Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

Title: Dragon Bound (A Novel of the Elder Races, 1)
Author: Thea Harrison
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Piatkus (3rd May 2012)
Source:  Lucy @ Moonlight Gleam’s
Blurb:

The first novel of the elders races begins a groundbreaking paranormal romance series from a talented new voice in the realm of dragons, faeries, danger and desire.

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.

Feared and respected among 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 . . .

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Dragon Bound is the first book in the Elder Races series, and what a first book it is. Harrison starts things with a real bang. Dragon Bound is very definitely a book – and a series – aimed at an adult audience, and one I really enjoyed reading.

As an introduction to the Elder Races series Dragon Bound is a really interesting book. The story focuses on Pia and Dragos whose paths only cross when Pia is blackmailed by an ex-boyfriend to steal something from Dragos’s hoard, and she feels she has no choice but to do so. Dragon Bound is not the first book I’ve read where a dragon can assume human shape, but it is the first book I’ve read where all of the Wyr can (or at least all the ones in this book can). I also thought Harrison did a good job of explaining the supernatural within the mortal/human.

Pia was a good lead, and it is really interesting to watch the events of the book unfold through her eyes. She is quite a mysterious character, and when her secret was revealed I admit I was really surprised. I don’t think I’ve read a character quite like Pia before. Even being half-human and half-Wyr Pia has some awesome powers under her command, and is not a girl to be messed with – which I really liked, cause girls should be kick ass in books. Harrison also did a good job writing Dragos, and I found him to be a really believable character – though out of the typical paranormal romance male lead mould. I really enjoyed it when we got to see things from his point of view, and I thought he was an interesting contrast to Pia.

The plot of Dragon Bound was pretty typical for a paranormal romance, but that’s not to say it was boring and there were a couple of surprises along the way. It is also a quick read both in terms of the timescale in the story, and in terms of how long it took me to read. As soon as I finished the book I wanted to dive straight into the next one – and if that’s not a recommendation, then I don’t know what is. If you are a fan of paranormal romance and you like dragons, then you should definitely consider adding this book to your TBR pile.