3.75 ⭐
3 🌶️

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

While it took me a while to get into the story, and the world building could use some work, I enjoyed it!!

Firebird by Juliette Cross is a dark fantasy romance set in Ancient Rome.
💢Check your trigger warnings before reading.

I originally wanted to read this because, well, Dragons! I didn't expect dragon shifters! This was my first and I definitely plan on reading more of them!
I know many people have issues with this being a slave/master relationship but I don't see it as that at all. Yes the Mmc is a general in the Roman army, nephew of the Roman emperor, and the enemy of our Fmc but there is alot more to him.
All in all this was a decent start to a new series and I will definitely be reading more. I expect we'll learn more about the world, magic, and the roman gods in future books.

FIREBIRD is the first instalment in Juliette Cross’ adult THE FIRE THAT BINDS paranormal / fantasy romance series. This is dragon shifter and Roman General Julianus ‘Julian’ Dakkia, and Dacian dancer Malina’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Julian and Malina) set in 53 BCE, FIREBIRD follows in the wake of the rescue of our story line heroine. Approximately four years earlier, Dacian dancer Malina would come face to face with dragon shifter General Julianus Dakkia but Rome was at with everyone, and the dragon led armies were gaining control. Fast forward four years, Malina would find herself a rescued slave of our story line hero, a dragon who knew Malina was his fated mate but Mulian’s uncle, Emperor Caesar had declared no marriages between Romans and slaves, and Malina was about to become a pawn in a much larger game.

The world building focuses on the Roman empire’s conquest of Europe; the dragon shifters who ruled the battlefields and the skies, and the betrayal between ruling houses as Malina becomes fodder in a game of winner take all.

The relationship between Julian and Malina begins as slave and master but Julian had never intended for Malina to become a permanent slave. In an effort to protect her from harm, Julian must declare Malina a slave, until such a time he can claim Malina as his own. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, energetic and some questionable secondary and supporting characters including Trajan, dragon Prefect Ciprian, Emperor Caesar, as well as several household slaves-Ivo, Stefano, Ruskus, and Kara. The requisite evil has many faces.

FIREBIRD is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, dragons and armies, acceptance and love, set against a backdrop of the Roman Empire at a time when slavery and war were endemic. The premise is dramatic and edgy; the romance is fated; the characters are determined and destructive.FIREBIRD ends on a happily ever after-for now.



THE READING CAFÉ: https://www.thereadingcafe.com/firebird-the-fire-that-binds-1-by-juliette-cross-dual-review/


GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7014889271


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DNF @ 47%

This was one of my highly anticipated releases this year. I mean, you see those beautiful stenciled edges, right? And that cover? Absolutely stunning!

And boy, was I stunned by the content of this book. It was disappointing and filled me with a fiery rage to read a "romance" between a slave and master. I understand the historical context, but seriously? Where was the social commentary? Instead, we get an fmc who is totally head over heels over the mmc *insert vomit emoji* even though he unalived her family?!

Nah. Nope. *chucks this across the room*

Thank you to Netgalley and Bramble for the eARC of Firebird in exchange for my honest review.

PLEASE CHECK TWs BEFORE READING - this is a dark romantasy with a master/slave dynamic for the romance, there is a lot of violence (sexual/physical) towards women throughout.

I am a HUGE sucker for the Roman Empire and dragons so this was right up my alley. I do think it fell flat in a lot of the aspects that it was trying to nail. The setting was interesting because I have a familiarity and fondness for Ancient Rome and the tie-in with mythology for the dragon backgrounds was also really cool, but that’s about where my interest started and ended.

We have a lot of interesting setup for political machinations and we see next to nothing about it, despite being in a dual POV where our one character is the “adopted” son of Caesar. We should have delved way more into it. I have taught ancient world history and spent much time in Roman history so I have an understanding of the names and what that means going forward, but the general reader likely wouldn’t.

The romance (if you can call it that) left a LOT to be desired because of the dynamic between the two characters. Like sure, the MMC says that Malina is not his property, but she legally is. Everywhere she goes, she wears a collar around her neck with his name on it to signify her status. The relationship begins while she is still enslaved to him. There is also some weird language usage which made the spicy scenes a bit awkward. They were fated mates so it also had a major insta love dynamic.

I also think while the mythology tie-in was intriguing, it was underutilized. We could have had so much more exciting moments like the introduction with the story of Medusa at the beginning. I could maybe see this playing out in future books, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up again.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this one. It wasn’t strong enough in any of its aspects to carry it. Thank you to Bramble for the eARC so I could read this early!

This story follows a witch captured by a roman general who she met long ago and is now his slave. However, they have the same goals: fall in love and try to conquer the world. I had higher expectations for this book, and as much as I liked it, I also didn’t enjoy it. Like many, I didn’t like the whole slave thing but it shows the roman empire of where the story was going for. I believe overtime, as Ceasar will be thrown, there will possibly be no slaves. I liked the world but I wish there were more world development and explanation. I was often confused with the houses and the dragon aspect of the story. The pacing was fast which I enjoyed and the story did have been conflicts to keep me entertained. This book is told from Julian and Malina’s pov.

