Ever Found

by Maree Byrnes

One drunken night with a dragon king and now I’m pregnant.

Everly - This wasn’t meant to happen! I was meant to continue playing along with my mothers plans for a few more months, until I was too old to be viable for what I nicknamed the "breeding program". Then I'd be free to return to my studies and work on getting as far away from her as possible.

But one drunken night with a dragon king and here I am giving my mother everything she wanted!

Now instead of escaping this life, I'm tightly bound with no escape. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it turns out I’m the mate of not only one dragon but three.

Can I learn to trust these three strange dragons? Or are they only going to use me to get what they want like my mother?

Lin - All I've ever wanted in life was to find my true mate and start a family.

After centuries of waiting I’d given up hope, especially after the Everose curse wiped out most of the females of our species, forcing us to look for a mate amongst the humans.

Despite my disbelief a human girl has my hormones, dormant for centuries, going wild. I can’t believe I've found a mate, not my true mate though. She’s only human, but she just might be able to give me the family I've always wanted.

That doesn't mean I have to trust her or her gold digging mother. There is something about them that just doesn't add up.
While her mother shows all the warning signs typical of a gold digger, there's something about Everly that continues to draw me in.

Will I be able to uncover their end game before the baby is born? Or will they use my child to bring me and my kingdom to our knees?

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2021

Reviews

[Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love books with dragons then you will absolutely love this book!

Ever since the dragons were cursed in hopes to find their mates, human women go village to village and parade in a line in front of the dragons hoping they will be chosen as their mates. Everly is one human who would rather be free and go to college with her friends instead of becoming a mate to a dragon but her mother who has her own agenda forces Everly to dress up and go from village to village in hopes she is chosen.

This story sucked me in from the first page to the last and I devoured the book in one day. My heart broke for Everly and I just wished she would stand up to her mother. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

[Becki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have some mixed feelings on this book. Overall, I enjoyed it, as the premise of the plot was fantastic and really interesting, and this may be because I haven't found myself reading many dragon shifter books in the past, but the plot felt relatively original and fresh, so it made it all the more enjoyable. Another thing I appreciated was the individuality of each of the characters, I didn't feel like they were all carbon copies of each other, they each had personalities that felt individual and independent from each other, which I find is sometimes not the case in RH books. So in terms of pros: interesting plot, interesting characters, and I was engaged throughout the book, and was interested in finishing it. The cons are a little trickier. The first thing that grabbed my attention was a bit of a nitpicky thing, one of the main male characters is named Lincoln, but is almost always referred to by his nickname…which was Lin. I usually don’t begrudge an author’s choice to use whatever names they so want, however, for some reason, I was really bothered in this book by him going by Lin, when traditionally, the nickname for Lincoln would be Linc/Link…That was obviously not a big deal in terms of a deal breaker for most readers, it was just a personal thing. For the rest of my cons list, it was three things. One, there were a lot of editing/grammar/formatting issues, that should have been caught by an editor/beta team etc. So, it really drew me out of the writing and kept pulling me out of important scenes. Two, the casual use of the following words interchangeably: eons, millennia, thousands, centuries, decades, etc. These all mean drastically different amounts of time, yet they were being used interchangeably all the time, it kind of drove me insane and would have been something I would catch as an alpha or beta reader. Lincoln commonly mentioned how he had been alone/waiting for his mate for decades, yet he also had been alive for eons and waiting all that time, etc… it just really didn’t make sense together. Decades and eons do not go hand in hand, at all. And lastly, third, while I really enjoyed the plot and characters…the last chunk of the book really threw me and just did not make sense to me at all in terms of the character and plot development. For the sake of not giving spoilers, I won’t go into detail, but it just felt like things were happening purely for the sake of the driving the plot, even though it really didn’t make sense given the logic set forth by the character’s and earlier plot, so each time something came out of left field and made no sense, it just made me feel frustrated and pulled me out of the writing. I gave this 3 stars because it really has good bones and I did really enjoy certain aspects of it, but I deducted the two stars because it felt a little too unfinished or unpolished and feels like it needs just a little more work to elevate it even more. If you are into dragon shifters, paranormal stories, RH, etc, then this is a decent read, but just know you might find some things that irk you, and the ending might feel really jarring or dissatisfying. I will say that despite all of this, I am still eagerly awaiting and anticipating book 2 because I want to see where the story goes from here, as my curiosity is often too strong, even with books that annoyed me, but that's also because while book one gave you just enough to make you curious about this curse and her situation, it didn't give you enough to really answer anything. It just left a lot of things open ended, and while a healthy dose of that leads to mystery and intrigue for the sequel, it left this particular book feeling unfinished and like you didn't move forward much, despite the fact 9 months have passed over the course of the book.

[Jenn H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author but it won’t be my last! Everose is forced by her convincing mom to try to find a dragon mate in many different towns. After yet another presenting doesn’t go well, Ever sneaks out for a night on the town. Low and behold if the 3 dragons from earlier aren’t there and chemistry sparks sizzle with the alpha Lin.
This book captivated me from the first chapter and held my attention until I closed it. I honestly can’t wait for book two and to see where this romance of the century will take us!!

[Maya Salo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book but I found I was annoyed off and on by the main characters. The premise was interesting but I feel very little ended up being revealed about the curse and why as a reader it was such a big deal. I also felt there was a lack of connection between the characters to the point that it necessitates a reverse harem situation.

What I did like was the world building and the characterization of dragons need mates trope.

[Joy Whiteside · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an amazing read that hooked me and would not let me go until the last page was read. It moves along at a pace which is perfect for the flow of the story, has interesting characters that you will love and a story that will not disappoint. This book is a must read that needs to be on your TBR list, you will not be sorry that you did.

[Dora Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating

Enjoyed this story from beginning to end. Everything you need for a great story - a wicked mother, a good love story, an unknown villain and at the end a beautiful babe. Can't wait to see what happens next. Well written story keep them coming.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will She?

Funny, this book has all of what you want. Storyline takes you thru the entire series of beginning, middle and finally end. Also leaves you with the cliffhanger, ( hate cliffhanger)🤫but I can't wait for book 2.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

🥲🥹 WHYYYYYYY

My frustration that they haven’t killed her mother yet IYKYK especially when her mates don’t communicate with her 🤬😅 but other than that I absolutely loved it and can’t wait for the next book which is really long from now 🥲

[Rachel Joi Maples · Rating 5 out of 5]

fabulous book!! ... cannot wait for more of this story!!

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the start of a new series. I was looking for a good reverse harem. This was a start but wasn’t over the moon in love with it. I will probably read book 2 just to see but overall not in love.

[Victoria Pring · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much and am so sad I have to wait to find out what happens next. I wasn't sure how much I would like this book as I have struggled with certain RH books before, I am pleased however to confirm that this was not an issue in this book, the relationship between Ever and her boys is well written, if anything I was a little sad there wasn't more of the three of them together, though I understand why that couldn't happen. This book introduces us to a world where humans and dragons coexist side by side, the dragons are under a curse that requires them to tolerate ridiculous parades of desperate human women through their town in the hopes that they can each locate their mate. The one girl who is there completely against her will turns out to be a mate to not one but 3 dragons, Ever's life only gets more complicated from this point on. I really enjoyed this book and will undoubtedly read it again while anxiously awaiting the release of book two.