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Isaac went against his family when he refused to join the military. He had dreams and he wasn’t going to cave to family pressure to give them up. So when his boss offers him an opportunity to get some real experience in the job he’s working toward, he leaps at the chance. The only problem is that his new boss is a grumpy dragon with a short fuse known to terrorize the office. But that wasn’t anything Isaac couldn’t handle. Right?

Maverick always had a temper. Most dragons did. It wasn’t something that affected his work. Until it did. Overworked, consistently dealing with incompetence, Maverick was at his wit’s end and in a last bid to keep his temper in check, he agreed with a recommendation to hire a temporary assistant to help him. But when the stubborn pink haired mage shows up, his dragon takes notice and suddenly, Maverick’s limited control has gone up in smoke. Now his career is on the line, and the only person willing to help him was the one who drove him over the edge. Things couldn’t get any worse. Right?

Grumpy dragons are impossible, Isaac takes shit from no one, Maverick loses his temper, angry sex, knots, teamwork makes the dream work, flying is awesome and Isaac wants more, bjs settle dragons, who knew?, telepaths are creepy, or are they?, never talk shit about a dragon’s mate, Isaac’s ideas are reckless, accidental bonding…maybe, two stubborn men fall in love, what could go wrong?, guaranteed HEA

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 4, 2025

242 people are currently reading
289 people want to read

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Amy Padilla

27 books190 followers

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5 stars
1,154 (48%)
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862 (36%)
3 stars
291 (12%)
2 stars
40 (1%)
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12 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
Profile Image for Megan Derr.
Author 284 books2,953 followers
April 9, 2025
I’m getting tired of important things just being left out or hastily glossed over. The final showdown with the shitty feeder in the first book was just given a sloppy couple of sentences, and we don’t get to see the shitty professor put in his place in this one.

All the ritual stuff dragged on forever. Forever. I don’t like to skip stuff in books but I was skipping all of that after a point.

Also speaking as an author it’s Grade A creepy that Avery is just turning his friends’ lives, sexy times and all near as I can tell, into books. Like if I went up to my best friend and said I was putting her life, sexual habits and tastes included, into a romance novel with so little subtlety people would know who I was talking about, they’d rightfully be angry and disgusted.

I had been excited for the third book but honestly I think I’m done now.
Profile Image for Sandy Kay.
871 reviews75 followers
February 12, 2025
I'm enjoying this series so much! This one's a little slower than the first, but still really fun, very fated-mates in feel, featuring a mage and a dragon shifter, one in law school, the other a lawyer, and a boss/employee, grumpy/sunshine situation. Fun times!

Maverick is the grumpy dragon boss who can stand no incompetence. Isaac is the mage and law school student and temp agency employee who leaps at the chance to temp for the well-known lawyer of Spellbound Corp, a high-profile company dealing with products that help supernaturals in the world.

Turns out Isaac is a great match as an assistant to the hard-nosed Maverick, unafraid to stand up to his temper and figuring out quickly what's needed to keep him calm and on task. Loved his competence (I think I have a competence kink...!), his respectful no-nonsense attitude as he realizes certain other employees are not up to their tasks and tries to keep things even keel in the face of challenging circumstances. As time goes on, Maverick becomes more and more volatile, until a confrontation leads to a potential HR issue leads to Maverick dropping by Isaac's to apologize...leads to a very explosive encounter that is highly inappropriate for a boss-employee relationship...

LOL it goes on from there. There's a good reason Maverick's temper is fraying so badly, a good reason Isaac becomes more and more in tune with him and loyal to making sure Maverick's temper doesn't cost him his job, and a lot of fun shifting, flying, steamy sex, and figuring out they're each other's Person. I ate it all up.

The MCs of book 1 are around as they own (Ozen the incubus) the company and work in the building (Maverick is a big fan of former MC Avery's romance novels...Avery is now writing in Ozen's extended office space to be near his mate...). Taron, the other company owner, continues to be kinda obnoxious and causing trouble sort of inadvertently, sort of on purpose. He's a handful! A little too pushy at times for me, but, he adds complications.

After more shenanigans ensue, we meet Isaac's family, who aren't too pleased that he's becoming a lawyer instead of the battle mage his unusually strong power would be suited for (he hates that idea and keeps refusing). Seeing Maverick support him in front of the entire family was 🥰.

Anyway, it's a lot of fun and wonderful possessiveness, and stays focused on the two MCs.

