Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to Firebird by Juliette Cross. Narrated by Blair Dade and Kale Williams.

This story captivated me from the beginning. When I had to walk away and handle responsibilities, I was left wondering what was happening with these characters. I wish there was more world building but overall this was a great story.

The narrators helped bring the characters to life. Their acting wasn’t just believable, I felt much more connected and engaged. Great selections to voice these characters.

I highly recommend for those who love romantasy and dragons.

Firebird is a solid dark romantasy read. You have dragon-shifter political leaders of Rome. A witch who I don’t think we have seen the full extent of her power yet. There were so many little side stories told that I believe our FMC will see a more significant transformation in books to follow. This does fall into the dark category because of the enslaver/enslaved person dynamic. The spice was great. I really enjoyed this one. I would have loved to see more action. I’m hoping the next one gives me more epic scenes. The audiobook is in duel narration by Blair Dade and Kale Williams.
I had pre-ordered this beautiful book but was lucky to receive an ARC from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley.

I really enjoyed the elements in this story and the perspective of shapeshifting dragons ruling Rome. I did feel like it was a little rushed at times, but not so much that it left me lost. I am interested in learning more about the back stories of the characters. Overall, the story did hook me in and I loved the dynamic between the main characters. I am looking forward to continuing this series!

I love the cover and sprayed edges, which will make a lovely addition to my bookshelf.

The narrators did a great job, and the voices fit the characters.

*Touch her and die
*Dragon shifters
*Conquerors/War/Rebellion
*Master/Slave - forbidden romance

Spoilers are included in the review:

Overall, 3.5 stars. Was this book enjoyable? Yes, BUT I felt like there was a lot missing, maybe book 2 will fill those holes. I will start with the good. The world building of the Roman empire and armies with a little bit of mythology woven in was written in a way that captured my attention. The pacing of the book was also nice and quick. The conflict within the Roman Empire was set up nicely and left me wanting more. I LOVED Julian, it's unlikely for me to like the MMC more than a strong FMC, but I just had a hard time connecting with Malina. Julian, on the other hand, the people he kept in his household showed his true character and man, it was so swoon-worthy.

I needed more from the ending, it felt really anticlimactic. Maybe I'm a savage but I wanted more satisfaction out of that death. The book at times felt a little bit too simple, more romance than fantasy, I wanted more conflict, more side characters, and more complexity. It's hard to start a revolution without a herd of people on your side.

Dark, fantasy romance set in Ancient Rome with dragon shifters, magic tied to emotions and forbidden romance between Master/slave. This has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year and it did not disappoint!

I got 5 chapters into this audiobook and had to preorder the book on Amazon... I got 10 chapters in and had to preorder this book from Waterstones... If you couldn't tell, I loved it!
You really can't beat a growly, possessive, dragon shifter MMC who's completely obsessed with his woman. I also really loved the roman aspect in this book as it was unique to me, I've never read anything like it and now I might be into togas. 💁‍♀️
I highly recommend the audiobook because the narration by Blair Dade and Kale Williams was simply dreamy. Both their voices were mesmerizing and it was easy to escape into the story they told!

I received this audio book as an arc and I really enjoyed it.
I tried it at normal speed, slower, and fast, faster, and all the speeds you could understand except it was too fast and slurred at three times speed.
I really enjoyed the voice actors, I feel like their voice is really embodied the picture I had in my head of the characters.

OK onto the book itself
I can kind of see why there was a lot of people who were really upset by the initial dynamic of the two mains. I understand a master/slave dynamic brings up a lot of issues historically.
However, this is a book written in Rome in what would have been thousands of years ago (if we’re suspending reality and pretending like dragons, weren’t always my mythical creatures, but were in fact real…)
There were slaves in Rome, many more than there were Roman citizens by far. Calling her a servant or erasing that there were slaves in that time. Would be almost as unrealistic as saying there are dragons. I’m guessing the author picked for authenticity of time. With adding dragons as opposed to making it look like Rome was more peaceful than it was
And I don’t think it gives a way too much of the book by saying that neither characters are happy with the slave and master dynamic, nor does the MMC (as the master) even agree with slavery, however, using his position is the only thing that keeps her alive.
So, I think it’s something you can see makes sense for the time period and book. He also does not treat her like a slave in his house but if anything a servant he is very lenient with.
Out of his house/in company he does so in order to keep her safe.

I really liked that the author made both characters be very self-aware. I feel like a lot of romantasy now has characters that are still kind of finding themselves, finding family, finding friends finding, finding jobs,finding their place in the world and also figuring out the world around them. Which makes it feel like YA with sex, instead of adults, navigating the world around them. This definitely feels like an adult book.

It’s also a very easy read/listen it’s definitely not written in academic pros and the author didn’t sit next to with thesaurus trying to make it more difficult for the general public. I believe that helped with the heavy topics that were discussed, there’s an easy clarity and you don’t have to wonder if the author is trying to say something other than what is literally there in front of you. I definitely appreciate clarity when it comes to sensitive topics as occurred within the book.

First of all, the narrators, Blair Dade and Kale Williams are new to me and both did a fantastic job. I would definetly pick other audiobooks either have narrated.

As for the book, I love dragon stories, so I admit I didn't read the blurb and just jumped in blind. So I'm just going to go ahead and mention what I didn't like. With any book, I have a hard time reading or listening to when women are forced into any kind of intimacy. I get why it was in the story, the big plot is good fighting evil, so I hated the characters you are meant to hate. They did things that were just disgusting and I was rooting hard for Julian to end them and end them fast.

Now onto the good. Julian is an honorable character forced to do things he despises until he's able to de-throne his uncle. This first book is the plot for this to happen. I loved that he saw Malina and the dragon immediately recognized her as his mate. Yes that means insta-love, but that seems appropriate for shifter stories. Due to this, you really see the struggle Julian goes through trying to protect his mate when having a relationship with her is forbidden. That is after she stops viewing him as the enemy. I think the author did a good job of showing his moral character in his actions.

I really liked Malina's character. She was strong, fierce, and loyal. She has powers that are still kind of unknown. I feel like we are going to learn more about them in the upcoming books in the series. This book ended too soon for us readers to see this couple work together to take down the evil and that is something I am looking forward to.

Ａｕｄｉｏｂｏｏｋ Ｒｅｖｉｅｗ
🌟🌟🌟
I can definitely see this book blowing up on tiktok with the beauty cover and gorgeous sprayed edges! Literally this is a beautiful book, and that is what catch my eye and made me want to read this story.

This book is compared to *House of the Dragon* mixed with *From Blood and Ash*. This is my first book where the slave/master trope and the romance between them appeared. I didn't really like it; it just felt weird. I don't know how else to say it. I wanted Malina to be a badass character since she has been through so much, but when it came to Julianus Dakkia, she turned weak and was willing to do anything. I don't know. This story was just okay.

The audiobook is dual narration. The narrator did a good job telling the story and bringing it to life. I listened at 2x and 2.5x speed.

Contains:
•Romance
•Dragons
•Fated Mates
•Anicent Roman Empire
•Slave / Master

Thank you, NetGalley, and MacmillanAudio for the audiobook inexchange for my honest review.

I loved the concept of this series. Ancient Rome with dragons? Yes please! This book had the following tropes:
x Historical
x Roman empire
x Dragon
x Mythology
x Slave / Master
x Mate-at-first-sight

It was a little insta list which I didn’t mind, except she was still his slave at the time which made me a little uncomfortable. There was also a lot of violence against women in the story, which I guess would be accurate for a story where there were slaves. Melina is a dancer whose family is murdered and she is captured by the army commander Julian. He immediately knows that she is his mate, but doesn’t really tell her until wayyy into the insta lust. Together the plot to overtake the evil Caesar and set the city back to rights.

The audio narration was a little flat on the female side, but not enough to make me stop listening. I’ll probably continue the series, mostly because I need to know how it ends.

I received an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A world where dragons rule Ancient Rome? Yes, please. While I didn’t know it was a slave x master trope, I didn’t mind it because there was some level of connection between both characters
(Malina x Julianus)
I will admit that this is my first dark romance fantasy. I love that Malina is a witch with emphatic powers. She’s able to control her emotions along others around her. That’s how she’s been able to survive this long. In a moment of near death, she is saved by none other, Julianus. A Roman general and nephew to the emperor. Julianus is not only a man but also a dragon within 🐉 and now they both feel the need to protect Malina.
Malina recognizes Julianus immediately. She’d seen him just once before, several years ago. He gifted her a special talisman that she refuse to give up.

