The Dragon Mistress: Book 4

The Eburosi Chronicles 11

By: R. A. Stefan

Narrated by: Gwendolyn Druyor

We ran away, but it didn't solve our problems.

Now, we're going back to fight for Aristede.

And oh, yeah - there's also the small matter of toppling Rayth's corrupt younger brother from the Utrean throne, so we can remove the bounty on our dragons' heads. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?

As the king's eldest son, Rayth grew up expecting to rule. Instead, he ended up disgraced and exiled. When he unknowingly stumbled upon the last five dragon eggs in existence, using the creatures to take back his crown was the last thing on his mind.

All that changed after Rayth's brother Oblisii murdered their father and stole the kingship. With that fateful blow, what started out as a simple rescue mission to find our lost comrade has become something much more.

We won't be safe until Oblisii is dead, and dragons are once more protected in the land of Utrea. To make that happen, we'll have to risk everything in a desperate gamble to control the throne.

In the end, I just want my family back.

I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

The Dragon Mistress: Book 4 by USA Today best seller R. A. Steffan is the last installment in a medium-burn fantasy romance series with dragonriders, where the heroine doesn't have to pick one person at the end. It is part of the Eburosi Chronicles, along with The Horse Mistress and The Lion Mistress. It's not necessary to have read or listened to any of the other books in the series before starting The Dragon Mistress arc.

A special note for Fantasy listeners: Herein, you will find explicit sex scenes, not all of which are heterosexual. If your gut reaction to that is "Eww" or even "Meh", you probably won't enjoy this series.

©2020 OtherLove Publishing, LLC (P)2020 OtherLove Publishing, LLC

Well-written. Want to listen to more of Druyor

I listened to R.A. Steffan's Book 1 in this series some time ago and have not listened to bks 2 or 3. Bk 4 is easy to follow with the review of action referenced within the narrative, usually from a character POV, that included all info needed to follow the present action. Relationships have progressed in the interim as was expected.
In Book 4 I especially liked Gwendolyn Druyor’s creation of voices for each character. Especially where all characters were in a scene together and Druyor effortlessly switched, seamlessly between character voices. I admit I couldn’t identify who each character was, but dialog tags made it clear. One character had a Cajun-New Orleans accent, another a French-type accent, which from this Reviewer/Narrator’s perspective was the perfect way to create these characters from different areas of this fantasy world. Some at times speak a foreign language (translated within the context of the story for the English ear). Nix’s voice was lighter—more boy-like, waif-like, indicating he was younger than the lower registered, older voices. I was struck by the narrator’s adeptness at creating these character voices.
Storyline was interesting, kept my attention. I liked the bonding concept between the dragon and human bond-mate and how they sensed the emotions and thoughts of their bond-mates.
I’ve not listened to a lot of fantasy books. I chose this book because I’m editing the text of a fantasy book for an author. I wanted to see how Steffan--a well-known and well-respected author--dealt with some of the elements my author is dealing with in his writing. I was searching for how Steffan presents POV characters and how that plays out in the action scenes. Again Steffan carefully kept within the POV character's perspective. Frella shares that POV perspective with the four male characters.
In book 4 these men have become a part of Frella’s life, switching from one character to another’s POV in subsequent chapters--and identified by the title--the narrative continues from that person's perspective—and in their voices (kudos, again, to Gwendolyn Druyor). This clearly presented the limited knowledge of each POV character.
Nix has developed, though still tentative in his position among the other men. He proves himself within this book and through redemption, experience, and greater knowledge plays a much more significant role within the group.
Good story, well-written, kept my attention, kept me wanting to know what’s next and whether they will succeed. (Perhaps, too predictable.) I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook and freely offer this review.

Exciting ending to a fun series!

The conclusion to The Dragon Mistress saga has a lot of story built into it. It is in turns action-filled, heart-wrenching, and something that makes you want to shout. Steffan has upped her game in terms of writing action and battle sequences since the end of the Horse Mistress.

There are wonderful character arcs, including a nice sapphic side step for Frella and an acquaintance. I was most impressed with the growth of Nyx and Rayth. By the end, Nyx is stronger, and Rayth respects him more.

Frella finally bonds with her dragon, and the moment was so perfect that it seemed like author foresight and planning instead of happy writing accidents. During this bonding time, we also get to spent time in Eburos so the seeds of yet another generation is planted. It was done in a deft and interesting way.

The ending is very satisfying when it comes. The characters have grown. The bad guys have been defeated. A future, mostly made of happiness, is on the horizon for them.

As for the narration, Druyor is the Voice of Eburos (and any other Steffan work). She is consistently good, and there is little praise I could give here that I haven’t already done for other works. She’s fantastic. You’ll love listening to her.

This specific book is understandably not the best place to start. Begin with Dragon Mistress 1 for all of Frella’s story. You could go back to The Horse Mistress 1 and get the start of the full saga.

All of these books are wonderful in their own way. The common elements are a European fantasy with Horse and Lion Mistress set in a rough equivalent to pre-Roman England, and Dragon Mistress set on the continent. The world building Steffan does is strong enough that it can withstand 3 separate series set in the world she’s created. If you give it a try, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. All of these stories involve expressions of romantic love and sexuality that are beyond cishet. It is not subtle or hidden, so the responsible reader isn’t taken by surprise.

A grand finale!

To keep those that you love, you have to look ahead, for today they may be safe and secure, but the future may see your enemies take action, and more than just your immediate family may be at risk.

Yes, this is the problem facing our former Prince. Knowing what his family had already done, it's not hard to see what a man thirsty for power may do.

Plus, there was another problem that needed to be solved. So this episode see the return to the mainland, with a couple of objectives to achieve.

It is a grand finale to an awesome series!