HEA, fated-mates feeling, dragon-mage, boss-employee, grumpy-sunshine, all the great things. Absolutely no others, no cheating, no OM stuff, just minor mentions of having had previous lovers but nothing specific or in your face. Safe for me. Highly recommended as is book 1. On to book 3!
Profile Image for Jamie.
819 reviews124 followers
February 3, 2026
I loved this it was so good! Such a temptation to binge the whole series now lolol. But also- the whole professor thing just got dropped without ever having a conclusion which was weird.
Profile Image for rebecca.
644 reviews21 followers
May 7, 2025
(2.5/5) As much as I love a moody and brooding dragon, I was kind of expecting this to turn out differently. I'm not entirely sure whether I liked the plot or not.
Profile Image for Megan (feral hearts club).
408 reviews40 followers
May 18, 2025
Enjoyed this one just as much as book 1! I couldn’t put it down, I’m so happy I found this author. The stories are light hearted, spicy, sweet (even this one with the grumpy mc and the bossy mc Hehe). I liked that Maverick was grumpy without ever being an asshole to Isaac. I hate in books when the grumpy mc is mean to the other mc, it makes me weepy. This had none of that thankfully. So excited for the next one!
Profile Image for Natalie  H.
3,874 reviews30 followers
July 31, 2025
July 2025
Kindle edition

Took a long time to get into this one. Jade was awful, Maverick was awful and Isaac was getting battered on all sides. Didn't like the griffin, but I am curious about Elijah. I was looking forward to the professor getting his just deserts but that didn't happen on page and the ending was a bit abrupt, cutting off at meet the parents part two. Add Alder to the awful list. Curious about Fox, he seems fun and my attention poked up at Alistair. Here's hoping Taron's book is chaos.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Elizabeth.
3,804 reviews339 followers
February 7, 2025
I am really loving this series even if the author plays a little fast and loose with consent.

There is definitely some dubious consent stuff in here including their first time being when this guy's boss comes over to his house to apologize and then angrily kisses him and then they have sexy times.

It was still a lot of fun. I think why I can handle dubious consent sometimes is when the "junior" partner is able to stand up for themselves and doesn't let themselves get bullied.
Profile Image for Ladydoyen.
34 reviews1 follower
August 14, 2025
cute and funny

I loved Isaac and how dynamic he was portrayed, Maverick turned out to be more normal than I expected for a dragon and their chemistry was lovely and I couldn’t get enough the of their shenanigans. 7/10 definitely recommend.
Profile Image for BookGeek1987.
139 reviews9 followers
November 9, 2025
So I had a think and decided to change my rating from a 4 (rounded up from 3.5) to that of 3 stars.

I read this after book 5, I started on that one as the blurb intrigued me, and I wanted to read about Alistair’s brother. I like Isaac as an MC, he didn’t take any crap. Maverick was a concern as frankly, and people may disagree, but I feel that there wasn’t any consequences for him basically terrorising staff before Isaac popped up. For plot reasons the afterwards grumpy behaviour was explained, but yeah, making your staff scared is just not acceptable. The CEO just sort of waved off any consequences. Given this is an office romance series I would have thought office issues would have been actioned better.

We also have a side plot issue, that’s given repeated space on page, yet it’s not resolved, just left open as Maverick saying what he’d do, but we don’t know how it pans out.

Then the ending, like WTF?? We literally get the last chapter as Isaac being taken to visit the dragon realm and meet Maverick’s family, he’s shown this hidden city inside a mountain, in effect is like ‘wow’ and then the book ends! I was seriously like ‘huh’. It felt like the author just put her pen down and said ‘I’m done’ then never went back to it. How did her editor or beta readers let that happen, it was the worst ending to a book I’ve read in a long time, as it didn’t feel like an ending at all.

Like there’s good bits in the book, don’t get me wrong, but there were too many issues that caused me to view the book in a negative light overall.

I’m not too sure if I want to read more in this series, book 3 looks intriguing, so I might see if that’s any better, if not, then I’ll just leave it as a fluke for having enjoyed book 5!
526 reviews4 followers
February 8, 2025
3.5 stars.

This was a fun read but didn’t have much more depth than the first one. The first book was a sprinkling of story with a lot of sex, which made sense since Ozen is an incubus. However, this second book is more of the same. There is definitely story here, but the answer to a lot of things seems to be to have sex first.

