BRINNSWICK: the tales from Gauhala comes to its exciting conclusion in THE DRAGONS DEVOTED DEFENDER. This book is full of so many good tropes! Friends to lovers, an age gap relationship, falling for your dad's best friend, fated mates, and found family! All of those combined to create a really lovely book!
From the blurb:
I need a plan to stop checking out my bodyguard—you know, my dad’s best friend.
Step One: Stop staring at his tush. Uhhhh… don’t really want to.
Step Two: Find someone else to obsess over. Well, that’s not gonna happen.
Step Three: Try not to jump him. My dad’ll kill him if I don’t keep my hands to myself.
Roman is driving me nutso. He’s always with me, no matter where I go, no matter what I’m doing, no matter what. He’s. Always. There. Not that I actually want him to go away… then all I’d do is wonder where he is.
We’re doing our best to complete our missions and keep the people of Gauhala safe, but things are getting complicated and Roman is so distracting. My eyes—and my body—always move toward him. Sigh. And he’s so delicious-looking, I just really, really want to lick him.
If I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen him checking me out too.
This is definitely a recipe for disaster.
The Dragon's Devoted Defender is the fourth and final book in Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala, an MX (male/nonbinary) urban fantasy romance filled with lots of sass, fated mates, dad’s best friend, gentle humor, and cozy found-family vibes. The series follows a new couple in each book with a guaranteed HEA. It takes place in the Brinnswick world, but you don’t need to read the other series first, although there will be familiar faces along the way.
Molly Otto's review:
When Oakley is returned to their dad and the tower, they learn what is like to fit in and be loved. Roman has been at Garrick's side for as long as he remembers and when he realizes Garrick's son is his person, things get interesting. Let's just say Garrick is Garrick and lucky for everyone Tan is there to set him right. It was a joy to see not only Oakley become more confident in themselves but also be able to let this wild family into his heart. Roman and Oakley show that even as fated mates it takes time and patience to allow oneself to be able to allow love in. With Oakley's past not yet solved it was a wild ride to see how this chapter of this world close and watch this wild family grow even more. This has been one of those series, that just keeps getting better with each addition and am so happy that Michele plans to continue with this world and all their unique characters. I cannot wait to see what happens next.
SNik's review:
Fourth and finale in series (Brinnswick: Tales from Gauhala), best if read in order. Paranormal urban fantasy. Age gap. Dad's best friend. Hurt/comfort. Soulmates. Found family. Nonbinary representation. Very slow burn. Dual POV. Heed content warnings.
Roman has been around since Oakley was a baby, and thousands of years before that, and he has been their bodyguard and now partner in taking down trafficking rings. Oakley is Roman’s viramore and Roman is patiently waiting, but he doesn’t see that Oakley has become romantically attracted to him as well even though Oakley doesn’t realize they are soulmates.
This is a slow and sweet build to Roman and Oakley finding their forever together as they become friends, partners, and then lovers. As usual for this author, the found family is a strong theme and wonderfully supportive, but the time spent with just Roman and Oakley on page is especially cute. Even though Roman is significantly older than Oakley he is playful as well as protective, and Oakley is just as capable and fierce. Sad to see this series end, but looking forward to more Brinnswick and Gaulhala spin-offs.
Angel's review:
I've heard a lot of good things about this series and the Ellwood Chronicles but I haven't had a chance to read them yet. Aside from reading The Snow Yeti's Grouchy Werewolf, I was going into this completely blind reading it as a standalone. I can confirm that it can be read as a standalone without needing prior reading. I do feel as though I was missing some information about who some of the characters were but that wasn't really that big of a deal for me.
The main characters of this book specifically and the story itself, read extremely well and I wasn't lost or confused by not having read the other books. Now, onto the characters! I absolutely adored Oakley! They are sassy, full of life, confident, stubborn, vulnerable at times, a horrible cook, and loves affection, whether that's in the form of hugs or cuddles. They are absolutely wonderful and I loved learning all about them, although what they went through at the hands of that despicable cult was heartbreaking. I'm so glad they got out and was able to reconnect with their true family.
Roman was a direct contrast to Oak's personality, he was gruff at times and stoic when others were around, but when he and Oakley were together he'd show his true personality. The caring, playful, doting person who always tries his best to make his Viramore happy. I adored watching him come out of his shell, so to speak, and fully accept his feelings for Oakley. I really liked how they slowly built upon their bond, they didn't fully rush into anything, and they took their time with each other.
I also enjoyed them being dragons!! I mean, how cool is that?? I always appreciate when an author fully leans in to the shifter aspect of their characters, and Michele absolutely knocked it out of the park with that. We had multiple moments when these two were in their dragon form and I loved reading about every moment of it! Considering dragons are believed to be mythical beasts, Michele described Oakley and Roman's dragons in a way that was believable and almost realistic. I loved how Oakley's dragon was more of a golden color, whereas Rome's was blue.
Overall a really great book, and I loved the ending!! I'm so happy all of the characters in this book got their happy ending, and that those without true family, ended up being found by those who became their real family.
The Dragon's Devoted Defender is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
Comments
Post a Comment