Review--The Dragon Finds Forever by Kristen Painter

Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year.

The tourists think it's all a show: the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, the occasional gargoyle flying through the sky. But the supernaturals populating the town know better.

Living in Nocturne Falls means being yourself. Fangs, fur, and all.

Monalisa Devlin is a Will O’ The Wisp, a rare and potentially dangerous creature. Unfortunately, her greedy father makes sure she lives up to that potential. Monalisa is magically compelled to obey her father's evil commands--until he finally agrees to free her in exchange for one, last mission: Travel to Nocturne Falls and use her powers to force Ivan Tsvetkov back into the ring.

Once a champion on the supernatural MMA circuit, Ivan 'The Hammer' Tsvetkov retired after a devastating injury that left him unable to shift into his dragon form. Wounded and embittered, Ivan wants nothing more than to be left alone. Until an infuriating, stubborn, delicately beautiful stranger shows up on his doorstep and demands that he rebuild his life.

Posing as a rehab therapist seemed like the easiest way to get close to the smoldering recluse, but Monalisa quickly realizes that nothing about this mission is going to be easy. To gain his trust, she shares more of herself than she ever has before, and as their connection deepens, so does the weight of her secrets. She thought she was willing to do whatever it took to win her independence...but when her deception blows up in her face, will Monalisa discover that the loss of Ivan's heart is too high a price to pay? Or will their love rise from the ashes to burn stronger than ever?

Nocturne Falls is one of my most favorite places to be! Kristen Painter was created a world that is very much our own, except of course, there are real live vampires, werewolves, gargoyles and even dragons walking about! As you might have guessed it, The Dragon Finds Forever involves a dragon and even a Will ‘O the Wisp! I can’t say that I’ve ever encountered one of them in literature before, so it was quite fun having one as a main character!

Monalisa is our Will ‘O the Wisp and is basically a type of fae. Her father is a leprechaun and an evil one at that. He controls Monalisa through and through and until he grants her the coin that should’ve been hers at eighteen, she will never be able to escape him. Her father runs a fighting league and when his best player called it quits after losing a fight, he tasks Monalisa with the job of getting him back into fighting shape for a rematch with the supernatural who bested him.

Ivan is the dragon of this story and as you might have guessed it, is a MMA fighter. After he was poisoned by a manticore in his last fight he has decided to call it quits. The poison has yet to leave his veins and it’s left him inured and unable to shift into his dragon form. When a young woman comes to his door claiming to be sent by the League, his past employer, to help him get rehabilitated he’s skeptical but doesn’t want to cost the poor woman her job so he agrees to let her help him heal.

Monalisa isn’t too thrilled with having to lie to Ivan, he’s a good guy despite his rough exterior. He shows her more care and consideration than her father ever has and it endears him to her. She hates lying to him though, but knows things will get worse if she were to come clean. Her father’s hold over her is too strong for her to break by herself and he promises to give her her freedom if she completes this one final task, though Monalisa knows better to trust her father’s word.

Like all Kristen’s books in this series has been, this one was just as magical and entertaining as ever! I feel like Monalisa and Ivan were going to have the roughest trial of a relationship to form since they had to start out with lies, on Monalisa’s part, though she wasn’t happy to lie either. It definitely added this sort of invisible tension in a way, because you know that things aren’t going to be pleasant once the secret was out. In the meantime, though, you start to swoon a bit as the big tough Ivan and gentle hearted Monalisa start to truly fall for each other. It was almost heart-aching for me to read because I was anticipating the worst blowout ever once Monalisa’s secret came to light.

Ivan was an enjoyable character too! I almost feel like it’s a cliché for the big and tough Russian fighter to be a big softie at heart. But then again, who doesn’t love a guy with a big heart? He’s definitely one of the most thoughtful and considerate guys you’ll ever meet. And his rescuing a dog from the shelter was heart-melting too! As I said, he’s a lovable guy and he really surprised me with his growth.

I loved seeing the relationship develop between Ivan and Monalisa! Yes, it got started on the wrong foot almost, but the feelings they were having were still true. And as they continued to work through the issues they had, you knew they were really meant to be. As I said before, this is a series comprised of standalones and they are all paranormal romances, expecting a happy ending each and every time sort of becomes the norm for this series, so I don’t feel like I am giving away spoilers here!

We got to see some new faces in this one that have me excited for possible books to come! Though I already know who’s in our next book, which I am extremely excited to read since his brothers already had their books and happy endings! It makes me wonder if some of these new faces will be seen again in the near future or not!

Nocturne Falls is definitely a series no paranormal reader should be without! It’s a little town that was made for readers like us and I enjoy visiting it again and again with each and every book I read from this world! I highly recommend picking up any of the books, or all of them of course!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars