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Dragon Training #1
Dragon Food
LGBT Fantasy Paranormal
Something is hunting along the Gulf coast of Florida, and Mark Tavery is tasked with finding it. His expertise in dragons is his pride, but he can’t say the same about his romantic relationships. When he picks up a lamp during his investigation, he’s shocked at his instant attraction to, and all-consuming need for, the genie inside.
The genie, Luke, enjoying his attraction to his newest master, is intent on giving Mark nothing less than his heart’s desire. Mark’s greatest desire is to have Luke in his life and in his bed, but he refuses to acknowledge this because loving Luke means letting out the demons locked in his heart. Giving in to the promise in Luke’s words and touch means he runs the risk of killing the genie he loves.
Publisher's This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find D/s elements, dubious consent, male/male sexual practices, violence.
Something is hunting along the Gulf coast of Florida, and Mark Tavery is tasked with finding it. His expertise in dragons is his pride, but he can’t say the same about his romantic relationships. When he picks up a lamp during his investigation, he’s shocked at his instant attraction to, and all-consuming need for, the genie inside.
The genie, Luke, enjoying his attraction to his newest master, is intent on giving Mark nothing less than his heart’s desire. Mark’s greatest desire is to have Luke in his life and in his bed, but he refuses to acknowledge this because loving Luke means letting out the demons locked in his heart. Giving in to the promise in Luke’s words and touch means he runs the risk of killing the genie he loves.
Publisher's This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find D/s elements, dubious consent, male/male sexual practices, violence.
273 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 22, 2011
2 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Emily Carrington
87 books21 followersFrom website:
Hi, I’m Emily Carrington. I’ve been writing gay erotic romance since 2011. I currently live in Western New York with my Labrador and her kitten. Her name is Jules Catisdy, named for the Suzanne Brockmann character, Jules Cassidy. I also have a cat named Neko, which is Japanese for cat. I attended my first Romance Writers of America conference in 2007, met the chief editor from Loose Id, Llc, was inspired by an impromptu visit with Suzanne Brockmann, and the rest is a bit of queer history.
I have written over 20 gay romances, 4 trans romances and I am branching out into lesbian romances.
Hi, I’m Emily Carrington. I’ve been writing gay erotic romance since 2011. I currently live in Western New York with my Labrador and her kitten. Her name is Jules Catisdy, named for the Suzanne Brockmann character, Jules Cassidy. I also have a cat named Neko, which is Japanese for cat. I attended my first Romance Writers of America conference in 2007, met the chief editor from Loose Id, Llc, was inspired by an impromptu visit with Suzanne Brockmann, and the rest is a bit of queer history.
I have written over 20 gay romances, 4 trans romances and I am branching out into lesbian romances.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 12, 2011
1 star: A book with a lot of potential that fell flat due to immature writing.
Cover - typical Loose id, nipples/pecs no faces. Neither attractive nor discouraging.
M/C's - Mark, works as a "field-tist" (scientist in the field) for Searchlight, an organization that seems to hunt/control/monitor paranormal beings. Luke, a genie who lives in a lamp for 20 years at a time. Also, the bad dragon. 3rd person POV alternates between the three of them.
I almost gave up on this several times, but skimmed through to the end just to see how it wrapped up. I'd have to describe the writing as immature. A lot of repetition, conveniences, tiresome personality vagaries and characters who were written as though the author couldn't make up her mind as to just what their personality traits were.
Examples of writing that made me stop, shake my head and re-read:
"It excited him: his nipples, his mind…"
OR
"He dropped his gaze to the gutter. 'Go away. Stay away. I don‟t want to kill you.' Luke crouched beside him and drew his hands from his face. 'Let me clean you up.' Mark tried to smile. 'Yeah. This has got to be pretty gross. Go ahead.'"
There were annoying inconsistencies. Here are a couple:
Benji's falling scales will smell, but he moves into a hotel. Uterine blood should satisfy him for a long time, but he's still hungry after killing a menstruating prostitute. Or: Mark masturbates in the library then later holds a book over his crotch so anyone walking by won't see his erection. Shouldn't he have worried about that earlier?
The main characters' emotions run through a steadily revolving door. One minute Mark is fearful and cringing, the next he's sorry for that, then he's helplessly aroused. Luke is sweet and understanding, which could lickety-split become angry and aloof, then he's hopelessly aroused but fighting it, then giving in, but then he remembers something from fifty years ago and his mind drifts off.
Exposition for convenience: It seemed that Luke had certain powers or limitations that popped up as needed for the plot.
I felt frequently confused about things. One example: Mark's confrontation with the water dragon ends with him giving the dragon a card, telling him to stop killing people and call Searchlight for more nutritious blood. I think this was supposed to be an example of Mark's awesome powers of persuasion, but it felt flat.
Erections are rampant and not in a good way. Mark and Luke get aroused all the time. I think this was supposed to reflect their attraction to each other but, man, it was tiresome.
This phrase used more than a couple of times: "impaled him on his mouth." What does that mean?
The passage of time is confusing - it's afternoon, it's midnight, suddenly its 18 hours later, then a month.
Here's a selection, with my mental comments in brackets, to give an idea of what happened as I read this book:
It never occurred to him to ask Luke for research help. [Why the hell not? Luke's a genie, been around a thousand years, knows all about dragons] The genie, after all, had enough to worry about. [This is true. But those worries had to do with dragons. Which Mark needs to research] Apparently one of those worries was how to get Mark back into a sexual frame of mind despite the danger popping up all over this little corner of the Sunshine State. [Because thinking about sex is so appropriate when you might be dead by dragon at any moment]
Luke had cornered him no less than six times in ten hours, [I shudder to be reminded of algebra] which was impressive considering how often Mark was surrounded by terrified magical beings and other concerned agents. Luke had surprised him into openmouthed kisses four of those six times, and
while Mark might have pretended this was forced and unwanted contact, he
couldn‟t, because he‟d jumped Luke three times, once fervently enough to knock
over a water pitcher. Those “jumps” hadn‟t involved sex, but kisses? Oh yes. And
even a little bold petting. From both of them. [Maybe if your fetish involves numbers you find this passage erotic or romantic]
Nose buried in the local magical history, he rubbed absently at his erection,
realized what he was doing, and blushed. [The roving erection strikes again]
Mark haz secrets. The author works very hard to let hints and innuendos drip through the story until this reader wanted to scream, "Get on with it already. I have it figured out." I think this is a mistake new authors make as they are trying to make their tale an interesting one, as they try to grab the reader's attention and keep them guessing at things.
The idea was a good one, executed poorly.
Cover - typical Loose id, nipples/pecs no faces. Neither attractive nor discouraging.
M/C's - Mark, works as a "field-tist" (scientist in the field) for Searchlight, an organization that seems to hunt/control/monitor paranormal beings. Luke, a genie who lives in a lamp for 20 years at a time. Also, the bad dragon. 3rd person POV alternates between the three of them.
I almost gave up on this several times, but skimmed through to the end just to see how it wrapped up. I'd have to describe the writing as immature. A lot of repetition, conveniences, tiresome personality vagaries and characters who were written as though the author couldn't make up her mind as to just what their personality traits were.
Examples of writing that made me stop, shake my head and re-read:
"It excited him: his nipples, his mind…"
OR
"He dropped his gaze to the gutter. 'Go away. Stay away. I don‟t want to kill you.' Luke crouched beside him and drew his hands from his face. 'Let me clean you up.' Mark tried to smile. 'Yeah. This has got to be pretty gross. Go ahead.'"
There were annoying inconsistencies. Here are a couple:
Benji's falling scales will smell, but he moves into a hotel. Uterine blood should satisfy him for a long time, but he's still hungry after killing a menstruating prostitute. Or: Mark masturbates in the library then later holds a book over his crotch so anyone walking by won't see his erection. Shouldn't he have worried about that earlier?
The main characters' emotions run through a steadily revolving door. One minute Mark is fearful and cringing, the next he's sorry for that, then he's helplessly aroused. Luke is sweet and understanding, which could lickety-split become angry and aloof, then he's hopelessly aroused but fighting it, then giving in, but then he remembers something from fifty years ago and his mind drifts off.
Exposition for convenience: It seemed that Luke had certain powers or limitations that popped up as needed for the plot.
I felt frequently confused about things. One example: Mark's confrontation with the water dragon ends with him giving the dragon a card, telling him to stop killing people and call Searchlight for more nutritious blood. I think this was supposed to be an example of Mark's awesome powers of persuasion, but it felt flat.
