Lady of Dragons, Part Two

by Shelby Elizabeth

A new era will burn away the old, or fall to ashes before it takes hold.

Finlay has sacrificed everything to save Ghillie, and all other dragons. With no recollection of Evander or Elsie, and no true emotions, a drive she doesn’t understand motivates her to climb the Mages’ ranks—and topple them. She allies with Alistair and becomes the cold, calculating, ruthless . . . Lady Macbeth.

As Finlay gains power in the kingdom, Angus works with the other Knights in Aerouant Glèidh to prepare for battle. The rule of Mages is about to end.

Evander helps prepare the dragons . . . and longs to find Finlay. He promised to do so when all of this is done. He’s determined to make that sooner rather than later, and bring her back to herself. Whatever it takes.

The epic conclusion to this dragon-rider reimagining of Macbeth awaits.

437 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2024

About the author

Shelby Elizabeth is a graduate of SUNY Potsdam (BA) and SUNY Empire (MAT), and is a teacher. She has been writing for most of her life, and Stars Begin to Burn, the first in the Celestials series, is her debut novel. She lives in upstate New York, surrounded by her family, friends, and cats. She is an avid fanfiction writer, and her stories can be found on www.fanfiction.net under the pen name "pokemon fan 98." Shorter original works have been published in regional magazines and journals.

Reviews

[BookHaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I just finished the second part of Lady of Dragons. And weirdly, I’m a little underwhelmed. The story up until the war has been great and I had completely forgotten about Angus in the last book. I loved all the characters though and that they had a soft nature to them. I found it so intriguing that we were following Finlay who was manipulating Alistair with her perceived love for him and even through using her body. It reminded me of Game of Thrones where the women are behind the plotting and their ego. As I was reading, I was thrown that Finlay turned into a dragon at the end. I couldn’t believe it and when she first met Asthne, I had hoped she would turn into a one. I feel like that is the ultimate stage for a female character! She can protect herself, you know! I just maybe had hoped that we were gonna get a moment where Alistair realizes he was betrayed by her and it saddens him because all of this and who he has become was because of her. I truly believed he was a good guy until he became paranoid and needed to keep his power. At the same time, I know Alistair wasn’t the main character. Nevertheless, he was in love with Finlay and that love never wavered when he became king…….until he was going to stab Finlay when she was a dragon. Now was it just me…or was I hoping to see Jupiter in this book more. He doesn’t come back until the second to last page…only to say one sentence! I would have loved if Jupiter went to go find her when she was staying at Alistair’s home where he asked for himself why she was doing this. Since her emotions were out of the equation it could have been a funny and good banter between the two. So, I feel like Jupiter was forgotten. But going to the ending, I was pretty-I don’t know-disappointed that after she transforms back to a human, she wants to have sex with Evander even though there was a war. Granted it didn’t go to that, but…maybe could have pushed a little later. Same with Angus: he gets wounded in battle, sleeps, wakes up, and then wants to get intimate with Calum. It didn’t feel right to me, but I know there was a purpose to why the author did it. Overall, I had gotten what I wanted out of this fantasy two-part book: emotional depth, character development, great dragons, and a good/straightforward plot. It was a wonderful story and had a happy ending where many of the character didn’t die (which I’m happy about). Even with the concerns I had with the second part, this book is well worth the read. Stories with emotional character matter and it was such a breath of fresh air. I thank the author for her hard work in developing and keeping the characters strong and likable throughout. This was a great book and loved that there were small stories to even the smallest of characters and even dragons. (Sigh heavily) Another book finished - but now I shall continue the journey of reading another. See you later!

[Cat Bowser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous conclusion that touches the heart

I loved Part One and I knew Part Two wouldn’t disappoint. But then, I’ve never been let down by this author.

I love how everything escalates in this bit. Understandable, I mean, this is inspired by MacBeth after all! And the way Lady MacBeth manifests her is so beautifully done.

Evander continues to be the sweetest and most adorable thing with a pulse and I loved seeing more of his side! His chapters always made me smile, no matter what calamity he was dealing with.

And Finlay and Evander together? It’s the good food!

The dragon works here continues to evolve and I loved all of it! Plus, Forrest continues to be my favorite character here. I would read an entire series just on his shenanigans!

A gorgeous book and if this is how the author tackled MacBeth, I am ecstatic to think of what she’ll do with the other Shakespeare stories!

[gerdenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love these characters and this world- I thought this was a good wrap up on the story.

The multiple POVs was fun and done well, the plot had twists, and the characters developed.
I did not realize our FMC was going to have a Lady Macbeth retelling- but the take on it was interesting and fun- though it did lend a lot of spoilers.

This duology was a GREAT time and really just got me in my feels- really nice experience.
My biggest complaint is still that I need more, lol. Some scenes were mentioned and not experienced and the plot overall was really quick- definitely nice to not linger and drag on buttttt also want more.

[A.R. Kaufer · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHERE DO I BEGIN? I absolutely loved the first part, and I have been on pins and needles to read part two. No spoilers here, but I will say, this book utterly destroyed me before putting me back together! The battles, the emotions, the loss... This story is beautifully crafted, and I loved every page, every chapter, every POV! If you haven't read Lady of Dragons Part One, get it today then be ready for this one!!!

[Adrianne Lemke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable follow-up to the first book. Finlay risks a lot in order to help the knights, and she has to do things that she never thought she'd be capable of doing. To help Finlay, Evandor and Robin also push past their normal boundaries. Overall I enjoyed the story, and I'm curious what will happen with Robin after this story.

[Breeya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first one but lowkey this one fell a little flat for me.

I don’t quite understand the need for the amnesia plot line ~ I think it would have been fun if book two was first in the series instead. If that were the case the amnesia plot line would have made more sense IMO

It was a bit predictable but I enjoyed it nonetheless ❤️