Sacrificed to the Dragon

Stonefire Dragons Book 1

By: Jessie Donovan

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

In exchange for a vial of dragon's blood to save her brother's life, Melanie Hall offers herself up as a sacrifice to one of the British dragon-shifter clans. Being a sacrifice means signing a contract to live with the dragon-shifters for six months to try to conceive a child. Her assigned dragonman, however, is anything but easy. He's tall, broody, and alpha to the core. There's only one problem - he hates humans.

Due to human dragon hunters killing his mother, Tristan MacLeod despises humans. Unfortunately, his clan is in desperate need of offspring to repopulate their numbers and it's his turn to service a human female. Despite his plans to have sex with her and walk away, his inner dragon has other ideas. The curvy human female tempts his inner beast like no other.

©2014 Mythical Lake Press (P)2015 Mythical Lake Press

Hey Dragon Man!

If Michelle Pillow writes light romantic books, Jessie Donovan turns the intensity up by 2 or 3 degrees.

This is my first Jessie Donovan book, but I'm quickly buying the rest of them on Audible. I just love the premise that these stories are built around. A beleaguered enclave of dragon shifters live in a tenuous truce with humanity. Their blood is much sought after, as it can heal most human illnesses, but in order for the humans to get some, they have to 'sacrifice' compatible human females willing submit for the purpose of procreation. (Female dragons are very rare, and in order to grow their population, the dragons have no choice but to mate with human females if they want to have children.)

There are some huge plot holes in this set up, (where are all the women? Why don't the humans attack in greater numbers and just take the blood?), but I'm willing to play along and hope that the missing bits are served up in subsequent books. (Like why they're called "British dragons." Other than the Scots brogue they have, the human women and the secondary characters, are all American.)

This episode finds Melanie Hall arriving at the enclave as the most recent sacrifice, and she has only volunteered in order to get the dragon blood to save her dying brother. Once we know this however, she doesn't bother to get in touch with her brother to make sure he's been cured, even though it's a call she could have made. That was kinda the whole point, right? Like I said, plot holes.

I have a ton of questions like these, and that would ordinarily drive me crazy. But I really loved this book. I think it's because the MCs are so well written, and their emotions just ring true. I got invested in the story, and that saved the book for me.

So . . . IF you can get past the plot holes, the writing is great. I particularly appreciated hearing the conversation between Tristan's human part and the dragon inside. The voice and dialogue for the dragon is hilarious -- all id -- and gives the book an originality I haven't seen before.

Matthew Lloyd Davies gives a great performance, and brings Tristan's dragon to ingenious life. It's worth the price of admission just to hear that dragon's dirty talk!

Highly Recommended

Dragon Shifter Romance? This is the series!

What made the experience of listening to Sacrificed to the Dragon the most enjoyable?

The fact that I had already read the book and now had the opportunity to hear it while I re-read it. I find that I really enjoy "Immersion Reading". It just makes the story that much richer.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character was Tristan. I like his personality and how he changes during the story. I'm also partial to Black Dragons.

What about Matthew Lloyd Davies’s performance did you like?

I loved the way his reading kept my attention. Not only did he change voice tones for different characters, but his voice flowed with the story. When things moved quickly, so did his voice. When things moved slowly, so did his voice. I found it unique and enjoyable.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Romance...Dragon Shifter Style!

Any additional comments?

If you love dragon shifters, this is the series for you! It has a well thought out story line and is a joy to read. The characters and settings are believable and well developed. The romance in the story works well and only makes the story richer. There are currently seven books in the series, with an eighth book due early next year. This Audible version is well narrated and I really enjoyed it. I hope this review helps you give the series a chance. Once you read it, you’ll be hooked. Happy reading! :)

Great heroine but light on the action

Overall I enjoyed this book and found it interesting from beginning to end. I wasn't expecting a BBW heroine and don't always relate to that genre, but that aspect wasn't harped on as it is in some other stories of that subcategory. Instead, the author created a confident, caring, witty and truly charming heroine who never whined or made stupid decisions...how refreshing!

My only criticism is the absence of any compelling action in the story. There was a slightly suspenseful scene near the end, but the actual action took place "off screen" and only the aftermath was part of the story. It was 90% love story and 10% action.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, primarily because the author refrained from making her intelligent and confident characters do and say absurdly inane things merely to create conflict. What a relief!

I quite enjoyed this book

I quite enjoyed this book and it kept me entertained and interested in the book.
I'm interested to see how the rest of the story holds out.

A step above fluff

Good character development and enough story that takes it a step above fluff, but not a lot of "world building".

SUPER STORY

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I love it audio version even more is emphasized the story. I could not stop listening, listened to all night.

Who was your favorite character and why?

the dragon

What does Matthew Lloyd Davies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His interpretation of the talks between Tristan and the dragon gives special beauty of the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laugh and cry.

For Dragon Shifter Fans

I really did enjoy this story and the clan of dragons that surrounded it. I'm definitely going to listen to the rest

The Frenzy is on .

Sacrificed to the Dragon, WOW , it is one hot tumble for a female not knowing what happens when you volunteer to mate a Dragon, then she gets one of the hottest Dragons with looks that just might kill and a attitude that matches. Loved the book and can't wait to see what happens in the next one.

love this

just started it but I love it. the narrators voice for tristen sounds like Jon snow from game of thrones.

Narrator ruined it for me

The story is good. But the Narrator really ruined it for me... He tries to make the "dragon's" deeper and at about 1/10th the volume of the rest of the book. I listen while I drive and missed quite a bit - was constantly rewinding. If i set the volume to where I could hear the dragon, the rest of the narration caused my ears to ring in pain.

The book is fairly good, and if you listen in a situation where you can follow volume level 10 down to level 2, you won't have a problem.