Of Death and Dragons

by A.K. Koonce

WELCOME TO DEATH RIDER ACADEMY. PREPARE FOR AN ADVENTURE TO DIE FOR.

I woke up in his dorm room confused and unsure how I got there. Only to find out, I'm not really here at all. I'm dead.

I do my best to attend the academy trials, as chaotic as they may be, because I have to figure out how I died and who I was before this. In the meantime, I stick like supernatural glue to the only living person who can somewhat sense that I exist.

Haunting the less than charming captain of the Death Rider's isn't for the faint of undead hearts. He shifts whenever he pleases, flies out of his bedroom window at all hours of the night, literally blows smoke up my as-and why is he always naked? Would it kill the guy to throw a shirt on occasionally?

But that's not really the biggest issue at this deadly school for dragon riders. The biggest issue happens when I wake up in his bed again. And I'm suddenly a real live girl! His possible fated mate to be exact.

Now the little detail of me passing away isn't even a priority any more. This school that's made dying into a sport is determined to break me. The trials, the creatures, and the captain himself should terrify me.

But what do I really have to lose?

I've already died once.

Of Death and Dragons is a spicy gothic academia romance with winged men, cruel enemies, and deadly trials that are truly to die for. Recommended for readers 18 and over due to fiery heat levels.
For fans of Belladonna, Damsel, and amazing romantasy adventures where the romance is just as thrilling as the heroes epic journey!

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Romantasy, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Enemies To Lovers

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2024

About the author

A.K. Koonce is a USA Today best selling author. She's a mom by day and a fantasy and paranormal romance author by night. She keeps the fantastical stories in her mind on an endless loop, while she tries her best to focus on her actual life and not that of the spectacular but demanding fictional characters who always fill her thoughts

Reviews

[Halle Cornelius · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this but I felt like the book was too rushed and could have been expanded in several areas cause it left me confused.

[Mireille (readingwithmrleo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was such a wild ride! It was fast-paced and got me intrigued with only one chapter. Expect mystery, life & death situations, dark characters and settings, lots of tension, forced proximity and spice!

Of Death and Dragons was such a page-turner. From the first moment I opened the book, I was just pulled in and had so many questions. It takes you on an adventure full of mystery, dragon shifters/riders, a school that is dark and merciless and you just want to know what will happen next. The characters were intriguing and easy to like. They had great banter and I enjoyed it a lot. The ending was very intense, a bit too fast though, but this is a prequel and on the shorter side so that's understandable.

I did find that, as much as I enjoyed my read (which I enjoyed quite a lot considering I finished in 2 days and was captivated by this world), I did find it hard at times to understand all that was happening. I kept hoping for some answers, but I still had lots of questions by the end of the book, so it was a bit confusing overall. I don't know if it's because this was a prequel, but it is said it can be read as a standalone, so maybe it's just me, I'm the problem eheh! Still, I think this could have been a full series of its own and it would have benefited from it.

I'm really curious about the connected series now though and would love to try it eventually. I also really want to know what will happen with Aelix so I'm looking forward to his story, that is for sure.

If you love romantasy, dragons, fated mates, shorter stories with a captivating world, this one is for you!

Thanks so much to MTMC Tours and the author for sending me a review copy. All opinions are my own.

[Sjocy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐️

It was a relatively short read? However, there was so much going on that all of it didn’t feel like it had closure? It just ended abruptly. It had potential and I love dragon/shifter romances but this just didn’t do it for me.

[Akm22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the academy trials aspect, loved paranormal was in the book as well as dragons, this hit all the spots for me

[Nadiastbr · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up.

Thank you to A.K. Koonce and MTMC Tours for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wild ride, I didn’t know what was happening at all throughout the book, so many details were left out yet so many unnecessary details made its way in. While I think there were parts with potential overall this story fell flat for me.

[Adyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It has a fairly unique concept and touches of all my favorite genres. The only reason it didn’t receive a 5 star is I needed more. Although it didn’t take away from the novel as a whole, the ending was rushed. There were some topics/scenes that needed more time. All things considered, I can’t wait to read more by this author!

[Betteroffwithbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had such high hopes for this book. The cover is gorgeous and the colors draw you in. However, with Koonce’s last several books falling flat, I’m not surprised that my expectations weren’t met. The first chapter was painfully slow but after I pushed through the story picked up and I really started enjoying it. That is until I noticed so many inconsistencies.

