Cover Image: Dirty Lying Dragons

Dirty Lying Dragons

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

What a fun book! I have to say I got this book based on the title because what else could it be but a fun ride--with dragons! And it lived up to all my expectations. The characters were funny at the right times, the quirks of the cast of characters were funny and adorable, and the exciting, serious times were balanced with humor and delightful banter. The book's pacing was good, sort of a medium fast; I never felt bogged down or rushed. Knowing the different ways of the fae, dragons, werewolves, and vampires was excellent. I really enjoyed the way Sabrina Blackberry crafted her world and how it worked. There is a mystery, romance, fated mates (I love this), and a humongous battle scene I found very well crafted and super thrilling. I definitely want to go back and read Dirty Lying Faeries and whatever comes after this book. Trust me when I say if you enjoy a paranormal, urban fantasy, rom-com adventure---this is for you!

Was this review helpful?

I am obsessed with this series. This second installment is just as amazing as the first! I cannot get enough of these characters and the amazing magic system and world that has can be created here. I love Ryker and Dani and their bond. I adore the secondary characters (especially Ferdie) and love how the two books tied together. I cannot wait to see what happens next in this series!!

Was this review helpful?

I received this book for free for an honest unbiased review from Netgalley.

I wish more books were this well written. Characters were witty and the setting fantastic.

Was this review helpful?

If you enjoy paranormal books featuring a witch with spelling problems , shifters on her trail and a dragon drawn in to protect her , leading to a sizzling romance - then this book is for you .
There is no need to read the previous book in the series as, in my opinion , this book can be read as a standalone
- although reading the first book would give the reader a better understanding of crossover characters

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

Was this review helpful?

Really enjoyed this book!! Enjoyed the first one Dirty Lying Faeries and thought this was a book completely different from the first set in same place but it ties in a lot of characters from the first book also which I loved!
Really like this authors writing style and liked the main character. The main love interest though was so good! Who doesn't want the main love interest to be a hot dragon shifter.
This one had a lot more supernatural beings in compared to the first one also which was cool and really expanded the world.
If you love a fated fantasy romance you must read these books.

Was this review helpful?

I was immediately intrigued when Dirty Lying Faeries was preceded by Dirty Lying Dragons. I mean Dragon shifters are bae, lets be real. I did enjoy this one, because it delved into many different type of creatures and expanded the world to something you could really sink your teeth into.

My only issue is that this was a lot of plot. I would have enjoyed a little more time exploring the relationship between Dani & Ryker. Also the middle of the story you can see coming a mile away, which is fine, but it broke up the reading a little bit for me.

I will be continuing in the series, and I hope that Jerod is next :)

Thank you to Netgalley and Wattpad for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I was worried that I might have to read the first book in this series, The Enchanted Fates. I found that you can read this book without reading the first book. I enjoy this book. I love the main characters and side characters. The story was great. I will have to pick up the first book in the series to see if I missed anything important.

Was this review helpful?

What a fantastic sequel to the first of the series! I don’t think you even need to have read the first book in order to enjoy this one. It almost reads like its own series of books, with so much jammed in!

Dani is a malfunctioning witch. She’s always had trouble with spells and has a bit of baggage where witchcraft is concerned. As a lone witch, she ends up being hunted down by wolf shifters when an evil vampire gets it in his head to collect witches without a coven. On the run, magic malfunctioning, Dani ends up appearing in Ryker’s sanctuary far, far away.

Ryker has his own secrets and baggage but can’t seem to pass up helping the lost witch. They end up with a bit of a truce that grows into a sizzling chemistry neither acts upon. At a pivotal moment, though, trust is formed and it seems inevitable that these two will wind up together. As I said, this is almost like 2 books in one because we have a big culmination about mid-way through the story that then makes the last half that much higher stakes. There is romance, action, oodles of paranormals, and, yes, a HEA all rolled into one book I’d definitely recommend.

Was this review helpful?

What a fun read. An explosive witch and a grumpy dragon make quite a pair. Especially when she falls into his lap (literally) by accident. Fae, witches, warlocks, wolves and dragons all bring this wonderful world to life. I received an ARC copy of this book.

Was this review helpful?

Rating: 4.5/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

What would you do if you were running for your life and you had to do a spell to take you somewhere safe, but you knew that magic did not work for you the way you always wanted. You do make it away from the people trying to kidnap you, but now you find yourself in a weird country with a weird…but sexy as all get up male. You can tell something is off with him, but you can’t seem to figure it out and you two bond over the two weeks you are there waiting for his friend to come back to visit him…

I thought the first book, Dirty Lying Faeries, was great, but this book was way better for me. I loved all the action, the drama, the romance, the focus on strong FMC and of course the sexy as all get up dragon. I thought the plot was well developed and had a great pace to it. I enjoyed that this author knows how to paint a picture with her words, and I loved being able to feel like I was there in the story with the characters.