I’m missing more interpersonal connections. For being best friends for over a hundred years, Ozen and Maverick have no real relationship outside boss and employee. In fact, we didn’t really see Maverick have a personal life at all.

Isaac having a foil in every setting was a bit much. Jade, his professor, and his cousin. I wish they had a moment of peace outside a couple days in a cabin.

There’s so much potential with these stories that I’m just hoping for a bit more.
Profile Image for Colleen.
878 reviews
April 5, 2025
Didn’t enjoy this one like the first book. The way they initially got together was dub con and too sudden to be believable. The ‘grump’ behavior wasn’t cute. It made one of the main characters unlikable and unprofessional. I don’t think a partner who communicates in grunts is adorable. The whole jumping off the building scene was insane. After breaking windows, breathing fire in the office, destroying the street, endangering and terrifying all the innocent people below who get knocked out of the way?! They face zero consequences??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
1,907 reviews2 followers
February 23, 2025
It was dragging at times, and the ending felt sudden. Some of the issues were not answered, which resulted, I felt the book was unfinished, and I have so many questions, which is a little frustrating and annoying, so overall, ok read.
Profile Image for Sahsa.
351 reviews14 followers
April 13, 2025
More time is spent explaining the fae world than the world in which the main part of the book takes place. I'm confused about this urban setting where humans are the minority.
Profile Image for Laina Gruver.
1,275 reviews61 followers
July 16, 2025
4 stars

The moody dragon’s book! Maverick has a temp PA, Isaac. Isaac learns pretty quickly how to deal with the temperamental dragon. I did enjoy their banter as well as their ‘hate sex’. Admittedly, the ritual stuff while in Isaac’s home realm was kind of boring and I was frustrated that we didn’t get to read about Maverick confronting Isaac’s teacher.

*****
POV … third person

Standalone or series… book 2 in series suggest reading in order but not necessary

Hangover… no

Recommend,.. sure

Reread… maybe
Profile Image for Molly Otto.
1,547 reviews35 followers
February 4, 2025
Well, these two didn't take to mating easily. With a hot tempered dragon lawyer and strong willed mage in school to be a lawyer, thetmy were bound to butt heads. Their chemistry is off the charts, so it was no surprise they found the perfect partner in each other. It just took a not so safe or smart choice to get them to realize how they really feel. Loved to see how they balanced each other out once they accepted their fate to be the better mate in life and work proving to be an unstoppable force in the future. Another great addition to this series that holds a lot of promise for future stories.
Profile Image for Jen (Fae_Princess_in_Space).
815 reviews43 followers
October 28, 2025
Idk what Amy Padilla is putting in these books, but holllyyyy heck they are addictive and so so good!

This one follows grumpy dragon-shifter company lawyer Maverick Van Buren (Ozen’s best friend, who we met in book one!) He’s furious at the uselessness of all the people working in his office and hires law student and mage, Isaac Silverbreeze, to help his out.

Isaac is a powerful mage, strong and opinionated. He’s more than happy to keep his new boss in line. Even when said boss is put under surveillance at work for upsetting the other staff.

I loved the vibes between these two - they’re both powerful and grouchy and butt heads constantly, but they’re just perfect for each other! I also enjoyed the glimpse into the mage-world and a snippet of the dragon city!