Erections are rampant and not in a good way. Mark and Luke get aroused all the time. I think this was supposed to reflect their attraction to each other but, man, it was tiresome.
This phrase used more than a couple of times: "impaled him on his mouth." What does that mean?
The passage of time is confusing - it's afternoon, it's midnight, suddenly its 18 hours later, then a month.
Here's a selection, with my mental comments in brackets, to give an idea of what happened as I read this book:
It never occurred to him to ask Luke for research help. [Why the hell not? Luke's a genie, been around a thousand years, knows all about dragons] The genie, after all, had enough to worry about. [This is true. But those worries had to do with dragons. Which Mark needs to research] Apparently one of those worries was how to get Mark back into a sexual frame of mind despite the danger popping up all over this little corner of the Sunshine State. [Because thinking about sex is so appropriate when you might be dead by dragon at any moment]
Luke had cornered him no less than six times in ten hours, [I shudder to be reminded of algebra] which was impressive considering how often Mark was surrounded by terrified magical beings and other concerned agents. Luke had surprised him into openmouthed kisses four of those six times, and
while Mark might have pretended this was forced and unwanted contact, he
couldn‟t, because he‟d jumped Luke three times, once fervently enough to knock
over a water pitcher. Those “jumps” hadn‟t involved sex, but kisses? Oh yes. And
even a little bold petting. From both of them. [Maybe if your fetish involves numbers you find this passage erotic or romantic]
Nose buried in the local magical history, he rubbed absently at his erection,
realized what he was doing, and blushed. [The roving erection strikes again]
Mark haz secrets. The author works very hard to let hints and innuendos drip through the story until this reader wanted to scream, "Get on with it already. I have it figured out." I think this is a mistake new authors make as they are trying to make their tale an interesting one, as they try to grab the reader's attention and keep them guessing at things.
The idea was a good one, executed poorly.
September 15, 2013
Wtf is with this "Mawster" business? The term just looks stupid in text. Eh. Whatever, I suppose.
The "shark's purse"...come on. "Mermaid's purse." Or "Devil's purse." But "shark's purse"? I don't see the reason for the overraction and it doesn't sound as nice.
And dude, these guys have some weird fantasies. I mean, actual conversation? What is this?
The whole Reese thing is so vague and convoluted...it's not the whole problem, but it contributes to how damnably difficult it is to follow what the hell is happening.
Weird stuff. As it went and as more elements were added, it started falling apart. Devolving into a mass of confused jumble madness.
Eh. I dunno if I like it or not. I did, and then I wanted to, and then it was meh and =_=
I'm going to put this series to bed for a while and then come back and try the second book. Hopefully it makes sense...
The "shark's purse"...come on. "Mermaid's purse." Or "Devil's purse." But "shark's purse"? I don't see the reason for the overraction and it doesn't sound as nice.
And dude, these guys have some weird fantasies. I mean, actual conversation? What is this?
The whole Reese thing is so vague and convoluted...it's not the whole problem, but it contributes to how damnably difficult it is to follow what the hell is happening.
Weird stuff. As it went and as more elements were added, it started falling apart. Devolving into a mass of confused jumble madness.
Eh. I dunno if I like it or not. I did, and then I wanted to, and then it was meh and =_=
I'm going to put this series to bed for a while and then come back and try the second book. Hopefully it makes sense...
October 4, 2011
I could not get interested in this book at all. I found the characters flat and boring, I even rooted for Benji the bad dragon. Mark is a damaged guy who can't get away from an abusive Dom ex. Luke, a genie, is found by Mark one day while he is diving. The story could have really taken off after the wish rules were laid out but it never did. Even the ending of the book was a bit of a let down.
November 11, 2016
I think all this author needed to make this story great would have been an outline! There were many points along the story that could have gone better had they happened in a more complete fashion! Great Ideas were dropped before they had reached the point where you could say, "Yeah... now that was a great scene!" So many missed opportunities... and still yet, for some strange reason, this story worked for me!
When I began this story, I needed Mark to be a dragon... and I will admit that I feared I had been wrong in my assumptions... but all ended well!!! *whew* LOL!!!
I never did get the Reese/Dan closure that I was looking for... but, I will survive! Luke was the most developed character in the story, and I would have liked to have seen everyone as well written... and yes, even though we loved to hate Benji, you have to admit he made quite the villain and you had to feel just a tiny bit sorry for him because he was only being what his nature had created him to be. I liked the little "explanation" that Mark recalled from the past to lead him to a better understanding of how life had come to be for dragons... although, it was like many other scenes which were convoluted and confusing from time to time... grrr!
As I move on to the next book in this series, I hope to find a bit more maturity to the author's writing... I found her style of story telling intriguing and very entertaining, so, I will continue on and hope for the best! :D
When I began this story, I needed Mark to be a dragon... and I will admit that I feared I had been wrong in my assumptions... but all ended well!!! *whew* LOL!!!
I never did get the Reese/Dan closure that I was looking for... but, I will survive! Luke was the most developed character in the story, and I would have liked to have seen everyone as well written... and yes, even though we loved to hate Benji, you have to admit he made quite the villain and you had to feel just a tiny bit sorry for him because he was only being what his nature had created him to be. I liked the little "explanation" that Mark recalled from the past to lead him to a better understanding of how life had come to be for dragons... although, it was like many other scenes which were convoluted and confusing from time to time... grrr!
As I move on to the next book in this series, I hope to find a bit more maturity to the author's writing... I found her style of story telling intriguing and very entertaining, so, I will continue on and hope for the best! :D
November 11, 2013
Dragon Food was a fun fantasy read, particularly if you're fond of dragons! I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual take on standard fairy tale fare...genies and dragons falling in love and fighting in the middle of Gulfport, Florida.
Mark Tavery is an expert in dragon-lore for Search Light, a quasi-government agency dedicated to maintaining peace between ordinary humans and the fantasy creatures that live among them. Tasked with hunting a dragon who is killing indiscriminately, Mark finds a genie instead. A golden-haired, bronzed Adonis named Luke who pushes every button Mark has, and then some.
I really enjoyed watching the push-and-pull of Mark and Luke's relationship, and Mark's gradual acceptance of Luke and of his own darker nature. I highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a new twist on old tropes.
Mark Tavery is an expert in dragon-lore for Search Light, a quasi-government agency dedicated to maintaining peace between ordinary humans and the fantasy creatures that live among them. Tasked with hunting a dragon who is killing indiscriminately, Mark finds a genie instead. A golden-haired, bronzed Adonis named Luke who pushes every button Mark has, and then some.
I really enjoyed watching the push-and-pull of Mark and Luke's relationship, and Mark's gradual acceptance of Luke and of his own darker nature. I highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a new twist on old tropes.
Want to read
September 19, 2014I should have read this book before reading Hunter's Claim.
Hunter's Claim is in a different series but takes place in the same world and the characters seem to cross between the two series. The "Mark Tavery case" is mentioned so many times, and events that apparently happen during Dragon Food are referenced constantly.
I hate going out of chronological order when reading, but I need to know the beginning of Luis' and Charlie's relationship as it started in this book. And be properly introduced to SearchLight and it's function.
However, most of the reviews are making this sound harder to read than Hunter's Claim.
Hunter's Claim is in a different series but takes place in the same world and the characters seem to cross between the two series. The "Mark Tavery case" is mentioned so many times, and events that apparently happen during Dragon Food are referenced constantly.
I hate going out of chronological order when reading, but I need to know the beginning of Luis' and Charlie's relationship as it started in this book. And be properly introduced to SearchLight and it's function.
May 17, 2011
It took a while for me to get into the book, but I found the setup and world of dragons/vampires/werewolves/mermaids very interesting, and about a third of the way into the book, things started picking up and I enjoyed the plot. I also liked the characters, although it took a while for me to really get invested in the relationship between Luke and Mark. I like that the genie wasn't your typical genie. Overall, I did enjoy this book and would be interested in reading more in this world of SearchLight that Eily Carrington has created.
November 24, 2016
A genie! Now that's something you don't see every day and in this book his unusual powers worked pretty well. Mark was also a nice character, the only thing is the banter between him and Luke doesn't always seem natural. Overall a good story.
February 3, 2012
3.5 stars.
Read for m/m team bingo challenge. My short review/impressions.
Read for m/m team bingo challenge. My short review/impressions.
February 17, 2013
truly amazing story, am excited to read book 2 and book 3 in this series! Wondering if there will be more books in this series?
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews