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Ballot's Keep #1
Father of Dragons
One grieving man is forced to uphold an ancient bargain by giving birth to a dragon. If only life were that simple.
After his lover is executed for the simple crime of being a commoner, Xeras, a young nobleman of Tirrin, turns his back on his life of privilege and flees into the wilderness.
Weighed down with grief, exhaustion and hunger, Xeras awakens from one confusing night in the forest with the ghostly voice of his lover in his head and the embryo of a dragon implanted in his side.
When Xeras encounters Carly, the charming Duke of Ballot s Keep, he is far from ready to fall in love again. Still grieving, and angry about the predicament into which he s been forced, Xeras accepts an opportunity to go after the dragons who have been making life difficult for the people of the local towns.
But there is sinister magic behind the machinations of the dragons, magic that emanates from Xeras s distant home island of Tirrin. Magic that puts the lives of both Carly and the tiny infant dragon in danger. Xeras finds that he can t turn his back on either of them. For their sake he must face down his own countrymen and somehow thwart the Tirrin mages evil plans.
Warning: This title contains the following: Some M/M sex, some dragons, even some sex with dragons."
After his lover is executed for the simple crime of being a commoner, Xeras, a young nobleman of Tirrin, turns his back on his life of privilege and flees into the wilderness.
Weighed down with grief, exhaustion and hunger, Xeras awakens from one confusing night in the forest with the ghostly voice of his lover in his head and the embryo of a dragon implanted in his side.
When Xeras encounters Carly, the charming Duke of Ballot s Keep, he is far from ready to fall in love again. Still grieving, and angry about the predicament into which he s been forced, Xeras accepts an opportunity to go after the dragons who have been making life difficult for the people of the local towns.
But there is sinister magic behind the machinations of the dragons, magic that emanates from Xeras s distant home island of Tirrin. Magic that puts the lives of both Carly and the tiny infant dragon in danger. Xeras finds that he can t turn his back on either of them. For their sake he must face down his own countrymen and somehow thwart the Tirrin mages evil plans.
Warning: This title contains the following: Some M/M sex, some dragons, even some sex with dragons."
182 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2007
2 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Emily Veinglory
52 books53 followersEmily is a writer of erotic romance, dark fantasy and gay fiction. She is also an illustrator, crafter, blogger, poet, reviewer, adventuress and general purpose smart ass.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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April 2, 2009As always Emily Veinglory surprises me... and as aways it's a good surprise.
Father of Dragons is not the usual fantasy gay romance. Even if the main character is a high born man who loves man, sex is not the mainly aspect of this novel. And though I like my sex scenes, I don't find any lack in this romance. It has enthralled me from the very first page and Xeras is one of the best character I have found lately.
Xeras is a man born in a wealthy and noble family. He has made the error to fall in love with a commoner, and law forbid that (notice, it's not a crime he has fallen in love with a man, the crime is that the man is a commoner); his family resolves the matter killing his lover Drin. And Xeras choses to exiliate himself from his country. He starts a journey in unknown terrain with the only company of his lover's ghost. But during one of these adventures he meets a dragon female, Plegura, and after a night spent with her (and don't ask nothing I will not tell nothing!), he awakes pregnant of the dragon's child. He has been chosen to be Father of Dragons, and after the initial refusal, he begins to care for this little moster he bears inside him. After all Drin has always wanted children!
And as every right damsel in distress he also find a duke for himself, Carly. Carly is an handsome man and very very interested in Xeras, but what will he say when he will know about the little monster? and in this case, the little monster is not a tender definition for a spoilt child...
Father of Dragons is absolutely a wonderful reading. It has everything, humor, adventure, love. I can't put down this book until I have finished it and it has satisfied every expectation I have for.
Xeras is a fatalist man. He accepts everything happens to him and knows as to open his heart to new love and lovers. He is not a perfect and invincible knight in shining armour. He fails and suffers but everytime he stands up again.
