Lord Jasen of Grumhul, an impoverished young nobleman, has come to the Draelands to find a rich husband to help pay his father's debts. To the shock of everyone, he ends up attracting the attention of King Rilvor himself, and the dragons who control the magic in the land. Becoming royalty wasn’t something Jasen either expected or wanted, but he can’t control his growing feelings for kind and handsome king. Scheming factions at Court conspire to keep him from Rilvor’s side, and now Jasen has to decide if the chance at true love with Rilvor is worth the burden of being the husband of a king.
This sweet and funny Cinderfella romance is complete at ~85000 words and ends in a solid HEA. After all, true love always wins in fairy tales!
Back in 2014 when I read the original version of this story I was overjoyed with the dragons and world building of this slow burn, Cinderfella romance. What Sera Trevor has done with the expansion of that story is wonderfully cinematic making it was again a delight to read.
Jasen tells the story of his falling in love with King Rilvor despite all the pomp and circumstance he's subjected to at Court. Jasen hails from Grumhul which eschews high customs. The Grummish are practical people who aren't afraid of hard work and love their mudball (sounds similar to soccer), but his father has drank and gambled away their money which puts Jasen in the position of trying to secure a wealthy husband to sustain them. Somehow his father secures a highly coveted place for him at Court and lays on the 'your poor ole dad' pretty thick as encouragement.
One of the things I really liked about Court is the lack of heteronormativity. It seems counterintuitive given how rigid the protocols are but a bright spot in an otherwise uncompromising society never hurt anyone, right?
All the provinces in the Allied Realm send their most eligible daughters and sons to the Draelands annually to strengthen bonds through marriages, but also to increase power. Many of these nobles are dragon blessed which gives them some sort of magical ability; that ability can intensify if the marriage is a strong one.
Since Grumhul has no dragons Jasen is automatically believed to be a poor match and certainly not worthy of the King's affections. The King, however, did not get the memo because he is smitten upon first meeting. Jasen, after being called by Tasenred (one of the dragons) and wandering the grounds, has no idea who the King is whence they meet. He's in his low country attire and quite plainspoken all of which Rilvor finds refreshing.
Tasenred is my favorite. There are other dragons but Tasenred is one pushy dragon and I hearted the bejeezus out of him. He takes a shine to Jasen and their connection was heartwarming to read.
The role the dragons play in this realm was marvelous and something that didn't stand out in the original version.
The Court and its protocols were also explained much better too. Court is largely a popularity club reminiscent of the ton, complete with corsets, ridiculously high heels and hairstyles, balls, organized activities, all of which are supervised and exceedingly proper with the requisite backbiting and jockeying for place, and yet somehow Jasen still forges some lifelong friendships. The secondary characters of Princess Polina, Lady Risyda and many of the tertiary characters like Lady Isalei and Larely played a larger role.
Nevertheless, Jasen isn't really cut out for Court. He plays along and does as told, but he is Grummish through and through, preferring to be outdoors, playing mudball or doing something useful which oftentimes prompts him to sneak out of the castle and made for some entertaining scenes.
Generally speaking, I like my romances when the MCs spend a significant amount of time together and while Rilvor and Jasen spend some time together, I craved more. They have chemistry and a few heart to heart conversations were had, but their relationship isn't well developed, instead relying on the de rigueur fairy tale instalove.
Jasen comes into his own, but he did run a little hot and cold, sometimes seemingly self-possessed and others harried. His thoughtfulness and diligence in deciding whether or not he was suited for the responsibilities of Lord Consort to Rilvor are what won me over. I also liked that he stayed true to himself AND that Rilvor loved him because of all those qualities.
If there were to be a follow up I would be interested in seeing where their story goes, because I'm smitten with the world Sera Trevor has built. If you're in the mood for a sweet, high fantasy, no sex fairy tale then give Consorting with Dragons a try. There are new twists and turns in the narrative, so this is definitely not the same story from the DRitC event.
It's still 99¢ on Amazon if you pre-order it too!
An ARC was provided by the author.
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