DNF @ 58%

I really wanted to love this book after hearing some really good things about it. In the end though the whole master / slave romance thing just felt uncomfortable and I could not get past it. It would have really been nice if this trope along with the numerous SA triggers had been mentioned in the marketing campaign for this one.

That being said I really did like the narrator.

I loved this take of The Roman Empire. The forbidden romance was **chefs kiss** and with dragons… yes. The audiobook was well down. The narrators did a great job with the story.

Stars:DNF @36%
Start Date:04\14\25
Ending Date: 04\15\25
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Form: Audiobook
Page Count: 400 pg.
Publishing Date: 04\08\25
Point of V iew: Dual 3rd Person
Setting: Fantasy Rome
Content Warning: Master/Salve, Sexual Violence

Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Been hearing a lot about this book and how it misleads some people so I decided to listen to it. I honestly forgot I was granted the audiobook of this. Actually I forgot the e-arc of this thanks to Edelweiss way before I got the audiobook.

Of course what got me and everyone else is that damn cover. Also the fact Dragons in the Roman Empire sounds good enough for me which also got everyone wanting to read this.

I'm about to be short and sweet with this.

Who thought it was a good idea to have a Colonizer/Master and Slave romance after the whole "To Glaze Upon Wicked Gods" drama last year?

Dealing with Romans yet again as well.

Like who?

Say this with me

MASTER/ SLAVE IS NOT A TROPE!!

Of all the tropes you have at your disposal you decide to go for one that certainly shouldn't be one into one.

Why is the Master/Slave potential romance plot even needed?

You could do forced promixed with a touch of fake courting if you need a reason for your FMC and MMC to be together.

And the thing is with this book she didn't have to go that route and almost made it to a cop out by her being his slave that she is protected from everyone else.

Yes I understand historical context since it's Rome but Rome didn't have fucking dragons in it so it's already not historically correct. Like you can still have slaves in it but not have the Master/Slave romance.

Because if this book was set in the 1700's- 1860's United States.....
.
But just Master/Slave in general regardless of what country or time period it is.

What makes me so mad is the fact of the potential this book had.

The female protagonist has empathic powers where she can feel people's emotions and could change them and the male protagonist who can change into a dragon due to his roman heritage is trying to overthrow the Emperor who is his uncle.

Like come on!

The main reason why I decide to stop because it started to get boring with the lack of world building,character deveoplment and the unnecessary sexual violence going on.

Instead of having Master\Slave you could be building the dragon lore and the magical system.
Because having dragons and them having empathic powers sounds cool.

But I just don't understand for the life of me why this book does not have content warnings at all on the bulb or inside the book.

I have to get one thing straight tho that I have been seeing a lot reviews kind of skipping over

Yes the FMC was 17 almost 18 when MMC met her while she was a minor doing the prologue.

So yes people are getting that right.

When they meet again in the first chapter, it is four years after their first meeting which makes her 21 almost 22. That's when he makes her his " body" slave in his household which in his defence is to " save" her from everyone else.

I'm just seeing a lot of people making it seem like he took her as a slave at 17 which is not correct.

Still not right at all but I just don't like misinformation like that.

So yeah stay clear of this one.

Title: Firebird
Series: The Fire that Binds, #1
Author(s): Juliette Cross
Narrator(s): Blair Dade
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Date Published: April 8, 2025
Date Read: April 19, 2025
Format: Audiobook
Free?: This book was received as an eARC audiobook courtesy of NetGalley.
Overall Rating: ★★★/5

Spice Rating*: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
Fantasy Rating: 🦄🦄🦄/5
Tear Rating: 💧/5
Humor Rating: 😆/5

-ˋˏ✄ᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧ⇢

🔍 TL;DR
⤷ In a dragon-ruled Rome, ruthless General Julian Dakkia risks his life to save Malina, a captured Dacian witch who once stole his heart. As their forbidden bond rekindles, they are drawn into a dangerous rebellion against a tyrannical empire and the emperor’s deadly plans. Together, they must navigate passion, prophecy, and betrayal in a world where love could spark a revolution—or their destruction.

📣 Favorite quote
⤷ Or perhaps it was simply the gods righting the wrongs, giving me a powerful, magnificent female to be my partner against the demons of this world. I didn’t know. And I didn’t care. All I knew was that it was right and true.

🎥 Synopsis
⤷ In a brutal, dragon-ruled version of Rome, General Julian Dakkia is a feared conqueror—until he risks everything to save Malina, a Dacian witch he once loved from afar. Now a captive, Malina is stunned to discover her mysterious protector is the same ruthless centurion who once gave her a powerful talisman. As their forbidden bond deepens, they find themselves caught in the deadly web of an empire's ambitions and the emperor’s dark schemes. Together, they must defy the rules of conquest, survive treachery, and challenge a world built on power and fire. Firebird is a scorching, dark romantasy where love may be the only force strong enough to topple an empire—or doom them both.

