Title: The Dragon Ranch of Dawn Ridge
Author: Juliette Caruso
Publication date: July 29, 2025
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Dragons!
- Found Family
- Rancher meets chef
- Cozy romantasy
First Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book! It’s very cozy, hardly any action. The romance is sweet, but I wanted more from it at times. The whole idea of The Dragon Ranch of Dawn Ridge is so unique. It’s pretty much just a cozy cowboy romance… with dragons. There are some other references to magic, but it’s not a main focus at all. There’s not much world-building, which wasn’t terrible for such a light story as this. It was very enjoyable and an easy read.
The main reason I took off a star was because I found myself very annoyed with the FMC. I related to her as someone with anxiety who never wants to be a burden. Unfortunately she took that way overboard, always refusing help, which ended up making the other characters go to extra lengths just to do anything nice (or even basically decent) for her. It just got really old by the end of the book. Overall, I’m certainly not mad I read it. It was cute and refreshing! Slight spoilers ahead.
3rd Person Duel POV: Cassia and Aevrin
The main characters of The Dragon Ranch of Dawn Ridge, while not extremely interesting, are very cute and sweet. Aevrin has been focused on work at the ranch and caring for his family for so long, he never expected to be so enamored with the woman who ends up staying at the ranch. Cassia is very secretive, very reserved, and also a ball of anxiety. In certain doses, this can be charming. What she gives us, unfortunately, is an overdose. Her aversion to being a burden actually somehow makes her MORE of a burden. I kept waiting for her to get comfortable enough with the family she was staying with to finally stop fighting so hard against accepting their help, but it didn’t happen. I was exhausted just reading about the lengths Aevrin and Gramma had to go to just to trick her into accepting the smallest of kindnesses.
The Plot
This story begins with a dragon rancher, Aevrin, stumbling upon a dying woman, Cassia. He gets her to a healer and very quickly feels it’s his duty to care for her. Cassia is close-lipped about who hurt her and where she came from, but he is patient with her and invites her to stay at Dawn Ridge with him and his family. Very reluctant to accept help, Cassia begrudgingly agrees to stay just a little while, and work on the ranch until she can earn enough money to pay Aevrin back for the healer fees.
“I’m a cook. I work in kitchens.
“Really?” His eyes jerked up to her. He cleared his throat. “I wasn’t trying to insult your job.”
“It’s fine. You’re allowed to be wrong.” She pulled out a buttoned jerkin and hung it up.
The family quickly realizes Cassia’s background as a chef will be a huge help at the ranch and accepts her with open arms. She finds herself growing to really love the place and the family who has taken her in. In the back of her head, though, are her secrets. What happened with her brother? Why did she leave the good job at the large house to come all the way to Dawn Ridge? Who tried to kill her? And why?
The Magic
Magic is not a huge focus in The Dragon Ranch of Dawn Ridge. There are dragons, of course, and certain people are bonded to them. Other than that, there is one magical object kept in the house to be able to see anyone anywhere, and there are references to magical plants and such that help with everyday life.
The Romance
The romance is very sweet and light, not very passionate. There is an obvious attraction between Aevrin and Cassia right away. He falls first. She takes longer because she’s convinced he just feels sorry for her, and she hates pity. He is very good to her, and she encourages him. It’s especially exciting to see the way he wants to get revenge on the man who hurt her. We get some mild spice late in the book. The banter is fun! Aevrin really works to pull Cassia out of her shell and their dynamic is so cute.
“I’m not getting you in trouble, am I?” Cassia asked Aevrin, as she added a second clip to the shirt.
“Naw,” Aevrin told her. He clicked one of the clips in her direction and winked. “Besides, I can handle a little trouble, miss Cassia.”
Final Thoughts
This was a cute, fun, easy read. There is a lack of world-building and depth that is perhaps to be expected in a cozier romantasy. The characters are cute, and the story is unique. I would recommend this to anyone wanting a light read or pallet cleanser after a darker romantasy. Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for allowing me to read and review this ARC.
Goodreads review here
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