Assassin's Blade (Dragonriders of Fiorenza Book 1)

An enterprising young dragonrider -- a kidnapped father -- a world on the brink of war.

Fia supports her family by transporting rich people from one city to another on the back of her emerald dragon, Ryelleth. She loves her dragon's-eye view of Fiorenza, a magical Italian city full of dragons and warfare, and she loves her dragon. But Fia will soon lose her dragon as part of her bridal-cost. "We might let you fly her if you're good," her husband-to-be jokes.

But then Fia's world goes on tilt when her father is kidnapped before Fia's eyes and Fia barely escapes with her life. The kidnappers demand a ransom that will bankrupt her family -- and if they don't pay within two weeks, they'll murder her father.

So Fia turns to her grandmother, a retired assassin, and asks her to find the kidnappers and kill them. Fia and her grandmother plunge into the dark world of Italia crime, chasing down clues to her father's whereabouts, but time is running out.

Fia has to take the gamble of a lifetime to bring her father back alive -- but this gamble may destroy her family and the life she's fought so hard to preserve.

If you enjoy the Venatrix Chronicles by Sylvia Mercedes, or the dragon books of Ursula K. Le Guin and Anne McCaffery, you'll love taking flight in ASSASSIN'S BLADE.