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Notice #1
Notice
High school teacher and dragonshifter Adrian Kendall is given notice in his classroom, which means someone is out to get him. He doesn't know which student left the notice. He doesn't know how the attack it warns of will come. All he knows is that his three very carefully separated lives are about to collide.
There’s far more at stake than Adrian’s sanity. The clan of dragons who depend on him will be left vulnerable. The teaching career he treasures will be over. And if all his secrets are spilled, then the peaceful world he's built with his flamboyant and passionately gay human lover, Josh, will implode. As a thousand years of hatred take aim right at Kendall, all he can do is offer himself as the price of peace.
There’s far more at stake than Adrian’s sanity. The clan of dragons who depend on him will be left vulnerable. The teaching career he treasures will be over. And if all his secrets are spilled, then the peaceful world he's built with his flamboyant and passionately gay human lover, Josh, will implode. As a thousand years of hatred take aim right at Kendall, all he can do is offer himself as the price of peace.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 23, 2011
93 people want to read
About the author
M. Raiya
27 books17 followersM. Raiya is a Vermonter and splits her time between a home in the mountains and a camp on a lake, writing full time when she’s not taking long walks with her dog, swimming, kayaking, or birding, always with a camera in hand. She writes gay paranormal romance. Mostly. Her novel Depth of Return won first place in the 2017 Rainbow Awards in the Gay Paranormal Romance category, and her novel Another Healing was a finalist in the 2015 Rainbow Awards. She has been published by Less Than Three Press, Dreamspinner Press, Changeling Press, and Torquere Press.
Honest reviews are greatly appreciated, and so are comments below or on her website.
Visit her website here: http://mraiya.com/
Sign up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/dEa1lT
Honest reviews are greatly appreciated, and so are comments below or on her website.
Visit her website here: http://mraiya.com/
Sign up for her newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/dEa1lT
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 27, 2011
Adrian leads three very distinct and separate lives: one, his new career as a high school history teacher and the love he has of teaching his kids; two, the off and on again relationship with Josh, his college boyfriend and live-in lover; and three, his role as the leader of his family of dragon-shifters. Over a thousand years ago, during the time of the war between knights and their efforts to eradicate the dragons in the Middle Ages, the intelligent beings were forced to learn to shift into human disguises to live amongst the growing population and scientific minds of the humans around them. Though they no longer live the long lives of their ancestral dragon-kin, the inbred need for secrecy and safety is a plague amongst Adrian's kind, and part of the reason he finds himself split between three very conflicting and demanding parts of his life. The need to never be noticed has also been a bane to his love life with Josh, a man who is out, proud and a secret embarrassment to Adrian, with his painted nails, swishy hips, and loose tongue. None of the three factions know about each other, save his dragon-kin's knowledge of his job as a teacher. Obviously, his carefully structured world is about to implode, like a man who has tunneled to far underground and now stands at the bottom of an unstable labyrinth of lies and deceit.
The catalyst for this change comes in the surprising form of one of Adrian's students on the first day of class. As the class pass forward their papers, he sees one that reads only "You Have Been Given Notice." A forebearer of doom, the noble call to arms from a knight has been put forth To meet the challenge gracefully, to prove his honor to the knight who wishes to fight to the death, Adrian must put on his ring to accept the challenge. Yet, for Adrian, choosing to challenge him in the middle of a classroom of innocent children is completely without honor, and while trying to uncover which one of students is really a knight in sheep's clothing, Adrian decides to not accept the challenge and do whatever he can to uncover the threat and move it away from all innocents. Yet when the knight comes forward in the face of all students, faculty, and a large group of police and forces him to change, all panic ensues. Why would this mere child of a knight want to destroy him, and what has made the kid so desperate that he'll do it in front of so many innocent people and expose the secret of their existence? Even more, how did the kid force Adrian to change, when by all knowledge throughout history, that should never have been possible?
I have to say that I was really delightfully surprised by how inventive the plot of this story was. The beginning of the story really puts forth a lot of information that later becomes irrelevant or characters with completely different agendas. The story evolves rather quickly and goes through several twists to an outcome and history of their race that I really didn't expect. Seeing Adrian's three worlds collide in front of his very eyes was very interesting, especially the change that overcomes Josh, Adrian's lover, throughout the story. He was possibly my favorite character, the one to really take over a scene and made me believe that it wasn't so much that he changed with the knowledge that his lover was a dragon and the world unseen around him, but just that Adrian had never really looked at Josh before, seen past the affectations and glitter. What was beneath was a really wonderful character.
