Swallow

Forbidden Desires Spin-off #1

by Piper Scott, Virginia Kelly

A Forbidden Desires Spin-Off Story.

Grimbold Drake, influential patriarch of the Drake family, revels in his solitary life of order—a life which is thrown into chaos when his son pays him an unexpected visit, bringing with him a broken but gorgeous young man more than a millennium Grimbold’s junior. A man Grimbold instantly finds himself yearning to fix, to protect, and to claim.

Meek, subservient, and eager to please, Wally Brand doesn’t doubt the tales he’s been told of the cruel and deceitful Amethyst clan, so when he’s forcibly taken from his home and entrusted to Grimbold Drake—the most powerful Amethyst dragon of all—he knows he won’t be long for this world. Only there’s a gleam in Grimbold’s eyes when he looks Wally’s way and a tenderness to his touch that Wally can’t understand.

All he knows is one thing: whether Grimbold means him harm or not, if he can be good to his dragon captor, maybe, just maybe, he’ll get out of this mess alive.

Swallow is a 30,000 word steamy omegaverse mpreg-ish romance set following the events of the Forbidden Desires series. It contains a broken young man who badly needs love, a curmudgeonly dragon with a heart of gold, new nicknames, familiar faces, and the sweetest dog known to dragonkind. For maximum enjoyment, Swallow is best read as a companion piece to the Forbidden Desires series.

Genres: M M Romance, Omegaverse, Paranormal, Dragons, Romance, Shapeshifters, Fantasy

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2019

About the author

Piper Scott debuted as a trio of authors looking to write together for fun. Their collaboration led to three novella-length books (Love Me, Save Me, and Keep Me,) before life sent them in different directions, leaving just one author with an omegaverse plot bunny that wouldn’t leave her alone. Obey was born several months later… but the plot bunny never left—it multiplied.

Left to her own devices, Piper Scott writes scorching but heartfelt contemporary omegaverse romance about men you can’t help but fall in love with.

Also writes under the pen name Emma Alcott.

Reviews

[Darien]

The Story: 4 Pants Off

I LOVE THIS FAMILY! Harry shows up and I start crying 😭 cuz he’s forever my fave. So glad papa dragon got himself a mate.

The Narration: 5++++ PANTS OFF

No one does it better than Michael Ferraiuolo

[Barbara➰]

Reread October 2022

I still believe these two deserve more. I really love them both and wish we had gotten a longer book for them. It seemed much more rushed to me this time.

Reread June 2021

I wanted to do a reread of this after reading Peregrine. I really wish we could get a good follow-up on these two. I think they deserve more.

Originally read January 2020

I was so excited to get Daddy Grim's story. He seems aloft and hard in other books but we get to see his sweet nurturing side. Poor Wally. He's had a rough life full of abuse and misery. He needed Grim to take care of him and give him all that he deserved.

This was a sweet spinoff of the Forbidden Desires series. My only complaint is, I wish it was longer. It seemed rushed and I think it would have been great longer. Plus, what happened to Wally's sire? Did I miss something there?

Hopefully we'll get to see more of these two and some longer books in the near future. I really, really want to read Sebastian and Perry's story 😊

[Eugenia]

3rd listen to AUDIOBOOK June 2023: Delectable novella narration by Michael Ferraiuolo! Yes! It’s worth the whispersynch price!!

Daddy Grim is sooooo growly!!! Yum!

Original review July 2019:
Adorable!! More dragons!!

What an adorable novella ❤️❤️ featuring an abused Topaz omega, Wally, and the head to the Amethyst clan, Grimbold!!

Harry and Ev make several appearances, as does Steve the iguana.

Super fun read! Mpreg and knotting 😉! Best enjoyed in series order.

Triggers: past abuse.

[Trio]

Completely and thoroughly delicious. To see gruff and growly Grimbold Drake find his mate? *sigh* It was truly perfect. I couldn't dream up a better true love for him than Wally. He's adorable, and after everything he's been through at the Cloister, well he's just as sweet as he can be.

Plus there are some bonus visits from a few of our favorite characters, and scenes of Grandad Grim!

