When Ashton Drake’s family calls him home to help keep his cousin Jasper, the king of the mountain, in line, Ashton wants to laugh. He knows he’s in no shape to help anyone. His sanity is hanging by a thread; he’s failing at the job the Drakes sent him to the city to do; and many days he can’t even handle his own dragon.The beast breaks out within hours of him returning to his hometown, but it … hometown, but it settles when it sees Makenna, Ashton’s high school sweetheart. Ashton doesn’t know what she’s still doing in town. She should be singing on a stage somewhere. But it’s good she’s around. In her presence, Ashton and his beast come to a unified, sane purpose.
The trouble is, Makenna doesn’t seem to want Ashton around. She can’t forget that Ashton left her, and besides, she’s busy trying to pay off the debt left after a family member’s illness. She doesn’t have time for an out-of-control Drake, even if she could ever trust him again.
Ashton knows what he needs to keep his sanity, his community, and his king.
But Ashton doesn’t know if he can win Makenna back.
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. . Loved this read and received ARC. One of my favorite authors
arc review I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. McKenna is human and after Aston drake a dragon shifter breaks her heart and things get hard for her ,now is is back in grove again. Awesome story
Ashton and Mekenna
I know this is book one of the series but after reading it I felt like I was dropped in the middle of the story. This not necessarily a bad thing it just makes you want to know more about the family.
I look forward to reading more about this couple and the others as this series progresses.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
As the first of a new series, this is a winner. A slightly different take on shifter madness. Mackenna and Ashton haven’t seen each other for years and she still knows him better than even his own family. I was not very happy with her in the beginning. I didn’t like her poor attitude. I did like that even with her bad manners, she cared enough to watch out for him and help him with his control issue. Ashton had so much on his shoulders trying to help his cousin the new king. This is going to be a really good series if this is anything to go by. I requested an advanced reader copy from Booksprout and am under no obligation to leave this review.
A really good shifter romance with a second chance.
Makenna has been in love with Ashton since they were kids but he didn’t feel right about having her wait for him while he went off to the city to work, so he broke up with her when he left. Makenna had big dreams for herself too as she wanted to be a singer. So when her turn came up, the following year, she grabbed it and moved on. But life isn’t always fair, as Makenna learned, and she came home after a death in her family. What happens to both of them, apart, finally convinces them they are stronger together but not before they almost lose each other again.
This book had me giggling and crying throughout it because of the chemistry between Ashton and Makenna and his family.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book melted my heart! Ashton by Emilia Hartley reminded me of how important first love can be. I was drawn into the story’s achingly sentimental reality of how important it is to value and keep in touch with all those we love. This book is a quick fun read. The character’s human and dragon are both snarky and fallible. Their interplay humorous and interesting. This book with its fun character interactions and fast paced dialogue has an important moral attached to its sexy and funny plot. However, you’ll have to read the book to figure out what the moral is because I don’t do spoilers. I recommend Ashton to anyone who enjoys reading a quirky, funny, love story that ends with a happily ever after.
family is another kind of love
Makenna thought she was going to reach the world with her music once upon a time . Instead, the world beat her down with debts. The aunt who had raised her lay dying from breast cancer – she bore the guilt and the costs of that, thinking she could have saved her.
Ashton would tell her much later that being turned to a dragon would not have healed the disease, only transformed it with her.
But the financial burden remained.
For years, she thought she could never be a true mate to her Dragon, but she was to discover that neither could live without the other.
And Jasper could begin to live with family around him.
Perhaps more than their love would have a chance to survive – maybe Jasper, his bank, and the town that depended on them would begin to grow again.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout, read it on Kindle, and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This is a NON-SPOILER REVIEW. Ashton Drake by Emilia Hartley is Book 1 in the new series Aurum Court Dragons. I enjoyed this first glimpse of Emilia Hartley new series. While I really enjoyed the story, I thought the characters were a little rough around the edges. This is a slightly different take on dragons and their relationships. There is a bit of heat to this story so… Mature Readers Only please. Mackenna and Ashton’s story is sweet, spicy and has lots of humor and snark. I can’t wait to see where this series goes next!
This honest and voluntary review was made possible by reading a copy through Booksprout.
Ashton is part of the Drake family, they live under the rule of the Gold dragon.
He’s back after trying to save the bank that keeps them safe on the mountain. He’s also here to keep his cousin from showing the world that dragons exist!
Makenna was going to be a singer, a success, but she never made it that far…..
Being called back home by her ill relative, Makenna put aside her dreams and worked, she’s trying to pay off the hospital bills and other bills that slowly mounted up!! There are not enough hours in the day to earn money, so the last thing she needs is an old flame coming back into her life!! She needs money, not fun!!
Ashton knows he should leave her alone, she’s told him enough times, but she soothes his dragon, he’s not crawling out of his skin when she’s near. But how does he get her to slow down? How does he try to help? Yes he can throw money at it, but Makenna is an independent woman, she won’t take his help.
But when a fire almost takes her away from him, Ashton is going to do everything in his power to help her.
Being with Ashton is easy, loving him is natural, and when a fire makes her re-evaluate her life, she decides to let him in.
She knows all about his dragon, so he doesn’t have to hide that from her, she knows all about the generation after generation of dragons who look after the mountain and the people that live on it. So what’s holding her back from committing to Ashton?
I liked this book, I liked the fact Ashton wasn’t prepared to like going back home, it’s not until further on on the book you realise why he’s happy to go home.
I loved Makenna, a hardworking young woman, she didn’t take the easy way out when her aunt died, she faced her responsibilities and paid off the bills that accrued during her aunt’s illness.
I like how she wasn’t going to fall for her “old flame”, just because he was back. She really made sure he was back to stay before she let him back into her life.
(There is a backstory, it’s concerning his cousin the King, Jasper will star heavily in all the books until his is told in the last one.)
So do you need to read in order? Yes, all the characters are in all the books, so it makes sense to read them the way they are set out.
I must admit I’ve read quite a few books from this author recently, I’ve enjoyed her work, so when I got the opportunity to read this series I jumped at the chance.
Excellent second chance romance for Ashton and Mackenna. The characters go through a lot of angst as they try to reconnect after so many years. Ashton is struggling with his Dragon and isn’t telling anyone. I received a complementary copy of this book in a set: Aurum Court Dragon’s from Booksprout and chose to write a review. I look forward to reading future books by Ms. Hartley.
Allow a full day for this adult tale of a second chance for a human and a dragon shifter. I read an ARC in the Aurum Court Dragons Boxset from BookSprout and this voluntary review is my own opinion.
Finding home
This has to be one of the best beginnings to a series. I loved the honest family dynamics and the way nothing came easily to any of them. The author showed how, no matter the pay scale, each character had their own set of issues. This book is emotionally intense and full of action adding to the draw to find out the ending. I already can’t wait to read the next book and see if the dragons manage to find the peace they need.