There Be Dragons

by Heather Graham

When the beautiful Marina tragically loses her parents, she is left alone and in the hands of the one responsible—the devious sorceress, Geovana. Greedy for power, Geovana arranges for the girl to marry her evil son, even though Marina is in love with someone else. As Christmas day approaches, the girl is faced with the terrible choice to either save her land and her people or follow her heart and believe in the magic of Christmas and true love. This enchanting holiday tale also includes an audio CD of original Christmas songs by the author as well as several classic carols.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Christmas, Novella, Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance, Ebooks

100 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Also published as Heather Graham Pozzessere and Shannon Drake.

New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Heather Graham majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write, working on short horror stories and romances. After some trial and error, she sold her first book, WHEN NEXT WE LOVE, in 1982 and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, romantic suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, and Christmas holiday fare. She wrote the launch books for the Dell's Ecstasy Supreme line, Silhouette's Shadows, and for Harlequin's mainstream fiction imprint, Mira Books.

Heather was a founding member of the Florida Romance Writers chapter of RWA and, since 1999, has hosted the Romantic Times Vampire Ball, with all revenues going directly to children's charity.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty languages, and to have been honored with awards frorn Waldenbooks. B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, and more. She has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, People, and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including local television and Entertainment Tonight.

Heather loves travel and anything have to do with the water, and is a certitified scuba diver. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Reviews

[Knight Of · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't good. The story was generic and didn't have much depth to it. It lacked the charm of the cliche fairytale stories I usually like.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was definitely not one of the best fantasies I've read. It had a good premise, but cliche orphan daughter being relegated to little more than a servant after parents die sort of bit. The addition of the evil "step-mom" being not even her mother, but a neighbor and a sorceress on top of it added a bit of spice. However, what really got me is that the artist rendtion of the dragon isn't a dragon, but a wyvern, and a really corney ending.

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Wattpad story is giving 1980s fantasy movie. Fast paced; quick to finish. Smashes every popular fairy tale together into 250 digital pages. When paired with the illustrations, hilarious. So mad there is no picture of Daphne punching a dragon.

Favorite quote:
"This is foolish! You would think that we were living in the Dark Ages!"
"We are living in the Dark Ages."

[Eileen M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story! I also loved the art work! It was a fun read. A Treasured keepsake to be reread at a future date. Love it!!

[Erika, I Guess⁷ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was sooooo cheesy, but like if this was made into a movie... it would be camp. It would be a silly good time. Just for giggles.

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, pick up anything by Gail Carson Levine, who writes for middle schoolers, and the story will be better, more thought out and less cliched than this one. The art work was over dramatic and probably the selling point for this story. Essentially, Marina is a perfect Cinderella like character who is being forced to marry an evil count, the son of a witch who had it in for her parents. She meets a disguised fairy who grants her three wishes - one of which is to spend a perfectly chaste night with her dream guy. They fall in instalove and overcome obstacles, including a dragon, and live happily ever after. Then there's Daphne, the sweet stepsister, Marina's cousin Armand who is in love with Daphne, the ensorcelled step-father and arranged marriages. Some of it was kind of unique, but it didn't feel like a truly engaging story. I felt no connection to the characters, they had no chemistry with one another and I truly didn't care how things turned out. Disappointing.

[minnemoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was incredibly cheesy yet oddly a feel-good story about love and magic. The writing was very simplistic, almost like it could have been written for children, and the simple plot and characters certainly would not have won any awards. (I don't think this book is for kids, though.)

But it was cute. It reminds me of some old-school princess animated movies like The Swan Princess and Thumbelina, with a dash of Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. All fluff and no real substance, but enjoyable enough at least for my nostalgic elementary school self. Plus the pictures were pretty!

[Doris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely not one of the best stories I have read. It was shelved with the adult fiction, but other than one place where it skirts around an adult issue, would be perfectly appropriate for a much younger reader (5th grade or thereabouts).

It had promise, but other than the good art, was definitely more of a cliche than others I have read recently. Predictable throughout, but still something to read aloud to the junior set.


Note - it came with a cd that was not something I would enjoy, so I stopped listening at track 4.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was inspirational with its romantic and rougher characters, with its magical animals, and with its finding of love in the end after much hard work and perserverance. I think the setting being in a castle type environment was very appropriate.Five stars for taking me to another world and not wanting to come back.

[Rebekah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok I like stories and fairy tales as much as the next girl but Graham is trying too hard with the language. It's not her normal style and it just doesn't flow in my opinion.

[Brenda]

This is a beautifully illustrated fairy tale romance. Ms. Graham has woven several tales into just one story. (And is a very quick read!)

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations. That's about it.

[Angela9600 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the artwork in this book.

[Camille · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 Stars

[Joani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh the cheese! Not only the story and dialogue, but also the graphics.
I'm still not sure why I picked this up. Good thing it was so short or else I'd be mad I wasted so much time on it.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little short story. Great way to pass an hour or two. I liked the characters and the story. Nothing wrong with a little magic.

[Julia]

Something to read in bed before falling asleep...

Meh. I actually almost didn't finish this... and it's only 84 pages long.