I love that the characters in her books have growth in them, even if it’s something at first you don’t see the changes that they take throughout the book. I thought Dani was a fun character, I wouldn’t mind having her as a friend. I loved getting to see her strength come along throughout the book and seeing her confidence grow. I loved the banter between the characters so much and it made the book a lot more fun to see that snarky, sassy way to the characters, mostly Dani and Ryker, Ryker and Jerod and Gavin. I would say more with the growth of Ryker but honestly, it was Dani that had the most growth in this book and with the plot showing strong female characters I can understand that.

I can not wait until the next book comes out because of that ending, giving us a small glimpse of what and why Jerod needs help from Dani and Ryker… I need book three and soon please lol.

I want to thank NetGalley and Wattpad for the opportunity to review this book.

Was this review helpful?

Heat Factor: shrug emoji

Character Chemistry: I’m getting whiplash

Plot: He’s a dragon who normally can’t be bothered but decides to get nosy, and she’s a coven-less witch being hunted by werewolves seeking a bounty from a really bad vampire

Overall: DNF at Chapter 8

So, as I was reading Dirty Lying Dragons, I also was reading another book, and Dirty Lying Dragons was not going so well for me, but other than the very clear editorial errors (missing words, words used incorrectly, things I wouldn’t typically flag in an ARC if everything else is pretty good because it is possible that line editing could have happened after the ARCs were released) I couldn’t figure out exactly what my problem was.

Then I realized that by 15% of the way into that other book—the exact same amount of book consumed in both cases at that point—I was already totally clear on 1) MC1’s characterization, 2) MC1’s big issue, 3) MC2’s characterization, 4) MC2’s big issue, and 5) the trouble the couple would have as the story progressed. In the case of Dirty Lying Dragons, I had some notions, but a lot of things were still ambiguous. Or even slightly contradictory. By the 15% mark in that other book, I also had a clear sense of relationship trajectory that was definitely not present in Dirty Lying Dragons. What I mean by that is simply that in this other book there was no jumping back and forth between thoughts and feelings. We began with grumpiness and consistently peeled back layers, growing into, eventually, love. By contrast, the whole: “I’m gonna snarl, but he’s hot, so I like him, but he’s annoying, so I’m feeling snarly, but he’s still not wearing clothes, and he did a humane thing, so I’m feeling generous toward him again” in Dirty Lying Dragons was giving me whiplash.

Add to that the fact that the only action that’s occurred so far in DLD occurred in Chapter 1, when Dani was attacked and magicked into Siberia, but I am now at Chapter 8 and we have been cooking a lot of meat and sitting in a lot of hot springs and eyeing each other with skepticism (and lust), and…just…what are we doing? Why have we spent 6 chapters (short chapters, granted) sitting with the characters who are having the same thought patterns over and over? Ryker looks really hot without his shirt on? This is brand new information! I definitely haven’t been processing that emotion since Chapter 2! /sarcasm

It’s one thing to intentionally have the reader sit with the characters in a limited setting as a means of building intimacy (hello forced proximity trope!), and I suspect that’s what Blackburry was trying to do here. In order for Ryker’s betrayal to have any teeth, he and Dani are first going to have to overcome his ambivalence and her antipathy. But instead of allowing this to unfold over time, every feeling is happening paragraph to paragraph (or even sentence to sentence). For example:

"On the surface we bickered, but it was nice of him to let me stay. To show me the area, to keep me company, and to show me the hot spring. He’d bandaged me when I got here too."

Dani, come on, tell me who you are! Are you a prickly, mistrustful loner? Or are you a rational person who enjoys a snappy conversation and sees the best in people? Beyond an unclear characterization, this is a missed opportunity to flesh out the relationship by giving us (the readers) the nuance of how these situations are making Dani feel and how she’s reading Ryker. Or vice versa for Ryker’s POV. Here’s another example:

"We stared for a heavy moment before a sly grin spread across his face.

"“I could get used to this, coming home to a hot meal.”

"His teasing made me put up an attitude as a defense, which only spurred on his amusement. Hot as he may be, he was also a fucking bastard."

Why don’t we actually get to experience Dani’s reactive defensive attitude? It would be much more impactful if this situation were written as a conversation in which Dani’s normal instincts are at war with her gut reaction to Ryker. He’s a jerk who also does nice things! I’m so confused! This is telling rather than showing in a nutshell.

So here we are, sitting in a cabin in Siberia with absolutely no stakes whatsoever—because even if those werewolves are still looking for Dani, it’s not like they’re imminently going to show up in a place that is on a different continent, across an ocean, unknown to anyone but one other guy—and we’re on an emotional roller coaster with Dani and Ryker going nowhere. Dani and Ryker could build intimacy while traveling—the forced proximity would still be present as long as they’re in the wilderness and we would have some action to go with it—or this could be a completely different book that relies on an emotional growth plotline instead of an action plotline and Dani and Ryker could figure themselves out in this cabin for two weeks. As it stands, I have no motivation to continue, because what if the next chapter is just more cooking meat and more staring at Ryker’s chest? I don’t deserve that.

