Totally Worth Breaking Rules For!

Like Alice falling through the rabbit hole, as Gwen tries to do a good deed she is whisked away on a magical adventure...one that, unlike Alice, she realizes she doesn't want to return home from. This series just keeps getting more entertaining, leaving me waiting on pins and needles for the next one! Thank You, Ms. Sparks for writing such imaginative tales.

I enjoyed seeing Gwennore become strong and confident in herself. It was difficult for her as an elf to be surrounded by the dragon folk, who saw her as the enemy. She was selfless and brave to stay and try to heal the ills of the Norveshka people even though many wanted her dead. She made true friends and learned that she very much belonged there. It was sweet to watch her relationship with Silas grow. There are so many twists and turns going on in this story. It definitely keeps your attention and keeps you guessing. I look forward to the next installment of the Embraced.

Overall, I'm a big fan of this series. However, this installment left me disappointed. Although similar in concept to the first two entries, I was somewhat disappointed. I didn't feel the chemistry with been Gwennore & Silas.

A wonderful tale that follows Gwennore in the 3rd installment of The Embraced.. Gwennore travels to Norveshka where she encounter General Silas Dravenko, a dragon. There are some strange happenings going on in Norveshka and though Silas is wary of the elf, Gwennore he understands her reticence to people who have often ridiculed her. Together they decide to help each other out in their separate quests. She to find a missing girl and him to find out what is really going on, on this island. This was filled with sarcastic witty comments and laugh out loud moments, but for me the most important part is DRAGONS!!!! Love them and no book written about dragons could ever be bad in my opinion. Loved it! 4 stars

4.5 stars

A wonderful continuation to a captivating series! Leaving the Isle of Mist has brought surprises for all the sisters, but the condemnation Gwennore feels is harsher than she could have imagined. Once she's carried away to the land of dragons she comes to realize that there's still more she doesn't know. Having never met another elf before, she doesn't see how she's different from all the others. And while she's initially afraid in this foreign place, she's drawn to the land, the dragon and the man. What follows is an engrossing tale about discovering who you are, how to harness your power, believe in yourself and let yourself be loved.

It’s a wonderful ride and I can’t wait for the next installment.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I enjoyed this latest installment in the series and look forward to the next one.

The Good, The Bad, and Everything In Between
The Good
-I liked the characters, both Gwennore and Silas, and they do have some chemistry when the story was focused on their romance.
-The story starts off strong and the “curse” of the Norveshki people intrigued me. Focusing in on those aspects would have been the thing to do, except...

The Bad and Everything in Between
-Lord, the recaps killed me. The story bogged down with the repetition. Something would happen in a scene, and then I’d have to read the characters dissect those same actions, then repeat the reasons why x,y, and z can’t/won’t happen and then move on.

The Bottom Line 2.5 stars
This was ok. What’s kept me coming back is this group of sisters, by choice if not by blood. The setup for entire series has so much potential, and I would like to know what’s going to happen to the remaining characters, such as Sorcha, Maeve and Brody.

I just wish the writing could support these ungainly middle sections, because so far, the stories start strong and end relatively well. I may read the next one, but not sure I’d rush out and do so. I wouldn’t recommend this unless you’re a diehard Kerrelyn Sparks fan.

First off, I want to comment on the model for the cover of the book. Can we say “Yum?” He is what I pictured Silas would look like. Thank you to whoever had to good sense to choose this model. He will help boost sales on this book.

I had an “Oops, I did it again” type of hiccup when I signed up to review this book on NetGalley. Usually, if I get the hint that the book is part of series, I look it up on Goodreads and make my decision. As it turns out, I didn’t see the “A novel of the Embraced” on the blurb that NetGalley puts up. Or the series list that Goodreads has. I was distracted when accepting this book. I am glad I did. Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon was a great read. I did get lost with some of the references made about the plotlines of the earlier books and the Chameleon.

The plotline for Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon was interesting. Gwennore is an Elf who was raised on a secret island with 4 other girls. They all have had the misfortune of being born when the two moons of their world eclipse. Any child who is born when that happens is born with a magical power.

Gwennore was watching her adopted sister’s 3-year-old daughter when a dragon suddenly appears and snatches the toddler up. Gwennore clings to the dragon in a desperate attempt to rescue her. After being thrown from the dragon and being caught by another, Gwennore is brought to the land of Novreshka. A land that is dangerous. A land that Gwennore will fight for her life, to get to the bottom of an ancient curse, to heal the people of Novreshka, and for the love of a man who has many secrets. What Gwennore doesn’t know is that her secrets, secrets that have been hidden from her, could be the undoing of everything that she has fought so hard for.

