The Dragon's Lover: The Chronicles of Arianthem I

Chronicles of Arianthem #1

by Samantha Sabian

Dragons are a lusty lot known for grinding their lovers into dust. Talan’alaith’illaria is no exception and has found no man or woman her match or equal in a thousand years. That changes when Raine, the sole survivor of two mythic races, stumbles across the ancient dragon queen in her lair. Raine possesses her father’s strength and her mother’s passion, and the combination ignites the dragon’s desire to an inferno. Talan, greatest of the twelve ancients, at last finds her perfect lover.

Their domestic bliss does not last long, however, as events conspire against their peace. The Hyr’rok’kin, monstrous demons of the underworld, are spewing forth from the Empty Land. Raine is called to join a band of humans, elves, and dwarves in a quest to stop the invasion. She fears no enemy, no injury, not even death itself. But something is waiting at the Gates of Hel, something that seeks to separate Raine from the dragon she is bound to for all of time.

Genres: Fantasy, Lesbian, LGBT, Romance, Dragons, Lesbian Fiction, Demons

205 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[Netgyrl (Laura)]

DNF - Audible version - excellent narration but the story was a disappointment.

On the surface this book sounds like 100% my kinda story. Dragon shifter, hot warrior woman, lot of smexy times, but guys, there is nothing there. Someone else wrote in their review that is read like an outline of a book and I have to agree. There is so much telling and not enough showing. The dragon is powerful, old, sexy. The warrior is beautiful, powerful, sexy, perfect. They meet and within moments are having sexytimes. Like, my dudes... tell, tell, tell. I have zero emotional connection so I don't care. And just saying they spent a week fvcking like bunnies... well ok I guess. Sorry I am just sad cuz I was hoping for something more along the lines of the The Alpha God series and this sure ain't it.

If you don't have a lot of time to read a book this might be the book for you, it bullet points all the import stuff without all the clutter of details.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the adventure and mission put forth for Raine and her friends immensely. It seemed like within every battle we learn more of the mystery behind Raine. Raine is a mix of two mythical races long thought extinct. The Scinterian a race known for their fierce fighting skills. They were often displaying said skills at the side of their dragon allies. The other half is her Arlanian heritage. A race known for their lavender eyes, beauty, and sexuality. Raine’s skill in the battle field is amazing!! Raines dragon lover Talan’alaith’illaria is amazing as well. I love the imagery the author incorporates in their description of Talans scales, both in her dragon form and her armor she wears as a woman. It makes it come alive off the pages. I can’t wait to learn more of them and the future challenges they will face.

**Update**
I listen to the audiobook. Highly recommend. Vivienne LaRue did an excellent job in bringing the characters to life. I hope Sabian has the rest of the series done and that LaRue remains the voice.

[Fiannawolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hellllloooo guilty addiction series! It hit the right amount of everything I find wonderful with Mystery Science Theater 3000 type setups. And yes...the writer now has all my money for all 5 books so far. The best way I can explain this:

You know that feeling when you find that one thing that hits all sorts of tropes you don't want to admit you like? This book is that for me. The cover is umm special but so far this is a blender baby of Dragon Age, Song in the Silence, Fantasy Tropes "Oh myyy!", and Wolves. Mustn't forget wolves. Its not Shakespeare but its entertaining. Its the equivalent of Oreos in book form. To me that's not a bad thing.

[Guerunche · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don't listen to a lot of fantasy, I did generally enjoy this - especially the narration by Stephanie Nemeth-Parker (additional star for that.) It was interesting to me, though, that while the two mains - an older female dragon shifter and a younger, gifted warrior were described as having a voracious sexual appetite for one another, there was more tell than show in that regard. That said - the combination of the two of them and their complimentary talents both on the battlefield and otherwise were enjoyable. I really appreciated their dedication to one another.

[Dide · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 star rating
Action, eroticism, magic, myth all poured into really good story telling.
Needed a distraction and picked this randomly from my tbr list and this totally served its purpose. I see myself in a hurry to get into whatever is next in this series.

[Lady Olenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

When I pick up random books it’s a hit or miss. But when it hits, it really forking hits!

I reckon perusing Kindle for randos is akin to being in the library, placing a hand on a random book and then just diving in. When it’s good it’s really good (for me).

The Dragon’s Lover. I had zero expectations from this book. I needed it at this time and place because I needed a break from the emotional onslaught from the book prior. So I thought this would be a perfect non-event book for me.

Ok. Legit. I loved this short, adventure filled, semi-DND-ish band of misfits. I don’t even care if it’s lacking in whatever the publishers or real bookish people deem should be appropriate for novels. This book has soul and that’s enough for me. Enough that I am willing to follow their journey through the bajillion releases this series has.

[XR · Rating 3 out of 5]

DRAGON!