Malina is considered a witch but we don’t truly know much of her powers. I wish we got to see her and her powers grow. Then we have Julian, who knows Malina is for him and protects her. He wants her to have her freedom. For the most part, I liked Julian, but we never got much into the plan except his attraction for Malina. There are many side characters and I can see some characters becoming bigger people in the next books. The romance is fated mates, leader/servant, and he falls first. I didn’t feel much for the couple as their romance development happened so quickly but I liked it more towards the end.

There is an epilogue with more of a HEA then a cliffhanger. The author provided a sample of book 2 which I believe will be told from a new set of MCs. I wish we got more of Malina and Julian because I feel there is more to their stories but we will see in book 2.

*this arc was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

Sadly DNF-ed due to content because I was mislead into thinking this would be something else. Instead I got a "dark romance" about a slave master and slave of color (who is underaged). At that point, it was a no for me. But sincerely thank you for the ARC. I just don't enjoy and or support romanticizing slavery like that, and the harsh reviews I've seen from BIPOC creators only solidifies my opinion.

First off, the fact that the author set this in Roman times but made the aristos dragon shifters descended from the Roman gods who were dragons was really creative. Some readers may be "squicked out" by the fact that the female love interest becomes a slave to the male mc (although in their original meeting she is still free). It makes sense in the world of the book, and he spends considerable time trying to make things right. I really enjoyed this one - but of course, it's the beginning of a series, so the big bad of the world is still a problem! The FMC has her own special powers that make her less "damsel in distress" and more "heroine working her way to full partner". I loved the reveal of who I assume the next couple of the series will be (in the epilogue).

Thank you Tor, Bramble, and Netgalley for the advance e-galley of Firebird. This review is my honest thoughts and opinions of the book.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚

DNF - 42%

I have two main thoughts on this one that led to me putting this down and not picking it back up.

1) Where was the editing team? The amount of repetition in words, analogies, and character thoughts did a good job at breaking my suspension of disbelief. I was repeatedly jerked out of the story because of how noticeable it was that certain words and phrases were heavily repeated. Where was the editing team to catch this? To suggest synonyms or ways to rephrase phrases so there was variety in the story telling? Additionally, while I understand ARCs are unfinished copies, I did notice a lot of typos, so much so that when the book released, I borrowed it from my library and saw the 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 typos in the 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 copy from my library. I honestly expected more for a Tor imprint.

2) Look, I love a good enemies-to-lovers. However, I draw the line at master/slave dynamic. While the author repeatedly told us "slavery is bad, what Rome is doing is bad", she doesn't really 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 us in the actions of the two MCs. Malina repeatedly admits to herself that she's attracted to the man who enslaved her against her will and is part of the murder machine who slaughtered both her blood family and adopted family. Julian has incredible disconnect to the fact he enslaved malina against her will while claiming it was for her own protection. He's got white knight complex where he's "not like the other masters" because he's trying to overthrow the emperor and saves slaves who would have been killed by former masters but fully does not recognize that he enslaved the woman he supposedly loves without her consent. White knight territorial MCs are not and will never be my cup of tea.

This had the makings for such a great book, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. Besides that, It was fast paced and engaging. Overall enjoyable, I just needed a little more depth.

I was uncomfortable by the master / slave elements of this story. I’m aware that this was placed as a trigger beforehand but I believed that would be more BDSM and not literal.

This was fun and had a lot of my favourite tropes like enemies to lovers (sorta) and fated mates but the relationship was pretty underdeveloped and I think it should have leaned harder in to the political aspects.

The fated mates trope was a little weak and I honestly wasn’t sure if that’s even what it actually was until almost half way through. The relationship also relied too much on the aspect to explain why they were attracted to each other because aside from that I have no idea why they liked each other. We’re told they have all these conversations instead of actually showing them so we don’t see their relationship build up at all and then suddenly they’re in love. Even the sex scenes felt kind of out of place and could have been done better if the romance was going to be the biggest focus.

This book feels like pure vibes and I really enjoyed that but I think I enjoyed them more in the first half. By the second half the lack of relationship development started to become more apparent and I couldn’t look past it so much anymore. I still read it really quickly and I had fun and I’ll probably read the sequel but it wasn’t super memorable.

I can not stop recommending this book. Once I started reading it, it was hard to step away from the plot. Initially i was nervous about the dynamic of the two main characters but the author navigated the delicate nature of it admirably and even had me easily rooting for them. Highly recommend for anyone who wants a romantasy or a fun fantasy set in a Roman time frame!

I don't like this book.is about a master and his slave. I really wanted to like this book. I was so excited about this book. It should of been good it has dragons.

Firebird is a dark and passionate fantasy romance set in a dragon-ruled Rome. The fiery bond between a fierce Roman general and a prophesied Dacian witch drives this tale of fate, war, and forbidden love. Rich worldbuilding and emotional depth make it a gripping read, though it includes mature and intense themes. Perfect for fans of dark, epic romance.

