Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison (Elder Races #1)
Paranormal Romance
May 3, 2011
Paperback
Berkley
Reviewed by Mandi
Favorite Quote: “There’s my bad boy,” she whispered. God, he was breathtaking.
I read a lot of books. I read a lot of paranormal books. So when one comes into the Smexy household that is exciting, refreshing and just all around awesome, it is cause for celebration!
Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison is the first book in the Elder Races series. Our hero, Dragos Cuelebre is of the Wyr, a group of powerful, ancient shapeshifters. Dragos more specifically is a rare dragon-shifter created around the time of the solar system – so yes, he is ancient to say the least. In present day he is head of the Wyr demesnes located in New York city. The other six demesnes, including Elven, Fae etc…reside in other parts of the United States. He is extremely powerful, wealthy and demands loyalty and obedience from everyone in his control. So when someone breaks into his hoard, something that has never happened before and steals from him, his anger as he takes to the sky in his dragon form can literally be felt and heard from everyone in the city.
Pia Giovanni is a half-breed – half human, half wyr. Raised by her mother who embedded in her mind to never tell anyone what her half-wyr side is, she has always been on the run. But now she has herself in a bit of a bind. She let her guard down with her ex-boyfriend Keith and revealed to him a bit about herself. Something she has never done with another before. Then Keith turned out to be a jerk and to cover his gambling debts, is now blackmailing her with this secret information about herself. He hands over to her a finding charm which with her special powers leads her directly into Dragos’ hoard and demands that she steal something from Dragos to appease his “associates.” She gets in and steals one of his pennies.
When Dragos discovers this theft, he makes it his mission to find who did this. But soon, they both realize there is a bigger player at stake. The Dark Fae King and Dragos have bad blood and a war is on the horizon.
When we first meet Dragos, he reminded me very much of Raphael from Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series. He is extremely powerful, intense, dark and just a bad ass. But Dragos soon comes into his own. He has been around since the beginning of time, yet some modern things still confuse him. Like slurpees and twizzlers. But don’t let that trick you because he runs one of the biggest corporations in the world. Cuelebre Towers employees thousands of people and he rules with a strict hand. But his dragon side also rules his actions throughout this book - something Pia must come to terms with:
Something very light tickled her forearms that covered the back of her head. It whuffled in her hair.
She scratched an arm. “Did you kill the Fae horses?”
The whuffling stopped. Dragos said in a cautious voice, “Was I not supposed to?”
She shrugged. “It just wasn’t their fault.”
“If it helps any, I was hungry and ate one.” Another whuffle.
When Dragos finally tracks down Pia, his anger soon turns to fascination. He quickly discovers her sticky situation with being blackmailed and realizes a bigger player is calling the shots. He finds himself no longer bored, and very physically attracted to this half breed.
Pia is a really great heroine. Strong, outspoken, and stands up to the over-bearing Dragos. He is kind of a “caveman” when it comes to romance. He isn’t suave, or charming. He expects her to follow his orders when it comes to her safety but also in the romance department. But as Pia comes to mean more to him, he wants to learn to be a better lover. I love how we are constantly reminded of how powerful and old he really is:
“You are never to do that again,” he said between his teeth. “Do you understand?”
“Dragos,” she said, speaking with care because he was still so upset. “You’ve got to stop giving me orders.”
No matter how gently she said it, it was still like a spark to dry tinder.
“Fuck you,” he snapped. He thrust his face down to hers, eyes flaring to lava and features hardening. “You’re mine. And you. Can’t. Leave.”
“Whoa, there. I don’t know what to say to you. You’re like some stalker guy on steroids.” She threw back her hands and rolled her eyes. “You are aware, aren’t you, that you can’t have slaves any longer. You know, abolition. Big war. Happened a hundred and forty, forty-five years ago.”
“Human history, human terms,” he snarled. “They mean nothing to me.”
Pia is strong-willed and butts heads with him about this behavior on many occasions. But there is also humor and warmth in their relationship. Their romance is a quick one in this book – I believe the entire book takes place over about five days. Which I know seems crazy, but it is totally believable. Dragos has the “mine” concept from very early on, and Pia herself desperate not to be lonely in life, falls for him just as quickly.
The romance is very erotic, and just as intense as Dragos himself. I also adored the supporting characters. Rune, Dragos’ “First” and best friend along with Dragos’ other trusted friends guard Pia with their life, although they don’t like her at first. But Dragos soon puts them in their place:
“Thief or not, she is mine and I’m keeping her. If a single hair on that young woman’s head is harmed, you four bastards better be slaughtered and in pieces when I find you.”
Oh yes, Dragos is that much of a bad ass.
The writing is just superb. There are a few scenes where the action is violent and rough that just made my hair stand on end. Chapter seven holds my absolute favorite scene in the book. Dragos and Pia have been captured and Dragos knows he can’t immediately get them out of harms way. For such a powerful, irate being having to tell this woman who he has started to have protective feelings for that she is going to get hurt, was really amazing to read. You can feel the fear coming off Pia. A brief moment from this chapter:
“Here’s what I think is going to happen. They’re going to separate us. They might hurt you.” His grip tightened to the point of pain. “They won’t kill you. They’ll have seen I was tending to you in some way, so they’ll want to use you as leverage to control me. Goblins have no interest in human women. They’ won’t rape you.”
