn't behave like other dragons. He's huge, vicious and holding the whole city captive--draining their wealth, destroying other dragons and taking human lives. All while demanding a magical object. Lotte tries to reason with him, while falling in love with the cunning near-criminal Maryse. Lotte's discoveries about her own background and family, paired with her new love interest's vindictive brother and the looming threat of the dragon make this compelling story one part fantasy, one part sapphic romance, one part coming of age and one part thriller. The combination is enthralling.

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Barnes & Nobel: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hearts-forged-in-dragon-fire-erica-hollis/1143127042

Hearts Forged in Dragon Fire by Erica Hollis are a story of sweet romance between young girls, with a little bit of dragons adventure, thrilling action scenes and complicated family issues. For a dragon's book lover, this is a must read book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I am all about the Dragons and I love that this has a little bit of everything. Two lesbian teens falling for each other, family drama, morally grey characters and just so much more. Pre order this now if you can you won’t regret it.

Such a creative, wonderful story! I love the characters- they were easy to connect with. Very well written, I found the love story a little grating. It was hard to read at times, so that is my only negative. I think a younger audience would find those portions much more readable than I. I really enjoyed the new take on dragons - my favorite parts of the book. I would highly recommend.

Usually I don't expect so much from books about dragons,they're not my favorite mythical creature,but this book is a blast. It was very interesting the dinamic between Lotte and theses beings and the dinamic between her and the rest of the characters. Even tough long,this book has a a fast pace, what makes it easily to be read. Would totally recommend it !

Thank you to Entangled Publishing, LLC, Entangled: Teen, and NetGalley!

CWs: Parental abandonment, parental abuse, eye gore, maiming, familial murdering

I enjoyed the newer spin on dragons; while I know that there are surely other books where dragons eat gold, this is the first one I recall reading.
Lotte is a dragonspeaker, able to speak dragontongue as easily as her own native language, a rare gift that comes in handy for her living. Though sixteen and reading somewhat older, the tone of the book is still accessible and fast-paced enough for teens to enjoy.
There’s enough character to make the world feel more filled out— magical items are rare because they fade with time, no one knows the king of the land personally, other villages don’t much seem interested, the different types of dragons, and familial stories can just be…. well, stories.

I enjoyed the slow build of a relationship between Lotte and Maryse, though I was waiting for Lotte to slowly notice the novel’s twist. I also cared about the other characters: Scyler (nonbinary!), Danil, Juna, Vikker, and Anneke, who felt fleshed-out in their own right.

I will definitely be recommending this for an easy read!