The Bookaholic Cat: Audiobook Review: One Good Dragon Deserves Another by Rachel Aaron

Title: One Good Dragon Deserves Another

Author: Rachel Aaron

Narrated by: Vikas Adams

Series: Heartstrikers, book 2

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Audible Studios

Source: Review copy from publisher

Format: Audiobook

Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins

After barely escaping the machinations of his terrifying mother, two all knowing seers, and countless bloodthirsty siblings, the last thing Julius wants to see is another dragon. Unfortunately for him, the only thing more dangerous than being a useless Heartstriker is being a useful one, and now that he’s got an in with the Three Sisters, Julius has become a key pawn in Bethesda the Heartstriker’s gamble to put her clan on top.

Refusal to play along with his mother’s plans means death, but there’s more going on than even Bethesda knows, and with Estella back in the game with a vengeance, Heartstriker futures disappearing, and Algonquin’s dragon hunter closing in, the stakes are higher than even a seer can calculate. But when his most powerful family members start dropping like flies, it falls to Julius to defend the clan that never respected him and prove that, sometimes, the world’s worst dragon is the best one to have on your side.

One Good Dragon Deserves Another is the second book in the Heartstrikers series by Rachel Aaron. Vikas Adam narrates this audiobook.

One Good Dragon Deserves Another starts one month after the events in Nice Dragons Finish Last (first book in the series). Julius is enjoying his new life in the Detroit Free Zone, far from his family and their machinations. He is working hard in the business he started with Marci, a business that is slowly growing. Everything is going well for them until his mom, Bethesda, comes for an unexpected visit and takes him back to her territory. Bethesda is throwing a party in his name. She’s using Julius’ good standing with Katya, one of Three Sisters of the White dragon clan to compel them to attend.

For all the Heartstrikers invited, the party went according to Bethesda’s plan, but in hindsight, Julius knows Estella’s agreement was too easy to be true. If only people would listen to him.

After the party, Julius flies back to DFZ, where he learns that Algonquin’s famous dragon slayer, Vann Jeger, is looking for him. Vann Jeger has put a curse on Marci to force Julius to show up for a confrontation.

Julius knows that somehow he needs to find a way to overpower Vann Jeger. He also needs to learn Estella’s plan before it’s too late for his family. Although these things will be difficult to accomplish, he won’t have to do them alone, he has Marci by his side and some help from an unexpected source.

I loved Nice Dragons Finish Last so much that I was dying to get my hands of One Good Dragon Deserves Another. You know that sometimes when you have very high expectations for a book usually those expectations are not met; I’m very glad to say that was not the case of One Good Dragon Deserves Another, Aaron wrote another winner. I can almost say I liked it better than first book and I loved that one.

Julius is the same good dragon of previous book, he’s honest, he sweet, he believes in people and to the chagrin of his family, he’s nice. Despite his family treating him as a third class citizen he loves them and wants the best for them. He is willing to do everything in his power to protect them.

I liked Marci in first book, but I loved her even more in One Good Dragon Deserves Another. I loved that despite being the “weak” human in their group she kicked some serious butt in this installment. I loved her strength, her ingenuity and her loyalty towards Julius.

Marci and Julius start as friends, but soon after is easy to see they have feelings for each other. They don’t act upon them immediately, but when they do is very sweet. I loved them together because they balanced and complement each other perfectly.

The secondary characters are many and diverse. Characters from previous book are present and new ones are introduced. Julius’ brother, Bob, still holds a special place in my heart, followed closely by Julius’ sisters Amelia and Chelsie.

In this installment we learned many things, we learned about Ghost, the dragons’ origins and the history of their race.

I can honestly say I loved everything about One Good Dragon Deserves Another, I loved the machinations, the intrigues and the surprises along the way. The world building is further developed and we even are gifted with a glimpse of the plane where the dragons came from.

One thing that made my experience even better was listening to Vikas Adam’s narration. He was great narrating first book and was awesome narrating this one. Adam is one of the few male narrators that really nail female voices. Not only that, at all times I knew who was talking because he also gives very distinctive and unique voices to each and everyone of the characters. With a length of more than 18 hours, One Good Dragon Deserves Another could be considered a long audiobook, but Vikas made the time fly. So much I listened to 1X speed (I usually listen audiobooks at 1.25X speed) because I didn’t want it to end.

I’m eagerly looking to get my hands on next audiobook in this series, tentatively titled, A Dragon of a Different Color. There is not a release date set yet, but I’ll be following Rachel Aaron closely for news about it.

I can’t recommend One Good Dragon Deserves Another enough. If you like fun urban fantasy, this is book and series you need to read. I don’t recommend reading One Good Dragon Deserves Another as a standalone. It should be read as part of the series.

My Story Verdict: 4 ½ Paws