The first one being, this book is NOT A PREQUEL! It may share a universe but you’d never know it. The only similarity this book has to the To Tame A Shifter series is there are DRAGON SHIFTERS and maybe some kingdom names! Another big discrepancy for me was Haunting questioning mating quarters when they were never mentioned prior. How would she or anyone reading the book even know about them if it’s never mentioned?

Another big issue with this book for me was the love triangle. There was no rhyme or reason for it. The only thing it did was make us feel bad for Aelix. Maybe that was the plan? Maybe he will get his own book? I don’t know. I have a lot of questions.

This book is also not what I would consider spicy. We don’t even get sexy time until the last 15% of the book. Don’t call something spicy when there is one scene in the last 30 minutes of the book.

Also, can we get some explanation for Haunting? What happened to her before? Come on! Can we just get something? I need the holes filled with information!!

As much as I hate to say this, this book was true to Koonce’s form as of late. We have a promising beginning that ends up riddled with plot holes and a rushed ending that makes no sense to anyone.

[Kreela · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first two pages made me so happy! 😁

You know the phrase “Show, Don’t Tell”? I have DNFed several books that started with a long, boring beginning that was designed purely to explain the setting or situation. Not here! The use of first-person, single POV, was perfect, because “I” was in the front row watching a fight in a dorm room, unable to be seen or heard...just like any reader.

I felt a range of emotions: laughter, tears, love. It’s partly a story of love lost and regained, and a longer one that makes me wonder if the author has lost a loved one recently and just wants to imagine a better afterlife for them.

At its base, Haunting was a woman restored to life to find an academy training its dragon shifters to die. Oh, sorry, did I mean they are trained to protect the dragons? My bad. Haunting remembers nothing of her past life, and we don’t know if she Time Traveled from the past or not. Since a glaring white light occurred upon her arrival, she was declared a fated mate...to one of the brother shifters. I absolutely adored the journey of finding whether either was her fated mate.

Special kudos to the writing style:
“Pale, cruel eyes lock onto me, and I flip him the bird just to give the type of raw, unfiltered encouragement that only I can give him.”

#DigTheDialogue
#SupportiveofWomen
#Fated Mates
#BoysFightingOvertheGirl
#SlowishBurn (80%), open-door spice
#OnlyOneBed

[Aubrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I really enjoyed it but it needed to be longer and it’s own series. I think it’s a prequel and I almost want to read the series in the same world to see if there’s more info but I don’t love harems. I also can’t wait to read Aelix’s book that’s supposed to be coming out soon. It just needed to be in depth tho. I want to see the conversation between her and the ghost that told her she’s lady death. How is Arcane supposed to protect the dragons if he’s now a ghost too. If Aelix can’t shift is Hades going to become his dragon? WHY DIDN’T THEIR SISTER WARN THEM?!?! about the dragons that is. She knew. She knows a lot. Also I get the mate thing but she has to see her’s is a grade A asshole. Your mate kisses your brother’s mate and when he does something about the violation you say you won’t forgive him? What even. Also how did she end up there and why couldn’t she remember her name was Kiera? I have a lot of questions. Specifically about the academy and Aelix now. I’m mad this wasn’t its own series. But it sounds like interconnected stand-alones maybe? Who knows. I hate Clawd and Arcane should’ve been allowed to kill him.

[Kaitlyn Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of Death & Dragons is a short and amazing romantasy!! This follows a girl who wakes up in the room of the Captain of the Death Riders and he’s the only one who sees her as a ghost. Then she wakes up in his bed and she’s alive again. Now she has to figure out who she is, why she’s there, and survive this dangerous school. And the guy is supposedly her fated mate.
I love this world and all the characters! How this school is kind of gothic is so cool. Plus the fact that there’s dragons, dragon shifters, and riders made this my type of read.
Our fmc, who we learn is Kiera, is awesome. I love her attitude and the fact that she won’t leave Arcane alone. I also love Arcane so much! I mean he’s a bad boy who is a little damaged and a total softie only for only Kiera.
I also love other characters like Aelix, Arcane’s twin brother. This is a prequel in the world of the To Tame a Shifter series and now I’m adding that series to my TBR because of how much I loved this book!

