Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis Published by Five Fathoms Press on October 5 2021
Also by this author: Snowspelled, Thornbound, Good Neighbors: The Full Collection, Touchstones: A Collection
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 307
Format: ebook
Goodreads
Sensible, practical Elinor Tregarth really did plan to be the model poor relation when she moved into Hathergill Hall. She certainly never meant to kidnap her awful cousin Penelope's pet dragon. She never expected to fall in love with the shameless - but surprisingly sweet - fortune hunter who came to court Penelope And she never dreamed that she would have to enter into an outrageous magical charade to save her younger sisters' futures.
However, even the most brilliant scholars of 1817 England still haven't ferreted out all the lurking secrets of rediscovered dragonkind...and even the most sensible of heroines can still make a reckless wish or two when she's pushed. Now Elinor will have to find out just how rash and resourceful she can be when she sets aside all common sense. Maybe, just maybe, she'll even be impractical enough to win her own true love and a happily ever after...with the unpredictable and dangerous "help" of the magical creature who has adopted her.
A frothy Regency rom-com full of pet dragons and magical misadventures, Scales and Sensibility is a full-length novel and the first in a new series of standalone romantic comedies.
I want to thank the author, Stephanie, for sending me ARC for an honest review.
Every time Stephanie Burgis tweets something about her newest WIP I get excited but when she announced Jane Austen but with dragons, I couldn’t wait to read it. I was utterly delighted when she asked me if I wanted an ARC. I mean, OF COURSE! I knew from reading her other books that her stories are like warm hugs and I wasn’t disappointed.
Scales and Sensibility starts with a play on the famous first line of Pride and Prejudice and includes dragons. I can’t think of a better way to start a story. That first line is already famous for several reasons, one of them is because it makes a powerful promise for the rest of the book. And this is true for Scales and Sensbilibity too. While the title might be a reference to one of Jane Austen’s books, it’s not a retelling of one story in particular. Burgis takes the same elements of the Regency era, mixes them with dragons, adds a dose of comedy, and you get this.
The group of characters is a nice variety, with rich bachelors, scheming maids, and unfortunate cousins. The absurdity of some characters is what makes the story great, and the grace as shown by Elinor is one can only hope for in a lady. Even though the story only follows the house party, we get enough sense of the world outside through the stories they share. It’s almost a shame we only get this tiny part of the world Burgis has created.
I know you must be sick and tired of the rave reviews I write for Burgis’ books but I’m not going to stop. I’m probably not the person she thinks about when someone asks who her ideal reader is but I feel I fit that profile however she describes it. Sometimes you just know. I’m so grateful to have found an author who writes the exact stories I love to read, and most of them I didn’t even know I needed until she said it.
I give Scales and Sensibility five stars and I’m adding it to my favourites list. I’m sure I’ll reread it again before the next one comes out. If you like Jane Austen and want another fun story to dive into, you should check it out. If you love fantasy romances but always thought Jane Austen was hard to read, give it a go. You won’t regret it.
