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Dragons of Zalara #1

Madness Unleashed

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Damon is in love with the queen of the dragon warriors and the only way to get close to her is to be her personal guard. But the Fates are against him. Instead of wooing the queen, he’s forced to go to Earth to steal his destined human mate.

Three months ago, Hera Athans woke up in a park with no memory of who she is, where she lives, or what she does for a living. Now, she’s in survival mode. Two months behind on her rent she’s one step away from being homeless—again. She didn’t think things could get any worse. But she’s wrong.

Kidnapped by an alien and held captive on board the spaceship Orion only Hera has the power to soothe his savage beast. She must mate with a dragon shifter to save both their worlds and unleash a love that will shake the stars...or lose both Earth and Zalara forever.

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2018

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About the author

M.L. Guida

57 books259 followers
Vampires, demons and witches! I love to write about these dark entities and the darker the better. My characters are plunged into worlds where they experience torture and mayhem, but even in a world of darkness, true love survives. I write both, sci-fi, contemporary and historical paranormal stories.

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5 stars
126 (39%)
4 stars
90 (28%)
3 stars
57 (17%)
2 stars
30 (9%)
1 star
14 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
Profile Image for Kate.
367 reviews27 followers
April 26, 2019
Oh my god. This book is breathtakingly bad. I'm struggling to find the right words to describe just how horrible it is. Let's start with my simplest complaint. Neither "Great balls of fire" nor "Great horny toads" are exclamations a young American woman would make. Why does the main character say these things all the time? I have no idea. Both sound incredibly asinine.

The plot. Let's talk about the plot. I have nothing constructive to say. It's stupid. Shape-shifting alien dragon people have all their women vaporized except one. A warrior is chosen from their society to be the first to abduct an Earth woman to "mate" with. The woman is given no choice and promptly chloroformed. Cue the entrance of a spaceship and some tech stolen blatantly from Star Trek. Buff alien men proceed to alternatively snarl at and drool over the down on her luck amnesiac waitress.

And that is about as far as I got before I put the book down, in near physical pain from the terrible writing.

Is the author a thirteen-year-old girl? If so, I apologize. For a young, aspiring teenager still in elementary school, this was a solid first effort at erotica. In a decade, I could see such an author producing something readable.

But for the adult woman who was the more likely writer, I am embarrassed for you. Did you write this story in a bubble? Did none of your friends read it? If they did and told you it was good, don't trust those friends. They clearly don't read. In fact, do you read? Have you ever read a novel? I hardly think so.

I'm sorry. That was mean. But I'm disgusted I wasted time and money on this trash.
267 reviews2 followers
February 18, 2018
A good start to a new series

This is the beginning book of a new series, and the series seems to hold great promise with its heat and action levels. I loved Hera's character as she seemed real and personable. Damon, on the other hand, seemed like a jerk. So, he loves his Queen, Cosmia, but she has mated with another. Damon needs to get over it because in all other dragon stories when dragons mate it's for life. She's not going to drop her mate for him. So how can he continue to pine for her, especially after meeting his mate? He will never get Cosmia. In fact, it almost seemed like he loved the idea of her more. But to me she seemed like a statue--way too perfect to be real. Toward the end, when there was more interaction with Cosmia, she became a little more approachable. And Damon continued to bug me the entire time with how he kept up his undying love for her. There were many times when he seemed to forget that she existed as he got to know Hera better. He should have realized then that he was infatuated with the idea of his perfect queen more, especially after he responded so electrically to Hera. It further bugged me at the end when he told Hera that Cosmia would always hold a special place in his heart--AS HE WAS TELLING HERA HE LOVED HER. To me that still feels like playing second fiddle. Really, Cosmia should have become nothing more than his duty by this point in the book. And then there was all of this stuff at the end with Hera having visions and magic. I understand that someone needs to defeat the parasites (you really need to read the book), and that was a great way to do it. But it left me wondering exactly how Hera hurt people in the past. I hope this will be answered in future books as the overall plot develops. I want to continue to read the series so I can see how the Kamtrinians are ultimately defeated. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book, and I borrowed it through the Kindle Unlimited program too.
Profile Image for Amanda.
1,072 reviews
August 27, 2019
"Great horny toads, what was happening to her?"
Well, I may not know what's happening to her, but I know what I'm doing; quitting this book. I've had enough of the country bumpkin vernacular, and can go no further. Bad enough the H is in love with someone else, but constant exclamations of 'fiddle sticks', and 'fiddle dee dee' have pushed me over the edge.
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews134 followers
Want to Read
March 28, 2020

