Firebird

The Fire That Binds, Book 1

De: Juliette Cross

Narrado por: Blair Dade, Kale Williams

An instant New York Times bestseller!

House of the Dragon meets From Blood and Ash in this epic, scorching dark romantasy.

A conqueror captivated…
A witch prophesied to save them all…
An unforgiving world where dragons rule Rome.

Julian Dakkia, Roman general and nephew to the emperor, has played his role as conqueror well. Yet, the moment he laid eyes on Malina, he was enthralled by the Dacian dancer. Years later, the fierce beauty stands before him, a captive on a scarred battlefield, her life in danger. He instinctively shifts into his fierce dragon form to save her, an action that may mean his head on the imperial gate.

The rules of their world dictate that he is the conqueror and she is the captured. But he and his dragon know one thing: their bond has nothing to do with the laws of mighty Rome. She belongs to them. And they belong to her.

Fierce and powerful, twenty-one-year old Malina has survived the loss of her family and she is determined to fight until her dying breath. Still, she can’t believe that the centurion who had once bestowed a secret talisman on her is the Roman general of legendary brutality…and now holds her life in his hands. Nor can she deny how her soul has always seemed to answer his. Slowly she learns that Julian is caught in his mad uncle’s machinations for domination, and helps him plot the downfall of the empire itself.

As they navigate a world where flying deathriders conquer and burn, their love will ignite a firestorm that can only end in heartbreak or death. Or both.

Firebird is a fantasy with some dark themes, including elements of master/slave relationship, attempted sexual assault (not between MCs), and dubious consent (not between MCs). Listeners who may be sensitive to these elements, please take note.

A Macmillan Audio production from Bramble Books.

©2025 Juliette Cross (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

I liked it

I liked the new concept of the gods and there being dragon shifters and the plot was great overall.

Great narration and story

Impeccable narration and fantastic reimagining of Ancient Rome ruled by dragon shifters hard to say more without spoiling the plot

Really enjoyed this book

4.5 stars This book was quite different than what I expected.
Make sure to check trigger warnings as there are some difficult things in this book.

I know a lot of the early reviewers are very upset about the power imbalance of this romance, especially when Malina is Julian’s slave, but I don’t quite understand that take. Julian and Malina met years before she was captured as a Slave & already had a connection. They never even touched each other until she knew that he was a part of the rebellion. He told her the truth of his plans and also told her that she was his “god-given treasure” AKA soulmate before ANYTHING happened between them.
I understand the thought is uncomfortable, but she knew his plan before any physical romance began & she wanted to help him. She could also feel the bond. She was helping him & was essentially only POSING as his slave in public to aid in his rebellion plans.
Not to mention, she is an empath who can feel his emotions & she is the one who initiated their first kiss & asked for more.
If it had been him initiating it, I would completely understand the reviews but it wasn’t.
He even told her she was free & he would take her anywhere she wanted. She told him she didn’t want to be anywhere else.

I love the premise of this book. Dragons (aka the Romans) and a rebellion against Caesar, the evil dragon emperor and Julian, the general, who is Caesar’s chosen successor secretly fighting to free Rome from Caesar’s evil reign.

I’m excited to learn more about the Myth of Medusa and the 3 sisters powers in the following books.

I thought it was good

I personally like dual narrators and they did great. Witches and dragon shifters, mixed with Roman theme and Greek gods theme👀 after I started I was like how is this going to work?😂 the author made it happen, I was surprised. I also got a hard copy for the art, which has the first chapter of the second book. Looking forward to the next book.

Addicting!!

I absolutely loved Firebird!! The author did a phenomenal job. I simply couldn’t get enough and can’t wait until the next book comes out.

Good storyline

Good storyline but very slow getting there. I almost stopped but since I paid for it I finished it. It had a better ending than start. Not sure if I will read the rest of the series

The artwork is amazing!

The artwork is amazing. I love the beginning of the story. It was very unique and I didn't know where it was going, but once you kept reading it kind of became predictable but overall was a good story and left on a small cliffhanger, but I'm hoping that the second book will come out soon