Michael Ferraiuolo is always spectacular and he rises to the occasion in Swallow. One of his finest talents is his range and variety of voices, and the stories in Piper Scott & Virginia Kelly's Forbidden Desires series are a wonderful showcase for this amazing performer.

an audiobook copy of Swallow was provided to me for the purpose of my review

[Jennifer☠Pher☠]

I am a fan of the Forbidden Desires Series
so I was super excited to see a spin-off. In this case, I felt like more would be better and believe me, I was not wrong.

I LOVED THIS! I loved this even more than the original series. I couldn't put this down and I just felt so much while reading it! The story was at first heartbreaking and then sugary sweet and then on fire hot.

Joy is the perfect word to describe the entire read. One big bunch of joy.

I had no idea I even cared about Grimbold! I do now! He was perfect!

Swallow, Wally, Walter, I just felt so much for him and am so happy he has found his own joy in more ways than one.

LOVED IT!

[Jazer (catching up on TBRs)]

3.5

I foolishly believed I’d figured out what was missing in your life and that I might be able to fix you, but this mulish old man has come to realize that not every problem can be resolved with good intention.

Swallow was the most subdued and slow burn story of this series. I like Grimbold's character and how his story came after the changes in the dragon laws. His open-mindedness in all of the hypotheses and proposals of his sons and their mates brought him the understanding, patience, and courage needed to care for his mate, Walter. He softened a lot since the first book and since he's still the figurehead of the council, he now witnessed first-hand how his neglect of the clans' reigns had affected their omegas. It was humbling for him to experience the effects of the Pedigree through his mate.

Being the first to sire a dragonet within the Drakes also gave him a lot of relatability and honestly, I may not love some parts of this book but the last few chapters where he finally mated Walter and the short accounting of their pregnancy up to giving birth was what made me love this eventually. It was the sweetest, most satisfying part of the story. ❤️

[⚣Michaelle⚣]

Audio Review 19Jan2020: Even better with the audio; Michael F does such a good job with all the voice and accents...and I am really looking forward to more. Off to listen to Book 3 of the Forbidden Desires series since I accidentally skipped it.


Original Review 05Aug2019: I only wish it were longer! I hope there are more coming for this series...

[Pam]

It just wasn't long enough to feel like Wally's complete turn-around with his trust issues was earned. He's in such a bad place when the book starts, and it's coming from a lifetime of conditioning, which also caused a tiny bit of ick factor when they started their physical relationship. The dragon world-building and evolution is what made the original series interesting enough to work for me, and I think we're mostly done with that part now, so I'm going to stop here with the spin-offs.

[Kaity]

Reread/relisten #1: April 2024

I think this might be my least favorite of the series, it was the shortest so that could be why, but idk it just felt rushed and I didn't feel the chemistry between the two characters as much as I hoped.

Original Read/Listen: May 2021
Audio: 5 stars
Book: 3 stars

Ehhh okay sooo this actually had a human instead of dragon eggs as the baby... and I decided don’t really like that haha

But I think that between this book and the other books this was my least favorite, but I am excited for the next book sooo I will put this one out of my brain because of the birth haha but overall cute story but not for me as much as I hoped.

[Cadiva]

Well that was just ridiculously sweet!

Seeing the Amethyst clan leader and big bad daddy Drake Grimbold find his Wally was just gorgeous. I loved how his character changed over the three previous books as he came to realise he'd not been active enough in helping dragonkind.

There was a good slow burn up to their partnership starting and it worked well.

[Rachel Emily]

Sooooo happy to get more books and stories with the amethyst dragons!

In this story, we have Grimbold, the father of the amethyst dragons who were all MCs in the Forbidden Desires trilogy. When he meets Wally, a timid and abused dragonet/disgrace (as they are wrongfully called) something about the young man speaks out to Grim - that he is meant to care for him and show Wally his true worth.

I just adored this story. Of course, I loved the cameos from Harry, Ev, and Steve. I love seeing the babies getting older! And I loved how sweet Grim was towards Wally, and how well he took care of him. Very sweet, sexy, fun! I think I could always read about this dragon family.

Can’t wait for more from these two!!

