Dating a Dragon

Okay, let’s be real: I picked this up expecting a guilty pleasure, and *Dating a Dragon* delivered—but not in the way I anticipated. Yes, there’s a ridicuously wealthy dragon shifter who shifts into a literal gold-plated beast (the mental image alone is worth the price of admission), but the real surprise is how *funny* this book is. Orion Garrison is the kind of hero who’d monologue about his ‘ancestral wealth’ while accidentally setting his own cufflinks on fire, and the heroine, a no-nonsense event planner, is the perfect foil. Their meet-cute involves a misplaced fire extinguisher and a very public meltdown (again, literal), and I cackled out loud during my commute. Soudek’s narration sells every moment—her Orion is all gravelly entitlement, but she slips in just enough self-aware exasperation to keep him from veering into insufferable territory. That said, the plot *does* rely heavily on a few well-worn tropes: the ‘fated mates’ angle gets a little hand-wavy, and the conflict in the third act feels rushed compared to the snappy first half. I also wished the worldbuilding dug deeper—how *do* dragon shifters handle modern banking?—but the breakneck pacing doesn’t leave much room for lore. Still, the audiobook’s production is flawless: Soudek’s character voices are distinct, the sound levels are consistent, and the runtime is mercifully free of dead air. If you’re in the mood for something that’s equal parts ridiculous and romantic, with narration that’s as sharp as the heroine’s comebacks, this is your jam. Just don’t expect high art—expect a dragon who pouts when he’s told his ‘treasure room’ is tacky, and a love story that’s as explosive as his bad temper.