Title: Dragon Bound Series: Elder Races #1
Author: Thea Harrison
Published: May 3, 2011
Genre(s): Romance: Paranormal
Page Count: 312
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Half-human and half-Wyr, Pia Giovanni spent her life keeping a low profile among the Wyrkind and avoiding the continuing conflict between them and their Dark Fae enemies. But after being blackmailed into stealing a coin from the hoard of a dragon, Pia finds herself targeted by one of the most powerful—and passionate—of the Elder Races.
As the most feared and respected of the Wyrkind, Dragos Cuelebre cannot believe someone had the audacity to steal from him, much less succeed. And when he catches the thief, Dragos spares her life, claiming her as his own to further explore the desire they've ignited in each other.
Pia knows she must repay Dragos for her trespass, but refuses to become his slave—although she cannot deny wanting him, body and soul.
Some might ask me: “Renae, did you decide to read Dragon Bound solely because you were promised hot dragon sex?”
Not even lying, the answer to that question is YES. I was promised dragon sex, dammit. And I came to collect.
Now, before we get to the dragon sex (spoiler alert: it was everything I wanted and more), I’m going to get the problem with Dragon Bound out of the way. There’s really only one problem, which is good, except it’s rather a big one. To put it simply: Thea Harrison’s writing is not great. That’s it. There are no problems with story, characterization, or other mechanics. But man, the mediocre prose was really a drag.
Harrison has a tendency to describe the wrong things, and to skip over other, more important things, which was A) boring and B) disorienting. For instance, around the middle of the book, there was a full chapter that detailed exactly what the heroine did during her shower (shampoo, rinse, conditioner, etc.), inventoried the toiletries in her bathroom, and provided a bite-by-bite recap of her dinner. It was exhausting and irrelevant. Meanwhile, I had zero clue regarding world-building or magic in this paranormal romance.
More time telling me how your shapeshifter society works, less time describing the roast potatoes. Please and thanks.
Now, as I said, I only had that one (albeit fairly major) issue with Dragon Bound. The rest of the book was super satisfying!
At the beginning of the book we meet Pia, who just stole a penny from a dragon’s horde. (Bad idea, Pia.) Naturally, the dragon in question, named Dragos, gets mad and goes after her. He zooms out of the sky and lands on top of her (literally), and BOOM: Pia is his mate. So there’s that. Also the evil Dark Fae king is after them, so they have to deal with that other thing. Paranormal craziness ensues. Also, yes, there is dragon sex.
As you’ve probably gathered, this book is exciting and fast-paced, with a definite bad-guy and external conflict. I’m typically a historical romance reader, so this was a significant change of pace, but it worked. Watching Pia and Dragos team up to both fall in love and kick evil in the ass was a lot of fun. I also do like the world and magic system Harrison introduces in Dragon Bound (even though, again, I really could have done with more explanation in that area).
Of course, getting to the main draw of the book: the sex! It’s good. Really hot. Very sexy sex. Alas, all of the sex occurs when Dragos is in his human form so it wasn’t exactly “dragon sex”, but he makes up for it with giving Pia a LOT of oral. Which is always my favorite.
Related note: Pia has an IUD and it becomes a fairly significant plot point towards the end of the book. Firstly, why don’t more romance novels discuss birth control? Secondly, yay! Normalize IUDs and other forms of contraception in romance. This is also my favorite.
This book is a lot of fun. Thea Harrison writes a speedy, high-stakes romance featuring magical shapeshifters of all kinds, a sexy dragon, and an opinionated heroine. Everything here is set up for an exciting series, and I’m looking forward to diving through the next several installments as the mood strikes.
