Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Title: Dragon Bound
Author: Thea Harrison
Series: The Elder Races (book #1)
Next in series: Storm’s Heart

My rating: 5 Stars

Synopsis: Half-human and half-wyr, Pio Giovanni has spent her life on the run from unknown forces. After inadvertently revealing her abilities, Pia is blackmailed into stealing a coin from the most powerful of the Elder Races – Dragos, whose fury knows no bounds and who will stop at nothing to find and keep the one who stole from him.

Review: A book that definitely lives up to the hype. Dragon Bound has a gripping story, fantastic characters and an amazing romance.

The world building is incredibly detailed and intricate. The author’s knowledge of various mythological creatures and her skill at incorporating these elements into the plot and characterization is commendable. For example, the fact that Dragos hoards beautiful things is traditional of dragons in western culture and books such as Smaug in The Hobbit and the dragons guarding Gringotts in Harry Potter.

The romance is absorbing. Pia and Dragos’s chemistry is intense and kept me turning the pages. I just didn’t want their story to end. Some readers may find Dragos overly domineering and possessive but this aspect of his character is consistent with the fact that he is, in fact, a dragon albeit in the form of a man. Pia is spunky, intelligent and resourceful. She is more than capable of holding her own against all the male characters in the book (and the female as well) from her obnoxious ex-boyfriend to the spiteful fae king and the dragon himself. The mystery revolving around her wyr-form (i.e., the creature that she can shift into) is intriguing and the ultimate revelation of her identity is one of my favorite scenes. 

My one small nitpick is that the villain of the piece is a little generic and never really constitutes a real threat. He is easily thwarted and his ultimate demise is anti-climactic. Nevertheless, this plot point never detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

The secondary characters are also well developed and interesting with each of Dragos’s friends having their own distinct personalities and opinions. The series continues with some of these characters taking the lead and I look forward to reading future installments as well as re-reading this one quite soon.