Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an advanced readers copy!
A compelling story with a strong female lead. The setting was giving a sight d&d vibe which worked for me. The dynamic between the characters got slight repetitive at some points but for a debut novel it was more than acceptable! I feel like the author's writing style can really flourish if she keeps writing. The prose wasn't too flowery and the plot kept going pretty steadily. The characters had very clear motivations but were at times a bit one dimensional.

⭐⭐ "Dragonhart" had an interesting concept with the assassin and the lost dragons, but unfortunately, it didn't quite soar for me. Arla's initial cynicism was relatable, but her development felt a bit uneven. While the journey across kingdoms had potential for exciting world-building, it often felt rushed or lacked depth. The romance with Hark also didn't fully ignite, and their dynamic felt more forced than natural. Ultimately, "Dragonhart" had some intriguing ideas, but the execution left me wanting more.

Thank you to One More Chapter and Netgalley for early access in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say I was really excited to get to this book due to the description of an enemies-to-lovers dragon romantasy. However, what I read did not live up to that expectation.

The author seems to have fallen into the trap that by making the FMC a "badass assassin," she's actually made an incredibly obnoxious and unlikeable character. Arla has few redeeming qualities, and treats those around her terribly. Oh and did you know she was the King's Assassin?

The story also moved at quite a slow pace, and was extremely 'info-dumpy' at times. It made the world building feel quite lacklustre. Instead of fleshing out the lore surrounding the gods, we're instead told next to nothing simply because the FMC never cared to learn about it. It really felt lazy in places.

The romance also was not developed properly in my opinion. The main couple go from constant threats of violence to being all over each other shockingly quickly, The first 'spicy' scene really came out of left field for me, and left me wanting more build up to perhaps explore the tension and anticipation of any budding romance.

Overall, this book had great promise and the foundations for an amazing story. However, the writing just fell flat in places and the character work was sloppy.

I hope Eaton is able to use the experience of writing this debut to refine her skill moving forward, the talent is there it just simply needs some polishing.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

A fab story and well written. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. Enjoyed every second of reading.

it's a diluted copy of throne of glass.

my main issues are as follows:
1) the main character is an orphaned assassin with a taste for luxury and lavender skincare, and has no patience for social niceties. sound familiar? yep. except she doesn't have any of the charm or empathy that celaena has, so she just comes across extremely juvenile and unlikeable. Also we are told that she is an incredible assassin but her judgements and skills say otherwise.

2) the magic system was not explained, we know there are magical people known as "magics" (wow real creative) but we never really see how this impacts the world or what the importance of it is? There is one sentence in the entire book about how magics manipulate things, but it would have been much more interesting if we could have actually experienced this. Also the King is killing them to harvest their blood in the hope that he can one day use it?? Huh?? Why not enslave them and make them manipulate things for you? Would that not make much more sense?

3) The chemistry was non-existent. They were trying really hard to be 'enemies to lovers' but we don't see the build up of flirty tense moments, they are just genuinely mean to each other and then suddenly after one sexual experience they are head over heels in love? Hark also doesn't really have a personality.

4) the dragon was a redundant part of the storyline. it felt like thara was a wannabe-tairn.

If I wasn't reading this for NetGalley I would have dnf'd this book about 10% through.

2.75/5 This was really underwhelming. The book description and raving reviews there really piqued my interest, but unfortunately the book didn't deliver.

The first problem was the characters, mainly FMC Arla, who is immature, arrogant, self-centered and egoistical and I couldn't bring myself to like her or really care for her. She is supposed to be a royal assassin and I don't understand how she even got to that position or survived in it that long. I thought that assassins are supposed to be mysterious, unknown, careful and observant, Arla is usually none of those. How was she not shanked a long time ago, since everybody and their mother knows not only who she is but also what she is? And also, for someone who should heavily rely on gathering inteligence, she not only doesn't ask any questions, but I think she never even thinks about things and about the possibility of asking them. The book is written in a way, that the reader relies on the information Arla has to also know, so how come I have milion questions and the so called best assassin doesn't think about even one? It was so frustrating because the world-building could have been introduced though the character discovering it and learning it with us, but no. Sometimes I felt like the author was a bit lazy to think about it and write it all down. There were many kinda hollow scenes where there was the space for asking questions and learning things, but for some reason, the characters would rather just sit there in silence and wait for the next scene... am I the only curious one? Why don't they even try to plan things while there is the time to do it?
The only somewhat redeeming thing is that Arla is 18, which I think is unnecessary and she should have been older (given what she does and apparently did for a few years), but then again, if she was older and this immature and childish with her frontal lobe fully developed, there would be no possibility of her growing out of it and maturing. Although if I didn't know, I would guess her more like 16-year-old. This way, there is hope that she will change and learn how to control her impulses and balloon of an ego.

Our MMC Hark was great and I wished the chapters from his POV were longer. Like this he was clouded in mystery and from his POV we mainly only heard about something that he cannot tell Arla and therefore had to wait for her to discover it. (And then be frustrated by her not inquiring further.) And even though we technically don't know him that much, he still deserves better than to be with Arla. Hopefully the continuation of the series will help to flesh him out even more.

The other problem I had was the world-building. It was lacking and as I said, what could have been painted for us though the characters simply wasn't. So, it this world we learn about the existence of magic but have no idea how it works, what it can do (the only somewhat more written about spell/trick(?) is not really explained and the FMC focused on herself to ever ask). There are dragons and gods and nope, we don't get to learn anything substantial about them, because FMC "didn't believe in them and therefore ignored any old lore" and even after discovering them is not even a pinch curious to ask about anything. I would like to believe that the world would be much more expanded in the coming books in the series, but you need to lay a solid foundation to build upon. I don't think this book delivered that and didn't give me enough to be at least intrigued in it to read on. If anything, the world-building we were given really confused me. I don't even know what approximate time period to imagine, because on one hand we have medieval feel with swords, horses, torches etc., on the other there is a singular mention of train (that is not mentioned again) and so is a mention of small electric lights (christmas-lights like). But then is Arla flabbergasted by a sky-light window? Whenever there was something modern or technologically advanced mentioned it confused me and pulled me from what I imagined the world like (but maybe this is my fault). These instances felt deliberate and were not really focal for what was happening, but then were never mentioned again, so maybe it's just something that needed to be established for the future books but then again, it would make more sense to use them or at least mention them more so it would feel like everyday part of the world.

Not to just rant about things that I didn’t like, one thing this book did great was the banter between Arla and Hark. You could tell they started as enemies but also that Hark was secretly fond of Arla and just liked to rail her up. The development of relationship between them was interesting, but mostly it was just the disappearance of mutual animosity, the romance part of it pretty much appeared from nowhere.
The overall writing was kinda flat. It was written in third person and could benefit from some editing to not start almost every sentence on a page by "she/he". Also, the constant mentioning that Arla is, in fact, an assassin was driving me up the wall. What I was really looking forward in this book were the dragons and eh… they were by far the biggest disappointment, and I had to wait for that almost to the end of the book.

This bookseries has a potential with many interesting tropes and plot points (dragons, ancient gods, chosen one, politics, slavery, secret society) and this debut is promising start. Hopefully the second book will smooth out the shortcomings of the first book and heavily build upon it.

Thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins UK and One More Chapter for the opportunity to read advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

3.25 ⭐️

I’m not sure if it’s just because this genre is very saturated right now but this one just didn’t hit with me. It felt like a bit of an imitation of Throne of Glass.

One of my favourite things about fantasy is the world building and the descriptive nature but this book didn’t meet those expectations either.

The FMC is so grating and immature unfortunately, she does get a little better throughout but I think overall sadly I just didn’t enjoy the writing.

The romance also felt a little flat, there was no building of the relationship they just went from hating one another to being together?

honestly, this book just completely missed the intrigue point for me.

i was super into the first 25% of the book, and then i started to realize that the first two chapters of the book basically told me everything that was going to happen.

the character and relationship development just didn’t live up to the potential that it could have.

the magic aspect wasn’t introduced fully, and so it made it weird to follow.

Much love to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK/One More Chapter for the advanced copy of this book—all thoughts & opinions are honest and my own.

This is a wildly impressive debut novel! Not only is it a romantasy with dragons, but the FMC is a badass assassin who takes shit from no one, not even the king.

Arla Reinhart and Hark Stappen are wonderfully crafted characters with depth and realistic personality. They both had flaws, desires, beliefs, and passions that made them stand out and shine perfectly in the story.

The lore behind the old ways was brilliant. I love the use of magic here, too—it wasn’t overwhelming or in your face. It wasn’t a strong focus of the entire book like most fantasy novels tend to be and I loved the approach!