[The Sapphic Nerd · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is... alright. I'm kind of curious to see if it gets better with the next books, but at the same time, it's just so-so. I find the main character, Raine, too good to be true and thus unbelievable, despite the author's best efforts to make her sound amazing. I find it difficult to relate/connect with her character, and I can't help feeling like Sabian's trying too hard to make us fall in love with Raine, to the opposite effect. How easy everything is for Raine is one of my biggest problems with this story.

The writing is structured in a way that's easy enough to read, but the content is predictable fantasy formula - which, I would be fine with had it been presented in a way that made it feel fresh or somehow more distinct from other fantasy stories. The dialogue makes me groan internally sometimes with how expected the witty/playful responses can be.

The story and characters don't feel all that original either. It constantly reminds me of the Dragon Age series. Weynild might as well be Flemeth (her sexier DA2 version), Idonea could play Morrigan, Dagna is a romantic bard like Leliana, Elyara is soft elf mage like Merrill, Feyden is also an elf and reminds me of Fenris, Bristol could pass as Alistair, Lorifal is similar to Oghren, Y'arren is kind of like Keeper Marethari... The enemies are basically darkspawn coming out of what's something like the Deep Roads, from the now-open gates of the underworld behind the Veil (which is also what the world of Dragon Age calls the divide between the physical and spiritual worlds), AND these darkspawn/shards are being set free by an ancient evil dragon that you might as well call the Archdemon. Idonea is probably the character whose personality I found most interesting, but she doesn't get any character development either.

If you're familiar with the Dragon Age series (whether in video game, comic book, novel, or film format), you're better off there where the characters are more fully realized, actually developing over the course of the story, and the presentation is more polished and dynamic. If you're not familiar with Dragon Age, maybe you'll enjoy this story more than I did.

Having said that, this story isn't a complete waste of time. I did overall find the read pleasant, and there's potential for the future books in the series to improve on what's been started here. I'll be honest: I picked up "The Dragon's Lover" because I read the summary about a shape-shifting, lesbian dragon getting together with a hot warrior who's supposedly the last of her kind. It seemed interesting, and it's interesting enough. I was cautiously hopeful... and then somewhat disappointed with what I got. If you're looking for a lazy summer read, this will do. Just don't expect to fall in love or have it capture your imagination. Speaking of love, don't expect any memorable sex scenes either. They're one more reason to roll your eyes because of how frequent yet bland they are.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had elves, dragons, wizards, lots of bad guys to be defeated, and lesbian love. What more could you ask for?

[Edelgard · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could put 0.5 stars I could. This books isn't what I was expecting, I began reading it because one of my fav fanfic write told me to read but uff it was a let down. This book just write like bullet points, nothing and everything is happening. I actually hated the MC on This both of them feel like Mary Sue. The reason that I had to DNF wasn't because it read like bullet points but because of the scene where the MC have sex infront of HER DAUTHER? LIKE BE FOR REAL THAT IS YOUR KID ?

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hello futa dragon. Oh the many things we can put magical wieners on! The list is endless apparently.

Decent f/f fantasy. Beginning was very good, but story dragged on a bit in the middle. Free on kindle unlimited, so you know...free.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings. I loved the author’s writing style. I’m torn on the story though. I can’t tell if it was too short or if I just didn’t like it. Sex scenes were weirdly erotic and creative- but I didn’t like that the author only described some of the sex scenes- merely because it almost felt like she was rushing through the story. There was a lot of sex in this book. Overall- it almost feels like it’s not a completed story, so I don’t really know how I should rate it.

[Cori · Rating 5 out of 5]

It all started here: the absolute lesblessing of a generation.

[Caitlyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof, okay, this is going to contain spoilers. Consider if you will, a teenager trying to make the most overpowered main character in the universe. Lets mix Sailor Moon with Duolingo, give her Zorro's power with the swords and Legolas' ability with the bow. Also lets make her sexy as fuck and irresistible. The ideal protagonist right? WRONG.

I cannot stress how boring this book was due to how overpowered the main female character was. No enemy, nor hunger, nor tiredness, nor pain nor extreme weather bothered her. She pretty much only nerfs herself on purpose in order to make her companions look good and to not tire them out. Additionally, for someone who is supposedly a half-and-half baby of two highly desirable, highly EXTINCT races, she sure does a lot of mysterious showing off that has all the other characters going "Hmnn, gosh that shouldn't be possible for a normal human being, maybe she's one of those extinct races for which this feat is easy? Nah...couldn't be!"

In the space of this rather short first book, the FMC triggers so many Overpowered Isekai Protagonist Mary-Sue tropes that I started keeping a tally. In under 200 pages our MC:

- Is a member of two very rare and desirable races, one who are master fighters and one who are master fuckers
- Somehow speaks all languages, even long forgotten ancient ones
- Has met literal gods and is just...friends with them idk?
- Has multiple (like two different 'packs') sets of animal friends which just follow her around (but sneakily out of sight) because she 'rescued them from danger' when they were younger
- Is able to easily drink a famed 'firey' alcoholic drink which makes normal people either die or become really violent, for some reason this is present in the two pubs she visits, and for some reason this garners mass amazement for all the patrons in these pubs (great stealth work girl)
- Often 'senses' when her party is about to be ambushed, but of course gives the very helpful heads up that brooding MCs like to give of "We're surrounded"
- Is a weapons master and is able to use both melee weapons and range weapons like she maxxed them out because she spent 500+ hours in Skyrim
- Is able to hit people from like 2 miles away with arrows (the book literally describes stick figures falling over)
- Has the ability to 'hide' her eye colour (which is normally violet because why not, but changes with her emotions)
- Is COMPLETELY IMMUNE TO MAGIC, yes, in a magical world.
- Managed to snatch a fired arrow out of mid-air without even looking at it
- Somehow figured out a stranger was pregnant, even though the stranger wasn't showing at all?
- Ends up making the big black dragon - who is supposed to be the big bad of this book - start trying to RUN AWAY IN FEAR when she reveals her secondary fighting race

The rest of the characters are okay but are a bit un-motivationally horny IMO, two characters get together in the end merely because there was nobody else for them but other than that they're not anything to really write home about.

The author tried to lure me into reading the rest of the series by hinting at a big bad evil lesbian potential goddess of Hell towards the end of the book and while I may be hungry for sexy evil lesbians I am not that hungry that I will sit through additional content of Rainey-Sue spaffing the heads off her enemies without so much as lifting a finger because unfortunately, I need my eyes and if I do read any more of this content they will end up rolling out of my head.

Anyways TLDR: This book started off with promise, older sexy dragon lady was cool but it quickly turned into a FMC wank-fest of "how many overpowered tropes can I bodily shove into one protagonist?".

Not for me.

[Suzette]

DNF ☹️ I actually hadn't thought to check this book out because I thought it was 2 men on the cover. I get some mlm suggestions sometimes but only ever read wlw so I didn't look into it until I saw a blurb somewhere and thought it sounded cool after realizing what it actually was. However, I only got about 25% of the way before making the decision to put it down. The idea is great. Hot tattooed warrior meets silver haired sexy dragon lady but there were just things that didn't work for me. The constant perspective changes were confusing, especially when nameless npc's were passing through and it'd shift to their perspective with only the use of their pronouns. I'd have to go back a few sentences to make sure I was understanding who was thinking what.

The sudden scene changes were confusing too. One moment they were interacting with someone and then suddenly, they were back in the cottage which was another confusing issue that caused me to have go back and reread the few sentences. Another main factor that bummed me out were the sex scenes being almost, kind of erotic but were over before I knew what was going on. At one point they were getting it on but suddenly it was over and only then was it explained that one of them had been taking the other from behind. Would've loved to have known before and read a detailed scene of that lol I get that some authors close the door before it gets too spicy but these were actually spicy scenes that had almost no explanation.

I don't wanna rate it because I didn't finish but from the few chapters I read, I'd give it 2.5 stars because the fantasy element and plot seemed interesting but the execution didn't click for me.

[Hannah Raynard · Rating 2 out of 5]

So Dragon Age 2's Flemeth was an awakening for you

This book is... Its mediocre. It takes itself just seriously enough to make me want to read more but does not reward that with any substance. The main character does not face any challenge whatsoever and, is in fact bored most of the time. The book has no twists, turns, or anything resembling a hero's journey. This is the story of a hero whose journey has already happened and they had to go get some insecticide from the store. There are no stakes and it shows. Even in the "romance" there isn't a coming together, there isn't emotion. There's just some blase sex that's so mind bogglingly "incredible" it isn't described. There's more romance in two side characters than the protagonist and her "partner". If you want fantasy smut there are better options. I will not be reading the rest of this. If you want lesploitation pulp smut write better smut. Two stars for not having any glaring spelling errors.

[Derek Walker · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is absolute junk. There is no flow to the story, it just springs from one scene to another. It reads as if this is the rough sketch for a book, something written to remind the author where the story is going. This is the sort of thing one gets when the author cannot be bothered to read their own work before publishing it. I read this on my Kindle and struggled on to 25% before giving in. It is very difficult to believe those who wrote a positive review about this, either they have never read a book before and do not know what to expect or, they are very good friends of the author. This is the type of book where I really wish we readers could return it and demand our money back. Unfortunately, the author has already got my money and I feel as if I have been made a fool of.
Take my advice, don't bother getting this, even to satisfy your curiosity.
Junk is too mild a word.

