This one was not the book for me. There was missing a lot of world and character building. There were things discussed I didn't enjoy. The romance wasn't really there. The idea was good but the execution lacked entirely. I will not be continuing this series.

Where are my fantasy readers that are still in their dragon/ shifter era? Also, do you want ties of ancient Rome?

I give you Firebird!

I enjoyed this one! It was different than other ancient Rome books I've read with dragon shifters but still gave that feeling of living during that brutal time.

I've been a fan of Juliette Cross for a while, and I've read a lot of her backlog, and this was so different.

I can't wait to own the physical copy of this one!

Overall ☆☆☆☆☆/5
Spice ★★★/5

This was good! I enjoyed the fantastical take on Rome and the world building. I do know this book has gotten some feedback regarding the relationship between the main characters, but I honestly didn’t take it that way. I thought it was handled well.

3.5 stars. I know this has been getting mixed reviews and I’m not someone who can fully comment on whether or not the slavery is harmful. Besides all of that I enjoyed the story line and the shifter element. The character development for the fmc was a little weak and I would’ve liked to have seen a bit more. The romance dynamic was good overall i think it would have been a bit better if the book marketed what their dynamic was going to be a little more. Overall I think the thing that this book needed was a little bit more stronger marketing that accurately portrayed the book.

This was fine. I don't love roman mythology so this wasn't nearly as intriguing to me as I thought it would be. I thought the concept of the story was incredible, but I wasn't the right target audience for this read.

I will be honest, I didn’t listen to this book. There was a lot of information that came out right before I was about to and none of it was good. This was not marketed as a dark romance from looking at the description, it also did not say anything about a slave OWNER and slave. I think the ball was dropped here and I hope that if this author does write more they or there marketing team does better

I will not be reviewing this book due to other reviews I have seen online criticizing the relationship between the two main characters -- a master/slave romance is not okay in the year of our Lord 2025, even if they are white. Super disappointed because I have loved Juliette Cross' indie published books since 2020.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with this Audiobook in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Let me start with the one highlight: the narration was well done. The voice actors delivered solid performances, and I have no complaints on that front.

Unfortunately, that’s about where the positives stop for me.

This book had an interesting enough premise but the execution just wasn’t right, unfortunately.

Seeing a lot of POC readers also agree that it made them feel uncomfortable reading the whole Slave/Master situation (please stop trying to convince people that’s not what this was, a good slave master is still a slave master, argue with the wall). Trying to romanticize that power imbalance is tone-deaf at best.

I think if it was done differently, it could’ve been okay. But it felt very cringey and the flow was messy—how did we go from hey you led the charge on my village and have been enslaving and pillaging… to “I love you, you’re not like other colonizers”?????

The spice was also bad.

Lastly, it’s worth noting who tends to “not see the problem.” That in itself says a lot.

This world and the fantasy aspect of the book was definitely intriguing. I thought the magical aspect and the dragons was really neat and really enjoyed it. I think that this book would've been a lot better for me if the romance of it hit as hard. The relationship between Malina and Julianus didn't have me feeling any sort of way. I was honestly confused at first if he was actually the romantic love interest because i really don't feel like there is much there between them. I would say this is a 3 star because i really did enjoy how the author creatively tied in the Roman Mythology, and again, I was so fascinated with everything else in this storyline minus the romance.

Overall this was a good start to a series. However, there was lack of depth in some areas. It did keep me interested enough to want to continue with the series. I would recommend this to my viewers, but I'd make them aware that this is set in a very misogynistic world and has slave x master dynamics.

Also the narrators did a great job bringing this to life.

This was a challenging book for me to evaluate. On one level, it closely adheres to the familiar romantasy formula, ticking off the expected tropes almost methodically. Yet, within the larger framework of the narrative, many of these common elements fell flat for me personally. Given how beloved this genre tends to be, I anticipate that my perspective might diverge from the majority opinion. And not every dragon romance misses for me- usually they're a hit!

Let’s start with some positive points: the setting inspired by ancient Rome intrigued me. It’s refreshing to see Roman history becoming increasingly popular within fantasy fiction. With its extensive timeline full of dramatic peaks and fascinating details, Rome provides a rich canvas for creative storytelling.

However, this book unfortunately didn't make the most of its historical backdrop. It was marketed as a blend of ancient Rome and George R.R. Martin, both renowned for intricate political intrigue. Yet, political maneuvering was almost entirely absent here, or at best, superficially depicted. The primary similarity to Martin lay in depicting a brutal society rife with mistreatment of women. While historically accurate to some extent, the portrayal felt excessively graphic at times, without meaningful context or exploration. Readers sensitive to these themes should heed the trigger warnings closely.

My biggest issue, however, was with the romance itself. This relationship illustrates how romantasy tropes can stumble when not thoughtfully integrated. Central to the narrative is the morally ambiguous male lead who played a role in destroying the female protagonist’s community. While such a scenario isn't uncommon in romantasy, it demands a particularly compelling justification for readers to overcome the initial brutality. Unfortunately, this justification felt inadequate here.

