ARC Review: "The Baby Dragon Cafe" by Aamna Qureshi (The Baby Dragon #1) ★★★★
ARC Review: The Baby Dragon Cafe by Aamna Qureshi (The Baby Dragon #1)
This is as cute as the cover looks! Alternative title: How to Train Your Baby Dragon. A perfect cosy grumpy meets sunshine contemporary romantasy about a kind café owner, a grumpy gardener and, of course, baby dragons. This small-town romance also contains tropes of slowburn, forced proximity and fake marriage. Alas, no spice! If you like The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore and Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, you’ll love this.
“Look,” Saphira said, voice soft. She had tilted her head back to look at the sky, her eyes wide. “How can anyone be blue when the sky is pink?”
There was amazement on her face, a smile tilting her lips, and all he could think as he looked at her was: “How can anyone be blue when they’re standing next to you?”
Saphira turned to him, and he realized he had said that last part out loud.
[Contains some spoilers]
PLOT SUMMARY
25-year-old Saphira Margala has always dreamed of running her own café. Her grandmother, the last of her family left, passed away a year ago, leaving an inheritance large enough for her to pursue her dreams of opening the first ever café in Starshine Valley for baby dragons. This also allows her to mingle with dragons as she does not have one of her own.
Though, after 6 months of the café being open, she can see why this has not been done before: baby dragons are very problematic as they cannot fly or control their fire powers until they are older – so they are constantly bumping into things and burning furniture respectively. This also makes them rather expensive guests as she needs to repair or replace the damages, costing her more than she can afford.
28-year-old Aiden Sterling is a gardener and a member of one of the Drakkon families who have owned dragons for years. His family are the forerunners of dragon racing (an illegal sport) and his parents want him to follow in the family’s footsteps. He disapproves of their ways and, since the death of his younger brother Danny, has shut himself away. However 6 months ago, a dragon egg belonging to Danny’s late dragon hatches, putting Aiden in a tricky predicament raising the baby dragon as this is the last gift Danny gave him and he doesn’t want to let him down. But he also doesn’t want to bond with Sparky.
Sparky is a very mischievous dragon who Aiden finds difficult to tame. When Saphira and Aiden cross paths and Sparky immediately warms to Saphira, Aiden comes up with an excellent idea: Saphira can train Sparky, and he will pay her enough to keep the café going.
Saphira wants Aiden to see the progress they have made by spending time with them. When situations arise, they both have to pretend they are a married couple in order to aid Sparky’s training. Saphira is viewed as an outsider. Aiden carries the guilt of what happened to Saphira’s mother. They mistake their distancing as a wish for friendship. The training won’t last forever. When it is over, what then?
No dream was too big. In a world where dragons flew through the air, nothing was too far out of reach.This is told from the third-person past-tense POV of Saphira and Aiden.
OVERALL OPINIONS
As someone who is constantly on the look for books about dragons, I was so happy to encounter this which is about little baby dragons and their stubbornness—which made me wish I had one of my own! This was a lovely quick read as I didn’t want to put it down. with some funny moments! If you want something cosy with low risks, this is the book for you. It has all the vibes of a Studio Ghibli movie.
ㅤ 🧁 the author☕
This is Qureshi’s fifth book, the second of her adult romances. I do have to say that I would not classify this as an adult book, more young adult. It feels like Qureshi is more used to creating ya novels so does not know how to write more of an adult book. This was more of a disappointing element, I will not lie, but I have enjoyed this.
As far as representation is concerned, this was great! There was lovely Muslim representation through the mention of Saphira’s culture, upbringing, Mughals and Urdu poetry. Lavinia provides curvy representation from the description of her body type. I also think that Aiden’s extreme social anxiety and desire to rehearse words before interacting reminds me of neurodivergent people and I feel this was intentional, in the best possible way.
ㅤ 🧁 the series☕
This is the first book in The Baby Dragon Series. Qureshi has beautifully set the scene for our upcoming couples. The next story, yet to be released, is called The Baby Dragon Bakery, about Saphira’s friend Lavinia the vet and Theo the apprentice and delivery boy at the bakery. They are childhood friends and while Lavinia insists they are only as such, there is definitely more to it:
Theo took Lavinia’s drink from her hand, taking a sip. As he did, a bloom of lipstick stained his mouth, and Lavinia laughed, leaning across the counter to wipe it away. It was a simple gesture, but Saphira could have sworn she noticed something change in Lavinia’s face as she touched Theo’s mouth, her thumb lingering at the point of contact.
I am very much looking forward to their friends-to-lovers romance!
I have my suspicions that the book after that The Baby Dragon Bookshop may be about Luke Hayward who runs a rival chimera-roasted coffee company Tempest to Emmeline Sterling’s dragon-roasted coffee Inferno. Luke and either Emmeline for the enemies-to-lovers trope or Genevive considering she is studying Dragon History and will probably be interested in the bookshop. This remains to be seen.
ㅤ 🧁world-building and plot☕
The world-building is arguably the best part of the book. Qureshi provides a lot of information about Starshine Valley and the Drakkon families. There are different types of dragons too: Azura (blue), opala (white), garneta (red) and basalta (black), named after different stones.
I like that the Valley is divided into sections to inhabit certain animals: the biggest of these divisions is dragons as they are the most common along Main Street; griffins are at the Pines; phoenixes at the Heights; chimeras too! The Animal Hospital where Lavinia works is the perfect opportunity to cover the other animals in Book 2. I hope Qureshi takes the chance to explore more of the world as the series progresses as this has been established rather well! I would especially love more of a backstory on that large old dragon in the mountains.
This book’s plot is full of uniqueness. A contemporary setting where fantasy creatures and humans alike live. It blends nicely with a lot of real-life problems in a fantasy setting, like practical things like money and insurance but also personal issues like belonging. There were missed opportunities that should have been covered: the illegal racing (a very fascinating subject) or more significantly, Sparky’s dragon breed. He is meant to be one of the rarer and more expensive breeds, best for dragon racing. There was a potential to have Sparky get kidnapped and placed in the races and Saphira and Aiden could have worked together to rescue him.
Some of the story was show not tell, or things that could have been revealed later in a conversation rather than supplied as a backstory for the reader.
Danny should have been discussed in a conversation Aiden has with Saphira, for example. The part where we get “he recalled something she had said about her favorite flower and started planning”, this was a really sweet scene but omit this and make when he reveals the place with the flowers a surprise for both Saphira, and us the reader.
There weren’t enough conflicts, and the ones here are handled poorly:
• The actual conflict of them being like “oh they don’t love me, we must just be friends” felt too forced.
• I thought there would be more conflict through the secret about her mother coming out, especially because he fears she will hate him. He just comes out with it a third of the way through the story and she’s completely fine?? What, then, was the point? And why does Lavinia not know this secret since a lot of the other people in society do?
• The issue about her not belonging happens suddenly at the end and she leaves Aiden to undergo the ritual. I think there was more opportunity to explore this, more tension about her café and how people view her near the start.
ㅤ 🧁parallels☕
There were some really fascinating parallels in this book. The best was the comparison between dragons and dogs. Not only are they called “draggos” like “doggos” (a term I adored rather than cringed at) but they behave a lot like dogs too. The training process for dragons is akin to dogs, getting them to sit and feeding treats. Just like dogs, they cope with a lot of stressful things but freak out getting vaccine shots. But, more realistically and heartbreakingly, specific breeds of dragons are trafficked and put into illegal races, much like how greyhounds are put into dog races.
I like the parallels between Aiden and Saphira. They both don’t follow the crowd or expectations. They both want to try and fulfil their late family member’s wish: Saphira’s grandmother Nani-Ma left her the inheritance so Saphira can follow her dream of opening a café and she feels she is failing as she struggles to keep it open; Aiden’s brother Danny left him the dragon egg containing Sparky and Aiden feels it is all he has left of Danny so tries to look after it but feels he is failing because Sparky is misbehaving.
I love that she gets the chance to defend Aiden. And vice-versa. Stereotypically, in stories, men often are the ones defending women so this was nice to see here. I also like that Qureshi emphasises that women can be strong and independent and still have a man beside them – too many shows and books want women to think that is weak these days to be with a man.
ㅤ🧁simplistic writing style with repetition and pacing issues☕
The writing was touching and sweet, but lacking in real vivid descriptions at the best of times. There were some gorgeous quotes though, which you can find in my favourite quotes section below.
Various aspects were repetitive, almost like each chapter was a standalone instead of the book, reminding me of things as if I had forgotten what I had just read. Exact same phrasing. For example, both Chapter 2 and 5 mention Aiden having “to either give the dragon to his family or take care of it himself”. And I know that Lavinia and Saphira have known each other since they were little, no need to bring it up just about every time! And we already have a scene where she is surprised to find Aiden in the café instead of heading round the back since we all know he hates interacting. Too repetitive. Please do something else.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the number of times they get interrupted. The pattern goes: they spend time together, they get closer, they’re going to kiss, something happens and they get interrupted and they spring apart. I don’t know how many times this happened but it was far too many!
A few consistency issues: Chapter 11 she describes her as pretty but earlier she was beautiful. I think beautiful is a stronger word so why is it reduced to pretty? Start with pretty and build up to beautiful, then.
ㅤ🧁to conclude☕
Overall, this is a 3.5 rounded up. I expected more, but this has a lot of potential to be a good series if the author takes feedback on board.
<< Positives >>
🠚The cover is super cute!! This was the thing that immediately drew me to it. It’s so warm and inviting – like Saphira’s café itself!
