Tag: slow burn enemies to lovers

Review: A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement (Dragons of Safeway Haven Book 1) by Julia Huni

Rating: 4.5⭐️

What a wonderful find and absolutely fabulous read!  Julia Huni is an author I hadn’t heard of before but she’s now firmly in my author list to look forward to. 

A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement, the first book in Dragons of Safeway Haven series by Julia Huni, is a quietly stunning story.  I’m not sure I’ve read one quite like this in a group of novels about dragons and dragon riders. 

There’s no fast paced adventure, no real action or battles. At least not yet. Those have already happened. In a long,  dark ongoing war between two countries that’s continuing to escalate and claim the lives of many, this story focuses on the recent retired warriors of each country.  One a battle witch who’s losing her powers and one a disabled dragon rider who lost his dragon in the war.  Both in their early 50’s and they’ve retired to Safe Haven , a mystical island unbeknownst to each other. At first. 

 What author Huni delivers is beautiful, deeply believable characters, ones who are dealing with their own trauma and personal losses. Who then are confronted with not only the physical enemy they have been fighting all these years, a enemy that has cost them greatly in terms of unbelievable loss and suffering, but they also have to face the fact that perhaps they have been rigid and bigoted in their own ways. 

Huni’s story doesn’t preach but slowly sees change occur as the characters interact with each other and the town people who are accepting them into their own lives.  It’s a magical place, full of many different kinds of beings and beautiful creatures. Including dragons. 

Acceptance, loss, grief and the ability to see things from different perspectives and move on is key here.  The dragon rider William Ordell, slowly becoming a part of Safe Haven, readjusting his views as he feels more at home with his new surroundings. And Calantha Stormbringer, a battle witch whose powers are fading, has returned to her home, feeling like a stranger only to find herself confronted by the very thing she was fighting in the war. 

Calantha and William are both very relatable and very well defined in their own personalities and challenges that each are facing in their respective retirements. From Calantha’s loss of powers after she reached menopause, (and the fact that most battle witches never survived to this age) to William dealing with the loss of his bond with his dragon, his dragon, his small corp of brother riders, and country and his leg.  They are the unlikely survivors of a deadly war that’s still going on. And this writer gives us remarkable insights into what happened, and how emotionally and physically this has and continues to affect them both. 

But there’s also light-hearted and heartfelt content in this book. Magical moments and a slow burn love story as well. 

I love it. Have to wait for the next one but totally worth it. I’ll savor this one and reread it just before the next is released. 

A definite winner and one I’m thrilled to recommend. 

Cover designed by Mariah Sinclair Designs

Dragons of Safeway Haven :

  • A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement #1
  • A Blacksmith’s Guide to Dragon-Rearing #2 – Aug 31,2026

Buy

 Book 1 of 2: Dragons of Safe Haven 

Blurb 

They survived the war. Now they just have to survive retirement.

When dragon rider William Ordell is grounded by a battlefield injury, he trades conflict for peace and purchases an abandoned lighthouse on the island of Safe Haven. But quiet doesn’t suit a man used to action. After a series of mysterious fires, William finds himself launching the island’s first fire brigade—with help from the local sea dragons.

Calantha Stormbringer has left war behind, along with the last sparks of her fading magic. She retreats to Safe Haven to rebuild her late aunt’s dusty bookshop—and maybe herself. Restoring the shop will require patience, intelligence, and gold. Calantha figures two out of three isn’t bad.

What neither of them wants? To run into each other. Again.

Old grudges, magical dragons, and one cozy, nosy village—what could possibly go right?

A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement is a cozy, low-stakes fantasy filled with magic, mischief, and a slow-burn romance that won’t steam your glasses. Perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes, Cursed Cocktails, and J. Penner’s Adenashire series.

  • Publisher: IPH Media, LLC
  • Publication date: August 5, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 336 pages
  • Book 1 of 2: Dragons of Safe Haven

Review:  One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1) by Rachel Gillig

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Another new author, another absolutely amazing novel.  This one actually had me sobbing, shattered at the end, even though the author’s story and characters said it was coming. 

I’m was and am so immersed in this dark world that Rachel Gillig has created, full of mystical elements, mythical beings, and sheer terror lurking in the shadows.  Literally a magical vindictive mist that’s slowly enveloping all the woods around the town and its people , able to infect them with an  sickness that turns their blood black with a magic that will eventually kill them. By immediate discovery by the cruel King’ magic hunters or by a slow disintegration by the magic itself.

Our main protagonist is young Elspeth Spindle. Infected and hidden from the hunters by her ex hunter Father himself in his brother’s house and raised with her uncle’s family, Elspeth immediately grabs our minds and hearts. One of my favorite characters of late. 

She’s got plenty of secrets, reason to keep them and herself hidden and emotionally isolated, resourceful and, naturally mistrusting.  In Elspeth, Gilleg has crafted a stunning character. She’s quietly brilliant in her unexpected qualities, so vastly multi dimensional in the depths of her needs , that an accompanying darkness feels even more terrifying. And shattering. 

The highly complex and imaginative use of a magical Deck of Cards as a base element in the series arc and storyline is so satisfying and powerful. There’s a number of interesting aspects to this facet of the series and it’s beautifully written. 

So is the many “historical poems “ or repeated quotes from the important texts that appear throughout this book and, I imagine the next.  They contain the clues to the story and the characters dramatic moments and quests. 

That said, it in no way lessens the impact of each scene and moment as it occurs.

These are fantastic characters and impactful storylines. They are filled with pain, horror, tragedy, and death.  While Gillig has included some very funny bits of conversation and humorous moments to lighten the tone, the main themes and plots are consistently dark and gothic.

The names the author has chosen are intriguing and greatly tied into the story. I always wonder what the author is thinking when creating the characters names and towns like Blunder. The main character of Ravyn Yew, a layered well defined character and great balance for Elspeth, is one who has a meaningful name that makes sense the more the story unfolds. I love this aspect of this book. 

There’s multiple points of view but it’s absolutely necessary and well written.  Three main ones to be exact.  Instead of being distracting, it becomes an integral component of the characters and their journey. 

I absolutely adore this cover and would have been drawn to it even if I didn’t love the description already. 

I love One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1) by Rachel Gillig even if it left me sobbing at the end of the book. Now I’m on to see how this aspect of the story is handled in Two Twisted Crowns, the finale. 

Highly recommended and thrilled to have found this author. 

Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio.

The Shepherd King Duology-complete:

🔹One Dark Window #1

🔹Two Twisted Crowns #2

Buy link:

        One Dark Window (The Shepherd King Book 1)

    

Blurb 

For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a dark, lushly gothic fantasy about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom—but the monster in her head isn’t the only threat lurking.

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom she calls home—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. 

But nothing comes for free, especially magic. 

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers…and guilty of high treason. 

He and Elspeth have until Solstice to gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

  • Publication date: September 27, 2022
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 423 pages