I liked Gwennore even though I felt bad for her. She was not accepted outside of her sisters because she was an Elf. That whole scene with those Lords made me mad. She was too sweet to even stick up for herself and she refused to let Brody shift and bite them. I did think that when she spoke Novreshkaish, it was a little odd. But when she told Silas where she learned it from, I laughed. She was speaking like they did centuries before. I liked that she was willing to do anything to find a cure for the curse that was affecting Novreshka. I figured out her parentage fairly early in the book. I did think it took her a little longer to figure out the connection between Puff and Silas. I figured it out before her…lol.

I loved Silas. I thought he was awesome the entire book. He would do anything for his family. But if it crossed a line, which kidnapping Gwennore’s niece did, he was willing to right the wrong. He was such a mystery in the first half of the book. I liked how the author gradually leaked his background. His biggest secret, though, I guessed halfway through the book. I like it when the main character can make me laugh. Silas certainly did. He was a cheeky bugger.

There is Instalove in Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon. I don’t like Instalove. I know most people do but I like a believable romance. One where the love is built up. Not one where all it takes is one look and bam, you are in love. Strangely, it does work in Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon. But just because it works, doesn’t mean I will start liking Instalove.

The chemistry between Gwennore and Silas was off the charts off. The author did a great job of maintaining that spark between them until they had sex. And let me tell you about the sex. Holy crap was it good. Silas couldn’t have picked a better place to deflower Gwennore. At their version of the North Pole, under the Northern lights. It was beautiful and unbelievably sexy.

What I didn’t like was that past books were referenced. While the author did a great job of following up with an explanation about what the characters were talking about, I still felt that I was out of the loop.

I loved how the author kept the secret of the dragons a secret until almost the end of the book. Saying that I did guess the secret halfway through the book. I also liked how the author connected that secret to the issues that had befallen the kings and queens. It made for a very interesting read.

The end of the book was not what I expected. It was a bittersweet ending. Silas’s happiness was tempered by something that happened towards the end of the book. The author ended Silas and Gwennore’s romance in a way that satisfied me. But she didn’t end all the storylines. She left enough leeway that you know there will be a book 4. I am wondering if it will be Maeve or Sorcha???

What I liked about Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon:

A) Fun, flirty storyline

B) Gwennore and Silas’s romance

C) Plot twists were kept secret until they were revealed

What I didn’t like about Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon:

A) 3rd book in a series

B) Instalove

C) Past books were referenced and leaving me confused

I would give Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon an Adult rating. This is a book that I wouldn’t let anyone under the age of 21 read. There are explicit sex and violence. No language. There is one scene where a man is pushed into a boiling hot spring and boiled alive. I didn’t easily get that scene out of my mind.

There are trigger warnings in this book. They would be: kidnapping, murder and attempted murder. If you are triggered by any of these, I would suggest not to read the book.

I would recommend Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon to family and friends. I would include a warning about the triggers. I would reread this book and I would happily read the rest of the series.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Paperbacks, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon.

All opinions stated in this review of Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Book three in Sparks’ Embraced series-Eight Simple Rules for Dating A Dragon- takes elven healer Gwennore on an adventure to meet her destiny when a rogue dragon breaches the island she lives on and kidnaps her niece, princess Eviana. Gwennore grabs hold the dragon and hangs on for dear life. Once landed, she learns she is in Norveshka, the land of dragons, and at the mercy of a mad queen whose madness demands her dragons find her replacements for her lost children.

General Gorgeous aka Silas Dravenko who is trying to save his country and queen from dying. When he learns of Gwen’s gifts, he offers her a deal. If she will use her skills to help break the supposed curse surrounding his people, he will make sure the princess is returned safely to her parents.

A somewhat controversial relationship begins between them as Gwen struggles with her attraction to Silas, her gift, and her own feelings of coming home while in Norveshka while Silas tries to understand how he could fall head over heels with his sworn enemy-an elf.

Though I have enjoyed book one of this series, I was rather underwhelmed with this story overall. The engaging characters, silly tongue in cheek humor, and an extremely slow burning romance came out strong but slowly faltered and dissolved into a juvenile whine as the story progressed. The narrative flips from funny to moronic in a heartbeat. One character constantly talks about jumping men’s bones while another hints at the heroine being a whore in order to save her life. The one-liners and character caricatures overreached at times and fell flat.