[Tammy]

Sweet read 😍

[Saimi Vasquez]

Wally no sabe que cuando lo sacan del que ha sido su casa (la academia de Pedigrí) y lo llevan a la mansión de un dragón, que nada mas y nada menos del Clan Amatista (los enemigos del Clan Topaz). Así que intenta portarse bien, intenta evitar por todos los medios que lo castiguen.
Pero poco a poco se va dando cuenta que quizás no todo lo que le enseñaron en la academia era cierto. Quizás no todos los dragones son malos, ni quieren lastimarlo. Quizás este dragón lo que quiere es protegerlo. Pero será capaz de dejar atrás sus dudas y temores y confiar por primera vez en su vida? Será posible que pueda tener una vida feliz sin castigos, fuera de la academia?

Por supuesto, nos hacia falta una historia de amor para el padre de la familia. El hombre-dragón que hizo todo lo posible para que sus hijos pudieran tener el final feliz que se merecían. Claro, no esperaba que la historia fuera tan sencilla, y que el joven con el que lo unieran estuviera tan traumatizado.
Sin embargo, la trama resulto entretenida y le dio un buen cierre a la serie, por lo menos a la parte enfocada en esta familia del Clan Amatista.
Pero, creo que voy a dejar la serie hasta aquí, por ahora, y quizás mas adelante retome este universo para ver que otras parejas han encontrado a su "para siempre".

[Steph (Teacups & Tropes)]

4✨

I didn't know that I needed a story about Grimbold, but I did.

In the first three books, I always pictured him as this straight-laced, no nonsense, cold, foreboding dragon. The woman who bore his clutch wasn't in the picture and Grimbold had never been mated to her, so I was wondering who could capture this big Daddy dragon's heart and keep it.

Swallow - Wally, as he prefers; and Walter, as he is renamed by Grimbold - was abused by his sire and was found living in his closed and dilapidated cloister. When he's brought by Geoffrey to see Grim, it was heartbreaking to witness his trauma. He was constantly scared of being punished that he would avoid the furniture and the nice rugs and sleep on the floor. But what opens him up - and Grim, it seems - is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

That, and the myriad of visitors that tell Wally he is safe and cared for.

Wally also has this unique ability to communicate with the inner dragons of the men he is surrounding by. The power of a Disgrace - or Dragonet, as they are now referred to - is unique to each omega-dragon. I'm curious to see what other powers are out there!

I wish this story had been longer, but I loved it! Daddy Grim is now one of my favorites and it was great to have my favorite Dragon Doc and his mate (and a pink grand-whelp) make an appearance!

[Jo * Smut-Dickted *]

Yes yes yes!!! PLEASE MORE! I loved this one. Wally was adorable and Grimold was awesome. The hurt/comfort is strong, the ending divine. Why isn't this a full length story? I know it was supposed to be a trilogy but please give us more. This is probably in my top 5 series (MM) EVER and I so want more.

[⋆｡°✮ Lucy InTheSky ✮°｡⋆]

2.5⭐ for the story. I didn't even want to dignify this booklet with a rating, but here we are.

This is Grim's book, the character I've liked since I've started reading this series and even though he didn't get what he deserved with his book, he did in fact get a happy ending, so that's something, I guess.

😈 Omegaverse - dragons
🟡 Alpha, Omega; t/b
🔵 A substantial age gap
🟢 A Disgrace offspring
🟣 Short and underwhelming

Grimmie has basically been cheated out of his book. He got the shittier end of the stick and it's surprising, really, because he's a very, very important character in this series.

Grim Daddy is a silver fox, basically. Almost. He's the head of the Amethyst clan, a very powerful and important figure. He got his clutch about a 1000 years ago with the former rules in place - he discarded the Omega who laid his eggs and has been a single, unmated parent ever since .

Grim's been paired here with a very traumatized omega Wally, who's been bred in the Topaz territory for the Pedigree program and was severely abused. After closing down the cloisters, he's left all alone and terrified with noone to claim him. Geoffrey brings him to Grim and Grim decides to take him in and help him.

Grim's story started somewhere in the middle, there's at least 50 pages missing before that and 50 after. We don't know who he is, what his life's been like, how does he deal with all the changes happening in his world, nothing. In comes the omega and he's helping him, but in the same breath wants to fuck him, so they cohabit for a period and then get intimate, until they finally mate.