Read if you want:
💙 romantasy
💀 dragon riders
💙 fated mates
💀 enemies to lovers
💙 only one bed

[May Urzedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 ⭐️⭐️⭐️.✨️
𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 ❤️❤️.❣️
𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒚 𝑺𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔 🌶
𝑯𝒐𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 🔥🔥
𝑬𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 💧💧💧

📚𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:

This book is a prequel to a book series I've read a long time ago, and I didn't remember much. It's said it can be read as a standalone, although it can, I don't recommend it.
The story left me with many questions, and at times, I couldn't even understand what was happening. I do think that is duo this book being a prequel, and I think it there must be great Easter eggs for those who have read the original series (and remembers it 😅).
Even so, this was such a quick, fun, spooky, and deeply emotional reading that left me in tears by the end.
Don't expect a great world-building or deep explanations to the plot (I believe that comes with the original series), but if you want something easy, fast, and fun while also being emotional, I'd 100% recommend this one.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this book almost entirely blind. I didn’t read the blurb until after I was almost 100 pages in, so I had no clue what was coming. If you read the blurb, you’ll be entirely misread. The blurb gives a very different perspective on this book than what the story actually is.

So there’s like chunks missing from this book and tons of descriptions that are needed. Characters are in a building, but then suddenly they’re outside, but then they’re in the sky? Stuff is missing that really required some explanation and way more description.

Also, was Haunting alive or dead? Was she dead and then alive? This was rather confusing. Suddenly she wasn’t a ghost and there’s no explanation for how that happened.

I wanted to like this book so much but it fell so flat for me. On the positive side, it is an incredibly quick read.

[bookishpadawan · Rating 5 out of 5]

tropes:
▸fated mates
▸ghosts
▸dragon riders
▸enemies to lovers
▸academy romance
▸only one bed
▸forced proximity

this book starts as Keira, wakes up in the room of the Captain of the Death Riders, Arcane, and he’s the only one who sees her as a ghost. she has no memory of who she is, how she got there and how she died and became a ghost. then one day, she wakes up in his bed and she’s alive again. then she determined to figure out who she is, why she’s there, and why Arcane's the only one who sees her when she was a ghost.

I loooove this book! told in multiple POVs, the plot moved fast, and it totally hooked me, it's a quick read and a page turner. this story had so many different emotions, it's hilarious, sweet, tragic, heartbreaking... and many other words, the author knows how to entrance readers, and she writes in such a way that makes it easy to lose yourself in the story. for a few moments I was speechless with the ending the book gave me. I didn’t think things will happen the way they happened. this book made me want to cry more than once but I loved how it was all wrapped up in the end. definitely recommend checking this one out! it's a prequel of To Tame a Shifter series and can be read as a standalone.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. huge thanks to AK Koonce for giving me an advanced copy of this book! ♥️♥️

[Tahnaya (catsandpaperbacks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you A. K. Koonce and MTMC Tours for sending me a copy as part of the tour.

I really wanted to love this book and I tried my hardest, but it was a bit of a rollercoaster. I was instantly drawn to the mysteriousness of Arcane and found the girl of many names, to be quite boring. I was very confused for most of the book, I felt like I had to constantly make up parts that felt were missing. I did love the idea but I just felt it wasn’t executed as clearly as it could have been. Overall, it was a nice and fast-paced read which I do love!

[Karen Liebel · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of typos and unfinished sentences. It reminds me of books for teens as it has lots of holes in what's going on and confusing parts where you're not sure who is talking, who is in the room, and how they are positioned. Koonce warns of "heavy spice," but there is just one "spicy" scene, and it's not that spicy. It comes across as very immature writing. Minus chapters 19 and 20, this book is a poorly written young adult book. I have more of her books, and I'm hesitant to read them if they are written the same.

[Christina Mikulecky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was all over the place with how I was going to rate this book as I read it. There were times when I had to reread just because things were dropped in without any kind of forethought. However, the story itself was intriguing and the ending was heart breaking! I didn't realize it was possible to have a Happy Ending that wasn't completely happy! I was sobbing through the last 2 chapters which completely ripped my heart to shreds. The emotional release of the ending was what earned this book it's 4th star!

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

“WELCOME TO DEATH RIDER ACADEMY. PREPARE FOR AN ADVENTURE TO DIE FOR.”
OMG well now I gotta read this and it did not disappoint! It’s an exciting and spicy gothic academia romance that once started, I could not put this down. It’s an incredible journey of mystery, suspense and intrigue, there’s deadly trials, there’s chaos and there’s fated mates and kick ass characters and villains and I thoroughly enjoyed this, through my laughter and tears. Phew!

[B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

couldn't put it down!

