Sophia Rose Reviews: The Dragons of Kellynch by Maria Grace

Today Sophia Rose is back with her review of, The Dragons of Kellynch, by Maria Grace # 5 in her Jane Austen's Dragons series, that's right Jane Austen's Dragons. So read on to see why Sophia Rose loves this fantastical retelling.
Enjoy!

The Dragons of Kellynch by Maria Grace

#5 Jane Austen’s Dragons

Gaslight Fantasy

Publisher: White Soup Press

Published:  3.3.20

Pages:  183

Rating: 5 stars

Format: ebook

Source: Purchased

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

In order to secure her future, a young lady must marry well.

One would think Anne Elliot, a baronet’s daughter, would find the marriage mart far easier to navigate than a more ordinary woman. One would be wrong.

After refusing a poor, but otherwise perfect sailor, on the advice of her friend Lady Russell, Anne finds an unhappy choice before her: marry deathly dull Charles Musgrove or hope against hope that another suitable proposal might come her way before she becomes a spinster on the shelf.

Anne’s disgracefully independent choice to refuse Charles’ offer turns her world entirely arsey-varsey and not in the expected turned upside down sort of way. She begins to see things … hear things … things like dragons.

And once one sees dragons, one talks to them. And when one talks to them, nothing is ever the same again.

Must a young lady marry well if she hears dragons?

A must-read gas lamp dragon fantasy! Jane Austen meets Anne McCaffrey with a touch of Harry Potter!

 

Sophia Rose Reviews:

Dragons in the world of Jane Austen?  Of course I was going to adore this series.  I listened to the first three books with great rapidity and then allowed myself to be distracted.  However, I’ve returned once again for the start of the second season in this fabulous gaslight fantasy series with the spotlight leaving the Pride and Prejudice setting and characters to Austen’s pair of second chance lovers in a dragon adventure-fueled Persuasion variation.

 

Unlike Elizabeth, Anne Elliot knew nothing about the dragons who share her world and came to her ‘dragon sight and hearing’ late in life.  Now, with the future of her family’s estate and the day to day upkeep on her shoulders, she must add getting up to speed with the secret Blue Order of Dragons or everything is lost.

Meanwhile, the man she sent away and never stopped loving is having his own dragon adventures on the high seas.

 

I liked how the story focused on Anne and slowly introduced her to the mysteries of the dragon world and what is truly at stake because her father neglected his duties as estate dragon keeper to focus on his status in the human only realm.  This was definitely an introduction book that newcomers could enjoy as well as series fans.  I suspect that after the next book, though, newbies should really get back to the beginning books because the two seasons of this series will merge.

 

The tone of these is more high fantasy though the world is Regency. The dragons are all sorts of breeds and temperaments with all their own personalities.  I loved seeing Anne learn about them and start to interact with them.

 

Dragons of Kellynch is not a standalone story and will end at a good spot, but is only the first half so be prepared to need the next book to complete this story line.  This is definitely for those who enjoy classic dragon fantasy and classic Jane Austen rolled into one.

 

Author Bio:

Six time BRAG Medallion Honoree, #1 Best-selling Historical Fantasy author Maria Grace has her PhD in Educational Psychology and is a 16-year veteran of the university classroom where she taught courses in human growth and development, learning, test development and counseling. None of which have anything to do with her undergraduate studies in economics/sociology/managerial studies/behavior sciences. She pretends to be a mild-mannered writer/cat-lady, but most of her vacations require helmets and waivers or historical costumes, usually not at the same time.

She writes gaslamp fantasy, historical romance and non-fiction to help justify her research addiction.

She stumbled into Jane Austen fan-dom in the mid ’90s with Emma Thompson’s Sense and Sensibility film, having somehow graduated HS without ever having read Austen. It was only a short leap then to consume all of Austen’s works, in all their various media forms. In the hopes of discovering more works by Austen, she stumbled into the fan fiction forums, which naturally led to asking ‘What if…’ herself. Thirty books later, she still asks that question.

Website:  https://randombitsoffascination.com/

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose