Erryn reviews ‘Swallow (A Forbidden Desires Spin Off Story)’ by Piper Scott and Virginia Kelly. Self-published on July 29, 2019, 128 pgs. Released on January 2, 2020, the audio is 3 hrs & 43 mins. Narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo.
Why I listened to this audio: I’m in love with this series.
Grimbold Drake, influential patriarch of the Drake family, revels in his solitary life of order – a life which is thrown into chaos when his son pays him an unexpected visit, bringing with him a broken but gorgeous young man more than a millennium Grimbold’s junior. A man Grimbold instantly finds himself yearning to fix, protect, and claim.
Meek, subservient, and eager to please, Wally Brand doesn’t doubt the tales he’s been told of the cruel and deceitful Amethyst clan. So, when he’s forcibly taken from his home and entrusted to Grimbold Drake – the most powerful Amethyst dragon of all – he knows he won’t be long for this world.
Only, there’s a gleam in Grimbold’s eyes when he looks Wally’s way and a tenderness to his touch that Wally can’t understand. All he knows is one thing: Whether Grimbold means him harm or not, if he can be good to his dragon captor, maybe…just maybe, he’ll get out of this mess alive.
Swallow is a steamy omegaverse mpreg-ish romance set following the events of the Forbidden Desires series. It contains a broken young man who badly needs love, a curmudgeonly dragon with a heart of gold, new nicknames, familiar faces, and the sweetest dog known to dragonkind.
For maximum enjoyment, Swallow is best listened to as a companion piece to the Forbidden Desires series.
Buy it here: Audible | Amazon | Add it to Goodreads
My Review:
I have loved this series from the beginning and was thrilled Piper Scott and Virginia Kelly were returning to this omegaverse story. I hadn’t given Grimbald much thought. After all he was father to Alistair, Everard, and Geoffrey. He would poke his nose into his children’s lives periodically but they were all several hundred years old and Grimbald is over the millennium mark. If a guy’s that old, he’s not getting any action, right? Alas, this is dragon world where five hundred years old is considered barely beyond the whelp stage.
When Grimbald is presented with Swallow, he’s being asked only for his advice. He sees a chance to help the young man so he steps up. Swallow (and let’s be honest, I hadn’t been thinking of the bird when I heard the title) hates his name, is terrified of dragons, and just wants to escape. He calls himself Wally but Grimbald dismisses such a plain name. Instead, he settles on Walter, taking away what little autonomy Wally has.
My heart broke over and over and over as Wally’s time in the cloister was revisited. There is a special place in hell for people like his abusers. I loved that Grimbald kept telling him over and over that he wasn’t a disgrace or a mistake. And the showdown with his sire was something to behold.
I enjoyed this book because I got to revisit with so many of my favorite characters (hello Harry and his lizard Steve). I also had a great time because I got to listen to the incomparable Michael Ferraiuolo. He’s done a great job with all the books in this series and this one is no exception. I’m always impressed by the quality of his work and I especially love the haughtiness of the dragons. This was a lovely book with a heart-warming ending, a lovely whelp, and a beautiful dog. What more could I have asked for?
My Rating:
