Saphira's dream has always been to create a cafe where baby dragons would be welcome. She's known for years that this is what her heart wants to do. Aiden's heart is still broken from losing his brother, so he's not sure what he's going to do now that there's a baby dragon in his life. He doesn't have much heart to give the little guy right now. But fate intervenes; Aiden meets Saphira, and the two of them agree to Saphira helping train Sparky. Will Sparky ignite a flame between these two? Or will Saphira add another burn to her collection - on her heart?

This is my first Qureshi book, and I feel like it fits the Cozy Romance genre perfectly! It's definitely Romance Fantasy, not Fantasy Romance. The whole novel felt like reading a hug (for me it felt similar to reading The Spellshop). I really enjoyed the FMC's backstory (though tragic), and the sprinkling of her heritage in the story. I enjoyed the side characters, and can read between the lines to know that their stories will be coming at some point. This is absolutely a grumpy + sunshine trope book, along with a slow burn. Yes, the fake married trope does make an appearance, and it does stretch willing suspension of disbelief -but this is a story with baby dragons, chimeras and gryphons - I went with it and loved it! (Good ol' trusty one bed trope shows up too!)

While I do agree that there are a few places that exposition about characters or events was repeated (as seen in other reviews), it absolutely did not pull me out of the story, or interfere in my enjoyment of this book. I smiled so often at the antics of the baby dragons, or at the descriptions of the beautiful gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the next one in the series!

Spice level (scale of 1-5): 1.5-2 (kissing, fade to black, and discussion of said activities)

Stars: 4 - I really enjoyed this and read it in less than 24 hours!

My thanks to Avon Books UK along with NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.

A really cute, cosy fantasy / romantasy set in a baby dragon cafe.
Saphira owns a cafe but is struggling to make it work as the baby dragons keep breaking things, but she loves them anyway. Aiden is now the owner of a baby dragon and has no idea what to do, so he employs Saphira to help train Sparky.
Sparks fly, ha sorry, anyway this was closed door romance, it was a lovely read and would be perfect to read whilst under a blanket on a cold day.
I thought the anxiety representation was good, and I liked how you got both POV in alternating chapters.

Saphira has made her dream come true - she's opened her café, one specifically welcoming baby dragons and their owners. Due to the very temperamental nature of baby dragons they tend to set things alight, so Saphira gets a small stipend from the town to repair damages. But she's running herself and Lavinia ragged. They really need a break and then catastrophe happens. A baby dragon takes out their fancy coffee machine!

Aiden may be from a prominent dragon-owning family but he's much happier pottering around in gardens. After the death of his brother he inherited his dragon egg, which has now hatched. Sparky is cute as a button but Aiden finds himself struggling to bond with the baby. Saphira however, seems to be able to get the little menace to behave and Aiden persuades her to help him train Sparky - with a cash injection to her business.

Whilst Aiden, Saphira and Sparky are the main characters in the book, the secondary characters of Lavinia, Theo, Emmy and Ginny are all worthy characters. They help to move the story along and flesh out our MC's world and family. The story is most definitely low angst and no spice (only a bit of lip locking and everything else is essentially fade-to-black). This could be a contemporary romance as without the dragons everything else felt very real world and contemporaneous. However, I think that this would be a great introductory book into fantasy for older children/teenagers or anyone who is unsure if they would like a heavier fantasy storyline.

That said there are some big themes couched in cosy terms such as being seen as the outcast/other, not fitting in, grief and stress.

Saphira is like human sunshine and optimism. Aiden is cranky, principled and out of his depth. He's also deep in grief and can't quite work out his feelings over the death of his brother and trying to keep Sparky out of the family "business".

I was happy to see that there are going to be more books in the series featuring some of the secondary characters. My only real criticism is I would like to have seen more done with the possibility of Saphira's father and her mother's death. It would have added a bit more body to the story I think.

What a cute and cozy book! I absolutely adored the characters and their cute love story. The baby dragons are cute and rambunctious. If you’re looking for a cozy read with love and dragons, this is your book.

