Dreams and Dragon Wings: A Gender-Flipped Sleeping Beauty Retelling

by Ashley Willingham

Loving her is madness. Losing her is not an option.

AURELIA:My heart belongs to the one man I can never have–Benevolence, the dragon king. The door between our worlds has been closed for as long as I can remember, leaving us with nothing but ink and parchment to bridge the distance.

But mere letters are no longer enough. I'm thirty years old and my heart aches for something real. If Bene doesn't want me, then perhaps the human king will. A royal ball approaches, and with it, a chance to forge a new path. I write to tell him goodbye.

And that’s when the nightmare begins.

BENE:My love for Aurelia may very well destroy us both. She has no idea what she is, but I sensed it the moment we met as children. She is a Jewel—a creature irresistible to my kind, capable of driving a dragon to madness.

I locked the door between our worlds to protect her. But when she tells me she intends to marry another, something inside me snaps. I refuse to lose her now.

The clock is ticking. For the first time in twenty years, the door between our worlds lies open. And I'm not the only dragon now racing toward the last living Jewel. Her power calls to us all. But will my love be enough to protect her from her fate?

Or will it be the very thing that dooms us all?

Dive into the medieval fairytale world of Dreams and Dragon Wings, filled with dragons and danger, curses and quests. High-stakes fantasy adventure combined with swoony romance await in this clean, friends to lovers romantasy! Perfect for anyone who dares to believe that love can truly conquer all.

Genres: Fantasy, Christian Fiction, Christian, Romantasy

ebook

Published September 16, 2025

About the author

Ashley Willingham is a Christian, wife, mother of two, and an author of clean books. She enjoys writing high-stakes plots, swoony romances, and stories free from explicit content. When she's not busy writing, she can be found in the kitchen pursing her second passion—baking. She currently lives in Arkansas with her family and one very fluffy dog.

Reviews

[Kay’s Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨Spoiler-Free Review✨
Title: Dreams and Dragon Wings
Author: Ashley Willingham
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Destined to be together. Cursed to be apart.” 💔

Synopsis:
Aurelia and Benevolence share a bond that defies time, distance, and the curse that keeps them apart. With only letters to connect their worlds, their love faces the impossible when danger rises and the Door between realms reopens. Many are now after Aurelia’s life and Benevolence wants nothing more than to save her, while also protecting her from himself. But how can he truly protect her when he’s already made the mistake of keeping secrets from her their entire friendship? The very secrets that could save her life… 😭

🌿 My Thoughts:
This story blew me away! It’s my new favorite from Ashley Willingham. The world and writing felt so whimsical and ethereal! It truly captured the essence of a fairytale. 🏰

The faith content was strong from beginning to end, reminding me that God is always with us and will guide us even when we try to do things our own way. His way truly is always better. 🙏

The friends-to-lovers romance was perfection. Their love was believable, emotional, and had me rooting for them every step of the way. ❤️ I laughed, I cried (more than once!), and I was completely invested in their story of mercy, redemption, and grace. 🥹

Ashley nailed this one completely! The side characters were amazing, funny, and so relatable. And seriously… if someone asked me which fictional world I’d visit, I’d pick The Flora Vale in a heartbeat! 🌸🐉

🪶 If you love whimsical worlds, strong faith themes, and a swoony clean romantasy, Dreams and Dragon Wings is absolutely for you.

⚠️Trigger/Content Warnings:
- abuse of women
- being abducted
- chained and kept prisoner
- violence (not graphic)
- dead and sick parents

[Tash Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review - Dreams and Dragon Wings by Ashley Willingham.

I loved all the books I’ve read of Ashley thus far, but this one was a struggle to get through from start to end. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters apart from Rowan, who was my favorite.

I also think the different language used throughout the book made it difficult for me to keep focus and became annoying after a while.

Apart from the above I will still recommend the book to fantasy readers who enjoy fairytale retellings. I’m glad that there are many other readers who enjoyed it and gave it 5 stars and hope there will be many more to come.

