The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: A Hearthful of Hatchlings

Series: Healer of Dragons #1

Author: Gabrielle Landi

Genre: Fantasy, Cozy, Romance

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

A grumpy hermit healer, the boy who will do anything to make her smile, and the injured baby dragons they care for. After being blamed for a tragedy she couldn’t prevent, healer Celia Carrington fled to the mountains and built a life caring for injured baby dragons. Since no one believes dragons exist, her world is warm, cozy, and quiet–until it’s no longer a secret.

When shopkeeper Darian Emberlin finds the baby dragon hidden in Celia’s shopping basket, his chivalry–and curiosity–insist he offer to help her. Celia may say she wants him to leave her and the hatchlings in peace, though he suspects he’s just too much for her grumpy heart…but that was before they discovered he could understand the dragons.

As Celia and Darian care for the dragons, their growing bond kindles something neither expected–hope. But in a world where magic is illegal and dragons are merely a legend, can the bond they forge withstand the flames?

A HEARTHFUL OF HATCHLINGS is the first in the HEALER OF DRAGONS cozy fantasy romance series, with fated mates, dragon riding, and a reverse grumpy sunshine romance with a golden retriever man and the strong woman determined to ignore the fact that he falls first. – summary from Goodreads

* I received an ARC from the author, and all opinions are my own.

A Hearthful of Hatchlings is full of adorable dragons, grumpy x sunshine romance, and cozy adventures!

This was exactly the book I needed! I have been super busy recently, so to curl up with this book was a delight. This is the book you read before a roaring fire or in a scenic meadow. There was pure cozy vibes, with little bits of drama sprinkled in.

This book does take place in Gabrielle Landi’s Galamere Chronicles world. I still haven’t read those books (I will, I swear!). I don’t think you need to read those books to understand this one, but I felt like I was missing some very small things.

This book was a quick read and left off on a little bit of a cliffhanger. I loved how the story progressed, and the twist at the end! I cannot wait for the next book to come out!

Celia was a lovely character! She was the grumpy one in the book, but there is a story there and I’m excited to understand her more in future books. She was also super kind and nurturing, especially towards the dragons. Celia is an interesting character who has a nice balance of sweet and grumpy.

Darian was the other main character, and he was the sunshine one! He was so bubbly, which complemented Celia nicely. I also loved how friendly and caring he was. It was just so sweet! And his playing with the dragons had me smiling so big- it was so cute! I loved the twist pertaining to him at the end and I am excited to see where that leads.

The dragons were everything! I loved them so, so much! They were so cute and rambunctious, and there was art included in the book! The author did an amazing job writing all their different personalities, especially since they didn’t talk. They also had sweet relationships with our protagonists, and I liked how they behaved differently for each character. As a dog owner, it was very realistic to animal behavior, which I appreciated.

The other side characters, mainly Darian’s uncles, were the best. I especially loved how the uncles were trying to push the two together- I will always love meddling family members!

This romance is going to be a slow burn. That’s not my favorite trope in the whole wide world, but I like that these two are getting to know each other. There is also a lot of chemistry and good moments between the two. I will say there is a little bit of an age-gap, but only 5 years or so. It’s not the biggest age-gap, but there is a bit of difference in their maturity levels, which adds a nice depth to the story. There also just seemed to be a connection between the characters that I am excited to see develop more.

A Hearthful of Hatchlings is a sweet and cozy fantasy romance with dragons and grumpy x sunshine romance!

A Hearthful of Hatchlings releases on July 2, 2026.