Miss Georgiana and the Dragon by Maria Grace
#11 Jane Austen’s Dragons
Gaslamp Fantasy
Publisher: White Soup
Press
Published: 12.14.22
Pages: 317
Rating: 4.5 stars
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Sellers: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Synopsis:
Hers was the plight of a gothic
heroine, banished from her home by a cruel brother and his heartless wife, the
Dragon Sage. Misunderstood and maligned, Georgiana’s only hope of rescue were
letters to aunts describing the medieval dungeon to which she had been sent.
What matter that was a wee exaggeration for effect?
Boasting as many dragon teachers as human ones, Mrs.
Fieldings’ School for the Improvement of Young Ladies promises to train
Georgiana up to be a proper Blue Order member and a credit to her family. But
she was already an accomplished young lady, and an appreciation for dragons was
hardly a necessary accomplishment in the marriage mart. Clearly, she had
nothing to learn. One way or another, Georgiana would make it through the
school term with ther dignity and her opinions intact.
When the new dragon students arrive, needing warm-blooded
student partners to complete their educations, Georgiana endures the indignity
of a dragon-partner for the promise it will hasten the end of her tenure with
Mrs. Fieldings. But dragons always bring complications. Dangerous, dragon-sized
ones that not even the Dragon Sage could have predicted. Complications that
turn the school term into something truly gothic.
A fresh new gas lamp fantasy adventure in the
engrossingly intricate world of Jane Austen’s Dragons.
Sophia Rose's Review:
In a previous book, a certain petulant
young lady almost made the biggest mistake of her life and, when helped out of
her scrape, she wasn’t particularly grateful.
Now, she is being sent to a dark, dank dungeon, cough, ahem, that is, a
genteel school for young ladies to learn how to behave. Maria Grace continues to amuse, entertain,
and enthrall me with her fascinating fantasy world of dragons paired with the
gracious Regency world of manners in Jane Austen’s novels.
Miss
Georgiana and the Dragon is the eleventh installment in a connected series
of Gaslamp fantasy books, short stories, and novellas. They definitely read best in order since this
one picks up a side thread where #8 Dragon Keeper’s Cotillion left off and runs
parallel to #10 Dragons of Pemberley.
While her brother and his wife are off
to the home estate, young Georgiana Darcy bitterly reflects on her imagined
ill-usage as she arrives at an exclusive Blue Order School for Young Ladies and
training school for Dragon Companions.
The head mistress is calm and capable and the head girl assigned to show
her the ropes is no nonsense, but not unkind, Georgiana is disconcerted to
learn her embarrassing mistakes in London are known and several here are aware
of her aversion toward dragons and the Blue Order world and its rules.
Soon, she is settled in school life
and slowly begins to form evolving opinions and learning more about the world
she has rejected until now. Georgie is
helped along by new school friends, exciting activities including a ball to
look forward to, and being away from the struggle and strain of the high
expectations on her of being a member of one of the top dragon families and
estates. But, there is a fly in the
ointment- an obnoxious dragon student wants to be her companion in training,
but constantly criticizes and messes up.
There are fascinating other dragon teachers and students showing her a
different side of dragons and making her realize that the Dragon Sage and her
brother just might have taught her a thing or two about dragons and these
dragons were teaching her even more that was worthwhile knowing. And, then there are those undercurrents of
uneasy and hints that the secretive Snapdragon Society dealers in dragons and
poachers for dragon parts are nearby. A
regular whirl of excitement to whisk away bitterness of spirit and despondency
for a young heroine experiencing her own adventure.
I’ve come to expect the high caliber
writing, the intricate fantasy world of all things dragon, and the blending
with the customs and manners of Regency society all brought together with a
splendidly laid out plot and character development. The climb to the pinnacle of the climax was
paced out to perfection as suspense built in the background of the school
happenings until Georgie was faced with danger and had to act with the help of
dragons.
I wasn’t a fan of Georgie in the
earlier book, but she grew and learned then came into her own in this one. Again, I’m left excited to plunge into the
next book of the series.
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 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. Twenty nine books later,
she still asks that question.
She writes gaslamp fantasy, historical romance and
non-fiction to help justify her research addiction.
Website: http://www.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
Well I hope to get back to this series but I love the books I have read so far.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart
Yes, well worth it!
DeleteI love this genre and really should start this series. Wonderful review!
ReplyDeleteFor sure! Book one is often offered as a freebie so watch for that on Amazon.
DeleteWow book 11?!
ReplyDeleteI was startled when I realized how many books along this series has gotten, too.
DeleteI got the first book (free!)... now I need to read it.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! You'll be up to your eyeballs in dragons before you know it.
Delete