One Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron (Heartstrikers #2)
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Self-published by Aaron/Bach, LLC on August 1, 2015
Source: Author
Thank you very much to Rachel Aaron – and her very nice husband, Travis Bach – for providing me with a digital review copy. No compensation was provided for this review, and all opinions are my own.
After barely escaping the machinations of his terrifying mother, two all knowing seers, and countless bloodthirsty siblings, the last thing Julius wants to see is another dragon. View Spoiler »
Rachel Aaron’s ONE GOOD DRAGON DESERVES ANOTHER is witty, fresh, and fun. A sequel that expands on world building, characters, and the series plot makes this one a winner.
Our story opens two months after the events of the first book and Julius Heartstriker and his human mage friend Marci are hiding out in the DFZ. Who are they hiding from? Depends who you ask, but anyone bearing the name of Julius’ dragon clan –Heartstriker – is someone to avoid so far as he’s concerned. But family is tough to dodge even at the best of times, so when you’ve got scores of draconic brothers and sisters there’s no hiding out for long. Sooner than Julius would like his family are back in the picture, dragging the “Nice Dragon” into dragon clan politics – and maybe even war.
If there’s one thing clan Heartstriker is good at it’s getting into trouble and stepping on toes…and chopping off heads. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when Estella, dragon Seer and the de facto head of the Three Sisters clan, starts targeting the Heartstrikers directly. While our protagonists Julius and Marci are worried, the matriarch of the clan Bethesda doesn’t bat a single heavily mascaraed eyelash. After all, what does a powerful clan of almost a hundred dragons have to fear from Estella? But all bets are off when a Seer gets involved…
Fan favourites Bob and Chelsie are back and better than ever in ONE GOOD DRAGON DESERVES ANOTHER, taking a more active role in Julius’ life. I adored both characters in the first book, but getting a peek at their individual motivations and agendas was fascinating! I love the fact that Heartstriker’s enforcer is a woman, since that role is typically reserved for male characters; Chelsie can definitely kick some serious dragon ass, which we get to see in multiple wonderfully written battle scenes. You go girl!
The other badass lady in ONE GOOD DRAGON DESERVES ANOTHER is of course Marci, the most lovable character ever. It’s not easy being a human in a dragon’s world, especially one with a sassy attitude. Her magical brilliance, cunning, and audacity are actually all draconic characteristics, now that I think about it. She’d make a great dragon. But aside from helping out her BFF/potential BF Julius, Marci has her own problems to deal with. For one thing, her spirit cat Ghost has been acting very strange indeed…and may not actually be a spirit cat after all. I’ll not spoil the surprise but holy crap were Marci and Ghost’s scenes together awesome!
Marci’s magical abilities and her relationship with the spirit cat led to my favourite relationship in this book: the tentative alliance between Marci and Amelia Hearstriker. That’s right, we finally get to meet a member of the illustrious ‘A’ clutch, Bethesda’s first group of children. And Amelia does not disappoint! The hard-drinking, magic-wielding dragoness is a perfect counterpoint to her more controlled siblings. And I loved seeing her geek out about magic with Marci!
As if the fabulous characters weren’t enough, the plot of ONE GOOD DRAGON DESERVES ANOTHER was also compelling and unpredictable. The major plot arc wraps up with enough detail to satisfy, and then some major game changers are introduced in the epilogue. No cliffhanger, just intriguing stuff! I have burning questions that need to be answered in the third book. These questions include:
- How will clan Heartstriker respond to a certain spirit throwing down the gauntlet?
- Will Julius ever get up the nerve to ask Marci on a date? Preferably one that doesn’t involve tank badgers?
- And finally, what the heck happened with Chelsie in China?!
Suffice it to say that after ONE GOOD DRAGON DESERVES ANOTHER, I’m eagerly anticipating the third book. There’s something for everyone in this wholly unique series: humour, heart, and seriously great characters. If you’re not already reading the Heartstrikers series, do yourself a favour and pick it up!