Dire Bound by Sable Sorenson is a Romantasy based in a world where humans pair up with enormous dire wolves to fight off the siphons, a nation of vampire-like creatures. As Dire Bound opens, Meryn is working in a laundry by day and underground fighting by night for extra cash. She is the sole support of her mentally ill mother and younger sister, Saela. Her sister is the bright shining light in her life. Her father was killed years ago in the war with the siphons.
It’s a hard life and her only solace other than Saela is her boyfriend, Lee. He’s a messenger for the Royal Palace. There are whispers of children being stolen from their beds at night by the siphons. No one is really sure what happens to the kids because they’re never seen again, not even their remains.
One night while Meryn is out with Lee, Saela disappears from her bed, presumably taken by the “Nabbers.” That’s the term used by locals for the siphons responsible for the kidnappings. Meryn is understandably destroyed by this turn of events. She immediately enlists in the army so she will get sent to the front and can look for her sister.
Things do not go as she plans. Rather than getting sent to the front, Meryn is sent to participate in the Bonding, a series of trials and trainings where she will be paired up or bonded with a Dire Wolf. The Bonded are the elite. They are usually generational participants, but commoners are sometimes allowed in. Meryn is one of those few.
Meryn realizes things are not exactly what they seem pretty quickly, but the world and character building are rich and dimensional. It is not easy to predict or figure out, which is always a plus in my mind. It would be easy to compare this to Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, but in my opinion Dire Bound is better.
As always, I’m not going to tell you any more about the plot. This is only the first 75 pages or so, and it’s a 500+ page book. It is worth the investment of your time if you like romantic fantasy.