Review: Bloodsinger by Juliette Cross

Title: Bloodsinger
Author: Juliette Cross
Series: The Fire That Binds #2
Genre: Adult/Fantasy Romance/Mythology
Publisher: Tor Bramble
Publication Date: April 09, 2026
Edition: eBook
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Bookshop | Kobo | Powell's | 

 

 

Synopsis:

A spellbinding gift...
A plea answered by the gods...
An unforgiving world where dragons rule Rome.
   Lela Bihari’s village was invaded on her wedding night, her betrothed murdered right in front of her. While her sisters were either dragged away or escaped, Lela was sold to Valerius, a consul of Rome.
   When she tried to kill Valerius her first night as his slave, her bloodsinger gift manifested... and she was punished for it. Now she’s paraded in front of the other senators for their amusement.
   But Trajan Tiberius, the newly elected tribune to the senate, is different. He has no love for the brutality around him. When he frees Lela from enslavement and hides her, Lela is set on a path of vengeance, and using her gift puts her in more danger than ever before.
   Now trapped inside the walls of Rome while deathriders circle the skies, how can she possibly trust a Roman dragon? Especially when it is clear Trajan has ulterior schemes of his own? As her powers grow stronger, danger draws closer, and Lela realizes it isn't just her life at stake, but also her heart.

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I kind of wish I had waited for all three books to be published before reading this one, but alas, here I am, and I have to wait for third book to be published to read it.

 

I was kind of bummed that this book wasn't following the same characters as the first book, but I also understand that that was only part of the story. And that more needed to happen inside Rome for the revolution to continue. I also assumed that not all her sisters died, with the set up of comparing the story with Medusa and her sisters it was obvious that some of her sisters survived. 

 

The romance was more insta-love in this one than I feel it was in the first book. Malina and Julian had met years previously, and even though it was brief, had formed  a small connection then. In this book, they are strangers. I know the nature of a romance-lead story kind of requires it to be fast-paced, but it takes me out of the romance when in a handful of chapters Lela goes from "I trust no men" to "I trust this one man because he's been kind to me." 

Then there's the aspect of the sexual assaults Lela has done to her in her time as a slave, it was almost brushed aside. I know everyone will have different feelings for how this was dealt with in the book, and this is mine.

 

I did like learning more about Trajan. His reasons for wanting to revolutionize Rome weren't very clear in the first book. He is slightly forgettable though, I finished this book more recently than the first book, and I can't for the life of me tell you something interesting about his character other than he has dark hair.

The ending was really good though, and I am invested in that Germanic Chief and the role he's going to play in the third book.