📋 Review
⤷ Okay. So, I didn’t know going into this that it was a colonizer/slave + master romance—so if that’s not for you (as it wasn’t for me), don’t pick this up.

⤷ That being said, the prevalence of that dynamic was not as large as some other books I’ve read (or, more commonly, DNFed). I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I would’ve hoped (prior to learning of the relationship dynamic), given the magical twist on Roman history. The idea that high-ranking Roman soldiers have the ability to dragon-shift partially and/or fully is interesting on its face, and that aspect was executed well enough.

⤷ I do feel like the entire story could’ve been told without the MMC being the slaveowner of the FMC. There could’ve been a different dynamic to their relationship, given that they were already from two warring factions.

🌟 I wish…
⤷ If you’ve made it this far, it should be unsurprising to say that I wish it didn’t have the slave/owner dynamic to the story. Also, I wish the author hadn’t used certain words in the spice scenes—specifically, c*** and nub. It’s more of a personal preference, but I tend to immediately cringe at the sound of both of those words in the context of a romantic scene.

👍🏻 Recommend?
⤷ Unsure tbh. I’ve seen many people upset at the author’s portrayal of slavery in this story, particularly with the way in which it was presented and possibly even glorified. There was nothing in the story outside of that which made me rush to finish it or to recommend to anyone, but it also wasn’t the worst book I’ve ever read. If you think you could get past the slavery of it all, then, maybe?

-ˋˏ✄ᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧᐧ⇢

*About Spice scale:
🌶️ BELL PEPPER
Low heat: sweet love story with romance that is closed door or fade to black. Mostly fluff or implied spice.

🌶️🌶️ JALAPEÑO
Smoldering: sexual tension, at least one (not especially graphic) sex scene, not much coarse language.

🌶️🌶️🌶️ HABANERO
Hot: generally two to three extensive/detailed sex scenes, and increasing use of coarse language.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ GHOST PEPPER
Scorching: four to five explicit sex scenes, much description and detail, lots of coarse language.

🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ CAROLINA REAPER
Erotica: is the plot in the room with us? Lots of sex scenes, explicit descriptions. Heavy kink/trigger warnings and/or pure smut.

Definitely a 4.5

This isn’t my usual genre… but Juliette completely converted me!

This mystical retelling of the fall of Julius Caesar is nothing short of epic. Before I begin, please note I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review and honestly, I was blown away.

Going in, I was hesitant. This isn’t typically what I reach for, and the first chapter starts off slow, taking its time to build the world. But stick with it—the payoff is worth it. The author gradually immerses you in a reimagined Rome, one pulled into an alternate dimension where dragon shifters rule and live among the gods. I know, I know, it sounds wild. I was skeptical too. But hear me out…

Let me set the stage: enter Julianus Drakkus, our magnetic MMC. Once he appeared (end of ch. 1) I was hooked. The chemistry between him and the FMC is electric, the tension deliciously drawn out. And the slow-burn romance? Absolutely worth the wait. The spice was seamlessly woven into the story— tasteful, intentional, and oh-so-satisfying. I’m giving it a solid 🌶️🌶️🌶️.75

The pacing of the book was masterfully done, with plot twists perfectly placed to keep you on edge. And Caesar? He was written as the kind of villain you LOVE to hate. I especially appreciated the depth and complexity of the characters, it’s clear the author poured care into each one.

As for the Duel (not duet) narration, it was strong overall. The dual narration mostly worked well, though I’ll admit a couple of mismatched voice moments had me giggling. Still, the story was compelling enough that those moments were easy to overlook. In terms of tone and performance, the narrators nailed it.

Bottom line? I’d absolutely recommend this audiobook to anyone open to a genre-bending, mythology-infused, slow-burn fantasy romance. And I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Please note my instagram and Amazon reviews are still pending at this time.

After hearing of the problematic themes of this book that have been circulating, I have decided not to read/promote this book. I hope you can understand

Firebird has the potential to be the next big romantasy series, and I can't wait for more! I loved the reimagining of Roman mythology. The addition of the dragon creatures as the gods brought a very fun element. The first book set up the world well without an “info-dump” feel.

The place where this book really shined is in the character development. I thought that our FMC was very independent and headstrong. I also liked that she was learning the Roman world and how to navigate a very hostile situation. Our MMC was the perfect combo of moody, brooding, and heartfelt. I liked that we got chapters from his POV that shed light on what he thought of the empire. His character was slowly fleshed out over the course of book one and there is still much more to learn over the series. These complex main characters created situations where you could cut the tension with a knife, and I LOVED IT. This is the main thing that I look for in a romantasy read and Firebird had wonderful pacing and tension.