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (3/28/2020)! 🎁
Profile Image for Tam.
2,193 reviews56 followers
February 6, 2018
I forgot this was a fantasy world!

Guida does such an awesome job of drawing you into the story and also into the realm within which it is happening, that it is easy to forget that you are inside the author's imagination. The characters have so many interesting layers to them, and I found myself getting caught up in their emotions, effortlessly.

This is a fantastic start to a new series and one I am looking forward to following.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this story in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.
Profile Image for Mary.
528 reviews46 followers
December 14, 2019
That was so cheesy bad. One, it was a cheap rip-off of Star Trek—tricorders, tractor beams, sick bay beds, captains chairs, the list goes on. Absolutely nothing new of the authors own invention. Two, no one says “fiddlesticks” and “great balls of fire” that often! Three, she was a witch?! Complete with spell book, a wand, and magic rituals? Oh for the love of goodreads, give me a break! The cover art makes you think this will be something new and neat, but nope. Sorry. It’s a very poor excuse to cobble together Star Trek, dragon shifters and witches, and to do it in the most cheap, knock-off way imaginable.
Profile Image for Ana Rosa.
72 reviews
August 22, 2019
It was ok

Ok so the book was interesting and entertaining enough to read. I believe the author is fond of Gone with the wind because the constant use of fiddle lee dee excerpts she was also into Joe Sammy dee Sam with great horny toads. Those to me became very annoying. Very child like. I got through the book because 1 I’ve never read a book about a witch and a dragon. At one point I felt that the hero was constantly whining about being in love with the queen. The heroine also kinda whined about the hero being in love with the queen. In a way the sorta deserved each other. There is no crudeness in the book which probably is the reason for the fiddle or horny toads. There’s sex but very vanilla and tamed. Unfortunately for me this will be the only book of the series I will read.
42 reviews4 followers
November 2, 2018
Alien Abduction

Excellent paranormal sci-fi romance. In order to save a their race on Zalaria, the warriors.ist tra do to Earth to collect the mate chosen for them by the Fates. Sound simple? Not so much. Damon doesn't want a mate, even if he does this she's beautiful. And Hera 'a got enough trouble in her life starting with amnesia. The abduction is completed, but runs insoluble on the way home. There is a NEW but the adventure leading to it is fast paced full of battles & intrigue. Excellent read.
Profile Image for Raven61.
1,135 reviews8 followers
November 25, 2019
Holy hot Dragons! Quite a start to a new series - Highly recommend even with the grammatical issued found

For adults only (18+ years old) Contains subject matter that may be offensive or a trigger for some, including: adult language, steamy intimate scenes, and violence.

Hera is a waitress at a bar and grill. It is a busy Saturday night and St. Patrick's day as well. She currently had a group of 4 younger guys giving her a fifatrying. Pinching her butt, trying to kiss her, before the most aggressive of the bunch backed her up against the wall. Unfortunately for Hera, they were sitting in the back corner and the bouncer was busy with some other troublemakers. She wasn't sure what she was going to do but she would figure out something, just as she had for the last 3 months. Then she hears a male voice to let her go.

Her hero was very tall and handsome and the businessman backed off. This stranger took a seat at the bar and watched. He stayed until after the men left ... And wouldn't you know it, they stiffed her. She still needed all the money she could get so she wouldn't be evicted, but when the bar closed early she knew she was going to be homeless again and the thought was terrifying.