All very quick, with no real explanation or really diving into the story, it was like getting a few sentences out of a chapter of his nonexistent book.

Grim and Wally could've had an amazing hurt/comfort age-gap book, a book that would be similar in storytelling to the others in the series, but that didn't happen, sad to say it. I was so, so very disappointed, especially because Wally gives birth to a human child - a very unique situation, the situation that was very frowned upon, and this particular situation happens to Grim, of all dragons, so again an unprecedented case, yet as unique as it was, it didn't really get much page time.
Why couldn't they've gotten a longer, better story?

Don't even get me started on the "Buffy the vampire slayer" references, oh my god! No. NO. I kept wondering, is that a joke? Are we joking here? Grim, of all dragons, gets this story, wow. Just wow.


This was a terrible, unwanted surprise and I'm very much disappointed.

[W]

UPDATE Audiobook review 01-05-20
Narrated by: Michael Ferraiuolo

Yaaaay, the Dream Team of Piper Scott, Virginia Kelly & Michael Ferraiuolo is Together Again!

Overall: 4.5 stars
Story : 4.5 stars
Narration: 5 stars

I loved listening to this entertaining , sexy and delightful , Mpreg, Dragon shifter , MM Rom-Com .

Michael Ferraiuolo narration was phenomenal . He made me laugh out loud , got me all warm and bothered, even made me tear up with his performance.

ORIGINAL Ebook review 06-30-19

Can't get enough of these characters

Swallow is a sweet treat to all of us who enjoyed reading/listening to Forbidden Desires 3 book series.

We get to hear from the all the beloved characters from that series and get an update on what's going on with their lives.

Besides being a delicious and sexy treat ; Swallow is the first book, of many I hope , from their Forbidden Desires Spin -Off .

It tells us the story of Grimbold , patriarch of the Amethyst Dragons and one of the oldest living dragons and Walter AKA Wally , previously known as Swallow a Disgrace .

To really understand , truly appreciate and enjoy this short story you should read/listen the already mentioned series . It will put into perspective why the relationship between our heroes is so unique and unprecedented.

I think Piper Scott and Virginia Kellyhave struck gold in creating a world around all these memorable characters that I sincerely can't get enough .


Read it through my KU membership

[Megan (feral hearts club)]

This was a cute, sweet, short little story. I enjoyed it so much that I wish it was a full length book instead of a novella. I loved Wally so much, and his love of Buffy (something we share) and seeing this new side of papa Grim was so fun. I loved the little cameos from the other boys, and Ev calling Wally the flower nicknames.

[Evelyn Bella (there WILL be spoilers)]

No hate towards this but Michael Ferraiuolo did too good a job with the grandfather voice and that coupled with the man being called Grimbold, was simply too much for me.

Can't be sounding like you've got one foot in the grave and you're falling in love with a sweet young omega called Wally.

Unhand him.

[Maria]

I'm pissed. 😡

Each book better than the last. Then there's Mate, a cut above. It's pure farsical entertainment and a blast to read.

I'm all set for crotchety dad and his wounded little bird. I was looking forward to the story building here, really looking forward to it.

No hoarding here, that's for damn sure. There wasn't enough time. It's like the authors threw this together over their lunch hour. Good but it could have been so much more. Insta everything. Blasted eye rolls. 🙄 Even Steve strolls in and scurries out, like a tiny taste of the goodness that was.

Next time, take longer than a minute will you?

Crotchety dad and Walter deserved better. So, so, disappointed.

[Lily]

WONDERFUL!!! Amazing!
I was delighted to see a new, warmer side to Grim as a father, grandfather and caretaker of Swallow. But the real star of this book was Swallow, a Topaz omega, that was a half-crazed, scarred thing that had endured a lifetime of torture and fear at the hands of dragons. In the care of Grimbold Drake not only did he learn to trust again, but he learned to stand up for himself and fight for his happiness! It was just such a heartfelt journey for the both of them and I was so proud of Swallow. I can't believe Piper Scott managed to squeeze so much character development in such a short book.
In short this was an absolute amazing book full of heartfelt and genuine moments that made me ball and cry happy tears. I look forward to the series continuing! And I really hope that series includes Perry and Sebastian's story and Hugh's quest for family and love.