Carly can be the prince charming of the story, but he is not Xeras' saviour. He borrows his strenght to Xeras, but his strenght lays in giving to Xeras a reason to live, like does the little monster, the unwanted but so cherished dragons child. All the story is about Xeras and his journey, and maybe a little about the dragons child. And maybe, in the end, is not Xeras the damsel in distress, but Carly!
I hope that Samhain Publishing will think to print this book, cause I sure want it for my library!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1599988046/?...
Father of Dragons is not the usual fantasy gay romance. Even if the main character is a high born man who loves man, sex is not the mainly aspect of this novel. And though I like my sex scenes, I don't find any lack in this romance. It has enthralled me from the very first page and Xeras is one of the best character I have found lately.
Xeras is a man born in a wealthy and noble family. He has made the error to fall in love with a commoner, and law forbid that (notice, it's not a crime he has fallen in love with a man, the crime is that the man is a commoner); his family resolves the matter killing his lover Drin. And Xeras choses to exiliate himself from his country. He starts a journey in unknown terrain with the only company of his lover's ghost. But during one of these adventures he meets a dragon female, Plegura, and after a night spent with her (and don't ask nothing I will not tell nothing!), he awakes pregnant of the dragon's child. He has been chosen to be Father of Dragons, and after the initial refusal, he begins to care for this little moster he bears inside him. After all Drin has always wanted children!
And as every right damsel in distress he also find a duke for himself, Carly. Carly is an handsome man and very very interested in Xeras, but what will he say when he will know about the little monster? and in this case, the little monster is not a tender definition for a spoilt child...
Father of Dragons is absolutely a wonderful reading. It has everything, humor, adventure, love. I can't put down this book until I have finished it and it has satisfied every expectation I have for.
Xeras is a fatalist man. He accepts everything happens to him and knows as to open his heart to new love and lovers. He is not a perfect and invincible knight in shining armour. He fails and suffers but everytime he stands up again.
Carly can be the prince charming of the story, but he is not Xeras' saviour. He borrows his strenght to Xeras, but his strenght lays in giving to Xeras a reason to live, like does the little monster, the unwanted but so cherished dragons child. All the story is about Xeras and his journey, and maybe a little about the dragons child. And maybe, in the end, is not Xeras the damsel in distress, but Carly!
I hope that Samhain Publishing will think to print this book, cause I sure want it for my library!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1599988046/?...
February 13, 2017
The author has a unique ability to drain any and every emotion out of the story. Made me wonder if the main character is psychotic or something, with the way he is so blasé about everything.
June 22, 2010
This book was plain fun to read. Xeras,a highborn,leaves his ancestral home after his lover, a commoner,is put to death for falling in love with a highborn. Xeras struggles his way overland not really going any where in particular. He takes to a cave for the night that is inhabited by a dragon and without the graphic details, wakes to find his clothes shredded and himself impregnated with a dragon's egg in his side. The famale dragon long gone, the great Rock Dragon explains things to a slightly repulse Xeras. Xeras comes upon a small barony with a rather hunky young baron,Carly, whih is being plauged by a dragon. Xeras, in his nonchalant manner,lets his voice rip and the dragon flies off. Carly has his eyes set on Xeras but what will happen when he finds Xeras has hatched a dragonet and is of high noble birth? Pick up the book and find out in this first installment of the Ballots Keep series.
August 3, 2016
I hesitated before writing this review, because I don't really like to flame new struggling authors (and authors who write slash), but I think people need to be sure of what they buy, after all.
So I'll say it all depends on what you're after. If you thought "cool ! Dragons and slashy smex!" well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's not that kind of literature.
I, for one, was more interested in the dragons and their relationships with the humans (more than the slash itself), but alas it was not at all was I was hoping for.