Going straight onto book three, which is Taron’s book and I CANNOT WAIT Y’ALL.
Profile Image for what_emmareadnext.
200 reviews9 followers
February 21, 2026
Book 2 in the series and I knew I’d love this one because it had a grumpy dragon shifter and I LOVE A GRUMP. Maverick is the company lawyer with a temper problem meaning most staff avoid him like the plague. When Isaac is hired as Mavericks new temp, he is determined not to be walked all over by the dragon. I loved the chemistry between these two as well as the world building. I am so wrapped up
In this world, I can’t get enough!!
Profile Image for Sakuko.
902 reviews11 followers
February 5, 2026
I really enjoyed the writting a lot. I had a few niggles with the plot, like how bad Maverick's temper got, but at least they pointed out that it was unacceptably bad. And Jade was Yickes levels of terrible. Alder too. There seems to be no middleground between evil and good characters. Everyone is either really, really shitty or a good guy. It's a little weird.
Profile Image for Cynthia M Brow.
1,398 reviews19 followers
January 28, 2025
The Dragon's Aide is the second book in the Charmed Away Temp Agency series. This could be read as a standalone but I feel this series is best read in order. This is the story of Isaac a mage and Maverick a dragon shifter. These two are so different, Maverick is beyond grumpy and Isaac is sweet but doesn't take crap from anyone. I love the steam between these two so much. I loved the characters even the ones the ones you want to punch. It was great seeing the characters from the first book in the series again. I can't wait for the next book in the series. I would definitely recommend this book and series as 5 star reads.
Profile Image for Kristy.
99 reviews
October 17, 2025
I really liked the first part of this book but the latter part started to drag a bit for me. I think it got a little bloated and took a little too long to wrap up BUT most of the book was a lot of fun!
Profile Image for Ziezie.
837 reviews28 followers
April 5, 2025
4.7 the ending was a bit abrupt but I love Maverick and Isaac!!
Profile Image for Lilouae.
958 reviews7 followers
August 3, 2025
again, so cute, perfectly spicy... I loved it!
Profile Image for Elena Rodríguez.
1,269 reviews495 followers
August 31, 2025
He de admitir que esta segunda parte está mejor escrita que otras de sus novelas. Los personajes están mejor estructurados. Sin embargo, no creo que haya sido lo mejor que he leído este año.
Profile Image for Yvonne.
1,355 reviews
October 9, 2025
Where there’s smoke … there’s a dragon. I would have liked to see the confrontation with the professor.
Profile Image for Sarinha M.
315 reviews1 follower
March 13, 2026
Hmmmm.... I LOVED the first book, but I AM struggling with this one.

This book suffers from it is because I said rather than let's go on a journey so you can experience it for yourself!

We're told rather than shown a lot of what goes on.

Allegedly Avery & Isaac become besties & all we're shown is that they go on an interrupted coffee break...

Maverick thanks Isaac for improving his life when they're both on a getaway after a MASSIVE F-UP, where BOTH might lose their jobs...

We're told Maverick's anger is worse, but it's shown as it being the same as it was in the first book!

We're told Isaac is a better assistant than Avery was, but again it never actually reads as if that's true...

They're supposedly in love, but TBPH it never actually moved past them having sex together & never talking nor getting to know each other...

Far too many situations are mere plot dictates rather than organically weaved into the story...

So far TBPH, Maverick is in some clear & real need for some anger management therapy 😬

He's got too short a fuse & literally blows up at the smallest annoyance... my guy, you've got a real problem!

What I DON'T get however is that Maverick's actions haven't changed from the first book, however in this book suddenly they're seen as egregious whereas in the last book, they were portrayed as idiosyncracies... what changed?!? 🤔

This might be an issue where we're being told rather than shown, but apart from the physical assault which wasn't witnessed by anyone else & Isaac covered it up, I don't get why suddenly Maverick's job is one the line...

I really liked Ozen in the last book, in this one, he's coming across as a bit of a dick. In the last book, he was the one explaining to Avery that Maverick was a nice guy, however his dragon persona was an inevitable part of his character. In this, it seems to me, that as Maverick has served his purpose in getting him Ozen out of his lawsuit & gotten Ozen's antagonist charged with attempted murder, he no longer sees a need for his litigation skills... 🫤

Again, maybe it's just me... but WHY wouldn't you immediately let the person who IS being targeted know that he's being "investigated" by a telepath?!

Surely not telling him is more harmful than just letting him go on clueless that the other person can literally read his mind!

Didn't Ozen state in the last book that there was a lot of red tape surrounding privacy?! So, in what way is it legal to breach someone's privacy without their consent?!

Also, didn't Avery, who is nothing but a perfectionist adore Jade in the last book. Why is she suddenly so inefficient?!

I'll be honest though... I almost can't blame Maverick because he IS surrounded by idiots & surely such a prestigious company would have the very best lawyers, paralegals, etc... it seems that the only person who knows how to do their job is Maverick.

I gotta say, I'm also not a fan of the way & how quickly these 2 entered into a sexual relationship. Definitely along the lines of being told rather than shown, their first sex scene is presented as the explosive coming together of 2 people who have been pining (sexually) for each other for quite & can no longer control themselves.

Yet, prior to this we have exactly TWO interactions between them. One is Maverick ridiculing Isaac's hair, the next is Maverick scowling at Isaac for him interrupting his meeting & immediately after that the physical assault.

From those, I'm meant to surmise that these 2 can't have a conversation without getting into each other's pants & TBPH, I was more confused with the very sudden out of the blue lust rather than onboard with where it ended up at....

