Favorite Dragons in Fiction
I’m a fan
of dragons, no question. There’s that magical mix of fire-breathing creature,
treasure-hoarders, and raw power that’s just…amazing. Add that into great
fantasy and romance fiction, and you have a winning combination.
Some of my
favorite dragons in fiction are:
Pete’s Dragon. Okay, I know this one goes waaaay back, but Elliot, Pete’s invisible dragon, was just so neat. I totally wanted my invisible best friend to be a dragon. Then I hit my twenties and realized this probably wouldn’t happen.
· Smaug, from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The movie version is just epic. Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice and that animation? Killer good.
· Dragos Cuelebre, from Thea Harrison’s Dragon Bound, the first in her The Elder Races series. I have read and re-read this book a bazillion times. I absolutely love this series, and she grounded it with a creature straight out of the primordial beginning. Dragos is powerful, sexy, fierce—and surprisingly loveable, though he’s dragon through and through.
· Fearghus the Destroyer, from G.A. Aiken’s Dragon Actually, the first in her Dragon Kin series. Of course I had to mention Fearghus, from the book that started it all. I absolutely love G.A. Aiken’s sense of humor, and her arrogant dragons are the perfect mix of funny and sexy. I am so thrilled the series is ongoing.
· The dragons in the movie Reign of Fire. I admit, I love the movie because it stars Christian Bale. But the cruel, angry dragon at the center of it is just…scary. What’s not to love?
· Mushu, from Mulan. Because, come on, Eddie Murphy’s trademark humor, and he’s tiny. I always think of dragons as huge, but Mushu is small in size, if not spirit. That and he’s a spiritual advisor to Mulan, a woman in a man’s army trying to do good. This story sings to me.
· Draco, from the film Dragonheart. It’s such a terrific tale of looking beneath the surface. And the dragon has Sean Connery’s voice, so score.
· And last but not least, Jentaron, from my Ethereal Foes series. He’s the only blue dragon in existence, and he’s inherited the knowledge from all of his royal predecessors. He may be young in years, but he’s a fully mature dragon with a head full of information and a heart full of mischief. He was so much fun to write. I knew, when I’d first written about him in The Dragons’ Demon, that he’d be just as powerful, if not more so than his brothers Ranton and Teban. You can catch Jentaron in The Dragon King: Not So Ordinary. And be warned—he’s HOT.
·
Marie
DRAGON KING by Marie Harte
Hot Dragon and Ethereal Danger!
A blue dragon
descended from royalty, Jentaron, faces an unspeakable danger threatening his
planet. The other denizens of Ethereal may not acknowledge him as king, but
that doesn’t mean he’s not going to fight to return Dragonkind back to the
Ordinary. Even if that means creating
his own chaos along the way.
DRAGON KING
by Marie Harte is a story of rising above those that challenge you to achieve
your fate. If you enjoyed Sacrificed to
the Dragon by Jessie Donovan, you’ll burn to get your hands on Dragon King.
Author: Marie Harte
Series: Ethereal Foes #4
Genre: Demon, Dragons, Menage, Paranormal
Release
Date: December 22nd, 2015
Publisher: Samhain
Print
Length: 151 pages
Format: Digital
ASIN: B013UEHQGI
Digital
ISBN: 9781619231368
What good is being king if you
can’t burn your own rules?
Ethereal Foes, Book 4
In the two years since Jentaron hatched, he’s grown into an
adult blue dragon full of the knowledge of his royal predecessors. He’s a true
king, even if the other denizens of the Ethereal, those demons, havoc, angels
and the like, continue to test him.
But he’s got heavier worries. Namely, an unspeakable danger that
threatens all life as the planet knows it. He can feel it, can sense that he’s
got a bigger role to play than just pissing off the Ethereal.
With the blood elves and havoc making more trouble than usual,
magic no longer flowing freely in the Abyss, and angels massacring everything
demonic they can get their holy hands on, the Balance has reached a tipping
point. Time to take charge before the rules change.
What’s a dragon to do but create his own chaos? He’ll take a
mate or two, instill fear where needed, and finally return dragonkind to the
Ordinary—the human lands—where a dragon will
decide the fate of the worlds.
Because he’s king, and he says so.
Warning: Contains a dragon king
challenged by a devious demon and an alluring, not-so-human human. Expect
carnal hunger only a king can satisfy, and heat only a dragon can generate.
Excerpt from DRAGON
KING:
Ella Nelson
had thought about getting back at her ex-best friend for a solid month. Ever since she’d found out that the pretender
had not only cheated her out of a promotion, but stolen out from under her the
one man Ella found interesting, she’d been biding her time until the perfect
opportunity arose.