Let's start with the opening chapter... I'm really confused by the author's choice of starting point. I know you don't *have* to start at the beginning, but sometimes it helps to be traditionnal. I thought that Xeras was badly introduced, and Drin only appears as a ghost or a hallucination who likes to make snarky comments. I was really confused by this first chapter, and I think the story would have gained a lot from 5 more chapters, even as a prologue or some background story.
Then, there's the dragon thing. I was not impressed by them at all. I mean, Xeras already is somewhat annoying as main characters go, but the dragons aren't even fascinating or mysterious.. Not anything I'd care to read more about.
The first half of the book is greatly boring (and damn, this book is only 200 pages !) at best. The most interesting character is Carly, and we barely see anything of him. The second half has a little more action, and I was waiting for the 'dragon get' to well... get there. But the main character is so removed from human (or otherwise) emotions that even the birth of the baby dragon did nothing for me.
It's really frustrating because I feel like this book had the potential to be a good one, but somehow the author made a terrible job of it, and I absolutely don't care enough to buy the second book and learn what happens. Too bad. (show less)
So I'll say it all depends on what you're after. If you thought "cool ! Dragons and slashy smex!" well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's not that kind of literature.
I, for one, was more interested in the dragons and their relationships with the humans (more than the slash itself), but alas it was not at all was I was hoping for.
Let's start with the opening chapter... I'm really confused by the author's choice of starting point. I know you don't *have* to start at the beginning, but sometimes it helps to be traditionnal. I thought that Xeras was badly introduced, and Drin only appears as a ghost or a hallucination who likes to make snarky comments. I was really confused by this first chapter, and I think the story would have gained a lot from 5 more chapters, even as a prologue or some background story.
Then, there's the dragon thing. I was not impressed by them at all. I mean, Xeras already is somewhat annoying as main characters go, but the dragons aren't even fascinating or mysterious.. Not anything I'd care to read more about.
The first half of the book is greatly boring (and damn, this book is only 200 pages !) at best. The most interesting character is Carly, and we barely see anything of him. The second half has a little more action, and I was waiting for the 'dragon get' to well... get there. But the main character is so removed from human (or otherwise) emotions that even the birth of the baby dragon did nothing for me.
It's really frustrating because I feel like this book had the potential to be a good one, but somehow the author made a terrible job of it, and I absolutely don't care enough to buy the second book and learn what happens. Too bad. (show less)
October 6, 2023
This story was not what I was expecting... It wasn't disappointing in that though. In fact, I immensely enjoyed it.
It's definitely a fantasy romance and I actually found it quite refreshing that it didn't contain all the smut I'm used to reading.
My only negative is that I wasn't happy with the ending, I wasn't aware there was a second book so didn't expect to have the story just hanging.
It's definitely a fantasy romance and I actually found it quite refreshing that it didn't contain all the smut I'm used to reading.
My only negative is that I wasn't happy with the ending, I wasn't aware there was a second book so didn't expect to have the story just hanging.
October 29, 2017
3.5 stars. This was definitely more fantasy than romance. I liked the characters, although Xeras was a bit of a downer. It ended with a cliffhanger and I may or may not read the next book.
September 30, 2024
This book was ok, and I might have looked to the next book in the series as this ends on a cliffhanger, but it looks like this series was never finished and in looking at the next book reviews it seems like that one ends on a cliffhanger as well. So this is going to go on the backshelf for me.
Xeras and Carly were interesting as a couple, though this was extremely insta-lovey and really not a lot of time spent with them as a couple. The romance definitely takes a backseat in this story. Xeras, and the ghost in his head, were a little woe is me at times, but I ultimately the action did pick up in the second half of the story.
Xeras and Carly were interesting as a couple, though this was extremely insta-lovey and really not a lot of time spent with them as a couple. The romance definitely takes a backseat in this story. Xeras, and the ghost in his head, were a little woe is me at times, but I ultimately the action did pick up in the second half of the story.
May 8, 2012
Can a bitter protagonist win the readers heart?