Damon is the personal guard to the Queen of Zalara and he is in love with her. Since she is the true mate of the King, he knows he is destined to be alone and feel jealously every time he witnessed the two of them together, or mentioned ... But now the fate of his race hung in the balance, since their enemy detonated a poison that killed all of the females. Then Damon is chosen as the first one to claim a mate. He knows he must do this, but he doesn't have to love whomever to mate with her. Then he finds her working in a bar, with men touching her and tr to take what she doesn't want to give.

After the bar closed, Hera exits the building with another waitress. As soon as her husband picks her up, the four losers from earlier exit a suv sitting in the parking lot. Hera tried to make it back inside, but the door was locked. The four surround her and before anything too bad can happen, an Orange Dragon with beautiful eyes the same color as her hero, roads out and the four men run away. Before she can process the Dragon, he is coming towards her and morphing i to her hero. As he takes her into his arms and smells something sweet.

I am going to stop here so I don't accidentally provide any spoilers.

I am giving this story 4 stars iso 5 due to the idioms and folksy type sayings. I don't mind analogies and sayings to get a point across, but when it is used aggressively it lessons the perceived intelligence of the characters. I enjoyed the story, action and pace, plus the overall arc has tremendous possibilities as a very long term series.
Profile Image for Emily Pennington.
20.9k reviews369 followers
April 15, 2018
The Kamtrinian ship was outdistancing the Intrepid in the pursuit. Captain Tash read the panel listing the extensive damage to the Taurous colony. His bear raged inside of him, but externally he remained calm and in control. Aside from the fact that their ship was practically shaking apart, they could not enter the Chronos Star Solar System without violating Confederation Command. A second ship uncloaked and fired on the Intrepid. With another unexpected maneuver, the Intrepid rapidly rose as the other two ships fired and they ended up damaging their ships instead. That gave Intrepid time to land on Sutois and make necessary emergency repairs or they would not survive.

At the graveside in the pouring rain, Kathy deeply mourned the death of her sister. Kathy’s best friend, Agnes, came over to her and told her that her sister’s ghost was there with them. Kathy didn’t have that ability, but Agnes could see ghosts. In less than a year, she had no family left alive anymore. Agnes and her brother were the only two who knew what had really killed Lisa – a dragon shifter from Zalara on a killing spree. She blamed herself, and now she questioned all of her choices. She could never forgive herself. And she never wanted to see another alien in her life!