Thank you Ashley for the opportunity to read this book. I do look forward to the other books in The War of Crowns series and will definitely be reading them.

[BookishVibesClub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be still my fairytale loving heart, this retelling brings all the biggest and best feels. LOVED the Dragon Shifter Prince MMC with his protective and possessive dragon side and his sweet cinnamon roll human side. That sweet but Determined FMC is my new favorite and I really enjoyed her story.

I could not put this book down… I just ate this book up with the sweet love torn by a curse and a MMC who will do anything to protect the one he loves. Oh my goodness the way the MMCs story and pain hit, seeking to save his love at all cost pulled all my heart strings. That broken to healing trope 🙌🏻 and that LONGING 🫠 and that sweet HEA that really felt earned.

👑 adorable courtly meet cute
💗 magic letter sending
👑 cursed prince
💗 fated
👑 protective mmc
💗 secret dragon rides
👑 dragon shifter
💗 slow burn romance
👑 sacrificial love



No Spice | Closed Door Romance

Side note: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 is my favorite verse ever and see it woven into this story was so powerful and meaningful.

[DayDreamer8912 · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5
Genre: Clean Fantasy Romance
🚨TW: being cursed, being threaten, being abducted/kidnapped, being chained, force into a relationship that she doesn't want.

Favourite Moments
✨️ They first meet
✨️ Their sweet meetups and sweet letters to each other
✨️ Them protecting each other
✨️ When she found out her identity.
✨️ Them meeting in their dreams.
✨️ She tried her best to not to be afraid of Malice and try to find a way to escape.
✨️ The battle (can’t spoil it)
✨️ Them working together (can’t spoil it)
(and a lot more)

Swoony moments
✨️ Him protecting her and cares for her.
✨️ Him answering her truthfully and also revealing her true identity
✨️ He saved her many times.
✨️ He show his vulnerable side.
(and lots more)

Synopsis
Benevolence/ Bene
An heir to the throne of the kingdom of Drakara. He was cursed by his uncle who is hungry for the throne.

Aurelia
The last Jewel who doesn’t know that she isn’t human and doesn’t know that she is actually wanted.

They met and they became fast friends ever since they were young. Bene had always known her identity but to protect her, he didn’t tell her anything about it and also didn’t want to burden her about his curse. Things changed when they both turned 30 and her adoptive mother wants her to get married soon and during the ball she got abducted. Will Bene ever rescue her and will Bene ever tell her, her true identity? Read Dreams & Dragon Wings to find out.

Review
Love their sweet meetups and also sweet letters to each other and also Dragon language which he didn’t really tell the real meaning of it because he is shy. And their relationship is just bittersweet. He had always protected her ever since young because of his uncle who wants to use her if he found out that she is the last living, Jewel and he didn’t want to confess his feelings to her either because of his curse and doesn’t want her to be in danger and kept it to himself. They both protected each other and also worked together to defeat the evil. The way they pray for each other and he even pray for his uncle hopefully that he will change his ways. And encourage each other to do what the Lord wants them to do. And also the others who help them too like the three fairygodmothers which are pixies who took care of Bene and also getting to know her true identity and also found out that the goblins are not exactly goblins (can’t spoil it). Lots of battle, nightmares and also conquering the negative inner evil thoughts, it’s like a spiritual warfare that we faced in our lives too.

What I learn from it?
Love your enemies. I love that Bene encourages Aurelia to love his uncle though he is really malicious because it is what the Lord wants them to do though it is hard when his uncle is such a horrible person. And he even prayed for his uncle and hopes that he changed his ways. That’s what we can learn from Bene because it is really hard to love our enemies at times because the way they treat us but with God on our side, we can do it. We can’t do it alone.

If you like the feel of medieval times, magic and war of kingdoms this is a book for you. This is the second book of the gender-flipped fairytale series.


I was gifted complimentary ARC. All opinions are my own. Thanks @ashleywillinghamauthor for the ARC .

You can purchase this book on Amazon and it’s available on KU.