The plot
Xeras is running from his origins, past and.. himself. He don't want to think about his life, his lost, his... desperation.
In a fantasy land, where magic and dragons are present Xeras will have to deal with both... in his angry and sad way.
He is the only narrator, so don't read it if you want a happy and cheerful voice.
And BTW don't read it even if you want a romance. It's a fantasy, with a possibility of romance. I will not say more, or could spoil the story.
The book qualities are many. I will mentioned what I liked most.
First of all, Xeras. He is angry, sad and he is surprising funny.
Second I like the dragons. The magic surrounding them, the dragon fights, their violence. Don't read it if you want nice and cute dragons... they are violent, and a lot of people/animals will be hurt by them. I wish there would be more, but I like what I read about them.
And third, I adored the fact it's a "strict" fantasy book. No romance, not cute and fluffy things... it's an adventure, Xeras will be hurt a LOT, and many things will happen, do make him learn life can be always worst than is already. Sooo sad
... read to know what I'm talking about!
But unfortunately the book qualities weren't enough to make me give my 5 stars rating.
My BIGGEST problem was the annoying and asshole (hey can I use this word?) ghost
. I didn't like him, and unfortunately I was hoping he would disapear and let Xeras go on. I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hate Drin, the ghost 
.
I think this book waste a wonderful possibility to be the best fantasy I ever read. The characters are great (but the ghost... damn I hate him), the dragons are cool, the land is well described, the magic is perfect... but.. it's too much info, for too little time. Even if I was satisfied with the fantasy land description, I was always wishing there would be more... and also about the main characters. Xeras could talk/think less with the damn ghost, and be more "alive" interacting with amazing characters like Carly.
Unfortunately like many m-preg stories the man pregnancy was completely ignored and is more like a little, almost insignificant, part of it. I wonder why it was in this story...
Last remark the book end with a cliffhanger, so of course I already got the second, and will read it! SO yes, even if I had some problems, I want to read more, and know how things will go on...
will Drin get a live ... errrr... death and get the hell away from the human world? I hope so!
will Xeras learn how to control his dragon?
will Carly and Xeras be a couple? I think it's almost impossible...
One is light, other night,
one is the sun, the other the moon,
one is... a normal human and the other... the father of dragons.
Oh yes... I would say YES! Xeras can do it!
The plot
Xeras is running from his origins, past and.. himself. He don't want to think about his life, his lost, his... desperation.
In a fantasy land, where magic and dragons are present Xeras will have to deal with both... in his angry and sad way.
He is the only narrator, so don't read it if you want a happy and cheerful voice.
And BTW don't read it even if you want a romance. It's a fantasy, with a possibility of romance. I will not say more, or could spoil the story.
The book qualities are many. I will mentioned what I liked most.
First of all, Xeras. He is angry, sad and he is surprising funny.
"Xeras nudged the horse's sides tentatively with his feet. Its skin twitched like some fly was bothering it. Xeras tried again, more firmly, but to no great effect.
"Do it like a man, for God's sake" Durrin hissed.
"I don't think this horse wants to go anywhere", Xeras observed.
"You are the one in charge", Phinia said.
"I don't really want to go anywhere either," Xeras added, quietly pleased the horse didn't seem to agree with her assessment.
Second I like the dragons. The magic surrounding them, the dragon fights, their violence. Don't read it if you want nice and cute dragons... they are violent, and a lot of people/animals will be hurt by them. I wish there would be more, but I like what I read about them.
And third, I adored the fact it's a "strict" fantasy book. No romance, not cute and fluffy things... it's an adventure, Xeras will be hurt a LOT, and many things will happen, do make him learn life can be always worst than is already. Sooo sad
... read to know what I'm talking about!But unfortunately the book qualities weren't enough to make me give my 5 stars rating.
