A peace accord has been negotiated between the countries of Aelshia and Jeenobia.  Litz, the dragon rider of Loren, a captain of the royal guard and a blood niece to the King of Aelshia is sent to Jeenobia as a royal ambassador. She is to quietly make sure the agreed rule of no dragon killing is being followed by the Jeenobians. 

Kella is the most adored and renown dragon hunter in Aelshia. She has seen firsthand what dragons can do to humans if they so desired. Watching her mother die by a dragon’s flame has been her motivation to slew any dragon who has attacked humans.

Digging for Heaven is an opposite attracts romance / adventure story with my personal fantasy creature, dragons! And the dragons are beautifully represented with their inquisitive minds and ancient wisdom. I swear every time a dragon speaks I hear Sir Sean Connery’s voice in my head. (Name that dragon movie reference)

The adventure is split into two parallel halves with Litz and Kella on one side enduring a desert crossing and Kella’s brother Ker working on his plan to save his sister. Both stories are exciting yet I found Ker’s story more interesting until the last quarter of the book when both are blended together for an action packed conclusion. 

There are a few definite lulls to the desert crossing where my interest lagged due to a decline in forward momentum. This is Jenna Jarvis’ first novel and a stumble in the pacing is to be expected. I am curious about how the title relates to the story. I have not figured that one out.

All in all, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fantasy readers. I truly wish we could assign half points because this is a solid 3.5 out of 5. Due to the dragons I will round up to 4 stars.

I received an advance review copy from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley.  I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for this e-arc!

Digging For Heaven follows Litz, a royal dragon rider, and Kella, a famed dragon slayer, on their journey through a perilous desert. I loved the banter between the two and following Kella's brother Ker as he attempted to follow his sister. With many dragons and possibly even more F-bombs, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.

"The thing about full-grown dragons was that while they didn't normally make a lot of noise, when they decided to, the sound could rattle right through the bones."

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Jeenobi and Aelshia have long been at war, that is until the King of Jeenobi and the princess of Aelshia entered into a marriage in the hopes of pursuing peace. Their kingdom's are hundreds of miles apart, but that is nothing compared to the distant views their lands share on dragons.

Litz, a dragon rider, and Aelshian ambassador knows that dragon slaying is a common practice in Jeenobi, but she refuses to understand why. On her royal visit, Litz is faced with the famous dragon slayer Kella, who is determined to break the new laws and possibly interrupt the fragile harmony of their two kingdom's.

Who better to determine the dragon slayers fate than the rulers of Aelshia, and who better to deliver Kella to her trial than the duty bound dragon rider Litz?

Crossing the endless miles of sand is no small task, but doing so as enemies might prove to be impossible. When they are faced with all the danger the savage desert has to offer, can they put their differences aside or suffer failure, leaving both nation's peace hanging by a thread?
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What happens when a Dragon Rider meets a dragon slayer? COMPLETE AND UTTER CHAOS

What happens when author Jenna Jarvis delivers this story? A CONCEPT EXECUTED WITH ROARING PERFECTION

An adventure with Dragons, a Tatooine like setting and LGBTQ rep!

This was PURE fun! I want to be Kella when I grow up! She is a whirlwind of beautiful mayhem. I laughed at her antics the entire book. I was beyond entertained... I loved the plot, the characters, and the subtle romance.

I am thankful that this is set to be a series because I am so excited to see where this journey goes!

A slaying start to Jenna Jarvis's debut novel Digging for Heaven. With only one week until its publication date, grab your pre-order now🔥

The cover grabbed my attention, and after reading the blurb, a sapphic fantasy with a dragon rider and a dragon slayer? It seems like a dream come true! Jenna Jarvis delivers everything I fantasize about in this debut novel, and I love her writing style! The characters are fully developed, and the world is vividly crafted. I particularly loved the bond between Litz and the dragon Loren; although Kella's cockiness put me off at first, she eventually grew on me.

There's a cliffhanger at the end, and I can't wait to read the sequel or any other works by Jenna Jarvis in the future.

A dragon rider and a dragon slayer. A match made in heaven or h**l?
The war that existed between Jeenobia and Aelshia has been resolved by a royal marriage and dragon hunting is no longer allowed under the new Jeenobian king. Litz is tasked with extraditing Kella from Jeenobia to Aelshia for slaying dragons. No easy task. But during the course of their journey they come to see why each of them does what they do. The dragons of Jeenobia do not seem the same as other dragons. Why is this?
Also the cessation of the war does not suit everyone and steps are being taken to try and re-start it.
The book ends on a cliff hanger and is interesting and enjoyable enough for me to look forward to a sequel.

So first off, I should say my review may be a tad biased (though i have done my best not to let it be!) because i know the author, and she is an utterly amazing person, and I'm so pleased that she has her first book being published!

But even then, I still really love this book!

It was a tad slow to get going, but i was intrigued and kept reading, needing to know how it would be possible for two people who should truly despise one another, could possibly end up falling for one another. Attraction alone cannot account for that. And I was rewarded! The book gets really exciting about halfway through, as other parts of the story and world begin to get woven into the tale, and I was really hooked, and by the end, i was desperate to know more, and hanging on every word. Thankfully, it seems there is a sequel on the horizon, so I will get more to read.

The characters are interesting and unique, each with their own voice and story to tell. It's not just Litz and Kella, you get the story from Kella's brother, Ker, who is brilliant, and the other characters, two dragons, a gremlin and a young mute boy, make excellent companions who join in as the story progresses.

There's some great world building here, and it's done in the way I like for fantasy books, where you are slowly introduced to aspects of the world (Rather than some books that will spend chapters just explaining the world to you before anything even happens), but the story isn't held back because you're thinking 'wait, i dont understand how this thing works in this world'. so overall, a perfect way to go about introducing a new fantasy world.

so i really recommend giving this book a read! I cant wait to read more from Jarvis, and especially more about these chracters and this world!