How to Drive a Dragon Crazy by G.A. Aiken
Series: Dragon Kin #6
Published by Zebra
Published on: September 4, 2012
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 470
Format: eBook
Source: Library
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Some things never go away, like vile enemies, bad ale, and annoying kin. But I thought I was finished with the one dragon I'd have done anything for: Éibhear the Blue, a big, gorgeous, blue-haired beast who thinks the world belongs to him. The world and, apparently, me.
So if Éibhear wants to play the caring hero and travel into the most forsaken of Gods forsaken lands to protect the one woman who doesn't need it--namely me--I'll let him. Because while I'm trying to fulfill a ridiculous quest for a pushy god, I'm going to draw this overconfident warlord much too close, rekindle his fires, and enjoy every minute of his delicious defeat..
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I love being back in the world of the G.A. Aiken’s Dragon Kin. Not only that, to have Éibhear the Blue’s story on top it. Éibhear has been one of the funnest characters in this series since the beginning. As the youngest of the royals, he gets picked on a lot, but has always taken it in stride, that is until one of close friends dies in battle in the previous book, The Dragon Who Loved Me. Everything changed for Éibhear on that day. He completely blamed himself. He is no longer the fun-loving dragon he was. Now, he’s leading a group of Mì-runach. They are a group of warriors who are fears, even among the other dragons and warriors. They are sent in to kill everything. They are known for not being able to follow orders.
Izzy is a warrior who has not had an easy life. She was taken from her mother not long after her birth. Then she was raised followed by three armed men as they moved around the land. When she was finally reunited with her mother at sixteen, she wasn’t a typical daughter. Then she spent time as Annwyl the Bloody’s squire before becoming a captain in her army. Once she was reunited with her mother and her adopted father, she was protected, not only by her parents, but by all her uncles. In particular one blue uncle who Izzy had a crush on since she first met with him. Éibhear, though, had a hard time with the whole niece thing, even though he truly felt the same way.
There is a lot that goes on outside of the romance between these two. Rhi, Izzy’s little sister, and Annwyl’s twins, Talan and Talwyn all make very large decisions. I’m really interested to see where their stories go. Aiken doesn’t have a problem with putting several years in the timeline between each book. More than 20 years have past since the series started. We also have new characters in this already very large cast of characters. We meet Izzy’s father’s family, who were great. I don’t know if we will see more of them in the future or not. There is also the addition of Dagmar’s nephew, Frederick. I think he has a story to tell.
Once again, this story is full of humor. It was hard to choose what quotes to pick. I decided to pick how both Izzy and Éibhear introduced themselves, because I just thought they were priceless with how they really like to use titles and such. Next, I had to show about how hard it was for Éibhear with the whole “uncle” thing. Something Izzy never had an issue with. For the most part, the family didn’t have any issue with it. I could’ve included 10+ more quotes, but I felt I needed to restrain myself.
“I am Iseabail the Dangerous,” she called up to the rude bastard. “Daughter of Talaith and Briec the Mighty. General of Annwyl the Bloody’s Eighth, Fourteenth and Twenty-sixth legions. She threw down the horn-handled dagger her father had had made for her many years ago. “And the killer of the dragon whose horn that used to be, Olgeir the Wasteral.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Who are you?”
“I’m Éibhear the Contemptible. Youngest born son in the House of Gwalchmai fab Gwyar, fifth in line to the throne of the White Dragon Queen, Scourge of the Northland territories, Most Reviles Enemy Dragon of the Ice Lands, Honored Member of the Mì-runach Yearly Pit Fights three winters in a row.”
“And how does your dragon brother feel about Iseabail?”
“He adores her. Briec calls her his perfect, perfect daughter,”
Another of Zarah’s grandson’s folded his arms across his chest and asked, “And are you her perfect, perfect uncle?”
“Not by blood.”
“Did your brother adopt her?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’re her uncle.”
“Yes, but not by blood.”
“And that point matters?”
“Trust me,” Éibhear insisted. “It matters.”
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I’m Melanie and I live in Ohio. I have two horses and a dog. I’m an animal lover, avid book reader and audiobook listener. I like to live vicariously through fictional characters. I enjoy reading and listening to mostly fictional books in the paranormal genre, including Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance and Horror. My favorite paranormal creatures are shifters, doesn’t matter the flavor.
I have heard this author and it was probably on your blog, but not read any but going to put the first one on my wishlist. 🙂
Probably. I love this author. She also writes under the name, Shelly Laurenston. I don’t know why she uses two names, but she does.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
Thanks for the review. This is such a fun series. I can’t wait for more books!!
Angela recently posted…Sunday Post/BB&B #116 ~ House Hunting!
I have just a few more and I’ll be caught up. I’m excited. 🙂
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
YA you will be ready for the new book she is writing for this series. ^_^
Another new series to me. I’ve always wanted to read books about dragon shifters. I’m glad you’re enjoying this series!
This is one of my favorite dragon series. This one and Heartstriker by Rachel Aaron.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
This sounds like a lot of fun. I have a hard time with books that have names I can’t pronounce because I easily start getting them all mixed up. I would definitely have to read it on my kindle, I think I would get really confused just hearing the names on audio! LOL
This is a series I haven’t tried on audio. I will agree that the names are the hardest part about it and there are a lot of characters. It is fun and worth trying to remember everyone.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
Great review. This sounds like a great addition to the series. I’ve only read Dragon Actually but I really enjoyed it. I loved the writing style and the characters. I have got to pick this series up and read it all.
It is really easy to forget a series. I’ve done that with a few. I hope you pick it back up. The series gets better and better.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
Haha, great quotes …’and who are you?’
Its neat that the author isn’t afraid to advance the story through the years. The humor is a huge catch for me, too.
This series is always full of so many great quotes. I highlight as I read and then have to figure out how to narrow them down to just a few for the review. That is the hardest part of writing reviews for this series.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
This is such a great series and I’m always on the look out for new books or books that I haven’t read and somehow this one escaped me.
Mary Kirkland recently posted…Product Review: Hemp Hearts by Manitoba Harvest
I love this series. There are so many fun lines. I hope you get a chance to pick this one up.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
I’m halfway through the second book and I can’t wait to get to the baby brother’s book. You review raises a lot of questions for me, and my mind’s going crazy trying to figure out where the story or series is headed.
Leona recently posted…Bounty Obtained & Explained #11 ~ Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Such a fun series. I tried to not give any spoilers. You just have to keep reading/listening to find out 😉
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
Love that this series is still gong strong for you, that is awesome!
It is a series that makes me smile. 🙂
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
If I did meet a dragon shifter, I’d run away screaming…when I now think about it
They can be pretty scary. If you make them mad, they will eat you (and not in a fun way)
Melanie recently posted…Review: Z by Larissa Ione (@mlsimmons, @LarissaIone, @1001darknights)
I have this series on my wishlist..I love how balanced the story sounds and between dragon shifters and the humor I am excited.
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…Deceived by Kate SeRine
It is a super fun series. I love all the characters. There are so many one liners that the hardest part of writing review is narrowing down my highlighted sections to just a few for the review. LOL
Melanie recently posted…Fresh Meat: June 26 to July 2 — 24 Speculative Fiction Releases
I have Dragon Actually on my shelf but what are those 2 other books before it? I’ve never heard of those??? Do I need to read those first??? Eeeeek!
Oh, and great review! I had no clue that Aiken put humor into the stories! I thought it was mostly UF/PNR with dragons 🙂 Good enough for me. But hey, I love humor ALWAYS!!!!
Those are novellas. You do not have to read them before reading Dragon Actually. I started with that book. I think they were even released after the fact, but they do take place chronologically beforehand, so I listed them before. Aiken also writes as Shelly Laurenston, so yes, tons of humor, though it is a different humor.
Melanie recently posted…Fresh Meat: June 26 to July 2 — 24 Speculative Fiction Releases
That’s interesting there’s some time between this book and the previous one and that this series spans so much time. There are few series where that happens. That’s great there is so much humor, there are few books where there is enough humor that I would mention it in my reviews. Very rarely a book actually makes me laugh. Greta review!
Lola recently posted…Review: The Daydreamer Detective Braves the Winter by SJ Pajonas
Glad you enjoyed this one! I really loved Éibhear as well, even though I had hoped Aiken would’ve concentrated on the romance more in this one since we had all that somewhat angst build up for this relationship prior to this book.
Samantha recently posted…Review: Forevermore by Kristen Callihan
I didn’t mind the lack of romance, but I can see why you want it. I look at this series almost like a UF series where the main characters change with each book. The overall arc is strong and the romance really takes a backseat. Romance was stronger in the first few books.
Melanie recently posted…Fresh Meat: June 26 to July 2 — 24 Speculative Fiction Releases
Ok… so I’m loving the sound of Éibhear! He sounds like a fun character to read about. And Izzy sounds like my kind of girl!
Naomi Hop recently posted…Bad Teacher by Clarissa Wild ~ Review, Giveaway & Swoon Thursday (@WildClarissa, @GiveMeBooksBlog)
They are a fun pair. They have both been pretty strong secondary characters for several books. It was great to finally see them together.
Melanie recently posted…Review: The Curse of Tenth Grave by Darynda Jones (@Darynda, @StMartinsPress)
I see what you mean about them and liking their titles, Melanie. 😉 And I kinda like that Éibhear was so worried about being her uncle even though it wasn’t a blood relation. I’m also very curious about how being raised by 3 weapon-toting men and then being Annwyl’s squire and General affected Izzy. I can imagine that made for quite a warrior mentality in her. Sounds kinda fun – especially her standing up to men. This is a series I keep meaning to start, particularly because you’re so fond of it. I’ll try to get around to that sooner than later. 😉
It has DRAGONS!! That was my original sell on this series. Now the humor keeps bringing me back. I did have a lot of fun with Izzy and Éibhear. I can understand the issues. I read another series where adopted brother and sister (no blood relation) become lovers. They hide it for a long time because they are worried about the stigma, but hey, they were adults.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Aramus by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)