Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for an erotic dragon-shifter M/M romance from Sean Michael. BRANDED BY FLAMES is the first in a new series that features five dragon brothers finding their fated mates.

About the book:
Meet the Beteferoce brothers. Five dragon shifters, each with a strong elemental power. And each with a fierce desire to find his soul mate…

For years, dragon-shifter-slash-firefighter Jake has been searching for his mate, but he’s beginning to tire of the search. Maybe soul mates are only for the lucky few.

Then he meets Shae.

A former navy welder, Shae is handsome, talented, into power play and rough sex, and covered in dragon tattoos. All of this suits the shape-shifting dragon just fine—until he finds out that Shae literally has Jake’s family crest already tattooed on him. A coincidence? Or something more…

Jake must convince Shae to trust him as a man and as a Dom before the heat between them burns out of control. Becoming a dragon’s mate is not without danger, and Shae will need Jake’s guidance—and love—if he’s going to make it through alive.

My Review:
3.5 Stars for this contemporary dragon shifter fated-mates M/M romance.

Shae is a forty-ish artist with a deep and abiding love for all things dragon. He has tons of tattoos featuring the slinky, sexy beasts, and he builds large dragon statues for sale. One afternoon, the fire crew is called out by one of his nosy neighbors. Jake is the head fireman sent to assess Shae’s permits, and to make sure he’s safe with his blowtorch.

There’s an immediate spark, and Jake, a centuries old dragon shifter, makes it a point to return for a more personal inspection. Learning that Shae has Jake’s personal seal and dragon-tongue name inked into his skin disrupts the sexytimes. Momentarily. Once Jake checks with the fae tattoo artist and learns that Shae is his fated Mate? These two get it on like…all the freaking time.

Roughly 85% of the book is Jake giving it to Shae. Copiously, and with some BDSM elements (spanking, bondage, orgasm denial, plugging) because Shae is an unapologetic pain slut. As their bond solidifies, Shae learns that he needs to eat more, so food prep and eating takes up about 10% of the book. The other five percent is Shae flying on Jake’s back, meeting three of Jake’s four also-gay dragon brothers, and Shae feeling insecure about his looks/age/kinks and why Jake seemingly trapped him into a fate bond.

The love seemed to happen very quick, but that’s nearly acceptable in fated mates stories. I just wished we’d learned a bit more about Shae’s history, why he was so isolated, and how Jake’s family came into being. The ‘rents deets are seriously sketchy.

So much sexytimes–I could have done with less, and liked the book just as well. I’d have liked it better, I think, if there had been a bit more emotions, or conflict, in it. Lots of dominance, but the heart didn’t seem to equal out. And, more flying. I loved the flying bits.

That said, the book was an easy read, and I’m eager to spend more time with this dragon-shifter series.

Interested? You can find BRANDED BY FLAMES on Goodreads, Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

About the Author:
Often referred to as “Space Cowboy” and “Gangsta of Love” while still striving for the moniker of “Maurice,” Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and persuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to “Chicago.”

A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.

Barring any of that? He’ll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.

Catch up with Sean on line on his website, blog, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!