I really enjoyed this read. Side note: Read with caution, check triggers. A handful of scenes could be hard to read due to vulgar or brutal detail. The author’s writing flows beautifully and held my attention the entire book. The intrigue, the danger, the character dynamics are all well written. I loved the Roman aspect, the dragon shifter elements, and the good MMC vs the evil ruler. The romance of some side characters is on the dark side, and due to illustrating the brutality of the Roman conquerors, there are a handful of scenes that are heavy. The romance between the main characters is on the sweeter side of dark and is more instalovey. Although it is sort of a captive x captor relationship, the insta love vibe made it not feel dark or heavy. The brutal side of this war is described in great detail which could be upsetting for readers. It does illustrate the need for a rebellion in this world really well, and sparks all the emotions that would go along with this war and rebellion. This was an exciting read and held my interest the entire time. I feel like readers who loved the GOT or Vikings kind of world would enjoy this read.

This audio narration is perfection.

❤️‍🔥 Dragon Shifter
❤️‍🔥 Roman Conquers
❤️‍🔥 Witch FMC
❤️‍🔥 My Treasure
❤️‍🔥 My Dragon
❤️‍🔥 Conquerer x Captive
❤️‍🔥 Fated Mates
❤️‍🔥 Rebellion
❤️‍🔥 Brutal War

4.5 🌶️ (highly descriptive, open door spice, occurs enough to be a focus point in the plot)
Check triggers (brutal war, brutal ruler, vulgar SA discussed and hinted at, mistreatment of women)

Thank you so much to The NetGalley team at Tor/Forge for this ARC copy.

3.5 stars.

I see Ancient Rome and dragons and I want to read it, I can't help it.

I had a lot of fun with this fantasy romance book, even though some of it came off as cheesy (especially the whole "My Treasure" thing. Also the word "cunny" made me cringe so hard). I didn't go in expecting the deepest world building or anything, and I think that helped me enjoy it more.

The master/slave dynamic seems to be an issue for a lot of people, but I think it's pretty clear that Malina is not a slave except in name for appearance's sake, and there is never any non-con between the MMC and FMC. There are definitely other non-con threats from the villains pretty constantly, though, so there are some pretty dark moments. But the romance itself is not dark at all.

Malina is also a lot more level-headed than many other romantasy heroines out there, and I appreciated that about her.

All in all, the book delivered what it promised, which was Rome with dragon shifters, and some steamy romance, and I enjoyed it.

3.5–3.75 stars!

I actually really enjoyed Firebird by Juliette Cross. This fantasy romance was immersive, action-packed, and surprisingly easy to read. The worldbuilding, set in a version of Rome where humans coexist with dragon shifters, was magical enough to pull me in right away. It reminded me of a lighter fantasy—engaging without being overly complex—and that made it a great escape read.

There’s definitely political intrigue, dragon shifters, fantasy romance, and yes… smut. I’d rate it around two chili peppers in terms of spice. As someone who reads dark romance, I can say these scenes weren’t particularly graphic or dark in comparison to others in the genre. That said, content warnings apply: this story includes captive/captor and slave/slaver tropes, which are not everyone’s cup of tea. Some reviews are harsh because they were surprised or uncomfortable with those elements—so please go in knowing what you’re picking up.

But despite the criticism, I found this book to be beautifully written and entertaining. The romance and fantasy blended nicely, and the audiobook was a great companion to the physical read. If you enjoy stories with a dash of darkness, magical politics, dragons, and romance, I definitely recommend giving this one a try.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early!

DNF around 50%

When I received this book I was surprised that no where in the synopsis said it was a master/slave romance. That aspect didn’t bother me too much as I do read dark romances, but it also isn’t my favourite. However I mostly just DNF’ed due to being bored of the plot. I had no desire to pick it up, and I didn’t like the way the romance was progressing.

Firebird by Juliette Cross is a fiery, fast-paced romance that’s equal parts magical and emotional. The chemistry between the phoenix shifter and dragon king is intense, and their forbidden love story keeps you hooked. Juliette Cross does a great job building a rich supernatural world while giving us strong, relatable characters. If you’re into steamy fantasy romance with a lot of heart, this one’s a fun, satisfying read.

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


BOOKBUB: https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/4212219415


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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.