The story finds its groove early on, blending the romance and the main plotline perfectly. Gwennore is a young elf who is one of the Embraced. She was taken from her home and left on an island to be raised with other young women of various races. She has never left the island so all this is very strange and somewhat frightening for her. Her time in Norveshka deals with more than just a 500-year-old curse. She finds herself having to finally deal with her feelings concerning her abandonment by her people and her sexuality while stepping out of her comfort zone to make friends who aren’t part of the embraced legend. I liked that she stood firm in her beliefs through her constant hot and cold attitude over Silas grew tiresome.

Silas is a shapeshifting dragon whose people are dying due to what he believes is a plague rather than a curse. Considered one of the “three cursed clans,” his loyalty to the royal family is boundless and his relationship with his comrades is a delight. I admired his willingness to do almost anything to save the royal family though I did have a hard time dealing with how pushy he was concerning his attraction to Gwen and all the secrets he kept from her. I understood some of his rationale (his being a dragon and such) but the implications he made to everyone that he and Gwen were lovers and his repeated efforts to coerce her into a sexual relationship after she kept telling him no made me annoyed me.

The plotlines themselves had so much potential with the appearance of an old foe and his use of the curse but it is more talk than show and the addition of ridiculous scenarios and scenes in order to fluff out the story made no sense and only weighed the story down.

A cornucopia of interesting characters weave in and out of the story to help, hinder, or just plain annoy. I liked meeting Silas’ army buddies and seeing a secondary romance blossom. Gwen’s sisters remain a constant in her life and never let her forget she is loved. I will admit I had no idea what the trolls and trees were all about and frankly there had to be a better way to promote equality then running around telling people to ‘join the military-you can sleep with all the men you want.’ The coup de grace concerning the chameleon was rushed and anticlimactic.

While I’m sure die-hard fans of Sparks and this series will be thrilled with this couple and expansions to the world and arc, I’m going to bow out here.

Grade: C-

Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon by Kerrelyn Sparks is book three of The Embraced series. Starting with the third book presented no issues for me, I was able to follow the plot without feeling I was missing things, even when the characters referred to what most likely occurred in past books. Gwennor is an Elf, a race which is the sworn enemy of the Norveshka people. Through happenstance, Gwen finds herself on Norveshka helping General Silas find a cure for the ancient curse afflicting his people.

This book was lighthearted, funny and sweet which was such fun for me. The banter between Silas and Gwen and the rest of the characters for that matter kept a smile on my face most of the novel. The couples were adorable. When events were more serious, it never became too dark which was appropriate for the setting.

The mystery alongside the love story was quite enjoyable and kept me guessing. What I most liked about it is in a world of mages and shifters, their problems were resolved in part by real-world applications. This approach helped ground the story to reality in unexpected and interesting ways.

Any issues I had, which were mainly due to Gwen being slightly too naive for my taste, was due to personal preferences. I was able to overlook it and have a good time reading Gwen and Silas's story. They were well paired and quite sexy. I received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions are my own and may not be identical to others. I urge all readers to come to their own conclusions.

I have read the earlier stories in the Embraced series and am familiar with the world of Aerthlan and its five kingdoms but this is a stand alone story of Gwennore, an elf and a healer, and her stay with the people of Norveshka and the very handsome General Silas. There's always some humor to go along with the very serious conditions at Draven Castle and the problems of the royal family. An explanation is found for Gwennore's ability to communicate telepathically with the dragons and a solution is found for the infertility of the people of Norveshka. More clues are given about the identity of the Chameleon and his ambitions. I really enjoyed this story!

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an ARC; all opinions are my own.

I loved reading this book! We got another happy couple, and we got to check in with familiar faces, like it's the twins 3rd birthday at the beginning of this book, and the number 3 made an appearance at the end of the previous one!

So there were kinda 2 things that gave away the surprise-the title, and the synopsis. The whole, dating a dragon, that only works if Silas was the dragon, but Gwennore didn't know that. On the other hand, us knowing made the anticipation of how she'd find out even better! Loved that she figured it out instead of being told!

Mainly in this book, was the mystery of what was causing the Queen to go insane, instead of the curse that they all believe. But also investigating the curse and the history, that was pretty epic! Loved watching Gwennore solve something about 500 years old!