The cover for this is arable and what drew me in! Such a cute and cozy read! I loved the baby dragons but otherwise this was light on the fantasy. It did feel a bit repetitive but I did enjoy both main characters and their relationship. Sparky was an adorable little menace. I would’ve loved to see a bit more of other baby dragons and their riders. This was a cute, quick read!

DNF at 65%

I really wanted to love this one and I honestly really tried but the writing style just wasn't for me, it seemed the characters were portrayed a lot younger than adults with their own businesses, things were very over explained and it was very light on the fantasy considering this is a world full of dragons.

This was such a cute and cozy read. I wish I had a dragon cafe to go to! Thank you NetGalley for the arc! :)

(4.5 rounded down) This was such a sweet, heartwarming read - the literary equivalent of gobbling down a frosted cupcake. The book is light romantasy, revolving around a world in which dragons are pets and a part of daily life, and an extremely lovely young woman is the owner of a struggling cafe that provides treats for the townspeople and their baby dragons. She meets a man with little interest in training his own dragon, so the two reach a bargain - Saphira, our main character, will train the dragon (Sparky!!) and Aiden, the love interest, will help her keep her cafe afloat. The story is extremely low stakes. The best comparison I can think of would be Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree - cozy fantasy with a food component. I had a delightful time with this. The cover is also perfect and so cute. I would pick it up for the cover alone. I really hope Aamna Qureshi continues to build her fantasy world out further. Will definitely read on, if so!

3.75⭐️ thank you Netgalley and Aamna Qureshi for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I won't lie..mainly read this for the dragons...that was worth it. This was a strong debut novel!

Sapphira was a sweet character, and she was very inspiring. She chased her goals of being cafe owner and I loved it for her. I did feel like she was easily disheartened, especially by the end. She felt like she had to prove something to everyone else, just because she wasn't a dragon rider or part of a dragon family.

Aiden, again, was a sweetheart. Shy, and a little grumpy and sometimes harsh with Sparky (the baby dragon). But you see him come out of his shell a lot.

T R O P E S
💙slow burn
💙close proximity
💙he falls first
💙no third act breakup
💙found family.

This was a lovely quick read.

Not sure how I feel about the nicknames for Sparky ("sparky-poo")... and even for the baby dragons in general, "draggos"... just sounded a bit strange.

And you can get a feeling for the next couple of books... book 2 = friends to lovers, book 3, maybe business rivals/ enemies to lovers (?)... I can't wait to visit this world again !

I sadly DNFd at chapter 5

The consistent describing of the same thing over and over again was extremely grating and some points I thought I was reading the same page.

The premise of this book sounded amazing and I was so excited for it but sadly the execution fell flat for me.

I’ll definitely keep an eye out for future books from this author but this one was a miss for me

I enjoyed the premise of the book. A cafe for baby dragons sounds delightful. However, I wish the story focused more on the cafe, baby dragons and their owners, creating the found family trope. I also liked reading about Saphira and her grandmother’s relationship ❤️❤️

Thank you to Netgalley and A. T. Qureshi for this ARC!

I went into this book with high expectations as I am a cosy gal at heart but this fell a bit flat for me.

The MC's fall into instalove but were shy about it which usually is my vibe, but I found myself getting mad at them for taking it slow. I also felt that it was a bit repetitive at times, there's only so many times I need to be told about coffee/families and some parts of the story were repeated on the next page in different words. I did think it felt a bit YA as well which confused me as this is an Adult book.

It was still a cute read despite this, Sparky was definitely my favourite part as I love dragons which was one of the reasons I wanted to pick this up. (Draggos?! Adorable)

I will be carrying on the series as I like interconnected standalones, and I am intrigued to see what happens with Saphira's friends.