There is quite a bit that could be talked about: the dragon mythology, the circular path of history and time, secondary characters (which all had an interesting and elaborate history), and much more. Sometimes the pure wealth of combating pieces of the story was a detriment, a more streamlined and less erratic plotline might have made more of an impact on me. But really, I was pretty pleased with this. I had fun reading it, plus I liked the world building. It was funny and tries to impart a message (much more like a fairy tale in structure and theme). Aside from the biggest problem, pacing, (with so much going on, there is really a lot crammed into this story, from mythology to action to love scenes), I would have liked to see more scenes with Josh and Adrian developing their love story and their personal connection. I would say this story is a fantasy (with some fairy tale style) with romantic elements, rather than a romance.
Still, I liked it. I had fun reading it and I never really wanted to put it down. That says something. A good read. Definitely recommended.
The catalyst for this change comes in the surprising form of one of Adrian's students on the first day of class. As the class pass forward their papers, he sees one that reads only "You Have Been Given Notice." A forebearer of doom, the noble call to arms from a knight has been put forth To meet the challenge gracefully, to prove his honor to the knight who wishes to fight to the death, Adrian must put on his ring to accept the challenge. Yet, for Adrian, choosing to challenge him in the middle of a classroom of innocent children is completely without honor, and while trying to uncover which one of students is really a knight in sheep's clothing, Adrian decides to not accept the challenge and do whatever he can to uncover the threat and move it away from all innocents. Yet when the knight comes forward in the face of all students, faculty, and a large group of police and forces him to change, all panic ensues. Why would this mere child of a knight want to destroy him, and what has made the kid so desperate that he'll do it in front of so many innocent people and expose the secret of their existence? Even more, how did the kid force Adrian to change, when by all knowledge throughout history, that should never have been possible?
I have to say that I was really delightfully surprised by how inventive the plot of this story was. The beginning of the story really puts forth a lot of information that later becomes irrelevant or characters with completely different agendas. The story evolves rather quickly and goes through several twists to an outcome and history of their race that I really didn't expect. Seeing Adrian's three worlds collide in front of his very eyes was very interesting, especially the change that overcomes Josh, Adrian's lover, throughout the story. He was possibly my favorite character, the one to really take over a scene and made me believe that it wasn't so much that he changed with the knowledge that his lover was a dragon and the world unseen around him, but just that Adrian had never really looked at Josh before, seen past the affectations and glitter. What was beneath was a really wonderful character.
There is quite a bit that could be talked about: the dragon mythology, the circular path of history and time, secondary characters (which all had an interesting and elaborate history), and much more. Sometimes the pure wealth of combating pieces of the story was a detriment, a more streamlined and less erratic plotline might have made more of an impact on me. But really, I was pretty pleased with this. I had fun reading it, plus I liked the world building. It was funny and tries to impart a message (much more like a fairy tale in structure and theme). Aside from the biggest problem, pacing, (with so much going on, there is really a lot crammed into this story, from mythology to action to love scenes), I would have liked to see more scenes with Josh and Adrian developing their love story and their personal connection. I would say this story is a fantasy (with some fairy tale style) with romantic elements, rather than a romance.
Still, I liked it. I had fun reading it and I never really wanted to put it down. That says something. A good read. Definitely recommended.
September 9, 2011
As someone noted, this is less a romance than an adventure story with gay characters. Although there is a relationship and Adrian FINALLY pulls his head out of his ass about Josh, his live-in lover, but primarily it's the dragon story-line which leads. Adrian is a high school teacher, leader of his dragon clan and gay man. And never the three worlds shall collide. Although he lives with flamboyant nail polish wearing artist Josh, no one at school or in the dragon clan knows he's gay and neither of those know he's a dragon. He is given notice by a knight in his classroom which means he must now fight for his life, but he won't fight a student although things go bad. Eventually he finds out the student was the son of the last knight he killed who has special powers, and only went after him because the knights threatened his girl friend. It gets very complicated with political intrigue, betrayal, time travel, mystical stuff, but it's all pretty well done and while I was left with a few questions, in general it's not too confusing. Adrian is prepared to do what he has to in order to save his people, even if it means he could die and leave Josh who he finally figured out he's in love with. He faces some truths about his own behaviour and finds out more about Huntington, the student sent to kill him. I loved Josh who was so much more than Adrian thought, he was a bit funny and sarcastic and I did want to smack Adrian for the way he had treated him over the years, like a filthy secret. Thankfully he redeemed himself. If you like dragons or more mystical adventure stories that are light on the romance (but it's still there), it's a good choice.