🠚Aiden and Saphira’s romance is adorable! I especially loved the scene of them having a snowball fight. Indeed, there were lovely little moments like when Aiden makes food for Saphira and Sparky jumps on her to make sure she doesn’t get up haha.
🠚Aiden and Saphira are mature and act their age of late 20s early 30s. They communicate fairly well.
🠚Love the whole concept of this book: the merge of contemporary and fantasy.
🠚The dragons, obviously! Especially Sparky, he is so cute and always trying to help.
🠚The depiction of coping through grief was done well.
🠚The world-building was the strongest element.
<< Negatives >>
🠚This feels more like a young adult book than an adult book. I suggest Qureshi either changes the category this is under or ups her next books in the series to an adult book standard.
🠚A black dragon is missing from the book cover to represent Sparky and I would have loved if Saphira and Aiden had been included too, perhaps silhouetted in one of the windows – or standing at each window looking at each other.
🠚There are simplistic descriptions at the best of times.
🠚The plot jumped around significantly: one minute they’re here, the next they’ve gone over there.
🠚I would have loved if the time hadn’t jumped so much. Two weeks of training Sparky go by and he improves, for example, and I would have preferred to see more of the chaos and mischief that Sparky gets up to.
🠚Saphira opens up to Aiden about her grandmother via her bangles and I cringed at the “They’re pretty. You’re pretty thing”. It felt very unnatural considering she was being vulnerable. I think he should have listened more to that, sharing the grief.
🠚In Chapter 9, Saphira thinks about how she “had initially been nervous around him because she had thought that because he was so rich and handsome and privileged that he would find her to be strange” – this is never revealed before.
🠚As mentioned before, there is no spice (forget low spice).
🠚The fake marriage trope felt rather rushed, like that plot was an afterthought.
🠚The slowburn is really slowburn, I expected the kiss sooner.
🠚 The epilogue was really cute but short.
🠚 “Okie” felt cringy to read.
CHARACTERS
-ˋˏ ꒰ Saphira꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ She appreciates the things she doesn’t have through the things she now gets to experience with Aiden, and that’s a beautiful thing. She always remains optimistic despite everything.
She hadn’t been this excited to be alive since the cafe first opened, when an entire expanse of possibilities seemed to spread ahead of her. There were so many ways this could go wrong, but so, so many ways it could also go exactly and perfectly right.
-ˋˏ ꒰ Aiden꒱ ˎˊ-
↳ He’s sweet, he’s humble, he notices things about her like she only wears gold jewellery and so gets her gold jewellery. He uses his gardening business to help her business. He finds her favourite flowers for her. So, so cute! I love him.
He wanted to hold onto every moment that was passing, capture them like fireflies in a jar in case they were fleeting. Even if they were—even if this was all the time he was allotted, he would be content, he would die happy. Even just one moment with her had made living all these years worthwhile.
FAV QUOTES
• “You must love life. Love it, even if you don’t have the heart for it.”
• His gaze fell on what must have been the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and suddenly, Aiden felt hot for altogether different reasons.
• Saphira looked at him curiously, with big, open eyes. There was something so bright about her, so quietly warm. She shone like starlight.
• There was a symphony to his work which relayed the careful calculation and thought behind the arrangements, a true artistry. It made walking through town a treat, as lovely as walking through the streets in the middle of winter with snowfall descending. Except this wasn’t a natural phenomenon; this was him.
• He wasn’t an artist by any means, but the image was one he felt the desire to paint, if only to capture her beauty, to immortalize her for the world to appreciate.
• Her gaze met with Aiden’s, and she felt the same strong emotion rise in her chest, not just for Sparky, but for Aiden. It was an ache. She thought the sensation would pass—that it was just for the moment, but she was wrong. The feeling settled deep within her, like roots in the soil.
• There was something so intimate about him saying her name, as if he savored the taste of it in his mouth. She wondered what else he might savor the taste of if given the chance.
• “You’re no accident, Saphira,” he said, voice low. “You’re a dream come true.”
• He dreamt of her all night, but there was nothing new about that. What was new was waking up with their bodies entwined, as if in their sleep, neither of them had had the good sense to stay away.
• Even as he lived it, he knew the memory of today would be a chapter bookmarked in his mind, a favorite passage highlighted, one he would return to again and again.
• He had never really believed in magic. Even though they lived in a world of dragons and chimeras and other mythical creatures, magic always seemed just a bit too far-fetched. But what he felt for her—what she, somehow, some way, felt for him—was nothing less than magical.
• “I belong,” she said, voice a whisper. | “You always have,” he said, then kissed her.
• “Our agreement may be coming to an end, but there is no ending my love for you, Saphira.”
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I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review and I’d like to thank Aamna, Avon, and Edelweiss for the opportunity. This has not affected my opinion in any way.
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