Book Reviews

Sleeping Dragon by Stephanie Burke at Changeling Press

Genre Bisexual / Paranormal / Fantasy / Shifters / Magic / Romance
Reviewed by Serena Yates on 30-April-2024

Book Blurb

Youltan lives a life of obligation and service, a slave to the desires of others, harnessing the strange and powerful chaotic energies known as Ice Magic. After a final betrayal by the people he protects, he finds himself transported to the one being who holds the key to his freedom.

The wards tattooed across Garyn's back ensure his total compliance, trapping him in his own form of slavery, until one of the traitorous Mages, the kind that devised this tortuous penance, is placed in his prison. Now manipulating his way to freedom rules the sex-shifting dragon's mind.

Garyn never expects Youltan to willingly sacrifice so much for a person he barely knows. Nor does he expect to find the a core of passionate heat that exists deep within Youltan's soul. The fight for survival takes on new dimensions and strains the very threads of their honor and morality.

But what would you expect....when you prod a Sleeping Dragon?

 

 

First edition published at Changeling Press, 2005.

Second edition published at Changeling Press, November 2014.

 

Book Review

Dragons and magic in one story, with the added feature of a sex-shifting dragon and the promise of some enemy-to-lover sparkles, had me wanting to read this book from the moment I spied the blurb. And let me tell you, this tale is definitely imaginative, different, and not your average romance. While Garyn is a dragon shifter, who also happens to be able to shift between the male and female gender, Youltan starts out thinking he is straight, only to learn that not all is as it seems with him either. If you’re up for an adventure not just of the magical and fighting-the-evil-enemy kind, but also of the explore-the-characters’-sexual-orientation kind, then you should give this book a go.

Youltan is a young Ice Mage, the last of his kind, and not much liked by the ordinary people he helps. There is a mystery around why they need to be protected, and it’s definitely an interesting one when it gets revealed toward the end of the atory. As usual with the best stories, at least for me, not all is as it seems, and the final solution is neither easy nor does it even seem possible. Youltan has fought prejudice all his life, and yet he has always selflessly done what was asked of him. But when he almost dies and is brought to Garyn in a last-ditch effort to save him, he ends up in a situation he likes less than his “normal” life.

Garyn is a dragon shifter, but an enslaved one. He is determined to free himself –sooner or later – no matter the cost. Only when he discovers that Youltan is not at all who he expected an Ice Mage to be, Garyn’s determination is put to the test. So are his morals and his honor. Both his and Youltan’s idea of who the enemy is and what they are after are severely put to the test, and what follows once they figure out the details is a battle of wills and wits that had me wondering if either of them would survive.

If you like mysteries and secrets, if the idea of a sex shifter who also happens to be a dragon sounds interesting, and if you’re looking for a different read that is as suspenseful as it is fun, then you will probably like this short novella.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. The first edition of this book was provided by Changeling Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format ebook
Length Novella, 82 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date 12-April-2024
Price $3.99 ebook
Buy Link https://www.changelingpress.com/sleeping-dragon-b-128