April 19, 2012
I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to, largely because of the relationship between Varian and Josh. It was refreshing to see an established relationship that was shaky at the start but deepened as Varian learned to stop compartmentalizing his life and keeping Josh at arm's length. It was doubly refreshing to see a character as unapologetically effeminate as Josh. That's pretty rare in M/M fiction, where there's a lot of effemiphobia and in which the characters are almost always varying degrees of the stereotypically masculine, muscular jock type. Josh was a charming, delightful, change of pace character with a great deal of intelligence and inner strength, and it was easy to see why Varian loved him. This book isn't strictly a romance - it falls more in the fantasy adventure genre with a side of romance - but it was the relationship between Varian and Josh that kept me reading.
October 12, 2015
★★★☆☆½ ~ 3.5 Stars
Dragons!
Adrian Varian Kendall has three separate lives, teacher, closeted gay guy, and dragon shifter/leader and all his separate lives converge on one extremely challenging day.
For hundreds of years, knights have tried to eliminate every dragon and Varian is sworn to protect his group and all the other packs of dragons. Until the day he receives 'Notice' from one of his students. And his life and others around him change.
Will he pull his head and finally appreciate his long-time lover, the very brash and sassy Josh? Who are the traitors in his clan? Will he learn long-hidden family secrets?
Did I mention dragons? This was a fun, afternoon fantasy read. Oh yeah, dragons!
Dragons!
Adrian Varian Kendall has three separate lives, teacher, closeted gay guy, and dragon shifter/leader and all his separate lives converge on one extremely challenging day.
For hundreds of years, knights have tried to eliminate every dragon and Varian is sworn to protect his group and all the other packs of dragons. Until the day he receives 'Notice' from one of his students. And his life and others around him change.
Will he pull his head and finally appreciate his long-time lover, the very brash and sassy Josh? Who are the traitors in his clan? Will he learn long-hidden family secrets?
Did I mention dragons? This was a fun, afternoon fantasy read. Oh yeah, dragons!
September 6, 2011
3.5 stars for me...I liked the world building and the characters. I thought that the way it was written in 1st POV was a bit limiting...like, I wish I had known more about what Josh was going through (who I adored, by the way...he was just a doll) and Huntington's powers. It took me a while to warm up to Varian, and that may actually be because of the way he acted towards Josh in the very beginning, but half way through I was enjoying Varian too. I haven't read many m/m dragon stories, so I did like this one and if you like a bit of a different m/m fantasy read, you might too!
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March 4, 2021
Adrian Varian Kendall (he's called Varian by his friends. Said out loud together, his name sounds pretty weird to me) is a dragon shapeshifter. He and his kind are descended from the dragons of legends who learned to shapeshift into human forms to avoid getting killed off by knights.
There are good ideas in the story, but overall, the world-building is on the weak side. Some decent buildup of tension is followed up on by the characters, but then at the climactic moments, a single, rather effortless action is executed, apparently resolving all the problems. I expect a hero's journey in my fantasies, where the hard lessons, difficult decisions and risky actions generally come before the reward.
If this book was longer and more fleshed out, would've been a better fantasy story.
There are good ideas in the story, but overall, the world-building is on the weak side. Some decent buildup of tension is followed up on by the characters, but then at the climactic moments, a single, rather effortless action is executed, apparently resolving all the problems. I expect a hero's journey in my fantasies, where the hard lessons, difficult decisions and risky actions generally come before the reward.
If this book was longer and more fleshed out, would've been a better fantasy story.
July 4, 2020
No chrac development. Story moved too fast without exploring each event and emotion to the fullest.
Josh was raped and there was no trauma he had to deal with? He could fight trained knight’s but could not fight his attackers? The love story was not believable.
The conflict between dragon and knight was too easily resolved. Like seriously what was that!
I am giving it 2stars cause i really liked the beginning it was a strong story line. But then went downhill.
Josh was raped and there was no trauma he had to deal with? He could fight trained knight’s but could not fight his attackers? The love story was not believable.
The conflict between dragon and knight was too easily resolved. Like seriously what was that!
I am giving it 2stars cause i really liked the beginning it was a strong story line. But then went downhill.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 18, 2019
Different. Not predictable in my opinion. Very intriguing.
June 26, 2012
4.5 stars rounded up to 5
Adrian Kendall has a good job and a fantastic boyfriend, but he lives with many secrets. He knows if any of these secrets are revealed life as he knows it will be gone forever. You see, Adrian is a dragon shifter, and nobody knows it…not even his boyfriend. One day when he receives a note letting him know he is now being hunted, Adrian’s well secreted world starts to crumble around him.
For years, Josh has had an on-again-off-again relationship with Adrian. He instinctively knows that Adrian has secrets he keeps from the world, and Josh’s relationship with Adrian is one of his lover’s biggest kept secrets. Although, he’s tired of being Adrian’s dirty little secret, he loves Adrian, and hopes one day Adrian will come out of the closet and tell the world they are a couple. But, when Adrian comes home telling him his life is in danger, Josh soon learns that there are many other secrets Adrian has kept from him. Will Josh be able to forgive Adrian and accept that his lover is dragon shifter and all that entails?
I really loved this book! The world the author created was a creatively interesting and a highly addictive one to read! I was immediately wrapped up in Adrian’s life and I was enthralled watching the careful existence he’s created for himself, fall in pieces around his feet. The storyline moves very smoothly and there are many unique and likeable characters that made this story a fast-paced and creatively interesting read. I enjoyed watching Adrian’s characters evolve from a self-centered individual, to a caring and likeable man.
Josh was very well matched for Adrian. Josh is very out and proud and isn’t afraid to flaunt his creativity, nor his flamboyant nature. At first, I wasn’t sure if Josh and Adrian were really meant to be together. Adrian has pushed Josh and Josh’s feelings aside for some time. I wouldn’t have blamed Josh if he walked out of Adrian. But, once Adrian realizes he might lose Josh forever, it’s the wakeup call Adrian needed. He soon realizes he’s taken Josh for granted, and decides to do what he can to fight to keep Josh as his partner in his life. I thought Adrian and Josh made a good team together and I enjoyed watching their relationship evolve from a weak one to having a firm and loving foundation with each other.
Although this story has a very strong element of fantasy and fun in the storyline, in my opinion, the romance between Josh and Adrian isn’t the main focus of the story. The main focus is: Adrian and how his life as a dragon shifter is about to change, and what he has to do to keep the careful balance between dragon shifters, knights and keeping humans unaware of their existence. I would have liked a little more romance in the story, but I still highly enjoyed this book and recommend it to any person who loves an interesting and fun fantasy read.
Adrian Kendall has a good job and a fantastic boyfriend, but he lives with many secrets. He knows if any of these secrets are revealed life as he knows it will be gone forever. You see, Adrian is a dragon shifter, and nobody knows it…not even his boyfriend. One day when he receives a note letting him know he is now being hunted, Adrian’s well secreted world starts to crumble around him.
For years, Josh has had an on-again-off-again relationship with Adrian. He instinctively knows that Adrian has secrets he keeps from the world, and Josh’s relationship with Adrian is one of his lover’s biggest kept secrets. Although, he’s tired of being Adrian’s dirty little secret, he loves Adrian, and hopes one day Adrian will come out of the closet and tell the world they are a couple. But, when Adrian comes home telling him his life is in danger, Josh soon learns that there are many other secrets Adrian has kept from him. Will Josh be able to forgive Adrian and accept that his lover is dragon shifter and all that entails?
I really loved this book! The world the author created was a creatively interesting and a highly addictive one to read! I was immediately wrapped up in Adrian’s life and I was enthralled watching the careful existence he’s created for himself, fall in pieces around his feet. The storyline moves very smoothly and there are many unique and likeable characters that made this story a fast-paced and creatively interesting read. I enjoyed watching Adrian’s characters evolve from a self-centered individual, to a caring and likeable man.
Josh was very well matched for Adrian. Josh is very out and proud and isn’t afraid to flaunt his creativity, nor his flamboyant nature. At first, I wasn’t sure if Josh and Adrian were really meant to be together. Adrian has pushed Josh and Josh’s feelings aside for some time. I wouldn’t have blamed Josh if he walked out of Adrian. But, once Adrian realizes he might lose Josh forever, it’s the wakeup call Adrian needed. He soon realizes he’s taken Josh for granted, and decides to do what he can to fight to keep Josh as his partner in his life. I thought Adrian and Josh made a good team together and I enjoyed watching their relationship evolve from a weak one to having a firm and loving foundation with each other.