My BIGGEST problem was the annoying and asshole (hey can I use this word?) ghost
. I didn't like him, and unfortunately I was hoping he would disapear and let Xeras go on. I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally hate Drin, the ghost .I think this book waste a wonderful possibility to be the best fantasy I ever read. The characters are great (but the ghost... damn I hate him), the dragons are cool, the land is well described, the magic is perfect... but.. it's too much info, for too little time. Even if I was satisfied with the fantasy land description, I was always wishing there would be more... and also about the main characters. Xeras could talk/think less with the damn ghost, and be more "alive" interacting with amazing characters like Carly.
Unfortunately like many m-preg stories the man pregnancy was completely ignored and is more like a little, almost insignificant, part of it. I wonder why it was in this story...
Last remark the book end with a cliffhanger, so of course I already got the second, and will read it! SO yes, even if I had some problems, I want to read more, and know how things will go on...
will Drin get a live ... errrr... death and get the hell away from the human world? I hope so!
will Xeras learn how to control his dragon?
will Carly and Xeras be a couple? I think it's almost impossible...
One is light, other night,
one is the sun, the other the moon,
one is... a normal human and the other... the father of dragons.
3 stars
March 9, 2011
This is hard to review.. Because I liked the story, except the ending and one of the main charcters..
But other than that? Pretty good..
Its about Xeras, a fugitive from his homeland, who meets a dragon, gets pregnant (without him knowing) by it. He has his former lover, who is now dead, talking to him in his mind, guiding him along the way..
He meets a duke, Carly, at one point. And kinda falls for him. But Xeras knows that if he really falls in love with Carly, Drin, his former lover, will disapear from his mind.. So he's confused..
The worst thing about this book? Drin! Oh God.. I hated him.. Which makes me a bitch, because Drin wanted the best for Xeras, but why not just let him go for Gods sake? Why stay around, so he cant forget you, ya feel me? Ok yes, I have a thing with past lovers in stories.. I really dont like them having a big part. Especially not parts like this, where the main character cant forget a former lover.. Hate those kind of stories.. And that should be hate with a capital H.. Just sayin..
The ending.. Well, I dont really care that it didnt have an ending, a lot of books dont when there is a sequal. But I hate that I dont really want to read the 2nd book.. I dont want to sit through a whole book where Drin is around.. And I made the mistake of reading a review of the 2nd book, where it said what a big part Drin played.. so.. yeah.. Dont really wanna read it now..
I did like Xeras and Carly, and I would really like to read their HEA though.. But with Drin there too? No, thank you..
The story itself was very interesting. Definitely different from any other plotlines I've read.. Its not the hottest book, so if thats what you're after, this is not it. But just an interesting, exciting plotline, with ghosts, dragons and magic..
April 5, 2009
Interesting story. I was impressed with its complexity and the very real world Veinglory created. Xeras is a fun character to follow around, even during his darkest and most painful moments. Veinglory has an awesome gift for dry sarcasm and wit and she really gets to showcase that gift here.
The dragons were mighty and well utilized. The romance was sweet and hard at the same time. The adventure was believable and intriguing.
My only quibble is that the story just stopped. It didn't end, it stopped. I'm greedy. When I enjoy a character and his world, I have to be gently weened off him or her. Being dumped out of the story, running face first into "The End" leaves me grumpy. Luckily, this is merely book one in a series. Also, Veinglory has another dragon book I shall be snatching up shortly. So, I think I will quickly replace my grumpiness with enthusiasm once more.
The dragons were mighty and well utilized. The romance was sweet and hard at the same time. The adventure was believable and intriguing.
My only quibble is that the story just stopped. It didn't end, it stopped. I'm greedy. When I enjoy a character and his world, I have to be gently weened off him or her. Being dumped out of the story, running face first into "The End" leaves me grumpy. Luckily, this is merely book one in a series. Also, Veinglory has another dragon book I shall be snatching up shortly. So, I think I will quickly replace my grumpiness with enthusiasm once more.