And now she is his slave, it is the only way to survive. There’s no denying there is a connection that she doesn’t fully understand. Although, Julianus does…

While there is adventure, political action, magic, and lust… it just felt a bit surface level. I personally wanted more depth from Malina and Julianus.
I most likely will be purchasing the special edition because it is just so stunning 🤩

Goodreads : Brenda (Jadore_2read)

I have never read ANYTHING like firebird by @juliettecrossauthor . Huge thank you to @torbooksuk for this gifted arc. This was my very first dragon shifter book, and such a great book to beat!

IF YOU HAVE A DRAGON SHIFTER BOOK, LEAVE YOUR RECCOMENDATION!

I loved the different types of dragon shifters and how each color meant something different in the world. I am a big fan of Roman mythology and this is just the book that I wanted to read.

Malina is a beautiful dancer and has attracted the eye of a dragon, who just so happens to be one of the most powerful dragons in the world. In line for the Roman throne, but man enough to know when to walk away, Jules walks away, leaving her so he doesn't tie her to a life of pain. 4 years later they end up intercepting again in a much different way, Malina becoming his slave.

This book was full of love, backstabbing and dragon shifters, really what more could you want?!

A good alt history slow burn romantasy. I'll definitely be paying attention to when book 2 publishes. Timeline is linear but comes across a little disjointed which is one of the reasons I'm not giving a 5/5. It's worth a try, just keep in mind it's an incomplete series.

I didn’t feel the emotional connection with this one as I had hoped. I really liked the premise and the world of dragon shifters, witches, and political intrigue, but I wasn’t a fan of the slave owner dynamics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advanced reader’s copy 🤎

I'm giving this four stars because I think with the right reader this would be a great book. Content warnings are absolutely needed and I hope are included in the final release.

That being said, this was a Dark Romantasy with a dragon shifter finding his mate in a witch. This was darker than I normally read, with more grotesque descriptions, but overall I enjoyed it. I loved the Roman setting and the way dragons have been incorporated. The side characters were a lot of fun and made me root for the underdogs! I would recommend this to darker and monster romances readers who want some extra fantasy!

**trigger warnings**
Slave/Master Dynamic

Does it fit the historical time period??? Yes. Does it tickle my fancy?? Not so much.

I’ll be honest I glazed over that and pretended like they were equals bc I’m not interested in them not being on a level playing field. Got a bit of the ick when he explained his Dad immediately freed his mom and married her…. But our MMC didn’t do the same….

I want more half skins! The dragon aspect was fun and a little savage.

When the next one comes out in the series I’m intrigued enough to read on!

Firebird is definitely going to blow up on BookTok, it has the aesthetic, the sprayed edges, and the dark romantasy vibes that draw people in.

But personally, this wasn’t my favorite. The slave/master romance felt weird and tactless, making it hard to get invested in the love story. While I thought the unique Ancient Rome inspired setting was interesting and thought both audiobook narrators did a fantastic job bringing the story to life, the romance itself leaned too heavily on possessive dragon mate bond tropes and overused “you are mine” dialogue.

The world-building also felt pretty surface level, and the last half of the book shifts almost entirely into explicit spice, and SA…which, given the context, was uncomfortable to read.

That said, I did finish the novel, even though a lot of the themes didn’t sit right with me. I also think it really needs clear trigger warnings, there are heavy themes of SA, rape, and violence against women that aren’t just in the background but central to the plot.

If you’re into dark, morally gray romantasy and don’t mind extreme power imbalances in your romance, this might work for you. But for me, it missed the mark.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this ALC for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Firebird was such a unique twist on dark romantasy for me. I haven’t read many romantasy books set in Roman times—let alone ones that include dragons—so this world immediately intrigued me. While the romance between Julianus and Malina is at the forefront, I also really enjoyed the high-stakes plot to dethrone Caesar. The blend of political intrigue, intense battle scenes, and fiery passion made this story stand out.

When I first started reading, I noticed some polarizing reviews, and honestly, I’m convinced the negative ones came from people who didn’t actually read the book. While Malina is technically a slave, the setting is historically inspired (think Gladiator), and at no point did I feel that her situation was handled in a way that felt exploitative or dark in a way some reviews suggested. If anything, the dynamic between Julianus and Malina gave me more of an ACOTAR Tamlin-and-Feyre vibe rather than something leaning into dark romance tropes.