[AmandaB · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 ⭐️
Ashley is quickly moving to one of my favorite fantasy authors. I could not put this book down!

A sweet FMC that has more strength than she knew. 👑
A dual sided MMC with a cinnamon roll human side and a fierce protector on his dragon shifting side. 🐉

The story draws you in quickly and pace is fast.
The story is woven so well and you don’t feel like you are missing details. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book and how it alternated between the past and present, helping the reader understand the history and friendship built between Bene and Aurelia. The swoon was perfect and you easily understood the yearning and love between both main characters, without the unnecessary spice!

I didn’t feel like I was in a retelling either, I got the sweet hints of the sleeping beauty story but it was not overtly in your face. There were perfect winks throughout reminding the reader. This is my favorite way to read a retelling.

[Brittany T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again , She has written another book that I absolutely could not set down! I love her writing! This book was no different it gives you all the love, the drama, the relationship without all the sex and everthing else. Is amazing how she is able to write something and still give you the feelings and the emotions without having to be explicit about it. I love how she takes something that is normally a single gender and spins it to the opposite! Not all woman have to be saved somtimes we are the one saving lol:) but I absolutely could not put this book down, and I always eagerly await her next book, cause everyone I have read is pure amazing!

[MacKenzie Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Words can’t even describe how this book made me feel. I absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down. I wanted more immediately. This story was intense and kept you so engaged that there is no way I could have put it down. I don’t want to give much away but Aurelia and Benevolence’s friendship is truly goals because they both would do everything they physically can for the other at the drop of a hat.
This is a clean romantasy. It is part of a collection but can be read as a stand alone novel.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not normally one to read fantasy all that often but this one was absolutely amazing🤩 It is a wonderful retelling of sleeping beauty. It draws you in right away and the fast past chapters make it absolutely impossible to put down😍 Ashley Willingham did an amazing job on this one and I can’t wait to read more from her🥰

Favorite Quote
“You are the only gift it need…I love you for you and no other reason. I need nothing from you other than yourself.”

✨Fantasy
🐉Fairytale retelling
✨Cursed Prince
🐉Slow Burn
✨Protective MMC
🐉Dragons

Yes, No, Maybe: Yes🥰
🤬: None
🌶️: None

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favorite book I've read by Ashley Willingham so far! I love the subtle (and not to subtle) ties to Sleeping Beauty. (And yes... there's an argument about colors in there.) This story went so many directions and it was just *chefs kiss* perfect! I wish I could read it again as if I'd never read it before.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this gender-flipped fairytale even more than Willingham's first one. I'm so excited to see where she continues to take these stories.

Dragons, secrets, and childhood friends to lovers. This book was wonderful, not just the characters and the world-building, but also the beautiful messages woven into the story.

Next stop: space!

[Kathryn Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GREAT!

I love the storytelling of this book. The way the story unfolds and delivers information with flashbacks and dreams. This is edifying and beautiful. The characters are heartwarming and so delightful. I was hooked from PAGE ONE. and though some things felt convoluted, I devoured this book in a day because I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait to read more.

[Lili_Recs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Draft:

Good book.
Cute story, loved the sleeping beauty retelling.

Got me out of my reading slump.

I loved the acknowledgements as well.

[Stacy Spurlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book!

This was such a good read! I was hooked a few pages in & couldn’t put it down! Highly recommend for those looking for a clean fantasy read.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not normally one to read fantasy all that often but this one was absolutely amazing

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

I enjoyed the world she built and the story she told! This was a page turner that was hard to put down. Highly recommend!

[Kacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clean, exciting fantasy book that incorporates love, trust and belief in God without including scripture. Really looking forward to more of her books!

[Kathy Crowder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very swoon worthy! This was such a great book! The characters were so fantastic and the story was engaging and easy to follow. I was completely invested in Benevolence and Aurelia, the MMC and FMC. The story has plenty of surprises in store for the reader. I definitely recommend this book! I love anything I’ve read by Ashley Willingham!