As a side note I want to mention that I expected the Daddy kink to make an appearance due to the millennia age difference between Grim and Wally. But I was delightfully surprised that it didn't. Wally did call Grim 'sir' a lot. And Grim was definitely a silver fox of warmth, security and fatherly-figureness. But no 'spank me daddy' stuff. Which thank goodness, because that would've been weird considering Wally's trauma and I tend not to like Daddy play in general.

[Tracy]

4.5☆ Loved this one! Can't wait for the next book.

[Chappy]

This had a bit of a daddy-kink vibe to it...I mean, talk about an age gap. Grimbold is over 1000 and poor Wally is only 22.
Story felt rushed and I'm not sure why it was so short.
I'm curious to learn more about Harry's theory about the dragon colors and how they affect clutches. Is there a wheel of dragon colors somewhere?
Those Topaz dragons are so messed up (except for Ian of course). Where did Wally's father go? Is there a dragon jail?

[Ronie Reads]

"...the entry hall was a scene of carnage..."

Here I thought there wasn't gonna be any eviscerated corpses in this one. A bright day when the overlooked. Becomes my hero!

[Susi June]

My only issue with this book is the age difference. I usually only hate age gaps in books with completely human characters and don't mind big gaps in paranormal books but here? I dislike it a lot.
Grimbold is over thousand years old and Wally only 22. Not just that but Wally is heavily traumatized, innocent and quite naive. Than to top it all of, he constantly gets called child, boy, my sweet boy. Wally calls him Sir and the first time he actually calls him Grimbold is months into his pregnancy. Ugh it gives me the ick.

I actually do like both characters a lot.
Grimbold is this big intimidating dragon, that has a hidden gooey center, especially for his grandwhelps (ugh cutest word).
Wally is the sweetest thing. I feel so so bad for him. Grimbold gives him the safety he craves but it takes a bit for him to trust it. His past breaks my heart.
Also everything feels kinda incestuous. Wally is Ian's nephew but also father in law. Lol.
Overall, I actually really do love this book, at least when I ignore the age part. It's just another great addition to an amazing series.

[Lori¸¸¸.•*❀Ɍɛɑɗs̱LɪƙɛIʈs̱H̱ɛɍJɔɓ 유❤유]

It's weird that I started reading the omegaverse very skeptically and although it took me a while to get into it, I am loving most of the stories I have read. The Forbidden Desires series is one of my favorites because there's humor galore and although there is some angst, it works well with the story. The mpreg aspect of the omegaverse was very strange to me when I first started reading it but now I'm like "they're laying eggs!? Sure, bring it on!"

Grimbold was so much sweeter here than he was in the other books but it worked here! Wally needed all the kindness in the world and Grimbold delivered.

My only criticism is that I wish it were longer, but that's only because I love Piper Scott and Virginia Kelley's writing so much!

[Kelly]

This series is so good.

Arc provided courtesy of LesCourt
All reviews are voluntary and my honest opinion.

You're definitely going to want to read the original series to understand what's going on here. But the good news is the entire series is absolutely amazing, including this novella.

Grim has finally seen the error of his ways, when he's introduced to severely abused Walter of the Topez Clan. Grim has to reign in his claiming instincts and put Wally's needs first. He finds himself very much wanting to earn Walter's trust and affection.

A lot of the most endearing characters return (crumpet). I enjoy the humor and inside jokes the authors have built across this universe. I can't wait for more. 5/5

[Fani *loves angst*]

Not my cuppa I'm afraid. I liked the first two books of the forbidden desires series, but was very disappointed with the last two. I found Walter/Wally's recovery after the meeting with Vadim and the kids a bit too fast for my liking and I couldn't understand Grimbold's attachment to Wally, who had zero personality till that point.

[Lisazj1]

There are never enough dragons! *unless they're Topaz*

Just as genuinely sweet and adorable as the previous ones, though I never would have believed Grim had it in him. I hope Piper Scott never gets tired of writing this world, because I certainly will never get tired of reading it!

[Bookreader87(Amanda)]

3.25 stars
This book softened Grimbold. I thought he was a grumpy old dragon but his kindness toward Walter changed my view.