I was lucky enough to receive an early audio copy, and as always, MacMillan Audio delivered. Blair Dade and Kale Williams did a fantastic job bringing these characters to life, nailing the different voices and accents. That said, I need a physical copy as well—have you seen that first edition? It’s absolutely stunning!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see where the series goes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the free audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

2.5 ⭐️ (thank you for the opportunity to read this arc!) I feel like the way that this book has been advertised and spoken about really set the wrong expectations. I have seen people say that this is just a fun enemies to lovers fantasy with dragons and while it is that, I feel it is also important to note that this is a dark romantasy, the dynamic between the two love interests is a “slave/master” dynamic which will not be for everyone (I don’t think it’s for me) so the way the romance was written in this book a lot of times ended up taking away from the story for me because I just was not into it and not rooting for the characters to be together. It felt like we were trying to focus more on the plot and politics and world building then the romance ( which is fine and I love that a lot of times) however, it somehow at the same time felt like not much really happened through the course of this book? And then because the romance didn’t have much of a buildup or depth to the characters getting to know each other it just fell flat for me. I just wasn’t invested in the characters being together or even the plot by the end of the book which is sad because it started off so strong. I was loving the vibes of the world and the original introduction of the main characters. Ultimately I do think this is largely because I had a different expectation going into the book based off of what I had heard so just incase you are wanting to read this and have heard similar things, in my opinion this is a fantasy with a dark romance subplot!

Dragons, witches, magic, roman mythology (plus smut). This could have been amazing but instead was overall a decent but not great read. A huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was engaging, fast paced, and well-written from a grammatical/non-Wattpad sense. Imagine ancient Rome but replace wolf symbolism with dragons. Rome was created by dragons who evolved into dragon shifters, the gods/goddesses are dragon shifters, the ruling class and all nobility are dragon shifters. Very cool concept, if done correctly.

This fell flat for me because of the insta-love romance, lack of depth, and messiness.

The basics: Roman nobleman and warrior/dragon shifter and heir to the (political) throne Julian meets Goddess-blessed witch turned slave from the Carpathian Mountains Malina. This is a dark romance in a light sense. I've read much darker romances than this, but there are some heavy aspects to it. Anyways, they first meet when she is 17 and then again when she is 21. I like this type of plot line in romances--guy meets girl, something about girl sticks with guy, then years later guy meets girl again and this time they get together. The second time they meet, Julian saves Malina and "kidnaps" her by taking her to his home/dragon den. This honestly did not strike me as a "slave/master" dynamic because it is clear from the get-go that he does not treat her as a slave, nor does he internally regard her as one. He kidnaps her to save her, not to make her his slave in the truest form of the word. Enter in Roman politics, Julian's uncle Julius CAESAR, references to Roman gods and goddesses, and political turmoil mixed with dragons, and you get this creative story.

My favorite parts of this book were not the romance or Julian but the political drama and references to Roman mythology. I enjoyed reading about Hades/Persephone as Pluto/Proserpine, Athena as Minerva, Hera as Juno, etc. There is such an oversaturation of the classical gods and goddesses using their Greek names and not nearly as many tales referencing their Roman counterparts. I also loved the interwoven reference to this author's spin on the myth of Medusa.

The Roman mythological aspects to this book connecting with fantasy versions of historical figures (as dragons) made for a fascinating read. However, it also created some issues for me, mainly:

- At times this was too much and seemed messy. Roman historical fantasy sounds awesome on its own, and in theory throwing dragon shifting into the mix should make it even better. But for some reason the fact that all these guys WERE dragons fell flat for me. Maybe if they simply HAD dragons it would have worked, but instead it felt messy and like these dragons were just thrown in to capitalize off of the current dragon obsession. Just underdeveloped.
- The romance between Julian and Malina was insta-love. I know it is SUPPOSED to be more fated mates than insta-love, but they get together quickly and fall for each other even faster. His inner dragon wants her, there’s some sort of bond between her magic and his dragon, she is his dragons “treasure,” etc. She sees the good in his otherwise morally grey self, takes only 1/3 of the book before she’s into him. It’s a typical romantasy setup but not developed enough and therefore lacks emotional depth and elicits no real feelings.

All in all, even with the two issues I had with this, it is a solid 3 star read. If you can get over the lack of depth, this will hold your attention and has a unique plot.