A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania Book 2)

*I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher. This has not influenced my review.*

More silly, absurd humor.

More ridiculously inappropriate sex talk in which no sexual kink is safe from being mentioned.

More quirky, sassy characters.

More adorable friendships and family and relationships among people who love each other like crazy.

More dragons that are nothing like you’d expect a dragon to be.

More magic unlike anything anyone in Verania has ever seen before.

But this book also had secrets coming to light. And heaviness. And seriousness. And intensity. And moments that threatened to make me teary-eyed, whether from sadness or worry or touchingness, I’m not even sure. It was still a funny book, yes, but not quite in the same way that the first one was.

On a related note, I don’t tend to like reading about prophecies, but, in this case, it didn’t really bother me because, in a way, the prophecy wasn’t really the point of the book. Just like in the first book, it was the friendships and relationships and love that were the focus. And also just like in the first book, I found myself once again able to firmly stand by Sam and his decisions; I was so happy when he finally told Vadoma he had enough of her crap about prophecies and destiny and all that because I was on the same page. *Don’t listen to them, Sam. You do everything you can to keep your loved ones safe and well, Sam. Team Sam FTW!* Or as Tiggy so eloquently put it, “HaveHeart forever, mother[bleepers].”

Also, I just have to say that I love how healthy the sex part of Sam and Ryan’s relationship is. Everything is so consensual and communicative and open-minded, so they explore their kinks and give each other what they need, and *that* is what’s sexy. (And the rest of their relationship is great too, of course.)

So overall, this was another great book with silly humor and quirky characters and loving relationships, but also more serious and intense moments and emotions that is probably going to tug on your heart strings even more than the first book did.

Rating: 4 Stars

Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight (link in profile)

So....some background. I'd been looking forward to reading this book for ages. Or at least, listening to the audiobook of A Destiny of Dragons, because I had fallen so in love with the audiobook with The Lightning-Struck Heart, that it seemed like the natural thing to do while waiting for book three to be released. Well, by the time ADOD came out, I was borderline addicted with TLSH by then. I was already on my fourth listen of the audiobook of TLSH by the time this book came out, and realistically, it's been three years between the audiobooks. I don't think most listeners would notice the difference if they don't listen to the audiobooks back-to-back, but while the audiobooks have the same narrators, the voices for some of the characters are slightly different between book 1 and book 2. Most of the voices evened out as the audiobook went on, but the most noticeable difference, I think, is Gary's voice. It's a bit more nasal in this book, so that's just something to be aware of with the audiobooks.

AS FOR THE STORY. This is a much darker story than TLSH. It's not all fun and games with the crew making sarcastic or sexual quips all the time. This book gets serious. And that's not a bad thing, but it is a tone change from book one. Where TLSH we got the story of Sam and Ryan finding and confessing their love for one another, this book is rich in prophecy and destiny for the wizard's apprentice, Sam of Wilds. Sam is the first-person narrator in this series and he is so pure and full of love. But he is burdened with secrets and purpose, and then there's the little fact that he might be the most powerful wizard the world has ever known. All he wants to do is live is happily-ever-after with Ryan, apprentice under Morgan of Shadows until his trials to become a wizard, and live happily in the City of Lockes alongside his best friends, the hornless unicorn Gary and the half-giant Tiggy.

When one day Sam's grandmother, Vadoma (Sam's mother's mother), comes to the castle with a man named Ruv she claims to be Sam's cornerstone, it introduces a prophecy that changes Sam's life and sets him on a quest to gather the remaining dragons. He has Kevin, and in this book, must travel to meet the desert dragon. There are still the two mated dragons in the north and the Great White dragon in the dark forest, but for now, his first task is to find the desert dragon.

I think the first thing to get out of the way is that from the blurb, it does address Sam's parentage and where his mother came from. I was under the assumption that using the term g*psy was a racial slur and that using the word in any context would be problematic. I don't know if there are nuances to the word or not, but in this story, the term refers to a race of people, described as having dark skin, and when Sam (of mixed race) enters their city called Mashallaha, he is immediately discriminated against. Racism has never been addressed before in this city, because the City of Lockes never had that issue, but it is brought up and Sam does feel affected by it. There are some stereotypes that it seems like Vadoma and Ruv fall under, but Ruv, at least, was never really portrayed in a bad light and Vadoma was treated warily since she was after all the woman who cast Sam's mother out when his mother chose his father over their clan.

I do love the inclusion of Justin at the beginning of this book, where he gets roped into Sam's less-than-stellar schemes. We don't really get a chance to see Justin for the rest of the book, but we do get a lot more Ryan in this book. Like, SO MUCH MORE. He journeys with Sam, Gary, Tiggy, and Kevin to find the desert dragon. I do love the small inclusion of Lady Tina DeSilva, previously president of the Ryan Foxheart Fan Club Castle Lockes Chaper. She is Sam's greatest mortal enemy, and a sixteen-year-old girl. Lady Tina is ruthless. To learn more of her story and how she got to the point she did in this book yelling at Sam outside the castle with protestors, I highly recommend you guys check out the free short story between TSLH and ADOD located on the author's website. My favorite new character is the desert dragon. Because HELLO. He is so awesome, and the narration for this dragon is AMAZING.

This book is action-packed, with Sam once again showing he has more power than he ever thought possible. He will do anything to save their lives, no matter what the star dragon, David's dragon, has to say to Sam that sacrifices will be made on his journey to defeat the man only referred to as the "man in shadows". I love Sam and the goodness in his heart. He is pretty selfless and will do anything for his friends.

Overall, I loved the story (maybe more so near the end than the beginning), but it starts to set the tone for where the next two books will go. There's a threat that any character will die at some point before the series end. The ending isn't really a cliffhanger, but it does leave you hanging a bit afterwards and makes you want to immediately dive into book three, The Consumption of Magic.

The first book in this book was EPIC. The fantasy element lends Tj Klune to limitless possibilities for that brilliant mind of his. Expect all the humor and outrageous characters and situations we’ve come to expect from this author. There is so much more than humor though. Magic and romance. Kings, unicorns and dragons. Danger and quests. Amazing characters with complex relationships. If for some reason you haven’t read The Lightning Struck Heart, stop right now because there will be spoilers from the first book and go download it. It’s FANTASTIC! It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. To say I love it is an understatement.

A Destiny of Dragons picks up where TLSH leaves off. Sam and Knight Delicious Face aka Knight commander Ryan Foxheart are in a serious relationship. Sam is continuing his wizard apprenticeship with Morgan. Everything is going great until his long lost gypsy granny shows up to bad touch and lay some scary prophecies on Sam. There’s a baddie coming that is much worse than any Dark Sam has ever faced or heard of. AND of course defeating him is part of Sam’s destiny. The fate of the world depends on him. Sam just wants life to stay as it is but with danger banging on the doors of Verania that’s not going to happen.

Book 2 of this series felt heavier than book 1. TLSH was fairly angsty. Sam and Ryan torn between duty and love. In ADoD their lives and happiness are threatened by a man so powerful and evil even Randall and Morgan are scared. Tiggy, Gary, Kevin and Ryan join Sam on his journey to fulfill his destiny. There’s a third wheel thrown into HaveHeart but luckily it’s not a real threat to our couple. I would have gotten pissy! I hate love triangles. I’m secretly hoping for Ruv and Justin. Why not? While the first book felt complete, this one is obviously leading somewhere. Some people might not enjoy this I quite as much because there is much more to come from our crazy gang of heroes. It’s a new chapter and a stepping stone for what’s to come. I personally enjoyed every minute of it. There’s a much more serious vibe to this one too. Don’t get me wrong. I laughed out loud most of the book but there is some heaviness that comes with defeating the ultimate baddie and saving the world plot. I can’t wait to get the next book in my hands. That’s what I hate about my favorite series. You burn through it and then have to wait. I loved it though. This series is amazing and I absolutely recommend it. Bring on the rereads!

Oh My Gods, this story just keeps getting better. It is more serious and darker than the first novel but don't worry there is still plenty of Unicorn sass for everyone. TJ you are killing me, I have to wait for the fall to continue this epic journey with the kindest, dorkiest and sexist apprentice Wizard, his dashing and immaculate Knight, one sweet half giant, one horny yet devoted dragon (named Kevin, no less), one sassy bad assed unicorn and so many other amazing characters. I am hoping for an epic happy ending. Even if it takes 2 more books I will believe the stars are aligned for Sam and Ryan.

This one was much more serious than the first book, but still very good. TJ is really good about writing scenes that have you laughing so hard you’re crying and then in the next paragraph crying because of how sad it is. I love it.

There were a lot of scenes in this book that were written very vividly. I could see them perfectly. I came to love the character even more than I did before. I really liked the new characters. Zero is awesome.

I can’t wait to see what happens in book 3. I’m so worried about them all!

I laughed till I cried!! Everyone needs to read this book for the comedy alone. I can't wait to read the next one in the series! I'm not understanding the two star rating from one of the readers and I know everyone has their own opinion but my opinion THIS BOOK WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!!

Loved the book but it really seems like the author is gearing up to go all J.K. Rowling on the final book(killing off major characters and losing all the charm of the first part of the story) and I honestly don't know why. Obviously the threat of death should be a part of the story but it is hammered so hard that "somebody" is going to die in the third book that it made me want to put it down and pretend that the first book is a stand alone. The book itself is pretty good(other then that whole key person impending death coming up constantly) but when stacked against the first one it kinda ruins the first books overall victory feeling. Maybe the third book will wrap everything together and make it work.