Firebird is a sweeping romantasy about dragons in an alternative Roman Empire. Malina was a dancer until her family were slaughtered, whilst Julian is the nephew of the Emperor who leads the Roman Army to conquer other lands. But there is more to both of them, and they come together in a fiery way.

The world building in this book was really good, and I really enjoyed the dragons. There is obviously a fair bit of set up for the next book but the pacing still felt just right, and I loved the main and side characters. I'm excited to read more in this series!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

A fast-paced romantasy inspired by the Roman Empire. Malina is a Dacian dancer, Julianus a Roman Centurion when he sees her dancing and is enthralled. Years later, when he's a general, they meet again on a Celtic battlefield - his dragon is not willing to let her go again.

I love Juliette Cross's writing, especially the Stay a Spell series, so I was excited to get my hands on Firebird. This is a fast-paced dragon shifter romantasy, heavy on the plot and romance, and a bit lighter on the world building (though, being inspired on the Roman Empire, this bothered me less than it might have in a fully unknown setting). It's a lighter read than I expected: while the world it's set in and it's events are certainly dark, the worst things don't really take place on page or to our main characters, with Malina's witchy powers and Julianus dragon shifter/Patrician status protecting her and those they care about.

The reason I don't rate it higher because this book has some tropes I'm just not the biggest fan of (insta-love/lust; master-slave), and that I never fully got past. They were fairly well done though, and I was engaged from beginning to end. A matter of taste, not quality. Assuming the sequel has even slightly different tropes, I'll absolutely be picking it up!

Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for providing me with an arc through netgalley. All opinions are my own

This book was such an unexpected pleasure!

I often find romantasy books are slow to start with all the world building usually needed to set up a story. However, this book dove straight into a pretty fast paced plot trusting us, as the reader, to know enough about the Romans to assist in understanding the basics of the world the author was creating.

I absolutely loved the Julian was completely obsessed with Malins from the minute he saw her, in books with this trope, I always feel that a dual POV really helps us feel the longing and tension from the MMC, and Juliette Cross did this really well. I adored Julian's perspective.

The market these days seems to be quite over-saturated with Greek inspired fantasy stories, so it was completely refreshing to read one influenced by the Romans. I absolutely cannot wait to see where this series is heading!