About a Dragon [Mass Market Paperback]

"About a Dragon" was previously released by this author writing as Shelly Laurenston in 2006 under the title "The Distressing Damsel" and maintains the exceptionally high standards she achieved with book 1 "Dragon Actually".

Talaith isn't like the other people in her village; feared by many and hated by others, all remain unaware of her strange past. As a long lived Nolwenn witch, Talaith was expected to bear her only child in her 300th year or so; however she fell in love at sixteen and against her mother's wishes, bore her lover a daughter. Barely birthed, Talaith's baby was torn from her by the priestesses of Arzhela, the goddess of Light, Love and Fertility and held as hostage to assure Talaith's servitude. Trained as a deadly assassin, for sixteen years Talaith waits for the call of a Goddess she despises; knowing Arzhela will only release her daughter if she obeys the Goddess' commands.

Things fail to go the Goddess' way when the villagers turn on Talaith and attempt to hang her for witchcraft. Expecting Arzhela to come to her aid, Talaith is instead rescued by a silver dragon, Briec the Mighty, who in his human shape decided Talaith would provide some amusement for a while despite her being the first human woman he will take as a lover. Her highly vocalised objections to his plan do not deter him in the slightest; especially after realising the thrill of a good argument just happens to excite his little human. Finding himself somewhat spellbound by Talaith, Briec the Mighty fails to understand he is falling in love; however he is willing to admit it may well be at least a few hundred years or so before he finally grows bored with Talaith and throws her out his den. While Talaith finds herself falling in love too, she knows it is only a matter of time before she must leave Briec and pursue the Goddess' goals.

Both leading characters from book 1; Fearghus the Destroyer (Briec's brother) and his wife Annwyl the Bloody, along with Briec's other dragon siblings and Iseabail, Talaith's daughter, feature heavily in "About a Dragon" and are all extremely well developed and likeable personalities. Their dialogue is a mixture of witty banter and screaming arguments, all blending well with not only the battle between dragons and humans, but also the warring between the gods of both species. With plenty of action, humour, and some absolutely sizzling scenes between Briec and Talaith, GAA simply excelled in creating a highly enjoyable fantasy romp. The next "Dragon Kin" book will feature Gwenvael the Handsome (Briec's serial womaniser brother) and "The Beast", who despite such titles as "Scourge of the Northlands", turns out to resemble a female librarian. All I say is it will take a very determined and talented woman to keep the smart mouthed Gwenvael in line and I very much look forward to reading their story "What a Dragon Should Know", due for release in Sept 09.

This book was very enjoyable and had it's funny moments. I look forward to the rest of instalments in this series.

Overall i loved this book and would reccommend this to anyone that's read any of G.A.Aiken's other work, it has some fantastic smutty scenes that i think are described brilliantly. A definate must.