[ARC Review] Fake Dating the Dragon by Lilith Stone

PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS: This dragon is about to set her heart on fire!

Shy virgin, Minerva Westwind always thought she’d grow old running the Westerly bookshop, on the outskirts of Motham City. But now the human authorities want to sell the building and she can’t afford to buy it.

Enter Dragon entrepreneur, Ethan Blade. His proposal to build an airport on human-owned land has stalled because of his monster heritage. Seems like he needs a personal relationship with a high-breed human before his bid will be considered. And he’s prepared to pay Minerva a hefty sum to play at being his human love interest.

Minerva and Ethan soon find out there’s more to their fake-dating arrangement than money changing hands. Ethan can’t believe how good having Minerva in his home feels. She even manages to calm down his Mom’s anxiety and his younger brother’s unruly behavior.

As for Minerva, Ethan seems to have a knack of making her feel… very steamed up. In the best possible way.

When Minerva and Ethan are required to prove to the human authorities that their relationship is the real deal, their chemistry is set to sizzle off the charts…  

MY THOUGHTS: This was another fun and steamy addition to Stone's Motham City Monsters series, and I loved Min and Ethan's dynamic from the very beginning. 

After the vampire shenanigans in the last book, Ethan is finding it hard to get the local city council to approve his proposed land purchase and subsequent airport expansion. As a dragon, it's important to Ethan to get people off the ground and flying through the sky. But he first needs to enter into a (fake) relationship with a human if he has any hope of getting the council to sign off on the land deal. Enter Min. She's a human in need of cash to save her family's bookstore. Ethan's a rich dragon in need of a human. On paper, it's perfect. In person? They can't deny how real their feelings are in this fake relationship. 

I love each new trope and monster that Stone introduces into this series. Ethan and Min's romance shows what a true monster is (and it's not the scaly, green dragon with wings). Like the other monster main characters in this series, Ethan proves that it's what's on the inside that counts and some of the worst monsters are the ones who look human. 

I loved Min. As a book-loving introvert myself, I thought Min was very relatable. I thought she was even more so because of her love of monster romance. Min was basically the embodiment of the quiet, monster romance-loving girlies, and I loved that. 

Overall, this was a sweet and spicy addition to the series (hello, dragon anatomy!). I loved Min and Ethan's romance, Min's growing relationship with Ethan's family, and the over-arching Motham City story. There were plenty of references to prior books and some returning faces, but Fake Dating the Dragon can be read as a standalone for those looking for a good dragon romance. 

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Release date: 3/25/24

Format: eARC

eARC provided via: BookSirens