Robin’s Reviews 2026
Needing to change it up a bit, I requested the ARC of a romantasy, ISLE OF DRAGON BONES by M. A. Frick, a local Ohio author. The book’s premise is what caught my attention—What if Ariel from The Little Mermaid lost her memory, not her voice…and woke up in the bed of a retired Blackbeard, the Pirate? Oh, and add dragons. Sounds interesting, right? Keep reading!
Grumpy/Sunshine – Forced Proximity – Forbidden Love -Amnesia-Secrets-Dragons-Banter (Taming of the Shrew vibes) -Age Gap – Pirate
Book Summary
Ardenn pulls a young woman out of the sea, not sure if she’s even alive. Her wounds suggest someone tried to kill her. He debates saving her because if anyone learns his secrets, it will bring his demise…but he can’t just leave her.
When she wakes up in bed in a tiny cabin, she doesn’t know where she is, how she got there, nor who she is—not even her name. Ardenn, used to solitary life on his island, doesn’t welcome her company and offers no comfort for her situation. His gruff, grumpy demeanor brings out the feistiness and sharp tongue in the girl he names Kelpie, after a sea creature that lures men to their watery doom. She doesn’t let his size and gruffness intimidate her. She even does things on purpose to push his buttons.
Stuck together on this small island, their constant bickering includes his threat to return her to the mainland as soon as she’s capable. She’s scared of what and who might be waiting for her, and the thought of crossing the water in Ardenn’s boat brings up her worst fear, drowning. She doesn’t know how to swim. If he can’t get her back to the mainland before winter, they’ll be stuck together until spring.
Kelpie realizes she feels safe and protected by this gruff man who has experienced a life full of difficulties and doesn’t have time for nonsense. The longer they’re around each other, their harsh words become cover for the fondness growing between them, hinting at temptation and desire.
The second portion of the book begins with Ardenn discovering who she is while getting supplies on the mainland. He now realizes that any thought of a happily-ever-after on his little island is only a fantasy. It appears that no conclusion to this situation will end well for him. He quickly returns her, but her family is out for the blood of whomever took her, not yet understanding he was her savior, not the one who tried to kill her. Until her family realizes there’s so much more going on here, Kelpie’s life has been put in the line of fire again in a political clash over power.
My Thoughts
ISLE OF DRAGON BONES by M. A. Frick is a standalone but has ties to her Dragon House trilogy. I haven’t read the trilogy, and I didn’t feel lost anywhere. Perhaps reading her other books would give more insight into this world, but I didn’t feel confused. If anything, it made me curious about her other books set in this world.
Let me state there are no actual mermaids in this story, as teased in the book’s premise. Kelpie, a young woman, was found in the water and has lost her memory. That’s the similarity to The Little Mermaid. And, although this is an age gap romance, she is of age, and the age difference didn’t feel uncomfortable.
There’s a bit of Taming of the Shrew vibes here with two equally strong personalities. Hearing both POVs clarifies the reasoning behind their interactions and shows the gradual change to desire for each other, even with their doubts and reservations.
Ardenn doesn’t change who he is, but he lets down some walls and considers the possibility of a fuller life than he ever imagined, truly living, not just surviving. Readers get a lot of commentary in the characters’ heads that builds the sexual tension, but this is a “closed-door” romance. The flirty undertones of their verbal war add to the push-pull of their relationship begging the question, will they or won’t they?
The first part of the book, the slow burn in this romance, was a bit too slow for me. (This is why I would rate it a 4 out of 5 stars.) Later in the book it said they were on the island together for a month. I thought at least four to six months had passed. Yet, their bickering and the mystery about what Ardenn is hiding helped keep my interest. The author builds their everyday life of survival on the island (forced proximity). They fight over who gets to sleep in the one bed, whether or not the stray cat (Captain Pusserwack) gets to come inside, and her rearranging his things, but I would have cut it down a bit. So just as I was thinking, “Ok, let’s move on,” the story picks up. The second part of the book hooked me with more depth to Kelpie’s story, and the additional action as the stakes get higher.
Ardenn and Kelpie are characters that will stick with a reader. I had sympathy for Kelpie’s situation, but she still had agency. I loved how Kelpie broke through Ardenn’s walls to uncover the kind, protective man inside. Ardenn has a gruff demeanor from the rough circumstances he’s experienced in life, but Kelpie gives him a chance to soften his edges, at least for her, and hope for more than the life he’s been living.
While on the island, Ardenn and Kelpie are isolated from the world they live in. Only when the mainland becomes a larger part of the story do we see the “fantasy” in this romantasy. Dragons play a small part in this novel, yet an important one. The magic is minimal. This would be a good entry book into romantasy for those reasons. This book will whet your appetite for more of this world. I’m going to put the Dragon’s Heart trilogy on my TBR list, for sure!
Thank you to the author for an ARC of ISLE OF DRAGON BONES. The opinions are my own.
Order Your Copy
ISLE OF DRAGON BONES is currently a Kickstarter (linked here). If you love special editions and bonuses, go support the Kickstarter for ISLE OF DRAGON BONES. Be quick! The Kickstarter ends on October 31. After that, the “extras” go away. The public release is January 22, 2027. That’s when paperbacks and eBooks will be available on Amazon and copies with sprayed edges will be on M. A. Frick’s website (link here).
About the Author
M. A. Frick is a Northeast Ohio author who says she’s “a mere peasant who dreamed of being the fair maiden sacrificed to the dragon. After all, dragons make the best of companions.”
She has three children and her own knight in shining armor. Reading and writing about angsty romance with a least a little fantasy is her thing. “Honestly, what is a story without magic?” she says.
If You Like…
If you like the description of ISLE OF DRAGON BONESÂ by M. A. Frick, click on these links for my past reviews on these recommendations: STOLEN MIDNIGHTS by Katherine Quinn and FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros.
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If you haven’t read the series, why not? Start with SLIGHTLY SOUTH OF SIMPLE. Then follow up with THE SECRET TO SOURTHERN CHARM, THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF PARADISE, and CHRISTMAS IN PEACHTREE BLUFF. Finish off with this new one, FALLING FOR PEACHTREE BLUFF.
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Ansley’s middle daughter, Sloane, who loves to paint, is a military wife. When her husband goes MIA in a previous book, she needs all the support she can get from her family. Youngest daughter, Emerson, is chasing her dream to become a successful actress. Each book intertwines several storylines of this close-knit family and the joys and trials they go through.