Rating: 4 stars
Buy Links: 
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Length: Novel


Laszlo is a thousand-year-old dragon who is still looking for his mate. When he walks into a shop at Christmas, Laszlo realizes he may have found him in the gorgeous store clerk, Roman.  Laszlo can tell that Roman is about to go into heat, and he also knows he wants the man desperately. However, this being modern times, Laszlo recognizes he can’t just grab the sexy man and fly him off to his lair (which would be his first choice). Instead, he has to convince Roman to spend his heat with him. But, while Roman isn’t so sure initially going home with Laszlo is a good idea, he finds the man compelling enough to take a rare chance and agree to share his heat with Laszlo.

Laszlo is thrilled to get to share his beautiful home and his hoard with Roman. He wants nothing more than to charm Roman, take care of him, and keep him forever. But he also knows he has to take it slowly for fear of scaring Roman off. With Roman going into heat, the two men immediately fall into bed and have a wonderful few days together. It is hard for Laszlo to hide his dragon side, as Roman has no idea that dragon shifters even exist. But as the men grow closer, Laszlo admits the truth and exposes Roman to a whole world he never knew existed.

Laszlo is finding everything he could want with Roman, and is thrilled that Roman is even considering staying around to be his mate. But things are happening quickly for Roman, and he can’t help but wonder what this gorgeous, wealthy, powerful man sees in him. Both men could finally be getting everything they have always wanted, but Roman needs to trust in Laszlo’s feelings for him, or he risks losing it all.

The Christmas Dragon’s Mate is the first book in Silvia Violet’s new Lonely Dragon’s Club series, and it is super fun, holiday-filled, shifter crack (and I mean that in the best possible way). Laszlo is a millennium old and still without his mate (along with some dragon friends, who form the Lonely Dragon’s Club together). He sees Roman and immediately wants him and has to have him. Laszlo has a tendency toward being commanding and imperious (being rich and ancient and all). But it balances out nicely with his gentleness with Roman and his true desire to care for and pamper him. This story takes place over Christmas and I enjoyed the bits of humor as Laszlo notes that Christmas is the perfect dragon holiday — full of bright, sparkly things and people adding to their hoards. I also enjoyed Laszlo’s reminders to himself that this isn’t the olden days of terrorizing villages and flying off with an omega, or that he has to remember to talk about his “home” and his “bedroom” rather than his “lair” and his “nest” or Roman will get suspicious. The humor and vulnerability that Laszlo shows give some nice balance to his more pushy side and he is charmingly over the top in a way that fits the story well.

Plot-wise things are pretty simple here. Laszlo convinces Roman to come home with him, the men engage in lots of hot heat sex, and then they have to decide if there is a future between them. I liked that we do see the men spending time together outside of the bedroom, giving some believability to the romance side of things, even with the fated mates aspect. There isn’t a ton of world building here, and I think things could have been explained a little more clearly in parts. Eventually I figured out that there are human omegas, but they don’t know about the dragon shifters. And there are women too (not sure if they are all omegas, or some are alphas). But beyond some bare basics, not much is detailed here. Still, it was enough to get by for this shorter story.

The guys do get into a misunderstanding that could have been resolved with some talking (and to his credit, Roman acknowledges that right away). But things are pretty smooth sailing as befits the tone of this story. We also get to meet one of Laszlo’s dragon friends, along with one of Roman’s human friends, and are featured in the second installment of the series. This will be a four-book set, each released within two weeks of each other, so follow ups will be coming out pretty quickly.

So like I said, this is fun and a bit over-the-top, but in a way that works given the story themes. Nothing is too in-depth in terms of characters or world building, but there is enough here to keep this story really fun and plenty sexy. I am looking forward to continuing and seeing what is next for these dragon’s and their mates.