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Dragon Bound (Elder Races, #1)

Thea Harrison

Start date: January 16, 2012

Finish date: February 16, 2012

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Discussion leader: Shellbelle

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What Members Thought

Apr 14, 2012 Cmkage rated it it was ok

Shelves: urban-fantasy-pnr, series-i-don-t-like

This book had so much potential. I loved the world-building. It's a great set-up with all the different Elder races, the way they fit into human society. Very intriguing. I also very much liked the beginning, with Pia having to steal from the most powerful Wyr because she is being blackmailed by her ex-boyfriend. It was a great beginning that definitely managed to pique my interest.

So where did it go wrong?

The main reasons why I ended up giving barely two stars to Dragon Bound are the issues I This book had so much potential. I loved the world-building. It's a great set-up with all the different Elder races, the way they fit into human society. Very intriguing. I also very much liked the beginning, with Pia having to steal from the most powerful Wyr because she is being blackmailed by her ex-boyfriend. It was a great beginning that definitely managed to pique my interest.

So where did it go wrong?

The main reasons why I ended up giving barely two stars to Dragon Bound are the issues I had with timing and character development. Pia and Dragos pretty much fall instantly in love. She should be absolutely terrified of him, he's hunted her down for stealing from him after all, yet she has sex with him within hours. I'm not much of a believer in love at first sight. How can you love someone you don't know at all? I have read several books about weres/shifters that had dealt with mating and bonding. I can accept that mating is somehow predestined and that it can occur instantly, no getting to know each other first required. However, the reader was given this explanation only towards the end of the book. By that time I had already spend a lot of time resenting the relationship between Dragos and Pia for springing into existence without any apparent reason.

The relationship between Dragos and Pia wasn't the only one that suffered from a lack of time to develop. Once Dragos takes Pia to his home, it takes almost no time for her to befriend his Sentinels, and this time there is no mating bond to conveniently explain away the lack of substance. She becomes bff with the dark fae Tricks within less than a day once they get drunk together in the middle of the day and gossip about who is sleeping with whom… cause that's exactly what you do when you are new in a potentially hostile environment, get completely drunk and make a fool of yourself.

The male sentinels Pia befriends the next day by kicking their asses during training. That scene clearly showed all the character inconsistencies. For one, Dragos' sentinels are supposed to be alpha males. Yet they have absolutely no problem being bested by a slip of a girl, who keeps insisting that she doesn't like fighting. Right. Very alpha.

Pia is even more inconsistent. At the beginning she is portrayed as a strong heroine, who made a mistake, but kicked her ex-boyfriends ass for exploiting her. Just as I thought she could be a badass lead character, the book suddenly starts to emphasize how nice, peace-loving and soft she is. Herbivore to the core, no killer instinct whatsoever. This is the same heroine who later bested Dragos' elite fighters. If it doesn't take even an ounce of killer instinct to kick the collective asses of his sentinels, Dragos should probably consider getting a new army.

All in all, there were just too many things that prevented me from enjoying this book, which is a shame since the world-building really is interesting. I also liked Pia's wyr form, even though it was a bit easy to guess. If I hadn't had so many books on my wishlist already, I might have tried to read the second book, but since that's not the case, I won't continue this series.

...more

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May 11, 2012 Angie ~aka Reading Machine~ rated it really liked it

Pia Giovanni is half human and half Wyr just doesn't know what kind of Wyr. She is being blackmailed into stealing from Dragos Cuelebre by her ex boyfriend but she blackmails him back. Pia tries to run but doesn't get very far when Dragos finds her. Dragos is so full of rage that someone would steal from his hoard but he wants to make the thief pay. Dragos demands to know why Pia stole from him which Pia explains her reasons for what she did and apologizes too. Elves try to come Pia's rescue but ...more

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Sep 19, 2025 Connie N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal-romance, paranormal-shapeshifters, dragons, dragon-on-cover, audio-rec, narr-sophie-eastlake, audio-audible-w, meet-greet-71-picked

#1 in the Elder Races paranormal series

This was a good start to a new-to-me series. Both main characters appealing, but I especially like Pia. She's a latent shapeshifter/half human, hiding among humans to stay under the radar. She really doesn't understand why, but her mother had kept her safe and insisted upon it. When she is blackmailed into stealing something from a dragon's hoard, she comes to his attention, which is both good news and bad news. Bad because he's ready to rend her limb from ...more

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Dec 31, 2013 ~Leslie~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: e-book-nook, re-read

2nd time around reading this and it was just as good as the first time, maybe better. Loved the interaction between Pia and Dragos. His confusion over his feelings is hysterical. Best dragon book I've read. ...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Jade aka MrsTosh rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: dragons, romance, paranormal, on-kindle, shifters

This is the first installment of the Elder Races series and follows half-Wyr Pia, who has been blackmailed into stealing from a dragon by her ex boyfriend, who by the way it a total ass! When Dragos realises that someone has gotten the better of him he is determined to find out who it was and how they managed to find his lair. Pia, meanwhile just wants to disappear and stay out of trouble from now on - the worst possible thing is for Dragos to find her. But when Dragos does just that she finds o ...more

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Oct 07, 2011 Dawn (Kat N Hat) rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal-romance, funny-romance, fairy, dragon, shifters, 1st-in-series, kindle, immortal

My personal schedule really made this book take longer than necessary to read, but when I got a chance really read I enjoyed it alot. I liked the characters and was surprised by the peanut. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

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