Dire Bound

De: Sable Sorensen

Narrado por: Avery Caris, Gabriel Michael

Fourth Wing meets The Hunger Games in this spicy, binge-worthy romantasy where humans and direwolves forge unbreakable bonds and fight for survival at all costs. Featuring exclusive bonus content!

Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life—and her heart—to be one of them.

Meryn Cooper has always hated the Bonded, elite warriors who form mental links with the massive, vicious direwolves they ride. While they live in luxury, Meryn struggles to keep her family out of poverty. When her little sister, Saela, is kidnapped—stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting—Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army and is thrown into the deadly Bonding Trials, where any mistake will cost her life.

Now Meryn must survive four months of training at the castle. She is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her cold and beautiful instructor, Stark Therion, is eager to punish any weakness.

Everything is a competition, and everyone is out to get her—everyone except the dangerously handsome crown prince, whose attention adds another target to her back. In the castle, every smile hides a knife…and the halls hide dark secrets.

It’s bond or bleed. Duel or die. Failure is ruin.

Don’t miss the brand-new bonus chapter from Stark Therion’s perspective!

Dire Bound contains mature content including depictions of graphic violence, and is therefore recommended for listeners 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author's website.

Perfect for fans of:

• Slow burn romance
• Found family
• Morally grey characters
• One bed
• Touch her and die
• Who did this to you
• Enemies to lovers
• Forced proximity
• Vampires vs. wolves!

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Sable Sorensen (P)2025 Hachette Audio

Yes yes yes!

Phew! Whatta wild ride, and I loved every minute of it!! Training, werewolves, vampires, twist galore - check, check, check, check! Can’t wait for book 2! I’m going to be on a hangover of this book for a hot while.

Dire Wolves Saved This Book

First, the positive. The concept of humans bonding to dire wolves sounds awesome and the little we see of the world is enough to keep someone intrigued. The bonding trials is the focus of this book so I am trying not to be too harsh by the lack of world building. Our focus is meant to be within the castle and seeing how the bonded packs are trained and created so I have nothing against that. It is this alone that makes me try and remain hopeful for the rest of the series and will have me reading the second book eventually when it comes out

Now, the bad. This FMC wasn’t the worst one I’ve read, but talk about someone too proud to know their own limitations when she used to use that exact weakness to take down her opponents in the ring. She is a chaotic one in that she appears strong and thoughtful, strategic you might say, only when she is with her pack. Somehow, that translates to none of the other puzzles that get laid before her though. She becomes purposefully blind to anything that would make anyone else search for more answers. I am fine with an FMC that needs to find their way in a society or to not be perfect 100% of the time. I abhor FMCs who intentionally remain ignorant because their author needs them to be to create what they think will be plot twists in the end.

The spice: technically exists but how it is written actually turned me off and made me want to skip multiple times. I don’t think it portrays her relationship with Killian well at all. It just feels cringey at times and didn’t make me think, yes this is the relationship we want. I think also knowing Stark is meant to be the other MMC, the pacing of the book in regards to him can feel slow and frustrating. However, I understand why we’re not shown any attractive qualities in him outside of the pull that Meryn feels around him, which we all know why it’s there. Girl’s just not the brightest bulb in the box. I don’t mind not immediately jumping into something with him. I also understand love can make someone blind, but she acted like she was staring into the sun all day and couldn’t see a thing even when it was right in front of her.

Overall, I feel like the concept is enough to keep people intrigued, and I hope the story improves as the series develops. This first book didn’t deliver for me the way it was hyped and I found myself avoiding listening to it because I was getting tired of waiting for what we all knew was coming. It’s an easy read though so give it a try if you’re on the fence. There’s enough to enjoy

Amazing duet narration!

This book had me going right from the beginning. It was so well written. The duet narration by Avery Caris and Gabriel Michael was excellent.
I can't wait for the next book in the series.

The narration was superb!

I could not imagine another person bringing these male characters to life!!!! This was easily a 6 star listen!!!

LOVE

Absolutely loved this book. The narrator was superb as well as the story. The wait for the second book is far too long and I cannot wait!!!

Do it.. you wont regret it.

First the narrator/voice actors are perfect. the dual style is my favorite. The story is told by MFC POV. She is a fighter in every sense of the word.

Meryn is the eldest daughter of 2. She has a younger sister and a mother who struggles with mental illness. Her father was a soldier in the army that she never saw again as he was killed in action, after his last deployment. Her mother was pregnant with her younger sister when her father was taken from them. She had to step up to provide and protect her family.
With her mother's delusions getting worse and a baby to take care of she took over her mother's job at the laundry to make ends meat.
Now 10 years later started fighting in the ring to make extra coin. There is a threat to her city though, one that has children going missing from their beds.
One night her sister Saela is taken. In her frantic search she realizes the only way she can get her sister back is by crossing into enemy territory. She is convinced that the ones who have been taking the children are the siphons, the vampire like creatures that her people fight in the war. The only way she can get close enough to the enemy is to enlist as a soldier at the front.
The story unfolds from there...

If you love a:
very slow burn
strong agressive scarppy MFC
love triangle
fated bonds
wolves vs vampires (aka:siphons)
brooding badass alpha MMC
🌶🌶
Royals
prophecy
Forced proximity
1 bed 😉
magic powers
military
bloodshed
and all the plot twists your little heart can handle...

Then what are you waiting for?

Engaging story

The narrators were good and I love Duets. There were a few things that prevented the performance from being a 5 star. A scene were Jonah and Stark are talking to each other an I could tell who was who because they sounded like the same. Then a point were Meryl was talking with. Egith and in the middle of the conversation the narrator switched to Vennas voice and even used Vennas name.

Similar to 4th wing

Very good story and performance. I highly recommend for anyone that is a fan of fourth wing. I love the main character and her bad assery.

A near perfect fantasy book

Her journey was captivating and there was no shortage of twists. I enjoyed the pacing and bonds even more than Fourth Wing. The only thing I hope gets corrected in the next book is the need for her to be so ignorant. Like if she and the reader get the exact same clues at the exact same time, why is she the only one who doesn’t know what’s happening? It makes this otherwise powerful woman kind of disappointing.

Still love

Second reading: Still love it.
This book fulfilled all of my wishes and exceeded my expectations. I found it to be an excellent read and have already pre-ordered the sequel.