Unfortunately,
Ella didn’t do revenge. Or exciting. Or sex with a hot guy. She had a bad case
of ADD with life. Everything bored her after a while. This was the longest
she’d held a job in years, and already she found herself wanting to leave it
all behind. Even a need for vengeance had become too dull to put any more than
thought into.
I’m the queen of
blah.
“Hey, Ella.
You ready for that board meeting today?”
“Sure am.”
Ella smiled through her teeth. “I’m sure your presentation will knock it out of
the park.” Especially since I did all the
work.
“We’ll kill
’em dead.”
“And it’ll be
messy, I’m sure.” Their old joke felt so appropriate right now. Ella wanted her
life to be messy, to mean something. She felt as if she floated past
everything, not quite in touch with the world around her. She wasn’t someone
others ever looked to for guidance, advice or a relationship. Not like her
ex-friend.
Lauren wore a
professional A-line skirt and low cut blouse. It said “I’m feminine and sexy,
but I want to be taken seriously.” Ella hated her a little for that too, that
the woman could wear anything and look like a million bucks. Blonde-haired,
blue-eyed Lauren ate what she wanted, regularly skipped gym workouts and had
any man’s attention for the asking. Which made it questionable as to why she’d
come on to Peter when she’d known good and well that Ella liked him.
Of course Peter had welcomed
her attention. And sure, Ella had never out and out declared dibs, but she’d
talked about him all the time. Lauren knew how she felt. Ella had just about
worked up the nerve to ask Peter for a date when she’d heard the unmistakable
sounds of Lauren banging his brains out while she stood outside the woman’s
apartment, waiting for their weekly movie night.
Now it all
seemed suspect, as if Lauren had set herself up to be caught in the act. A way
of telling without telling. Sly, subtle and something Ella wished she could
pull off. Pesky morals.
She finally
understood why so many colleagues seemed to give Lauren the cold shoulder. Not
because they were jealous, as Lauren had often complained, but because they’d
been the victims of her narcissism. The woman stepped over everyone to get what
she wanted. It had only taken Ella a year to learn the truth.
Backstabbing,
two-timing, money-grubbing witch. A comforting rage settled deep in her bones like
a warm glass of whiskey. Welcomed, smooth and familiar. Anger took her from the
doldrums. Only fury made her feel alive—and that was the one thing she had to
hold back, because too much anger inside her became a very bad thing.
“After you.”
Ella followed Lauren into the conference room and moved to the back with the
other peons not important enough to sit with corporate’s big boss, the man who’d
come down from Green Bay to visit their satellite office in Plymouth Meeting.
Taking her
place with the others, Ella readied her cell phone to record, because she’d
said she would and hated to break a promise, and gave Lauren a thumbs up she
didn’t mean.
The perky
man-stealer smiled and chatted with the bosses. Then the presentation started.
Lauren wowed everyone with the slides created courtesy of Ella’s unwavering
diligence. She struck the right chords with a sense of humor, charm and obvious
physical appeal.
The
unfairness of it all built. All the hard work, the unpaid overtime, the
hassling with phone calls and outdated computers and effort in hopes of getting
that promotion. For what? So Lauren could flaunt her considerable assets and
steal it all right out from under her?
The final
portion of the meeting started, and something clicked into place inside Ella.
Uh-oh. Showtime.
Lauren
flashed a toothy smile. “And now, a short video about what Care & Concern
Medical Services can do for you.”
Their home
health care for the elderly had garnered national attention. They’d even opened
a few dozen more centers where those with special needs, as well as the elderly
in need of daytime care, could be looked after. Those had been Ella’s
brainchild. Ella’s hard work.
Ella should
have seen this coming. She and Lauren had never had an issue, because they
liked different things. Ella preferred to blend in to the woodwork and offer
support. Lauren wanted to be the center of attention and rule the roost.
Ella closed
her eyes, unable to stem the freaky headache that would open the door to that other sense she had. The one that
spilled secrets most people wanted to hide. Like a diver plunging into the deep
end, she stroked deep into the center of Lauren’s private thoughts, the ones
Lauren kept hidden, even from herself.
Filled to the
brim, Ella needed to direct those private images somewhere else. The idea of
revenge became too tempting to ignore, and she shifted those images into the
presentation. Though she’d never understood how she could do it, she’d always
been able to transform a person’s secrets into a visible manifestation.
Normally
uncomfortable with what felt like a curse, today she relished her gift. No
longer bored, she felt alive. Angry. Steal
my thunder, will you?
“Bravo so
far. No wonder your office is in my top five, Brad,” Mr. Kellen directed to
Ella’s supervisor, a man susceptible to big blue eyes and bouncy breasts.
“Thanks. But
this is all Lauren’s work, isn’t—What is
that?”
On the
screen, a video of Lauren going down on Peter replaced two old men in
wheelchairs. Peter played with her hair while he had her suck him down. Then he
had her lick him in all manner of places before she begged him for an assf***
in that whiny, breathy tone that annoyed Ella to no end.
“Oh my God.”
Lauren gasped. “That’s not me. It’s not!”
Two more men walked into the bedroom with
Lauren and Peter and joined in the fun. The scene had never actually occurred,
but deep down, Lauren had wondered what it might be like. Thus, another secret
spilled to the big screen.
“Lauren!”
Brad sounded shocked.
Ella’s head
pounded, but she kept filming with her cell phone, wanting to immortalize the
moment. Was it wrong to take comfort in Lauren’s misery?
Who the hell
cared?
Mr. Kellen
had yet to blink. No one at the table or in the back said anything, likely
still in shock at the raw sex onscreen.
“It’s not
true,” Lauren said through tears as she fiddled with the computer, trying
desperately to shut it off and unplug it.
Not going to work,
sweetie. Ella could
sometimes affect electronics, and today her gift worked on overdrive, a result
of too much stress. Her headache continued to grow, but pleasure over Lauren’s
humiliation made the pain more than tolerable.
I should win an Oscar
for this production.
The room
remained silent, while onscreen moans and groans filled the air. Not one person
even pretended to turn away, leave or try to help Lauren turn off the
computer.The video scene shifted to Lauren lying in Peter’s arms, still naked,
while she laughed about her colleagues at work. Then Peter suggested she don a
strap-on and get ready to ride him once more.
Too bad that
had also had been fantasy rather than reality.
Despite being
attractive, Peter had never seemed too adventurous. Sweet, kind, sexy and hung,
sure. Ella mourned the grand size of his cock. He would have been someone to
stave the tediousness for a while. But she had a hard time handling nice. Even
if he did have a nice package.
She coughed
to muffle a snicker.
Now sobbing
and at her wit’s end to turn off the video, Lauren scrambled to apologize. “I’m
so embarrassed. None of this is real. It had to be Photoshopped or something.
They must have edited me into this—this pornographic movie.” She hiccupped.
“I’ve never seen any of those men before.”
Ella had to
say something. “But, Lauren, isn’t
Peter your boyfriend?”
Lauren’s
cheeks blanched. “He, well, no. I mean, I know him. But not like that. Someone
set me up. None of this is real!”
You got that right,
witch.
“I don’t know
what to say, Lauren.” Brad’s voice shook. In shock or arousal, Ella couldn’t
tell. Her head was about to explode from exerting so much energy into the
computer as well as keeping it on.
But she
hadn’t had this much fun in ages.
Lauren looked
around, as if searching for support, and found none. When her gaze met Ella’s,
Ella feigned a sad face and shook her head in disappointment. She stepped aside
when Lauren ran out of the room in tears.
The computer
finally winked out. No one moved or said anything.
Then one of
the women giggled. Others started whispering, then the noise grew deafening.
Ella caught a
few loud thoughts. Ha. She’s finally
getting hers after diming me out for being late.
Serves her right. My
kid was sick a few days, and Miss High and Mighty pulls rank on me then blames
me for her report errors. Please.
Take my promotion and
this is what you get. Hell, even Ella would have been a better fit. Lord knows
she and I both deserved it. Not Lauren Look-at-My-Tits Daley.
Oh man. If I’d known
what a freak she is, I wouldn’t have waited so long to ask her out. Wonder if
she’d lick my balls like that.
A few other
mental rumbles piled on until Ella’s eyes teared up. Her head throbbed and she
forced herself to shut down before she risked a bloody nose. But God, had that
been worth it.
She followed
the excited mob out of the conference room and went back to her cubicle. She
didn’t get much work done, but she only had to fake it another hour before she
escaped for the day
Other Books in
the Ethereal Foes Series:
Dragons’ Demon: A
Dragon’s Dream
Duncan’s Descent: A
Demon’s Desire
Havoc and Hell: A
Dragon’s Prize
I Dream of Dragons
Vol. 1
Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Harte has over 100 books published with more constantly on the way.
She’s a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after.
Visit http://marieharte.com and fall in love.
Connect with Marie:
Follow the tour on December 22nd! One grand
prize winner will receive a $15 digital gift card for Amazon (Open
Internationally) and two grand prize winners will receive a digital copy of a Marie
Harte backlist of their choosing (Open Internationally).
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