A spasm of trembling hit her, and then it was gone again and she was calm. “It’s all right,” she told him. “I’m all right. I’m glad you’re telling me this.”
“That’s my good brave girl.”
What follows is a terribly violent, emotionally filled chapter that just blew me away.
This world is really fantastic – exciting, very sexy and humorous. Fans of paranormal romance must read this book.
Rating: A
Recent Reviews
Dear Author
Fiction Kingdom – 4.5/5
Ramblings From a Chaotic Mind – 5/5
Goodreads
Author’s Website l Series Listing
Amazon l Kindle l Nook l Book Depository
OH IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!
Yes! I would have written the entire review in CAPS if I could ;)
I have pre-ordered this book because Nalini Singh recommend it on her blog a while back. It just hasn’t arrived yet. I am glad you love it too.
Awesome…I hope you enjoy!
OMG this review. I am pre-ordering this right now.
Thank you!!!!
You will love this book Pam. LOVE.
I can’t wait to read this one, ever since VFG mentioned it on her blog I was enthusiastic. I’m glad so many love it ;) I enjoyed your review Mandi, the quotes are a great appetizer *smiles*
hehe..I had fun picking out the quotes :)
Okay, this is on my must-buy list! It sounds amazing…GREAT review! smiles…
Hope you enjoy!
Oooh yes, I’ll be all over this once it’s released :-D
Yay!
I wants. That is all.
I can’t wait for you to read it!
What Tori said! :)
You will love Helyce!
I have this one and was going to pass on it. Kind of looks like I need to get busy reading huh?
Do NOT pass this up FV!! :)
I pre-ordered Dragon Bound after talking with JR Ward herself about it in her facebook page… How could I not?
What she said? The hero is verrrrryyyyyy hoooottttttttt….
I think The Warden knows a lot about hot heros right?
Yes…HOT hero..and even better – amazing heroine!!! :)
Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and interest! I hope everyone enjoys the book!
All the best,
Thea Harrison
Thanks for stopping by :)
This book was picked by my book club for a June read. I was unsure at first, your review maked me eager to start reading it. It sounds great!
Ooh..fun book club pick!
I seriously cannot get enough of this book. I really liked both Dragos and Pia, as well as all the secondary characters. What struck me is how well developed the romance was, considering the timeline. I’ve always been a cynic and scoffed at those week-long HEAs, but man did Harrison pull this one off.
Hell. I might need to re-read it. Again.
Yes – the short romance totally works in this book. So impressed with how she pulled it off.
The buzz this book has generated is incredible and I have yet to read a bad review. My dilemma is do I read this one first or Pamela Clare’s Breaking Point? Don’t you love it when there are so many great books on you TBR that you have no idea where to start?
I have Breaking Point coming up! LOL. Tough decision for you!
*runs to Amazon to pre-order*
Yay :)
I’ve heard such awesome things about this book, and I’m so excited to get my pre-order from Amazon early. Now if I could only figure out how to get my boss to leave the office so I can start reading as soon as the UPS guy drops my delivery off this morning…
I saw on twitter you are starting it..can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
Wow, Mandi. This sounds great. I’m pretty sure I have this for review at Fiction Vixen. You’ve made me really excited to read it!
Yay Catherine..I can’t wait for you to read it!
Great review Mandi!! I’ve heard only good things about this book and it’s been on my radar since January… I’m trying to be a good girl though and wait till my trip in the States to buy it (end of June)… but the snippets you posted are great and I have such weak willpower… :P
Oh my..end of June is so far away ;) (Am I helping your willpower?) ;p
I am all up and down cos I really really want this book. Ever since they reviewed and loved it over at the Book Binge
I hope you read it soon!
Fabulous review, wanted to read this, even more now,
Thanks!
I read this over the weekend. It is the best debut book I read this year. I totally LOVED it :D
I MUST READ THIS BOOK!!!
Thanks for a great review! LOVE LOVE LOVE this book.
It’s like Angel’s Blood and A Hunger Like No Other (2 of my favs) MATED and had a baby book.
I had to stop by and say that I read this book immediately after reading this review right here… and I’ve fallen in love with the book and the characters. It is definitely one of my top favorite of 2011 and I can’t wait to write my review. Thanks once again, Mandi, for leading me to yet another FANTASTAWESOME book!!!!!
Score another one for Smexy, because this book was as good as you (and Dear Author, and Nalini Singh, and many others) said it would be! I’m beyond excited that the next two books are coming out this year too- at least we don’t have too long to wait. Thanks!
I just finished the book. The story was interesting and I did enjoy the romance … but am I the only person who was driven a bit crazy by how the narration was split between first and third person, sometimes in the same paragraph? I found it distracting to be Dragos then Pia then a narrator. Fun story all and all, but I had real issues with the voice.
Hmm..I didn’t notice that – or at least it didn’t bother me. I wonder if anyone else was bothered by this….
I actually did notice it and personally was surprised that it didn’t interrupt the flow of the story more. I thought that Thea switched between the 2 narratives really smoothly…