A fun romanstasy with a nice twist…
I just finished reading A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement by Julia Huni, and really enjoyed it. Recently there has been a bit of a trend towards middle-aged heroines (and heros) in romance/romanstasy – a welcome trend IMO. But usually the protagonists are discovering their powers in their 40s and 50s, while in Guide, both main characters are having trouble with theirs: Calantha Stormbringer due to well….hmmmm….menopause, and William Ordell due to injury, the death of his war dragon, and a lousy king.
So it’s a lot of fun to watch as they try to “retire”, but instead end up launching a sea dragon fire brigade for their adopted island home of Safe Haven. And a story hour for the local kids. And reading lessons for some of the adults. Their growing attraction is definitely complicated by the fact that Cala had been the High War Witch for the country of Borgonne and William had been the Master of the Dragon Guild for Borgonne’s mortal enemies, the kingdom of Verduun. But it is helped along by a supporting cast of humans, giants, trolls, dwarves, orcs, elves, and even Safe Haven’s magical mayor. And of course, let’s not forget the sea dragons. As you might guess, I read this far too late into the night last night.
Guide is the first in the Dragons of Safe Haven series by Julia Huni, who, per the blurb at the end of the book, mostly writes science fiction, but also writes romantic comedies under the name of Lia Huni. So it seems fair that both “Julia” and “Lia” get author credit, since Guide is a delightful combination of both. Sadly, the next book in the series is still almost a year away, due out in August, 2026. But, both Julia and Lia have a number of other already-published books, and now I’m going to go try some of those.
For once, I don’t have an author or publisher to thank for a review copy, since I just noticed Guide on Kindle Unlimited, and borrowed it on a whim. And I’m very glad I did!
Buy or borrow at Kindle US | Kindle UK
I enjoyed Dragon Rider so much ^^, I put Julia Huni on my eReaderIQ list, and this morning a book from one of her other series popped up as free.
Dark Quasar Rising is the first in Huni’s “Friends of a Former Space Janitor” series, and since I just now finished binge-reading the original “Space Janitor” series, I grabbed this one. (Even though it’s also KU, but free is free, and books do drop out of KU sometimes.) Space Janitor was a mix of science-fiction and murder-mystery/thriller, with a five-book slow burn romance – not intellectually deep, but lots of fun. So I assume that “Friends of a Former Space Janitor” will be more of the same…
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJ7H5N8K
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CJ7H5N8K
Oh, and the second book in the series, Dark Quasar Ignites, is only $0.99/£0.99 right now, probably in honor of the third book in the series, which came out yesterday.
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWZ1V693
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CWZ1V693
All four of the books in Huni’s original “Space Janitor” series have dropped to either free or $0.99/£0.99, and one of the two novellas (the holiday one) has also dropped to free right now. The other novella is still at its long-term $0.99/£0.99. They’re all in KU if you have that, but if you don’t, and you want to try the series, now is your time 😀
Here are links to the series webpage for the four books, and individual links for each of the novellas.
Series webpage
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KS2TVLC?binding=kindle_edition
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KS2TVLC?binding=kindle_edition
Orbital Operations, prequel novella
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BG9MQWG
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BG9MQWG
The Trouble with Tinsel, a Space Janitor Christmas novella
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KVCDWLF
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KVCDWLF
And, since I found my way to Huni via her recent, and rather different in style, A Dragon Rider’s Guide to Retirement, which I really liked, I was happy to see that a second book in that series is in the works, A Blacksmith’s Guide to Dragon-Rearing. Although sad to see it’s not out until August of next year. And the end of August at that…
Now the first three books in Julia Huni’s six-book follow-on to her “Space Janitor” series, called accurately, but not super-imaginatively, “Tales of a Former Space Janitor”, are either free or $0.99/£0.99. These are all KU right now too, but books do fall out of KU sometimes, so I grab if they are free, and even sometimes at the $0.99/£0.99 price too, if I’ve liked them a lot.
The Rings of Grissom, #1, free
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RRM4876
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08RRM4876
Planetary Spin Cycle, #2, $0.99/£0.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094MQT24Z
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094MQT24Z
Waxing the Moon of Lewei, #3, $0.99/£0.99
Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KSBWL9Q
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09KSBWL9Q
These are Kindle Countdown Deals for about a day-and-a-half more…