There are so many things going on in this book, I felt like I had picked up the wrong book as I read from chapter to chapter. There were also very many characters and it was difficult to keep them all sorted out and figure how they related to other events and characters. The writing is good, however, and the parts of the story are well-paced. The space battle was my favorite! I will definitely read another book by this author and feel that I am ready to tackle the next book.
Profile Image for Michelle.
293 reviews4 followers
May 30, 2019
A waitress tormented and about to be raped by a
group of drunken college boys is saved by Damon a man/dragon who tells her she is his mate. For some reason Hera the waitress could not remember anything of her life up to three months ago. Hera doesn’t know what happened to her and why she has no memory. Damon is of the royal guard and is the guard for Queen Cosima/ he would give his life for her. Kind Greum and Queen Cosima are soulmates and truly love each other. But Damon has lusted for the Queen and if the King knew he would kill him so he just watches and keeps the Queen safe never thinking he would have a soulmate whom he would love. They have a terrible enemy to both Earth and Zalara where Damon is from
this enemy killed every woman on his planet the King and Queen were off planet when the enemy attacked and killed every female...they thought they would die without the women. But they have been commissioned to protect Earth by the alliance. The Queen is a seer and the Fates have chosen the first mate from amongst the women of Earth for Damon. The King has commanded that Damon go aboard the ship and bring his mate back to Zalara. This is the VERY basic beginning.....I loved this book!! Suspenseful romantic mystery thriller you just can’t put down. I was given this in a free book giveaway and I voluntarily leave this review.
Profile Image for Janie Weimer.
126 reviews
August 12, 2018
The heroine's curse word choices drove me nuts. "Fiddle de dee" and "great Gothams' ghost" (or similar). It was cheesy bad. Plot holes everywhere and char's motivation made no sense. Okay, she's lost her memory no real existential crisis arises. Okay, she almost gets raped and has nowhere to turn, no big deal. Okay, she's going on a spaceship with the hero to another galaxy like it's an average day. Okay, now they're having sex so her new magical powers which she didn't know about 24 hours before can cure him. Okay, he's trapping a blob creature that could kill him and taking it back to the ship so it can kill more folks. Okay, this is the mate chosen for him to repopulate the universe. Also, the book was kind of a Star Trek knockoff, which, hat-tip to Star Trek, I guess. Look, I like PN a lot and the premise of this book was intriguing. But the great idea for the story didn't make up for a rough execution. Maybe this was an outlier in otherwise excellent books and series, but I didn't love this one, sad to say.
Profile Image for Amyiw.
2,848 reviews69 followers
April 4, 2022
3 and just barely.
Another 'Mars needs women' plot. A bit silly with a silly protagonist, who continues to use expression like "fiddledeedee" and "great balls of fire" though she also used damn so didn't understand this use.. World is interesting but the plot is only OK/good. Female MC is a bit unreal and the romance a real insta love and expecting it back, which it comes, of course. The sexy times was pretty good but it wasn't enough for erotica. Not sure if this was trying for that or scifi romance, I think the later. So I enjoyed it but won't read on as it just isn't that compelling. If I hadn't just read another MNW plot, I might have liked this better but that one was better than this one. And the constant use of these nonsense exclamations kept on taking me out of the story.
Profile Image for Patricia Hoffstaetter.
3,160 reviews40 followers
April 21, 2018
This is a interesting, entertaining book and I really enjoyed reading it. This book covers: a young woman (Hera) who lost her memory. She is abducted by a male dragon shifter (Damon) who has the intention of mating her. Hera is not impressed with the situation and wants to go back to earth. What you will find in this book is: dragon shifters, a human female, first born dragons/fates, witches, enemies, councils, drama, intrigue, suspense, twists & turns, designated mates, adventure, action, war, conflict, unexplained abilities, desire, memories, lust, love and passion. The story-line and plot is well thought out and written, the pace is steady and not rushed. The characters have needs and desires according to their personality. I would recommend this book
Profile Image for Dawn McGraw.
Author 17 books197 followers
January 30, 2020
Out of the frying pan into the fire.
This story gripped me right from the start and kept me turning the pages late into the night. The next day I had tired eyes, but a happy heart.

Suffering from amnesia, short for rent, attacked by her drunken customers, and kidnapped by an alien, Hera thought her situation couldn't get worse. That was before she realized her fated mate was in love with another.

Damen didn't want a human mate, he was in love with the dragon queen. But a burning need to keep his little mate safe was blooming into an all-consuming passion. Maybe the pesky Fates had it right.

If you love alien abduction romance, this series will hijack your heart.
#AlienAbductionRomance #Reviews
Profile Image for Caroline Doig.
5,473 reviews49 followers
February 2, 2018
This is the 1st book I’ve read and reviewed for M.L. Guida and it was absolutely fantastic. I’m not giving any spoilers because M.L. Says it all in her blurb and I wouldn’t be able to help myself I would give out too much. I loved the characters Damon and Hera, a very well written storyline, there’s action, adventure and love and who wouldn’t want to be taken by a sexy alien dragon shifter? I loved ❤️❤️ This book and I can’t wait for the next book. I highly recommend this book and it’s definitely worth more than 5 ⭐️.
Profile Image for Raina.
4,238 reviews34 followers
April 22, 2018
An alien romance where being kidnapped may be the best part of her day. She has no memory past three months. Now she works as a waitress to just be able pay rent. But her day seems to be getting worse oh and an alien kidnapped her. He’s being forced to take a human mate when he loves the queen. But his queen has her king. So you might get think this alien male is a jerk and well he does start out that way. But I promise after several surprises and twists you will be on his side by the end. A must read for any sci-fi romance readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of the book.
Profile Image for Emily Dickson.
1,100 reviews7 followers
April 28, 2018
This book grabbed my attention from the start and kept it! Alien dragon shifters who need Earth females for mates. Damon is the first who goes to get his mate. Hera is the female who he is sent for. Hera was a great character who also had no memories for the past 3 months and not an easy female to just fall into his plans. Back on Damon's planet there is trouble and the two finally have to work together to save both their planets. Great chemistry and some humor is thrown in. Some sexy time and an HEA. The story had a great plot with plenty of action and great secondary characters.
498 reviews1 follower
December 21, 2020
Mixing witches with alien dragons