Moreover, the foundational dynamic—where the male character takes the female protagonist as a "body slave"—sets up an immense power imbalance. Successfully navigating such sensitive territory requires delicate handling, but instead, the romance escalated quickly without adequately addressing these problematic power dynamics. For me, this resulted in an uncomfortable undertone throughout the story.

Additionally, the incorporation of dragon-related mating bonds added another troublesome layer. While mating bonds can effectively heighten romantic tension, they often risk overshadowing genuine character development and realistic romantic progression, leading to instant attraction scenarios. Phrases like "You're mine" and demands of ownership, while common in romantasy contexts, felt disturbingly inappropriate given the underlying master/slave scenario. While some books manage these tropes beautifully (Ali Hazelwood’s Bride being an excellent example), unfortunately, this novel did not.

Overall, this book represents what happens when popular tropes are employed without adequate thought or cohesion. The mash-up of mating bonds, possessive language, and an inherently imbalanced power dynamic created a profoundly off-putting narrative. I genuinely cannot recommend this book, as there are far better executions of these tropes available elsewhere.

While I enjoyed this story, I do wish that it would have been advertised correctly, there was no indicator that this was a slave/master romance before the release of the book. That definitely brought down my enjoyment of the story and I wish I would have known that going into the book.

In short, I found this book incredibly disappointing. The premise promised a Roman inspired world with dragons. However the majority of the book was a slave x master romance that seemed to lack any naunce. I really hate to give ARCs such low ratings, but this book really let me down. The book discusses a variety of topical themes like sexual assault, colonization, and how autonomy and privilege affect relationships. These themes are critical to incorporate into media, especially considering what's going on in the world right now. The problem is the book doesn't tackle any of its themes well. Full review to come.

3.5 rounding up Firebird was an interesting read for me, I went in knowing a lot of people had issues with it and its central romance. I personally didn’t think it was as problematic as it is currently being made out to be but I will say I do think a lot of the criticisms of the subject matter are very valid.

I personally enjoyed the book for the most part I found the political and the fantasy world building elements intriguing, but my main issue with the book was the fact that I didn’t find either lead or their romance particularly compelling.

Both narrators did a really fantastic job bringing the characters to life, I personally really enjoyed Kale Williams narrator a lot and will probably looking into more books read by them in the future

Let me preface this review by saying that this is a dark romantasy, with gory scenes and some scenes that are hard to read (for various reasons). The main characters have a master/slave dynamic and romance develops. Do I love that? No. At the same time, this story is what I expected based on the warnings at the beginning of the book. It’s definitely not for everyone. I do think that it should have been marketed differently, and the fact that the romance is between characters with a master/slave relationship should’ve been made more obvious.

That being said, I enjoyed the world of this book – with a backdrop of Ancient Rome, the story is one of traitorous bloodlines, power struggles, and rebellion. This world is brutal, and the author did not shy away from it. I found it interesting that the most influential families in the story are dragon shifters and that Malena, the FMC, has some unique, intriguing, and sometimes very useful powers. I also appreciate the fact that Julian hated everything that his uncle, Cesar, and his empire stood for and that he was a big part of the rebellion. At the same time, I wish there had been more depth – both in terms of world building and in terms of the characters and their relationships. The romance came off as pretty instalove despite the dynamic.

The narrators did a great job with the narration, and that definitely made the read more enjoyable.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

CW: master slave, attempted sexual assault (not by MMC), dubious consent (not between MCs) and violence/gore.

Thank you to MacMillan audio and NetGalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book. I love how the two found each other after so many years. This book was interesting I loved the idea of the dragon shifters. With this being a first book for the series I would love for more as far as the fighting and revolution. The characters are great and you definitely hate Cesar but that's not surprising when he runs his kingdom off slaves and crazy rules. It definitely has the historical elements, I think if you have watched the show Spartacus you will see the same elements in this book. Overall a great book that is well written and I would love to see more.

I really enjoyed this writers voice. It feels fresh and raw in a way I wasn't expecting and that really enhanced the character development for me. This was a really great read for romantasy fans and I loved how the story wove Roman history with this beautiful fantasy landscape. The world Juliette created was brilliant and I am excited to read the next installment. I love recommending this one to our customers.

The audiobook was a bit challenging to get into, which put me off. So, I decided to physically read the book, and I found it to be just fine. It wasn’t particularly groundbreaking to me. I wonder if I had not started listening to the audiobook and just read it over listening, I might have had a different opinion. But unfortunately, that’s all I can say.

The Dacian empath, Malina, is captured in the aftermath of battle where she failed to protect her Celtic adopted family and taken as a slave by the Roman general and dragon shifter, Julianus.

The combination of relationship dynamic and power imbalance between Malina and Julianus with the ancient Roman inspired system of slavery, was too off-putting for me, and I just couldn't get past it to enjoy the fantasy elements of the story. It was also a darker romance than I had expected before I started reading.

Sigh. I was so excited for this one. Master/slave romance just isn’t really my thing. The romance had me feeling…nothing. I liked the fmc alright, and like one other side character. But I just could not connect.