I also should note that when the vampires are the bad guys, I have a little eek moment wondering if their representation is going to be based on ideas (dating back even to before Bram Stoker) that are rooted in antisemitism. I didn’t get far enough here to see what’s going on with these vampires, and all things being better I might have stuck it out to find out. As it is, the addition of this concern is just another tick in the “just DNF it” column.

Everything I know about this story sounds like a good idea. Dani is in a dire situation, being hunted for this vampire dude for unknown and presumably nefarious purposes. Her powers are not what they should be, which is mysterious and intriguing (because my understanding of generic verisimilitude tells me that this could be IMPORTANT). Ryker is planning to use Dani as bait, so you know that’s going to blow up in his face. And why is this Apollo guy abducting covenless witches? What terrible things do we have to look forward to? Also—and the reason I picked up this book in the first place—RYKER IS A DRAGON! I really like dragons! But, look, a story can have a good foundation but the presentation falls flat, and that was the case here.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Was this review helpful?

What a fun book! I have to say I got this book based on the title because what else could it be but a fun ride--with dragons! And it lived up to all my expectations. The characters were funny at the right times, the quirks of the cast of characters were funny and adorable, and the exciting, serious times were balanced with humor and delightful banter. The book's pacing was good, sort of a medium fast; I never felt bogged down or rushed. Knowing the different ways of the fae, dragons, werewolves, and vampires was excellent. I really enjoyed the way Sabrina Blackberry crafted her world and how it worked. There is a mystery, romance, fated mates (I love this), and a humongous battle scene I found very well crafted and super thrilling. I definitely want to go back and read Dirty Lying Faeries and whatever comes after this book. Trust me when I say if you enjoy a paranormal, urban fantasy, rom-com adventure---this is for you!

Was this review helpful?

This one was so funny and witty, I absolutely loved it. A great follow up to Dirty Lying Faeries. I also loved all the mention of, ‘wait you’re not fae, right?’. Such a great book that I will be recommending!

Was this review helpful?

***4.0 Stars***

Overall,
This book was even better than the first. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the FMC and MMC. This book has everything fantasy romance lover like. Broody MMC, fated mates, etc. The side characters we also great. I found myself laughing out loud at some parts and the overall story is pretty fast paced.

Recommendation,
This can be read as a standalone in the series. If you love fantasy romance I would definitely recommend this book.

***Thank you Netgalley and Wattpad books for the chance to read this book early.***

Was this review helpful?

This is the captivating continuation of the Enchanted Fates series, and I was impressed. The narrative follows Dani, a struggling young witch pursued relentlessly by werewolves at the behest of a formidable vampire. By a twist of fate, she finds herself in the company of Ryker, an enigmatic dragon characterized by his wit. Their connection deepens, unveiling Dani's secret and triggering a profound transformation. When Dani falls into her pursuers' clutches, Ryker's intervention sparks a revelation that alters the course of events. This novel masterfully weaves mystery, romance, and humor into urban fantasy. Introducing Jerod, an endearing yet sassy dog, adds an extra layer of charm. The narrative's pacing, striking a harmonious blend of intense action and character evolution, held my attention throughout. As the supernatural realm expands and familiar faces reappear, Dirty Lying Dragons paves the way for an eagerly awaited sequel, Dirty Lying Wolves.

Was this review helpful?

This is the second book in the series and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT! We get to see characters from Dirty Lying Faeries make appearances. Ryker and Dani had awesome chemistry for the romance part of the book but the mystery really grabs you and pulls you in!

Was this review helpful?

Amazing story!! The first was a great story, but this one is even better! A few characters from the first novel make a small appearance which was so great to see them again!! Highly recommend for any Fantasy Lover.

Was this review helpful?

I loved the story. Any story with Dragons. I love the plot, humor, and characters. I love the dog in this book.
It was a wonderful story and I want to read more from this author.

Was this review helpful?

Really liked this book, the lead was likable and engaging and the story flowed nicely and was engaging.

Was this review helpful?

I had a really really hard time getting into this and I found it really repetitive at times. When Dani is trying to guess what Ryker is, she guesses Fae like 4 times. But then he talks about how sharp she is.. it just didn't quite make sense to me.

I also had a really hard time connecting with the characters. I liked the sass and the banter, but I just couldn't get into the story. The key elements were there and I liked the idea, but it felt a little disjointed at times. The first 25% of the book was really just Dani trying to guess what Ryker was.

I also would've liked more worldbuilding - I understand that this is an urban fantasy, but it just didn't FEEL much like a fantasy to me, and I was a little confused with the hierarchy of species.

Long story short, I didn't hate this book, I just felt that it wasn't for me. I spent most of my time confused or waiting for something to happen and just didn't get that "oh my god I need to know what happens next" feeling. I probably wouldn't recommend to a friend, so I won't be leaving a review on social media.

Was this review helpful?