When the man that saves you, kidnaps you, and says you are his mate, you will do almost any thing for him except share him with another woman. Your life began three months ago when you are found wondering in the wilderness with no memory. Then on St Patrick's day you get saved from the bar rats by a dragon. Adult reader due to sexual and violent content.
1,008 reviews9 followers
March 20, 2021
Loving his mate

Damin didn't want to be picked for going to Earth and getting a mate but the Fates had decided that he would find his mate and bring her back. Hera doesn't know who she is as she has no memory before she woke up in a park three months earlier. Readers should enjoy reading how these two reluctant people get together. One thinking that he loves someone else and the other searching for herself and love. I would highly recommend this book.
1,449 reviews3 followers
April 2, 2018
Madness Unleashed

I was pleasantly surprised by this author that I haven't read before. She kept the flow moving along nicely and the characters had their differences but still managed to work things out without distracting from the basic storyline. I recommend this book and future books in the series to those readers who are interested into this genre.
Profile Image for S.
490 reviews
July 9, 2018
Humm

Gave it the benefit of doubt outlook... and came up with a bit of disappointment. The build up of the plot wasn’t really there and the h&h never really bonded together. Again there’s the uses of the word “mate” but that’s it. Like that one word should explain everything is a pretty overused notion.
Profile Image for Kate.
66 reviews1 follower
August 25, 2018
Honestly, I'm disappointed. The characters are flat and a bit silly (fiddle dee dee and blazes) but what probably let it down the most, apart from plot holes the size of New York, was the poor grammar and spelling. Cosima became Cosmia in the same bloody sentence over and over and over again.

And can I just say - the main male character is pretty much more human than his human mate.

Profile Image for Sydney M Neblett.
2,665 reviews26 followers
January 15, 2019
Every dragon needs the love of a good woman

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat! Making you love and hate the main male as much as you feel devastating sorrow for his fated mate. Only by setting aside their misconceptions will they find their HEA. Who will be the next fated mate? I can’t wait to find out!
1,343 reviews5 followers
September 24, 2019
An interesting premise, could have been a stronger execution on the backstory.

Needs to be gone over for corrections and errors. Parts are every well written (romance and sexual sections), but the actual sci-fi part is very weak, it'll pass for a non sci-fi aficionado, but falls short for folks who are real readers of science fiction.
605 reviews
February 1, 2020
Their planets people need help and they want to see if Earth can help.

An alien dragon must take a mate the Fates say. He has a hard time deciding if he really has to be her mate. She has lost her memories and is kidnapped and find out something about herself but does she help? Read this fantastic book and find out.
Profile Image for Goddess of Chaos.
2,893 reviews12 followers
April 1, 2018
Hera is about to have an eye opening experience

When Damon is informed he has a fated mate, and must go claim her, he is less than thrilled. But Here is more than she first appears, a woman with inner strength, determination and compassion.
Profile Image for Mika.
255 reviews35 followers
February 12, 2020
DNF at 70% The colloquialisms were ridiculous and out of place, the romance was forced and depressing with him hung up on someone else pretty much the entire time, none of her actions or motivations were realistic, the sci-fi was straight up copy pasted from Star Trek.
Profile Image for Josie.
2,004 reviews
March 30, 2020
True Love

I had read other reviews and wasn't sure what to expect, so I let the story speak for itself. There was a lot of story going on...lost memories, over arching threat, and communication between not only species, but between a man and a woman. A recipe for a good story. Looking forward to reading more of this series.
Profile Image for Kathleen Reed.
933 reviews3 followers
May 11, 2021
Surprisingly fun

The heroine has so many Colloquialims, it made me snicker. Example, "argument sizzled like a rain drop on a hot skillet."
The dragons are awesome and the sweet romance made my toes curl. Good read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews