Star crossed lovers Ere and Sorin have battled through time to be together with Ere having even conquered death to stay by Sorin’s side. But Ere’s miraculous rebirth comes at a cost. He must answer the Celestial Summons and complete the tasks placed before him by the Jade Emperor. With Sorin as his companion and the fate of all dragon kind in their hands, the pair must venture across time to an ancient land of myth and magic in search of the Jewel of Dreams. Along for the ride is Rui an antisocial female dragon who makes up for what she lacks in social skills with her lethal fighting abilities. As the Jade Emperor’s hourglass begins to empty and the pressure builds, Ere leads the team through an Arthurian wonderland where their lives and the Universal Balance itself hang by a delicate thread.

DREAM OF DRAGONS is the first of the “Dragon Tails”, a new series of books from Aja James, centering Ere and Sorin, the much loved characters from the later books in her “Pure/Dark Ones” series, in a new set of adventures. James is a prolific and popular author specializing in lavish and frequently lascivious paranormal romantic fiction. These are erotically charged, vibrant sagas full of magic and adventure but always manage to include recognizable elements of the difficulties of maintaining romantic relationship wherever (and whatever) a couple may be, which serves to elevate the books above mere rote fantasy adventures.

Opening with an extended erotic scene, DREAM OF DRAGONS is certainly no juvenile romance and James writes with verve and passion rendering both action sequences and romantic interludes immersive and believable. Through more than a dozen previous books, James has honed a style that is perfect for her subject matter. The descriptive passages are florid but her paragraphs are short. The dialogue is sometimes terse but always astute. Her exposition is precise and never over elaborated. All in all it creates a thoroughly enjoyable adventure aided by the fact that James takes as much time to build her characters as she does the world they inhabit. Even readers who come to DREAM OF DRAGONS unacquainted with Ere and Sorin will soon be carried along by their chemistry even when they occasionally step aside to let other characters temporarily drive the narrative.

With its backdrop of old England at the time of King Arthur, Guinevere, Merlin and Lancelot, DREAM OF DRAGONS is an always entertaining, fast paced romantic adventure that serves as a perfect entry point into Aja James’ world of dragons.

~Kent Lane for IndieReader