[Joy Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of nine books (so far) in a lesbian epic fantasy series, and follows the adventurer Raine she as discovers incredible passion in the arms of her shapeshifting lover. However, something sinister threatens their bliss, something so menacing that Raine is drawn from the private interlude with her dragon. She must join with others to stop the blight from spreading throughout the land.

The author dedicates a fair amount of the beginning to the setting, and the author does a wonderful job of immersing us into a world of horses and leather armor, of gleaming swords and rowdy taverns. There was enough description to paint a mental picture, but not so much to make the story drag.

In this high-fantasy world, we are introduced to a number of races created for the story, and it contains the tried-and-true favorites of elves and dwarves as well. One thing I loved about the writing was the POV. Although we follow the character of Raine in third person, we also get to see situations and characters (especially Raine) from the perspective of other characters. I enjoyed seeing the main characters through the eyes of the people they encounter. It felt like a telescopic zoom on a camera lens. Although this POV switching has the potential to feel jarring, Sabian writes it gently; it has a nice flow even mid-chapter.

The plot develops slowly though the first third of the book, and the stakes don’t start to feel high until page 50. However, the worldbuilding and mystery kept me holding on until the adventure began. The story is exciting and the fight scenes are breathtaking. And oh boy, are the spicy scenes spicy (although some are a bit silly)! Sabian writes plenty of hints to future revelations, feeding drips of information to keep readers engaged. That is, until we see the character of Raine fully engaged in the conflict.

One of the downsides to this story is that the protagonist is too perfect. Raine is beautiful and deadly, and she experiences zero character growth. While Sabian does a fantastic job of setting up battle scenes to be nearly impossible to conquer, Raine feels too much like a deus ex machina. Because she’s so powerful, the party never really feels in danger, and the climax left me feeling unfulfilled.

Sabian’s debut novel shines as her beautiful use of language builds a fantasy world that I loved learning about, full of rich, diverse characters. However, I believe that the best stories are a mix of character and plot development, and The Dragon’s Lover falls short in the first arena. I give this story three stars.

[Hunny Hach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Just wow

I'm sure as you've read the reviews and wondered if they were true and the answer is yes.

The story, the characters, and world building were amazing! I was skeptical to read this book but thought I'd give it a try since the reviews were great. I was not disappointed and I have just finished reading the first book and I'm so glad to see that there are 9 books!!!!

Don't let the book cover mis-lead you. I loved the action, adventure, and of course the romance between the Dragon and her lover.

[Herman Dirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, not bad. But being short the few pages have to divided between the erotic parts, the world building and the plot. The plot and the word building need a bit more, I would say 50 pages each.

Might still read the second book, but the plot and word building need to be improved to score a fourth star. A second 3 star will fail the rest of the series.

[Rey Hawke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Epic Fantasy that was EPIC. I love the world, the characters are very likable. (I have a crush on Raine.) I can't believe it took me so long to find a book like this but I am incredible grateful once I did... I am looking forward to read the rest of the books by this author. I hope she releases the rest of the audiobooks soon. 5 Awesome stars!

[J H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I was expecting

An anomalous union creates an extraordinary offspring with unique abilities. A dragon queen finds her true love. A quest with a band of acquaintances "fighting evil." The beginning of a quirky fantasy with diverse characters somewhat similar to LOTR, but with a lesbian twist.

[Eel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically DND

I was stoked to find a book about a lesbian dragon shifter, and while the cover is a bit cheap with the Whole Ass hangin out and the dragon being an old lady with white hair was a little off putting, the story was comfortable in its generality. A warrior goes on a quest and gets party members and defeats the big bad. It’s basically a Lit RPG.

[Jennifer Scurlock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do not be deceived by the cover

Better story than the cover would suggest. I wish the author would have provided more details or created an entire scene for some things mentioned. As it is the first book, I hope this was corrected in future books.

[Ergie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to say! Two things I love the most: fantasy and women.. Irresistible:)

Sexy, well written, good plot. Highly recommended.. as well stories after that so interesting. Thank you for such rare treat.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally loved this book. Yeah....we could have done more for the sexy scenes....but I have to say....I fell for Raine. I love her story. I love how calm and cool she is. she is confident without being ridiculous, and when she is with her dragon lover, she is cute. and man, is she funny!

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. This was just alright. I wasn't attached to any of the characters and the plot wasn't the most interesting but I liked the world building and the writing wasn't bad. Fingers crossed that the next book is better.

[Ruby Ridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a big fantasy fan I loved this book - just the right balance between action and world building

[Shane Beaudry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful story. The romance itself is VERY fast, I mean VERY. The adventure is what really stands out. The battles are incredibly well written and easy to read, the friendships are beautiful!

[katherine oothoudt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

It takes a lot to catch my attention in a book. I could not put this one down. Enjoyed the plot very much.