The world-building was phenomenal. It was easy to imagine myself in the world and get immersed in the travels from kingdom to kingdom. The castles sound absolutely beautiful and I loved that they were crafted to almost balance each other in a way? One full of color and riches, one dull and gray.

The ending was perfectly executed. I definitely didn’t see it coming, and that’s all a girl can ask for in a novel, truly.

Overall, this was an outstanding debut novel from Abbie Eaton. I highly recommend it to fans of strong and stabby fmc’s, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and of course dragons ✨

I think this is a great intro into fantasy romance! It's very easy to get into and the characters are vibrant and entertaining. Although this wasn't the best fit for me, it's one I would recommend. Especially to those who enemies to lovers and a very stabby FMC (she low key reminded me of a SJM and I think readers will LOVE that!)

Thank you so much to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for my ARC!
3.75/5

Really enjoyed this book - absolutely love a forced proximity trope! I felt some areas were a bit slow/confusing, but overall enjoyed the story!

It has been such a long time that I have been able to get back into romantasy and not overanalyze every thing about them. This yeah may just be my comeback yar.

I am so excited to get book two and see more of Arla and Hark!

I usually cringe at banter but I was enjoying it in this book.

Arla is an assassin, and Hark is the man she believes is responsible for the death of her parents. They are forced together during a mission to figure out why shipments are going missing and parts of the kingdoms are starting to crumble.


I think people who loved those fairy books - they will love this one. I think people who loved When the Moon Hatched and the famous dragon rider books will be frothing at the mouth for this one!!!

I really enjoyed this fantasy romance debut. The world-building felt familiar to other romantasy books I've enjoyed but definitely had some fresh elements in there as well. Arla and Hark had a nice enemies-to-lovers dynamic that kept me engaged, and I thought their banter and slow shift toward trust were done well.

The pacing felt uneven at times, and there were moments when I wanted to feel a deeper connection to the characters, but it was like I was missing a few pieces that would have made their emotions hit harder. Still, by the second half, I was fully invested in their journey and rooting for them both individually and together.

Overall, this was a strong start to a new fantasy series, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing where the story goes next.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the eARC!

I struggled a bit to connect with this story but may need to return to it another time! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Neutral DNF... too juvenile and no progress even though I made it 41% in. Kind of sad I didn't get to the dragons/magic but there were only so many pages I could read about how the FMC hates the other country before I couldn't do it anymore.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and Abbie Eaton for providing me with an ARC of Dragonhart in exchange for my honest review.

Dragonhart is a romantasy set in a world where both the Gods and Dragons have long since abandoned the kingdoms. Our fierce and skilled FMC, Arla Reinhart, serves as the King of Hadalyn’s personal assassin. She’s tasked with a mission alongside Hark Stappen—an arrogant yet undeniably charming ambassador from Hadalyn’s rival kingdom.

This story delivered several of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, forced proximity, magic, and dragons. Naturally, I dove in with high expectations—and I’m happy to say those expectations were absolutely met. The romance is a satisfying slow burn, which felt authentic given how much mistrust there is between Arla and Hark. Arla’s arrogance stood out, but it felt earned. Considering her backstory and all she’s endured to rise to her position, her confidence made sense and added depth to her character.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Dragonhart and am already eagerly awaiting the next installment. If you’re a fan of Throne of Glass, Fourth Wing, or When the Moon Hatched, I’d highly recommend giving this one a try.

I really enjoyed this book.

I haven’t read a book like it before in all honesty, it gripped my attention from the first chapter and had me hooked all the way through. This author is a first for me and i would definitely read more from them in the future!

I actually ended up loving this book. I thought it lived up to the premise, the characters were great and I liked the ending. Honestly, my only complaint is that the first 30% are a bit slow, but there’s still plenty of banter in there that kept me entertained, so I got over it.

I really liked how the author developed the relationship between Hark and Arla—they really were enemies at the start, and it was great to see the banter, fights (verbal and physical), and how they finally gave in to that something more. I’m excited to see how the author develops their relationship, as well as the plot in the next book in the series. There was so much about this world I found interesting, and although the ending wasn’t an awful cliffhanger, it still left me wanting more from the next book.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Who doesn't love a book about dragons, love and political vibes. This was a great read, a perfect filler for those waiting for book 4 in the Fourth Wing Series.