One perk of the audiobook was that it featured dual narration. I love when we get dual narration in dual POV books, as it feels so much more immersive. Both narrators fit their parts and were easy to understand. I would recommend that everyone listens to the audiobook! I loved this book and I can't wait to listen to the next in the series!

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Macmillan Audio!

Let me start by saying, I did listen through the entire audiobook. I wanted to give it a fair chance and I did not feel like I could properly rate without knowing the progression of the story. The audio itself, production-wise, was fine. The narrators did the best they could with the provided material.

As many others have stated, there are a lot of concerns around how this book was marketed and I agree that is part of the problem. The audiobook does contain a brief author’s note at the beginning of the book that glosses over some of the content warnings. One of the major content issues is the slave/slave master dynamic in relation to the MCs. With this dynamic comes the question of consent.

While I have enjoyed much of this author’s work in the past, I cannot recommend this particular book.

The beginning of this book was hard to get through, largely due to the slave/master dynamic. The book very much had "he's not like other slave owners" and "she's not like other slaves" vibes. I felt obligated to finish the book because I got an ARC. I enjoyed the middle and ending, and I may or may not read the next book. I felt like the author tried to quickly resolve the slave/master dynamic, but the MMC never seemed truly repulsed by slavery like he was repulsed by some of his uncle's other actions. It very much seemed like he seemed to realize slavery was wrong because he realized his mate was a slave, not because slavery is wrong regardless of who it involves.

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)

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year but I sadly needed to shelf it for now. I can see why the author wrote the way she wrote but there were times that I needed to close my book. It's definitely heavily themed in the slave aspect and it'll be something I'll try to continue reading later when I'm feeling a heavier read.

I fell in love with these characters. The idea that ancient Romans were dragons shifters just makes fantastical sense to me. The political unrest, world building, and character development were all spot on. The narrator's voices made the storytelling immersive and easy to follow.

I enjoyed this audiobook. The romance history fantasy element was great and the story kept me guessing. Definitely read the content warnings on the authors website.

As far as audiobooks go, I didn't mind the narrator. I thought it was pretty good to be honest. However, I have some issues with the book itself. I think the book needed to have more trigger warnings and give a better understanding of what the book is about instead of having us guess for ourselves. I love history and I do indeed know relationships like this one did exist. However, it doesn't make it any easier to digest. I just think there are some spots that could have been changed: age, consent (VERY AWARE), maybe not doing anything while a slave. That kind of thing. I think the author has a lot of potential and I hope to read more once the critiques have been met. Hope the best for the author in the future.

This book is being marketed as a captor/captive romantasy, when in reality, it is about a colonizer and his body slave. That alone is bad enough, but what's even worse is that the "body slave" is a woman of color. Not to mention the fact that all of this is written by a white woman. This isn't a romantasy, it's romanticizing oppression. I couldn't care less that it's fiction when history isn't. This type of blatant racism is inexcusable in my opinion, and it shouldn't have ever been written nor published. Was there not any pushback from the editors? I cannot support an author who thought this was ok to put out into the world. I wish I had never requested it. Do better.

This definitely isn’t what I expected going into this book. I can see how the slave/master dynamic in this book can get taken the wrong way. I don’t feel that it deserves all the hate it is getting. It’s a FICTION book. I gave it 3 stars. I enjoyed the listen but still not sure how I feel about it as a whole.

2.5/5 stars

DNF :(
This could have been great but I felt that there were moments that were trying too hard to be tropey. Not sure if that makes sense. But I was hoping for a better outcome with this story and that's probably why I was so disappointed. Overall it wasn't terrible but it wasn't the best either. Not sure I'll continue with this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

I received an ALC of this book from NetGalley and publisher, though I already had a feeling I was going to love it! This one did NOT disappoint! I was hooked from the prologue and jumped head first into this world of Roman mythology combined with dragon shifters. The pacing is smooth, characters well developed, and the spice is perfect!
👑Political intrigue
🖤Forbidden love
✨Fated mates
🪄Bestowed magic
⛓️Suppressed societies
🐉Dragon shifters
⚔️Roman warriors

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!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this ARC Audio Copy.

I honestly feel like I was deceived by this book. Not just the beautiful cover and sprayed edges but also the marketing and the description on the book. I am in no way interested in a master/slave relationship and I wish that the marketing for this book had told us what we were getting into instead of deceiving with such beautiful artwork and dragons. Aside from the relationship that completely turned me off of this book, it was not well written enough to even make me think twice about this review being too scathing, but since the writing was also sub-par at best, I feel justified in expressing my distain for every aspect of this story.