Each book, there's being the shifter dude. And in this book, we got a more broader look at the bad guys. That was really great because it's bigger than just the one kingdom. The threat is bigger, and yeah, hopefully it'll take about 2 more books to solve it, for the 2 more sisters!

Loved this book so much, and I really hope we get more books in this series!

This is one of my favorite authors I love all of her books and this is no exemption. If you love a good dragon book with a side of spicy Elf this is for you.

This book was a fun, light-hearted read! It was an enjoyable way to relax after a long day at work. It wasn't horrible, or mind-changing, but instead was a solid easy read.

The novel is a little predictable but it was perfect read for a difficult day. My only issue was the excessive name dropping of other characters in the series. I read book one and missed out on the second one. This novel starts off with a small summary and description of everyone (which was helpful) until past villians and storylines were mentioned later on like you were supposed to recgonize them. Even having read the first novel I couldn't remember the specifics required for this third installment. I found that I started skipping those scenes with mentions in them until I got to fresh material.

But overall I did enjoy this book! I just wish there was either A) less mentions of past books without describing WHY I should know/remember this or B) a conclusive summary at the beginning of EVERYTHING the author was going to mention (unlike the very brief summary of one plot point in the prologue).

Great Book!!!!!!!
Fast Read, couldn't put it down.

What a gem!  Take one sweet heroine, a charming flirtatious alpha hero, a unique paranormal world and a dash of intrigue (with some dragon dating rules on the side LOL) and you’ve got the fantastic Book 3 in The Embraced series!  I was a bit worried because it was apparent right away that there was quite a bit of back story with the first 2 books.  But Kerrelyn Sparks does an amazing job summing it up so you’re not left feeling lost.  So, this can definitely be read as a standalone and is from alternate POV.

Gwen is a self-conscious elf with low self esteem due to past prejudices. Even so, she has an inner strength that, as the story progresses, helps her build confidence.  Which definitely comes in handy because she has a lot on her plate.

Having medicinal skills and healing powers make Gwen uniquely suited to help a desperate Silas find answers to a family curse. On top of that, it’s apparent that the people are suffering from some ailment that could mean the demise of a people. Gwen can’t ignore the problems if she can help in any way.  So between navigating her new surroundings as the only elf in a foreign kingdom and striving to find answers to a mysterious curse, she’s a busy gal!  But she’s determined…and of course drooling all over the gorgeous general Silas doesn’t help. LOL

While Gwen is completely endearing, Silas, in my opinion, really makes the story shine.  He’s a protective mischievous alpha male who’s quick to playfully tease and smile.

But he’s not all games.  He’s strong, thoughtful and willing to put himself on the line to do the right thing for his family and the kingdom.  I was constantly looking forward to Silas’s POV.  His charisma drew me in and held me fast from start to finish!

Gwen and Silas were made for each other.  They had some serious chemistry and as time passed they slowly come to the realization that they can’t be apart. The two characters played off each other beautifully and kept me invested in them as a couple.

I was also impressed with the world building.  There is a romance but it doesn’t overshadow the plot either.  This balance left room for the secondary characters to thrive and gain depth. I adored the secondary characters! There were a couple of slightly cheesy scenes that seemed a bit out of place and random; but not terrible.  It’s the only reason I brought the rating down half a star.

Ultimately this was a truly fun read that I’d recommend to any and all paranormal romance junkies!  I for one have now added Books 1 and 2 to my leaning tower of TBR list.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from St. Martin's Press.

Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon by Kerrelyn Sparks
Book Three of The Embraced series
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Rating: 3 stars
Source: eARC from NetGalley

I would recommend this series to others. This was a book that brought a big smile to my face as I turned the pages. I loved that there was just a bit of humor mixed into the story at just the right times. I cannot wait to read more books in this fun series.

Delightul, fun read that has motivated me to reserve copies of first two books in the "embraced" series from my library.

While I enjoyed the characters and plot, my only major criticism of the book was that the pov(point of view) would switch abruptly mid chapter between the protagonists without any paragraph spacing. This was momentarily confusing and disruptive to this reader Having been provided courtesy of the publisher an eGalley of this title, I can only comment upon the galley proof. Perhaps this may have been fixed in finished product.
However, this problem does not refer me from recommending this title.

Full disclosure : This title was provided by publisher without any expectations or compensation for this review.
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