Also, I gave props to the author in the last book because due to the circumstances in the previous book, it could've easily devolved into insta-lust as he's a Incubus rather I'm falling for an Incubus.

In this, again maybe it's just me, but there's more of a feel of a student having sex with his professor for his final grades &/or as a casting couch situation... 🫤

Isaac's ambition is to become a lawyer working for Maverick's company & at no poing has he thought twice about how bad sleeping with your possibly future boss IS & CAN be... 😬

I can't say that I'm buying the chemistry &/or attraction between the characters. So far, it's literally just been about both of them getting their dicks wet.

& they're both using sex to supposedly help calm Maverick down, but less than 5mns after they're finished, Maverick is back to blowing a fuse... so even THAT aspect of the story isn't really working.

Also, I said it at the start & I'll reiterate, if a person who KNOWS that they're currently being investigated & said investigator is in the same room as them, witnessing their actions & the "angry" person can't even rein his temper in for a simple meeting at least... my guy, you've got SERIOUS issues & I can't really work up ANY sympathy for your plight!

Your assistant is more concerned about you losing your job than you are & that right there makes you the biggest dumbass of them all 🤷‍♀️

Isaac's cousin felt like an unecessary addition, they don't feel established as an actual couple, so I don't & can't blame him for shooting his shot...

I think that the author took both their actions too far on their last day at the office for it to be swept under the rug as it was. They BOTH endangered people's lives, they both deserved SOME penance for what they did!

Overall, it was disappointing! There wasn't any real connection IMO between the couple beyond them being horny & constantly getting it on...

They BOTH got away with stuff that they shouldn't!

A female character is taken to task for being inappropriate at work, yet we have 2 characters who are fucking in the office, who take a LONG break so they can fuck & are late back to work!

One character is constantly putting his colleagues lives in danger of death by smoke inhalation, yet this company that is specifically built for Supes hasn't taken this into consideration & installed some heavy-duty air vents everywhere, but most especially in his office 🤦‍♀️

Isaac is literally sleeping his way to the top & rewarded for it...😬

Definitely can't recommend...
Profile Image for Carly Kirk.
846 reviews9 followers
July 24, 2025
Did not finish - got severely pissed off when the dragon guy basically mauled the mage guy instead of having a rational discussion and the mage guy was all hell yes! when just moments before he was angry because the guy wouldn't calm down and talk like a fucking adult.

Here's the two paragraphs in which the characters weirdly get super turned on about non-consent:
Tired of letting the dragon push him around, Isaac shifted to move past him. What happened next stunned the hell out of him. Mr. Van Buren moved faster than Isaac could blink, forcing him back against the wall, a hand on the back of his head cushioning the blow. Isaac opened his mouth to protest, but he was cut off with Mr. Van Buren’s mouth on his.
It was fierce, rough, and bruising. Isaac grunted in surprise before pushing back, biting as much as kissing. Mr. Van Buren thrust his tongue between Isaac’s lips, dragging a groan from him. How long had it been since someone kissed him like that? With passion and fury and dominance to spare. It was an all out battle, and it made Isaac’s blood sing.
Profile Image for Sidonie.
420 reviews11 followers
March 17, 2025
Fine, but I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first. I said of that one that it could have used a better development edit, and the same is true here--although there aren't as many dropped threads, it just felt structurally messy, like not everything was working in concert to tell the story. The growth of feelings in the relationship was particularly neglected (although that's often a thing in stories/worlds with instinctual mating bonds, which is part of the reason I'm picky about them). There's also a shallow quality to the prose that sometimes made it difficult to invest in scenes.

I did like that instead of being yet another grumpy/sunshine book it was more like grumpy/sharp, with both of them capable of being ornery, stubborn assholes. Also great was the rejection of the idea that Isaac's powerful magic had to be used for violence or even used to its full extent consistently. Loved that he got to pursue a completely non-magical career.
Profile Image for Tasha.
282 reviews5 followers
February 3, 2026
I did not enjoy the main characters in this book. I really enjoyed Avery and Ozen from book one, so I was really sad when I didn’t connect with Maverick or Issac at all. I also hated the dialogue that were made entirely of grunts from Maverick like I get he’s a grouch, but that lack of dialogue that’s not something I enjoy. I felt like there was opportunity for some hilarious banter from a grouchy character, and it was missed.
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