I’ll be honest — I partly did this to myself. I applied for the ARC really early, drawn in by the gorgeous cover and the promise of dragons, Roman Empire politics, and an epic, tension-filled romantasy. At the time, I didn’t realize it was actually dark romantasy, and I’m not sure if they added more content warnings after I applied, but either way, I fully judged this book by its cover and the initial marketing — and it absolutely backfired.

What I thought I was signing up for was a high-stakes enemies-to-lovers story with epic worldbuilding and dragons front and center. What I got instead was an uncomfortable, borderline disturbing romance that wasn’t captor/captive, like it’s marketed — it was straight up slave/slave owner. I found it deeply unsettling & uncomfortable.

The worst part is how it was marketed. Early on, it was positioned as your typical romantasy — intense, yes, but still with the kind of fun, tropey tension you’d expect. Nothing suggested this extreme power imbalance or the kind of dynamic that would have made me think twice. If it had, I would’ve passed. No question. I wish the tone and themes had been made clearer upfront, because I felt completely blindsided once I got into the story. It genuinely baffles me that they didn’t market this more clearly as dark romantasy — without that, it feels like a recipe for disaster in finding the right audience 🤷‍♀️


I kept reading, hoping it would redeem itself — maybe the relationship would develop into something with actual depth, maybe the dragons would take center stage, maybe the political intrigue would actually build to something big. But no. The romance jumped straight to possessiveness and insta-lust with no buildup whatsoever.

And the dragons? Barely there. For a book that sold itself so hard on the dragon element.

By the time I finished, I just felt disappointed and frustrated. I kept pushing through, hoping it would be worth it, but it never was. If you’re going in expecting typical romantasy, please be careful — this is not that.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Just phenomenal! Everything about this book was everything I hoped for and more. I loved the characters, the development, the story,t he plot, the narration. JUST EVERYTHING! all the stars and more!

This book made my list of most anticipated romantasy books of 2025 because I loved the storyline but also because of the DRAGONS. I think that reason alone will have people picking up this book (as well as the cover which is STUNNING!).

I have only ever read one paranormal romance from Juliette Cross so I was eager to dive into this one and see what she had up her sleeve when it came to fantasy with shapeshifters.

Ancient Rome is not a time period I’ve ever seen in a romance and I thought that was a really unique setting for this story. The prologue about the myth of Medusa hooked me right in as I wondered how it would play out with Malina and her sisters (more to come on this I guess).
Malina’s “witchy powers” were another interesting hook but I wish we got to see her use them more.

Julian was a great hero to love. Someone who had to put on a public face while plotting in the background to overthrow his uncle. To show how his uncle and his cronies were such decrepit people, there were some scenes that were a bit hard to swallow so readers should take note of the trigger warnings. I would have loved more of the political intrigue and manuveuring instead of just the one or two clandestine meetings regarding their secret plot.

The dragon shapeshifting abilities were definitely awesome – especially when they came out to save her. But I also loved Julian’s fierce protectiveness to the ones he saved and now have working at his home.

The “meet cute” between Julian and Malina was great. I could envision this man with a dragon inside him bewitched by the young maiden dancing in front of him. But while I loved that initial meeting, the romance between Malina and Julian was a bit hard to believe when they reconnected. I would have liked more build up between them instead of the instalust that transpired. It was a lot of telling versus showing.

I think the series has potential as the overarching conflict and the tidbit you learn about at the end is intriguing but the conflict for this first book was a bit predictable so I wasn’t quite swept away with this one as I had hoped.

*Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book! It is a dark romantasy but it is NOT a “master/slave” romance. That is the byproduct of the world they inhabit not their true relationship.
The story was intriguing and kept me interested the entire time. I liked the Ancient Rome setting and dragons are always a plus. It is a dark world with the Romans being the elite and enslaving anyone they conquer (and don’t kill) on the battlefield. The MMC is one of the hated Romans and the FMC is the “witch” that was captured during a battle. But everything is not as it seems, Malina realizes Julian isn’t the conqueror she assumed and their first chance meeting stuck with both of them. I liked the world building and the Gods and different cultures portrayed. The author did really well with the storylines and making it realistic. The love build up between the two was enjoyable and there’s some good spicy scenes. I’m really looking forward to the rest of this series!

This was incorrectly marketed as a fantasy and should be noted that the subject matter is dark. The dynamic between the hero and heroine is problematic.

Dragon shifters, magic, Roman mythology, and characters who make terrible decisions in the name of love. Firebird by Juliette Cross delivers all of that and more.

Read if you enjoy:
✨ Roman mythology
✨ Dragon shifters
✨ Forbidden Romance
✨ Enemies to Lovers
✨ Political conflict
✨ Captor / captive

The Roman mythology and dragon lore hooked me instantly. I loved how Cross reimagined history through a romantasy lens. It felt unique and made for a more interesting story.

That said, the romance moved a little fast and out of nowhere. It was a little too insta love for me. I love a good fated mates moment, but I craved a little more build up to fully buy into their connection. Give me some longing. Some tension. A little more “will they or won’t they” before the magical soul binding kiss of destiny.

Thank you so much Bramble for the ebook!