That was my reaction about a third of the way into the book --> Finally, it looks as though I have found a series that a) branches away from the typical vampire/werewolf plot line that permeates the genre and b) is written in a style that doesn't irritate the crap out of me.
I have a few dragon/shifter books on my to-read list...but this was the first one of the field that I have read. And I loved it! It's steamy and seems to be the start of a really interesting world. It's not just dragons that shift in this series -- it's all the fae creatures you could ever imagine...from gargoyles to gryphons to whatever.
And to top it all off, there are Elves! I love me some elves. Not like Santa's Elves...think more like Tolkien, Forgotten Realms, or Dragonlance elves.
Dragon Bound starts the Elder Races series which, you guessed it, encompasses all the fantasy races. There's definitely plenty of material here - Thea Harrison could keep writing this series for quite a while and she has enough variety within the fantasy races alone to keep things fresh and interesting.
The plot of Dragon Bound was interesting...the romance steamy (but pretty typical if I'm being honest). Was it predictable? Maybe a little...I should have figured out what Pia shifted into before it happened. In fact, the page before Pia shifted I guessed what she was. I predicted the end of the book as well...BUT the other factors of the story/characters/plot made it compulsively readable so I didn't really care that it echoed of other stories I may have read.
Thea Harrison has a very readable style to her writing. The story flows smoothly and it's not filled with annoying sayings or choppy plot like other well-known authors/books in the field.
Dragon Bound definitely caters to the Alpha Male storyline too. There's a positive review from J.R. Ward on the cover recommending it to fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood - she's right. There's definitely a similar vibe both in character style and series set up (if that makes sense?. Wrath is to the BDB as Dragos is to the Elder Races.
All in all --> 4.5 gnomes...rounded up to 5 because I am excited to read where this series will go!