January 10, 2011
Well, this was a 3 star read for me until the very end, but I liked the last bit so much that I bumped it up to 4 stars. The problem for me was that Xeras just seemed flat. But then I wonder if he wasn't kinda supposed to? I dunno, but it made it really hard to connect with him as a character, which in turn made it really hard to connect to the story. It also took a bit to figure out who Drin was, and that whole scenario was never really explained to my satisfaction.
But the dragon bits were interesting, and the whole m-preg aspect of it was really pretty minor and not really m-preg at all, at least not the way I think about it. So this would be a good book for someone who wanted to dip their toes into that genre.
But the dragon bits were interesting, and the whole m-preg aspect of it was really pretty minor and not really m-preg at all, at least not the way I think about it. So this would be a good book for someone who wanted to dip their toes into that genre.
December 16, 2013
The writing quality was fairly good. However, it just went on and on and on. I like a believable plot scenario where the character's plans only sometimes work out, but this character kept screwing up over and over again. And then every other character reminded him constantly that his plans sucked and he should listen to other people. I like it when a character works through their weaknesses, but this was just depressing. It seemed every decision was not just a bad one, but catastrophic. Not a ton of world building, and a lot of repetitive, lengthy, and boring dialoge between the protagonist and his dead lover. Overall, it was ok.
February 5, 2013
It was interesting/weird and crispy, but then it got pulpy...
Melodrama, melodrama, melodrama. Some good moments between the melodrama. Some interesting concepts explored, ish.
It wasn't bad. Not quality lit by any stretch of imagination, but not bad.
Drin was a rather interesting character and gave this book a bit more depth, I think.
The ending scene. It was...kind of pathetic. Series fodder.
But as I said, not bad overall and nonesuch.
I guess it's a "meh." It was still good.
Melodrama, melodrama, melodrama. Some good moments between the melodrama. Some interesting concepts explored, ish.
It wasn't bad. Not quality lit by any stretch of imagination, but not bad.
Drin was a rather interesting character and gave this book a bit more depth, I think.
The ending scene. It was...kind of pathetic. Series fodder.
But as I said, not bad overall and nonesuch.
I guess it's a "meh." It was still good.
June 5, 2015
I'm severely annoyed that by the end the promise of the book (it's romance and father of a baby dragon premise) is not really fulfilled. I understand a slowburn. I like those, but this is like, blatantly ignoring the romance, and the baby dragon part? Yeah, by the end, I wanted to call Social Services and remove the baby from the hostile environment.
No cute. No developing feelings (for dragon or Carly). No real romance.
Yet, I finished the book, so something must be there despite the ending failure.
Sigh. I need a break from angsty gay men.
No cute. No developing feelings (for dragon or Carly). No real romance.
Yet, I finished the book, so something must be there despite the ending failure.
Sigh. I need a break from angsty gay men.
September 24, 2015
Positives-
Interesting plot
Lots of wry, snarky humor
Nice world building
Characters different enough to be interesting
Negatives -
Not enough hotness to fill a thimble! Argh!
Cliffhanger!
This was a 4 star Fantasy novel mixed with a 1 star Harlequin Blush. Interesting, frustrating, and disappointing.
Interesting plot
Lots of wry, snarky humor
Nice world building
Characters different enough to be interesting
Negatives -
Not enough hotness to fill a thimble! Argh!
Cliffhanger!
This was a 4 star Fantasy novel mixed with a 1 star Harlequin Blush. Interesting, frustrating, and disappointing.
January 5, 2013
I like the story but it seems a bit too long
August 6, 2016
Perfectly well-written, but the plot was rather thin, the romance aspects of it especially. It felt like the first half of a stronger, longer novel, rather than the opening book of a series.
September 24, 2012
Interesting story, and idea, but I had trouble connecting to the main character Xeras.
September 2, 2013
3.5 stars
March 21, 2015
First Half: 5
Second Half: 3
End: 1
Second Half: 3
End: 1
June 30, 2016
3,5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews