Kellynch: Dragon Persuasion

Jane Austen's Dragons, Book 6

By: Maria Grace

Narrated by: Benjamin Fife

Keeping a hibernating dragon should have been a simple thing.

Should have been, but it was not. Apparently, nothing involving dragons was ever simple, at least not for Anne Elliot, junior keeper to dragon Kellynch.

With the estate in debt, Anne’s father in denial, and the dragon’s treasure missing, Kellynch’s awakening is shaping up to be nothing short of catastrophe. Not to mention, there was the pesky matter of her own broken heart and resentment against the old friend who had caused it.

Captain Frederick Wentworth had spent his life making something of himself in the navy. With the war that kept him employed at an end and a small fortune in prize money, he found himself beached and at loose ends. What was he to do with himself now - take a wife like Laconia, his dragon friend, insisted? Not when none compared to the woman who had broken his heart.

Working as an agent of the Blue Order, managing dragon matters across England, seemed a much better alternative. At least until investigating one such matter sent him directly in the path of Anne Elliot, the woman who had ruined him for all others.

Now a royal dragon rages, a sleeping dragon lurks, and too many treasures have gone missing. Can Anne and Wentworth lay aside resentment, pride, and heartbreak to prevent Kellynch’s awakening from ending in bloodshed - or worse?

Jane Austen meets Pern in a fantastical regency romp bound to delight fans of Jane Austen and Anne McCaffrey alike.

Book six in the Jane Austen's Dragons series.

©2020 Maria Grace (P)2020 Maria Grace

Maria Grace does it again!

Herein we have a wonderfully presented conclusion to a regency romance on the backdrop of gaslamp dragon fantasy. It's hard to imagine anyone doing this better than Maria Grace.

As always, Benjamin Fife gives us an absolutely phenomenal performance. His accents are near-perfect, his voices impeccable, and his sense of rhythm and pacing are second to none. There are few audiobook narrators in the same league as Benjamin.

Now, every bit of complexity that I felt was missing from the previous book (The Dragons of Kellynch) is brought full force into this one!

There is a time jump as we get started here that, while absolutely necessary to the narrative, felt just a touch jarring, but once we get past that the story really picks up and becomes intensely interesting.

Whether you're looking for realistic romance free of contrivances, clever twists that keep you guessing, or intriguing dragon lore that continues to challenge everything you think you know, you're going to find it in this book.

I've said this before but it bears repeating. One of the things that I most appreciate about Maria Grace's brand of fantasy romance is that the situations never feel contrived just to being the couple together. The way events come together always feels natural and, for lack of a better word, real. Although there are certainly coincidences that pull people together, the same happens in real life and her books do an excellent job of simulating that in a way that feels natural.

And as always, although I don't actually like all of them, all of Maria's characters are fully fledged people that feel absolutely real in their motivations, goals, and reactions.

I must add the addendum here, however, that I can't speculate on whether that is a product of Maria's mind or if it comes from the original Jane Austen works that these are adapted from.

I think my favorite moments in this book were getting to see Elizabeth Bennett/Darcy come back into the story. She was always my favorite character and it made me really happy to see her take a direct role in the later events of this one.

Now, this isn't a detractor for me but it needs to be stated that if action-packed "adventure fantasy" is what you're looking for, this is not it. Although there is a certain amount of action here, that is far from the focus.

I find this book upholds very well Maria Grace's pattern of books that feel very similar (in tone) to the "Memoires of Lady Trent" series by Marie Brennan (which is absolutely a good thing!)

My one and only complaint is the one I've had from the start, which becomes less and less of a problem for me as each books builds on the lore, creating what appears (at least to me) to be an entirely new and unique dragon mythology.

I'm speaking, of course, of the way dragons are presented in these books. Some aspects feel a bit whimsy, a bit silly, and I do lament the lack of any truly monstrous-sized dragons as appear frequently throughout European mythology.

However, for all that I have to admit that I do rather admire the vast profusion of different types of dragons and dragon-like creatures that appear, as well as the complex sociopolitical structure of how they interact with one another.

I was told before going into this book that while it is the longest book of the series, it is also the best one. Of course, me being me, I took that with a grain of salt and went into it with a healthy dose of skepticism. But here at the end I actually have to agree! As much as I loved the first three books of the series, this one takes things to a new level that I couldn't help falling in love with!

And this comes through in the ending just as much as the rest of the book. The whole story has been building up to this climax, of course, and I loved everything about its execution.

I truly could not have asked for anything better.

Finally, a show of dragon power

The dragon at Kellynch has awaken and his horde is missing, someone must pay, and an angry dragon can be awfully hard to reason with, but, I don’t want to give anymore away.

This is another great book in the series and is nice again expertly narrated by Mr. Fife.

Well worth the credit, especially if you are binge listening like I am, just can’t help it!

Excellent narration!

Love the story, and the reader is outstanding. So many different dragon voices and so much fun.

DRAGONS PERSUASION

FEW STORIES ARE AS GOOD AS THIS SERIES WITH THE COMBINATION OF AUSTEN AND DRAGONS! BENJAMIN FIFE DOES A WONDERFUL JOB WITH THE NARRATION OF THE. STORY!

👍

I love this series. Ms Maria Grace is an amazing storyteller and this book truly shows off her talent. I really enjoyed the combination of characters from the PNP portion of tale into this storyline.

Amazing!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I now have a new favorite dragon!!! Kellynch is so scary and fearsome but makes a turn for the better when he can finally calm down and get mattes resolved. I love everything about Kellynch! He is my favorite type of dragon and my favorite color. Laconia is pretty awesome too. I’m glad things end well. There is so much mystery around Kellynch and his horde and land. And other issues come up. I’m so glad the bad guy gets what coming to him! To have wronged so many people and only be interested in your own well-being is unacceptable.
This is an amazing addition to the Jane Austen Dragon Series!! If you haven’t read all the books by now you are missing out!!

A great book in the series

I definitely recommend this book. It ties the first part of the series to the second amazingly. I loved the mystery and even the insight into the judicial inner workings of the blue order. This is a great book and definitely worth the listen.

Dragons!

Wonderfully complex story. Mystery, intrigue, danger, character growth, and romance. Major dragon voices were exceptional.

Great listen!

One of my favorite authors strikes gold again with another installment of Jane Austen’s Dragons. This adaptation of Persuasion finds another favorite pair of Jane Austen’s world in the fantastic lands of Dragons! Lady Russell, The Elliots and the Musgroves make an appearance when a hibernating dragon is woke to a mystery of who has been stealing from his hoard? Can Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot find out in time?

This retelling is full of great characters!

"Jane Austen's Dragons" continues as Maria Grace writes another great story in the series. This retelling is full of intrigue, politics, great characters, and of course dragons. The series keeps getting better and better! I look forward to the next book in this series. Audio Version: Benjamin Fife does a great job with this series as always. A wonderful narrator overall.