His Majesty's Dragon

Like I said, my self-control around good books is close to nil. And His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik is a very good book. It's not a romance but it's definitely a love story--about a man and his dragon. Here's a synopsis from the PW review:

Here be dragons, beasts that can speak and reason, bred for strength and speed and used for aerial support in battle. Each nation has its own breeds, but none are so jealously guarded as the mysterious dragons of China. Veteran Capt. Will Laurence of the British Navy is therefore taken aback after his crew captures an egg from a French ship and it hatches a Chinese dragon, which Laurence names Temeraire. When Temeraire bonds with the captain, the two leave the navy to sign on with His Majesty's sadly understaffed Aerial Corps...

Temeraire is a beautifully drawn character in his own right, an intelligent, beautiful creature. Capt. Will Laurence starts out as a reluctant Aviator and slowly develops into a wonderful partner for the dragon who has chosen him.

Seriously, don't be put off by the naval/war setting. I thought I would be but I raced through this book and am dying to get my holds on the second one in the series. Here's the author's website.
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p.s. Good news - broadband connected. Bad news - my email doesn't work.