Dragon's Rival

The Dragon and the Scholar, Book 3

By: H. L. Burke

Narrated by: Mary Ann Weathers

Having abandoned his friends and family and taken to the skies, Ewan hides himself in the Wilderlands, away from humans. However, an unexpected attempt on his life and a warning from another dragon lead him to suspect that not all is right in Regone.

Ewan returns to his homeland to attend his brother's wedding and discover the source of the bounty on his head. Once there, the dragon prince finds that Ryan of Westshire has been using his absence to court the Lady Shannon.

With unknown forces working to undermine his brother's throne and his own heart torn between his love for Shannon and the desire to see her happy, Ewan must choose once and for all. Is he a dragon or a man?

©2013 H. L. Burke (P)2017 H. L. Burke

Fun characters and great world-building

I'm continuing to enjoy this series, but I have to admit Dragon's Rival didn't hold quite the same charm for me as the first two books. I think it's because one of my favorite aspects of The Dragon and the Scholar saga has been the interactions between Shannon and Ewan, and this book had far less due to the physical and emotional distance between them. But it still had the fun characters and great world-building that I associate with Burke's books, and an interesting mystery to solve. I felt like the ending was a little rushed, but it was otherwise very satisfying :) I'm looking forward to seeing how the author closes out the series!

As for the audio aspect, the narrator did well differentiating between the many characters voices and even including accents. I listened to the whole thing in three days!

Short but great

A good third installment full of intrigue and twists you don’t see coming. Some references to intimate relationships along with one scene post-relations. No fowl language or gore (unless dragon fire turning a person into a matchstick counts). I can’t wait for the next book to see how things turn out!

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.