Book picks similar to
Never a Dragon by Kevin McLaughlin


fantasy
dragons
young-adult
fantasy-paranormal

The Magician's Curse


Linda G. Hill - 2017
    The moment he sets eyes on Herman, he knows she’s the one. He brings her home to his Victorian mansion where they embark upon an extravagant romance. Yet a shadow hangs over their love. Will the curse on his family end Stephen and Herman’s happily ever after, before it really begins?Amidst lace and leather, innocence and debauchery, The Magician’s Curse begins the Gothic tale of The Great Dagmaru. Magic and romance await.*Winner of the 2017 Paranormal Romance Guild's Reviewer's Choice Award for Gothic/Mythology/Folk Tales

Reaper's Blood


Kel Carpenter - 2020
    Tragic, right?Even worse, after I came back I still didn’t get any cupcakes.What I did get, however, is a six-foot-something reaper with eyes like blue fire to guide me into the world of the supernatural. Which, as it turned out, wasn’t quite like the fairytales little girls are told growing up.Not only is magic real, more importantly, so are monsters.And apparently, I’m one of them.But I’m getting ahead of myself here.You see, four years ago I left my hometown and swore to never come back.Now my brother is dead and I have no choice but to go searching for answers. Except finding them isn’t easy when the secret society he belonged to is covering it up.I gotta find out who killed him while watching my own back, because if I’m not careful I might be next—and this time, there’s no do over. Luckily for me, Mr. Single and Hot as F*ck is determined to help me keep my ass alive.I’m a lucky, lucky girl.Some days.**The Grimm Brotherhood is a new adult urban fantasy series with slow-burn romance and a snarky heroine. It contains material intended for mature teens and adults. Fans of Kelly St. Clare, Leia Stone, K.F. Breene, Annette Marie, and Audrey Grey will love this action packed, food-filled adventure!**

Hidden


Megg Jensen - 2013
    The mystery enshrouding Hutton’s Bridge is as impenetrable as the fog that descended at its borders eighty years ago. Each year, three villagers enter the mist searching for answers. No one ever returns.Then a dragon falls from the sky to the town square, dead—the first glimpse of an outside world that has become nothing more than a fairy tale to Hutton’s Bridge. Except to Tressa.Tressa grew up with Granna’s stories of the days before the fog fell. When Granna dies, leaving Tressa without any family, Tressa ventures into the fog herself, vowing to unravel the foul magic holding Hutton’s Bridge captive. What she discovers beyond the fog endangers the lives of everyone she loves.

Marking Time


April White - 2012
    a mother who mysteriously disappears, a stranger who stalks her around London, and even the noble English Grandmother who kicked Saira and her mother out of the family. But when an old graffiti tag in a tube station transports Saira to the 19th Century and she comes face-to-face with Jack the Ripper, she realizes she needs help after all. Saira meets Archer, a charming student who helps her blend in as much as a tall, modern American teen can in Victorian England. He reveals the existence of the Immortals: Time, Nature, Fate, War and Death, and explains to Saira that it is possible to move between centuries – if you are a Descendant of Time. Saira finds unexpected friendships at a boarding school for Immortal Descendants and a complicated love with a young man from the past. But time is running out for her mother, and Saira must embrace her new identity as she hides from Archer a devastating secret about his future that may cost him his life.

Paranormal Public


Maddy Edwards - 2011
    . .Charlotte Rollins is an elemental, but she doesn't know it yet. Now, with the help of her old friend Cale and her new friend Keller, she will fight against an evil whose only goal is to consume her.From Kobo:There is no such thing as a mage. There is certainly no such thing as a vampire, pixie, werewolf, or fallen angel. And they certainly do not all attend a college together called Paranormal Public University.One minute Charlotte Rollins is a normal girl about to go to a normal college. She is at once excited and nervous, getting ready to start this new phase in her life. The next minute she is a freshman not at a normal college, but at Paranormal Public University, a school where paranormals of all kinds must co-exist. Charlotte must learn magic, that is, if she could actually do magic, which unlike every other mage at Public she can’t seem to manage.Her transition to this new and wonderful world is difficult. On top of trying to learn magic, make new friends, and confront forbidden love, the archenemy of the paranormals, the demons, are getting stronger. They are looking for something. It turns out that Charlotte might just hold the key to finding it.Can Charlotte get a handle on her powers in time to save the school she loves? Can she fulfill a destiny the paranormals scarcely dared to hope for? Or will she be too late?