I couldn’t put this book down! The ghost/undead aspect of the FMC was so unique, and added a fun twist to the story. I laughed out loud multiple times, and fell head heels for the Deces brothers. 🤌🔥

It's intense, it's spicy, and I want MORE! 😭

This is a must-read for anyone who loves a mix of humor, mystery, romance, and angsty dragon shifters! 🐉

And tears... can't forget the tears!😭

[Julie 🕊️ ~books.and.chocolat3~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m disappointed and sad .. I feel like this book stood me up ..

the beginning was funny and original, I was laughing out loud , the writing was excellent and then reality came crashing down on me where there are plot holes impossible to ignore and a storyline that didn’t make any sense..

I have so many questions and zero answers, and like a car crash you can’t not look at, I will probably read the next book about the brother ..

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed more. The main characters are great but I wanted to know more. I loved the plot and the chemistry between the characters was scorching. The story moves fast and does feel like something is missing at times. It has ghosts, dragons and an unknown that keeps you guessing. I really hope that we somehow get more of the two main characters in future books because they have so much more to tell us.

[Kim Kurtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author! She writes the most amazing stories. The characters pull on your heart strings and take you on a fantastic journey. There is mystery, ghost, intrigue and tear shedding with beautiful dragons. The villains are seeded throughout the story. But love conquers all! I highly recommend this book.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ghost (Haunting/Hollie FMC) wakes up in a place where she has no idea how she got there or who she is. That leads her on a voyage of discovery to find out all of that as well as why she's drawn to two brothers - Arcane and Aelix who seemed to be intertwined with her too. A bittersweet quick read that I enjoyed reading.

[booksandcoffeewithjordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved everything about this book! I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished. It was such a fun read and I was obsessedddd with the characters instantly. Following along on the FMCs journey at the Death Rider Academy was a wild ride and meeting the MMCs was absolutely delicious. I don’t think I have been swooned by an MMC so fast before. The amount of annotation tabs I have in this book is actually insane but it was that good. I cannot wait for the next book🖤

[Prismseven · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had the pleasure of receiving an advance readers copy of this story and I’m sharing my honest review.

This story was an interesting mix of dragons, ghosts and fated mates. The characters were interesting but they could be built upon more. Once I understood the storyline better the story was more enjoyable. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love stories that involve dragon shifters, fated mates and a world to that you can just imagine with a plot and a twist.

This story kept me entertained with the humor, fantasy, romance and mystery that I couldn't put it down. This is the prequel in the same world as To Tame a Shifter and can be read as a standalone.

Highly enjoyable read! Go check it out.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confusing, emotional read, that I loved!

I spent a lot of this book utterly confused. Our main character, Haunting, doesn't know who she is, but she knows she's a ghost. Only the prickly dragon captain can see her, and what progresses is a twisting tale of heartbreak and love. I can't wait to read more in this world!

[Sunshine]

The writing is very beautiful - the turn of phrases just pulls you in. I would compare it to Tahereh Mafi’s flow of consciousness- at least to me it felt very very similar.

But make no mistake- this is a young-young adult story, very sweet and broody at the same:) The ending is a bit rushed though. Overall- this felt more like a dragon fairytale than anything else. Very atmospheric.

[Jules Just Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of Death and Dragons takes you on one fast-paced, dark academia romantasy ride. There's intriguing mystery, high-stakes thrills, merciless dragon shifters, and tension-filled forced proximity contained in this 235 page standalone prequel of To Tame a Shifter. I enjoyed the unique storyline with twists and turns that I didn't see coming. The ending was definitely intense and bittersweet, yet satisfying. I'm really interested to see what happens next!

✨️Dragon shifters
✨️Fated mates
✨️Academy trials
✨️Only one bed
✨️Forced proximity
✨️Mystery
✨️Spice

I will say that I wished this was a bit longer and more fleshed out. Some of the situations seemed a bit rushed and not fully explained (like how did she become human? Why was Arcane so against Keira?) The romance gave me a bit of whiplash and needed more development lol.

Overall though, I still enjoyed this. 3.5 stars!

[Unsavory Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book touched my feelers with the ending.
I loved the mythology behind the family dynamics and the general mystery behind our FMC. It’s still a mystery and I’m honestly ok with not knowing it’s not pivotal to the book and that’s adorable.
It’s sad it’s romantic it’s heartbreaking I love it.

[Dawn Milligan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg yazzzz I was lucky enough yo support the Kickstarter for this and cannt wait for mu physical copy it's Devine!!! And rhw stoy omg fabulous with a capital F cause man I love our girl her journey was epic and spicy and funny and heart wrenching