Dragonshadow

A Heartstone Novel

By: Elle Katharine White

Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown

Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of Heartstone once again infuses elements of Jane Austen’s beloved novel with her own brand of magic in this addictive fantasy that brings back sparring lovers Aliza and Alastair: fierce warriors who match wits, charm, and swords as they fight an epic war to save their world.

The Battle of North Fields is over - or so Aliza Bentaine, now a Daired, fervently wants to believe. But rumors are spreading of an unseen monster ravaging the isolated Castle Selwyn on the northern border of the kingdom. When she and Alastair are summoned from their honeymoon by the mysterious Lord Selwyn, they must travel with their dragon Akarra through the Tekari-infested Old Wilds of Arle to answer his call.

And they are not alone on this treacherous journey. Shadowing the dragonriders is an ancient evil, a harbinger of a dark danger of which the Worm was only a foretaste. Soon, Aliza realizes the terrible truth: The real war is only beginning.

©2018 Laura Katharine White (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

LOVED this story

I finished each audiobook within 2 days and smiled, laughed and cried. Craziest part is I had read book one and two a few years ago but couldn't remember enough to feel comfortable listening to the third as an audiobook so here I am. An easy read compared to many fantasies but interesting enough to keep you going.

The saga continues...

I received a print copy of this book from the publisher. While that was exciting, I find it easier to listen to books these days--blasted eyesight. After a re-listen to Billie Fulford-Brown's superb narration of the first book in this series, I happily spent an Audible credit to get the audio verision of this book. This tale begins shortly after the events portrayed in the first story. Aliza and Alistair have married and are enjoying their honeymoon when a variety of things occur--a mysterious wedding present and the arrival of an exhausted young man on their doorstep with a contract for Alistair and his dragon, Akarra. Among other things. Aliza insists on going to the far--and frigid--northlands with him. The adventure continues as they battle shadows, evil, get some things right, have some sad events, and discover.... Ah, no. That would be revealing the end and this is a fantasy series so... Grab the first book if you haven't already. Read it. Then read and enjoy this one.

A Hard Read, but a Good One

To say my hopes weren't high is probably true, but I didn't have to wait so long that my excitement from the first book had burned off before I read this one.

I hoped for a book that showed me more of the characters I loved, and I got precisely that. It's not just paradise once you're married to Dragonrider Darcy, and their worldviews are different enough that I had an inkling there would be trouble. And I was right. I cannot tell you how happy I was with this book. Like... I could barely concentrate on anything else while I was reading this book.

If there was one section I didn't appreciate as much as I might have - it was how long it took the characters to ask the right questions. I actually found myself shouting at the book, asking how none of them were investigating who was supposed to be lighting the lamp when the girl died. Or even better - this trend of the main character having essential information that she's not sharing because she's... I guess afraid of what others will think? It's perfectly reasonable, really, and completely in-character, but it was extremely frustrating that it took 3 separate occurrences of seeing/hearing a dead man before she said anything about it, and by then it was too late, because he'd already killed again.

Oh, and an IMPORTANT NOTE: this book deals with intense themes of grief and loss and insufficiency, as well as the tragedy of [spoiler] miscarriage [/spoiler] which is something I think readers should be warned of. If that's a loss you've suffered personally, that portion of the book might be a very hard read.

Great!

This book is absolutely a great follow up to book 1, and the storyline is very entertaining, if not sometimes a little bit to easy to guess. But the cliff hanger will haunt me until the next book is published!

Riveting

The story kept me quite riveted. There were times and had to step away because I became too involved. Too bad it ended on cliffhanger.

Wonder story! Great narrator!

Elle Katherine White has created a unique fantasy world. The writing reflects the style of it's foundational inspiration, Pride and Prejudice. But White has developed her own unique voice creating a world that captures the readers interest. I'm looking forward to the future stories in the Heartstone series.