Wickedly Dangerous


Deborah Blake - 2014
    They keep the balance of nature and guard the borders of our world, but don’t make the mistake of crossing one of them…Older than she looks and powerful beyond measure, Barbara Yager no longer has much in common with the mortal life she left behind long ago. Posing as an herbalist and researcher, she travels the country with her faithful (mostly) dragon-turned-dog in an enchanted Airstream, fulfilling her duties as a Baba Yaga and avoiding any possibility of human attachment.But when she is summoned to find a missing child, Barbara suddenly finds herself caught up in a web of deceit and an unexpected attraction to the charming but frustrating Sheriff Liam McClellan.Now, as Barbara fights both human enemies and Otherworld creatures to save the lives of three innocent children, she discovers that her most difficult battle may be with her own heart…

Witches of East End


Melissa de la Cruz - 2011
    Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there's Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache.For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it's time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them.With a brand-new cast of characters, a fascinating and fresh world to discover, and a few surprise appearances from some of the Blue Blood fan favorites, this is a page-turning, deliciously fun, magical summer read fraught with love affairs, witchcraft, and an unforgettable battle between good and evil.

Beautiful Creatures


Kami Garcia - 2009
    But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

The Shadow Revolution


Clay Griffith - 2015
    But they’re going to need a lot more silver.As fog descends, obscuring the gas lamps of Victorian London, werewolves prowl the shadows of back alleys. But they have infiltrated the inner circles of upper-crust society as well. Only a handful of specially gifted practitioners are equipped to battle the beasts. Among them are the roguish Simon Archer, who conceals his powers as a spell-casting scribe behind the smooth veneer of a dashing playboy; his layabout mentor, Nick Barker, who prefers a good pub to thrilling heroics; and the self-possessed alchemist Kate Anstruther, who is equally at home in a ballroom as she is on a battlefield.After a lycanthrope targets Kate’s vulnerable younger sister, the three join forces with fierce Scottish monster-hunter Malcolm MacFarlane—but quickly discover they’re dealing with a threat far greater than anything they ever imagined.

Red Night: A Paranormal Romantic Suspense


R.K. Close - 2017
     Beautiful, immortal, deadly, and living right under our noses. Vampires are real. How do I know this? Because I met Adam, and he’s one of them. My name is Samantha Chase, and I'm a private investigator. My life is about to change forever. Everything I thought I knew about the world around me is wrong, so very wrong. Death in the desert. A serial killer with an appetite for young blondes is on the loose in my city, and he’s just added me to the menu. I’m a pawn in a game played by beautiful monsters, and one wrong move could be my last. If having one immortal after my heart isn’t enough to convince me I'm out of my league, there’s another one after my blood. When did I become so popular? Adam may be my only hope. Or he might be the wildest—and deadliest—mistake I’ve ever made.

Wolf's Bane


Aimee Easterling - 2018
     I’m Mai Fairchild – fox shifter, sister’s keeper, and bane of the local werewolf pack. In a world where different is dangerous, my sister and I must pretend to be human at all costs. Too bad I just lost the job that lets me live under the radar while putting food on my sister's plate. Enter an enticing werewolf who offers enough cash to upgrade our diets from ramen noodles to salami if I join him on a magical hunt. But can I afford to accept the opportunity when the risk of working closely with every fox shifter's sworn enemy is so great? This first book in USA Today bestselling author Aimee Easterling's newest series dives into a world of magic, danger, and romance.

Lost Girl


Colleen Vanderlinden - 2013
    Determined to make something of her bizarre powers, she devotes herself to saving those who need her most. One night, she's followed by a powerful being in a pickup truck, and her world will never be the same. Finding herself thrust into a world full of supernatural beings she could have only imagined, Molly learns how powerful she really is, and how much she stands to lose.

Dark Legacy


Luanne Bennett - 2020
    They’ll do whatever it takes to keep the vampires that stalk the city under control.But power breeds greed, and Morgan will have to determine who is loyal and who would like to see her fall from the helm of the Winterborne clan. A stalker, an irresistible guy who won’t stay away, an immortal crow, her own family—who is the enemy, and which one will turn her into a real killer?The answers lie in an old box commissioned at the auction house by an anonymous client. What’s inside will reveal her dead mother’s darkest secrets and force Morgan to face her own.Dark Legacy is the first book in the new House of Winterborne series. Get ready to be addicted!

Blood of the Earth


Faith Hunter - 2016
    His appearance forces her out of her isolated life into an investigation that leads to the vampire Blood Master of Nashville.Nell has a team—and a mission. But to find the Master’s kidnapped vassal, Nell and the PsyLED team will be forced to go deep into the heart of the very cult Nell fears, infiltrating the cult and a humans-only terrorist group before time runs out…

Discount Armageddon


Seanan McGuire - 2012
    See also "Monster."Cryptozoologist, noun: Any person who thinks hunting for cryptids is a good idea. See also "idiot."Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night... The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity—and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren't for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George. When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed. To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city...