Although this story has a very strong element of fantasy and fun in the storyline, in my opinion, the romance between Josh and Adrian isn’t the main focus of the story. The main focus is: Adrian and how his life as a dragon shifter is about to change, and what he has to do to keep the careful balance between dragon shifters, knights and keeping humans unaware of their existence. I would have liked a little more romance in the story, but I still highly enjoyed this book and recommend it to any person who loves an interesting and fun fantasy read.
December 25, 2012
I really liked this book. I believe the characters were well developed and fleshed out, and the science/magic was thoughtful. I won it in a blog hop but had looked at it before.
I admit I started the book 2-3 times and stopped because I got distracted, but then I got past the opening and had to read it in one go. Varian was self-centered to start and gave no real thought to his lover Josh-seriously, really did not know him well at all. Josh, surprisingly still cared for Varian though. I raced through the book to find out what happened next. The characters were engaging and surprises popped up time and again.
The spelling and word usage was accurate and sentence structure was polished. Both of these are very important to me and can throw off the pacing of a book horribly. I 500-1000 pages a day, depending on what else is going on, so I have a pretty broad base to judge books on. I am not very good at writing a review, but I felt strong enough to speak up on this one.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
o
I admit I started the book 2-3 times and stopped because I got distracted, but then I got past the opening and had to read it in one go. Varian was self-centered to start and gave no real thought to his lover Josh-seriously, really did not know him well at all. Josh, surprisingly still cared for Varian though. I raced through the book to find out what happened next. The characters were engaging and surprises popped up time and again.
The spelling and word usage was accurate and sentence structure was polished. Both of these are very important to me and can throw off the pacing of a book horribly. I 500-1000 pages a day, depending on what else is going on, so I have a pretty broad base to judge books on. I am not very good at writing a review, but I felt strong enough to speak up on this one.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
o
February 16, 2015
synopsis:
adrian is a dragon shifter, a high school teacher and gay. when he receives notice during a class, he goes into survival mode, as that means that someone has been sent by the knights to try and kill him. when adrian takes to the sky with the perpetrator, his human cover is blown. when adrian tries to figure out the next move, his straight cover is blown, because he wants his lover, josh, protected as well. as the clan tries to figure out the best course of action, they deal with unexpected allies and traitors.
what i liked: the premise. i actually liked the relationship between adrian and josh. i liked that josh wasn't fazed by what adrian was; he just loved him. i liked that when it came down to it, josh was more important to adrian than keeping the fact that he was gay secret.
what i didn't like: i didn't really connect with the story. all the convoluted shenanigans didn't help, either.
adrian is a dragon shifter, a high school teacher and gay. when he receives notice during a class, he goes into survival mode, as that means that someone has been sent by the knights to try and kill him. when adrian takes to the sky with the perpetrator, his human cover is blown. when adrian tries to figure out the next move, his straight cover is blown, because he wants his lover, josh, protected as well. as the clan tries to figure out the best course of action, they deal with unexpected allies and traitors.
what i liked: the premise. i actually liked the relationship between adrian and josh. i liked that josh wasn't fazed by what adrian was; he just loved him. i liked that when it came down to it, josh was more important to adrian than keeping the fact that he was gay secret.
what i didn't like: i didn't really connect with the story. all the convoluted shenanigans didn't help, either.
August 5, 2016
I may be a bit cheap just giving this three stars because it was really a good story. I liked the characters and the task that Varian had to deal with, it was complicated and at times a bit confusing, specially with the time changing. I loved Josh, he was just amazing and therefore I'm very disappointed that this story was told in Varian's POV. I felt that I missed out. I wanted Josh's thoughts and feelings as well.
April 4, 2013
This is really actually quite good. It's interesting how Raiya ties this into other things xe's written. Xe seems to have a fascination with dragon-sex, but there wasn't actual dragon-human sex here, so *shrug.
It was quite fascinating. Fast-paced, eccentric, but enjoyable.
It was quite fascinating. Fast-paced, eccentric, but enjoyable.
November 21, 2011
3.5 - Pure fantasy - no romance - wonderful story about love, family, trust, and peace.
June 17, 2012
4.5 stars Dragon!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews