How to Date Your Dragon Audiobook
By: Molly Harper
Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi, Jonathan Davis
Published by: Audible Studios 1/23/18
How to Date Your Dragon Audiobook Sample
How to Date Your Dragon Audiobook
4 Hearts
So Audible has been doing some straight to audio books lately. I’ve listened to a few short stories from some favorite authors of books that went straight to audio in the past, including I’m Dreaming of an Undead Christmas. But, I had only listened to short stories. This is my first full-length novel that was audio only. Since I mostly just listen to books anyway, audio only isn’t a problem for me. If you’re not a fan of audiobooks, I would expect that this will be released as an ebook eventually, I just don’t know when. I would recommend you give this a try on audio though. I think it might surprise you.
As a HUGE fan of Molly Harper, I jumped on a chance to try a new series, especially in the paranormal worlds (I swear I will try her contemporary romances one day). The fact that Amanda Ronconi is the main narrator didn’t hurt either (Again, I’m a HUGE fan). So, this story takes anthropologist Jillian Ramsay to a small town in Louisiana called Mystic Bayou. There, she is to talk to and observe the people and how they live together. Mystic Bayou is a town full of supernaturals. They live out in the open and have learned to put their differences aside and become a community. There are bear shifters, thunderbirds, fae, witches, etc. And yes, even dragons.
In addition to Jillian, there is also Bael. He is the hero of the this story and also the sheriff in these parts. He is a gruff man, who doesn’t have a large number of friends. He is also looked down upon from his family because he isn’t dragon enough. He is also half human, which doesn’t do him any favors in his family’s eyes. The fact that he is down courting a human is just another black spot too, but he doesn’t care. He is good friends with the mayor, and bear shifter, Zed. Zed is very much a character that I would expect in a Molly Harper novel. He was funny, flirty and just a all around good guy. I really hope we will get a story with him one day.
So it isn’t long after Jillian shows up into town that people start dying. Of course, there are people looking in her direction. But Bael is trying his best to protect her. The suspense of the this story was a lot of fun, if you could say it was fun as people are dying. The romance is really sweet, though there is a lot of communication issues because Jillian doesn’t understand dragon culture. Dragons are very secretive, so she had no idea of the meaning of some of Bael’s moves, which he then sees as rejection. But they eventually work that all out.
This book has the humor you would expect from a Molly Harper novel. There were many chuckle-worthy moments and times that I was really glad I wasn’t drinking something, or I would’ve sprayed it everywhere. Let’s just say, don’t even try to force unwanted pony play on a unicorn. At this time, it does not appear that this story is set in the Half-Moon Hollow world. The supernatural creatures in this book are not out in the open. There is also no real mention of vampires. However, it wouldn’t surprise me if there wasn’t a tie-in later in the series, the same way she did with the Naked Werewolf series. Either way, this is a fun series. If you’re a fan of any of Harper’s paranormal works (I can’t speak for any of her contemporary romance, they are still on my TBR), I would highly recommend this story.
UPDATE: per author, ebook will be out in about 6 months.
How to Date Your Dragon Audiobook Narration
4.5 Hearts
As I said, I’m a huge fan of Amanda Ronconi. I think she is the perfect narrator for Molly Harper’s stories. She is great at bringing out the humor and snarkiness of the characters that Harper creates. I love her male and female voices and her pacing and tone are perfect. This is the first Molly Harper story where they’ve brought in a male narrator to do the male POV chapters. I know that the addition of a new narrator to a beloved series can be prickly with some. I’ve listened to a few where a new narrator was added similar to this one (Silver Silence by Patricia Briggs being the most recent). I am not completely adverse to the idea. I also didn’t mind Jonathan Davis as a narrator. I thought he did a good job with the gruff Bael. The issue that I had with him (I didn’t notice this issue with Amanda Ronconi at all), was that I could tell when he had to go back rerecord a sentence here and there. His tone would change or the volume was different for just a sentence or so and then go back to the original tone. When that happened, it was distracting and would pull me out of the story. If that was done smoother, I would’ve given this narration 5 stars. But because of this issue, I just can’t do it. I really hope that this issue is resolved before they start book two (I’m already eager for the next story in this series).
UPDATE: I’ve been told that the audio issues have been updated. Downloading an updated copy from Audible should fix this issue.
And thus, Jane Jameson and the wacky denizens of Half-Moon Hollow were born.
It took me almost a year to complete and edit a draft of the book, which I planned as the first in a three-book series. I spent three months using agentquery.com to ruthlessly stalk potential literary agents. (There were a lot of lists involved, I don’t want to re-live it.) I was gently rejected by at least half of them. I corresponded with some very nice, very patient people, but ultimately signed with the fabulous Stephany Evans of Fine Print Literary Management. Stephany was willing to take to the time to give me advice on how to imp
I am an actress, narrator and writer who divides my time between New York City and Upstate New York. I have a BFA from NYU where I studied at the Stella Adler Conservatory. I have performed in theaters around New York City as well as regionally at The Alley, Capital Rep and many productions at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
My Off-Broadway solo comedy, Shirley at the Tropicana, received critical acclaim and was subsequently featured in The New York Times. Film and TV credits include Daydream Believer (Slamdance 2001’s Best Dramatic Feature winner), The Understudy, Deadly Sins (ID Discovery), IFC’s Get Hit and Chasing Paradise. National network and regional commercials include Chase Bank, Sony and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. My voiceover work encompasses over 70 audiobooks available on Audible.com.
Narrator: Jonathan Davis
Jonathan Davis, a three-time recipient and fourteen-time nominee of the Audie Award, has earned accolades for his narration from the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, the American Library Association, Booklist, the Audio Publishers Association, AudioFile magazine, and USA Today. He has narrated a variety of bestsellers and award-winners for top publishing houses and national audio divisions, including Penguin Random House Audio, Harper Audio, Hachette Audio, Recorded Books, Blackstone Audio, Macmillan Audio, Simon & Schuster Audio, and Audible, Inc. He has narrated over forty titles of the Star Wars franchise for Lucasfilm Ltd./PRH Audio, including several iconic movie tie-ins, has participated with Star Wars Celebration, and has built a significant fan base. Jonathan’s work as a narrator includes films and programming for National Geographic Television, NOVA, PBS, VH1, and Francis Ford Coppola.
Jonathan was recently inducted into the Audible Narrator Hall of Fame.
I like to thank Audible Studios for providing me with a copy of this Audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
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Reviewed by:
Melanie Simmons
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