(3.75 stars on Storygraph)

Reading this story just brought me so much joy. Immersing myself in the rich world of Starshine Valley, where mythical creatures are a part of everyday life, was so easy. Aidan and Saphira are lovable and watching these two grow and their love blossom was very fun. Aamna made me feel like someone who lives in this town and got to watch the events unfold. It was heartwarming, and comforting, and filled me with happiness. I cannot wait for the next instalment The Baby Dragon Bakery.

DNF at 67%

A cute and sweet story, with a touch of dealing with grief and loss, but the writing style was not for me at all.

I think I would have enjoyed this more if the writing was less matter-of-fact and more descriptive. I actually thought this was a debut novel, based on the simple writing style, but it turns out that is not the case. The dialogue also didn't seem to flow well, conversations were too scripted-like, and I just didn't feel any emotion behind anything being said. There were also too many instances of what I would refer to as TikTok language, like "Don't stress about it girlie!" and "Don't worry about it bestie"...Can we please not.

Then there were multiple instances of something being described repeatedly across a few pages. I actually thought I had accidentally flipped back a page and not forward, and this became incredibly frustrating as it continued to happen way too may times. E.g. stating how Aiden's brother died and left him a dragon egg, then going onto something else, then going back to explain about the dragon egg Aiden was left by his brother, then telling us about the egg AGAIN. We get it, we just read it 2 sentences ago.

There's also no need to explain a character's relationship to the FMC every single time they are brought up, once or twice is fine, but I don't need to be told that Saphira and Lavinia are best friends, who Lavinia is also friends with, what her ambitions in life are, every time she makes an appearance.

Sparky the baby dragon was definitely the best thing about this book.

I don't have it in me to continue reading, the cosy vibes alone aren't enough when the writing is so poor, and I just arrived at the point where Saphira and Aiden agree to a fake marriage to appease someone who helps baby dragons to fly. This seems too ridiculous for me.

This is such a heartwarming cozy fantasy story! I loved the world building, characters & plot. Sparky has my whole heart & I wish I could have my very own Sparky!

Would recommend for anyone who loves dragons, grumpy x sunshine & instant attraction.

Thank you to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for the eARC!

3.5 Stars, This was the perfect cute and cozy read! If you are someone who has ever wanted to go to a cat cafe, I think you'll thoroughly enjoy this fantastical twist on the concept. I think the romance was very cute; I especially like that though they were drawn to each other early on, A. T Qureshi still managed to draw it out and increase the tension. The main characters are wonderful, but the side characters shine as well. This is a wonderful lighthearted little novel, and I can't wait to read the next in the series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to this early. Review has been posted on Waterstones and Amazon.

Cosy read, with characters appearances from the next book. Unfortunately it wasn’t my cup of tea.

The Baby Dragon Café is pure magic! A.T. Qureshi crafts a whimsical and heartwarming tale filled with enchanting details, lovable characters, and an irresistible sense of wonder. The story beautifully explores themes of friendship, community, and the joy of embracing the extraordinary. Perfectly paced and brimming with charm, it’s a delightful escape for readers of all ages. A must-read for anyone looking for a cozy, magical adventure!

Rating: 2.5
Spice level: 2.0

While this had a cute cozy vibe around it, it personally just wasn’t hitting the spot. I had found the writing and romance at times a bit boring and didn’t find myself invested in the story. This author tends to write a YA themed dialogue with some cringy scenes, which was off putting when combined with the sexual tension & scenes that happen further into the book. As well as I wish the focus was on the ‘baby dragon cafe’ not the romance & getting the dragon to bond with Aidan right away.

However if you are looking for a dragon filled, cozy romance to curl up with, that has cute ya scenes with a little spice this may be perfect for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for this ARC 🤍

The Baby Dragon Cafe was definitely a step out of my comfort zone, so I may not have been the intended audience here. However, I felt Saphira and Aiden were written incredibly young, I could've been convinced this was young adult fiction (I say as someone who consumes a lot of YA fiction).

Definitely missed the mark with me. I wanted to love it from the cover and description, but I couldn't get over how juvenile it felt at times.