Review: Dragon Bound by Thea Harrison

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.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub Date: May 2011

Buy links:
Dragon Bound (A Novel of the Elder Races)
Barnes and Noble
book depository

Dragon Bound is a great start to a new series by Thea Harrison, whom you can find on twitter here. She's loads of fun and really nice which doubles my fangirl love.

Dragon Bound was a really fun read. The world is so well established that I had no trouble picturing it and all its inhabitants. The story was easy to follow and the characters were very likable.

Dragos is a typical alpha male in a lot of ways. What I did love is that he is unapologetic about it. He tries to compromise a bit, in deference to Pia's feelings and to show her that her thoughts and feelings do matter, but he also admits that his instincts are strong and he can only bend so far. That was nice. I like strong characters that stay strong. Yes, I think there should be compromise and give as well as evolution of the character, but I hate to see a Protag completely neutered or assassinated to make them more palatable. It also doesn't hurt that Dragos is a hottie with all the fiery passion one would expect of an eons old dragon. I loved that Dragos was both raw and rough but also civilized and intelligent. Nice juxtaposition of the two.

Pia is also typical for a heroine in some ways. She's nurturing and giving and all about life and love and softness. However, what made her stand out and made me really like her is that she's all of those things, but she's also tough, logical, willing to do what she has to do to survive or protect the ones she loves and she's not bad in a fight. This made her a bit more layered and kept her from being so perfect that she was unrelatable. She stands up to Dragos and at times is frightened by him, but she knows when to stand firm and when to be cajoling and yielding. She's not manipulative, but she knows her guy and how to keep him in line and behaved. Which I would imagine would be a necessity if you were mated to a friggin' dragon.

Overall, there's action and romance, humor and great characters that I can't wait to read more about. Which is very convenient since there are several more books planned in the series. For excerpts of the second book, due out in August and titled Storm's Heart, and information about the series, please visit the author's website here.

Final Grade: B