Audiobook Review: Dire Bound by Sable Sorenson
Dire Bound
Series: The Wolves of Ruin #1
Author: Sable Sorenson
Narrators:
Avery Caris
Gabriel Michael
Published: February 26, 2025
Audiobook: 21 hours 54 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened: October 11-22, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
Fourth Wing meets The Hunger Games in this spicy, page-turning romantasy where humans and direwolves forge unbreakable bonds and fight for survival at all costs.
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.
**Dire Bound contains mature content including depictions of graphic violence, and is therefore recommended for readers 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author’s website.
Jessica’s Review:
Sable Sorenson, it looks like Dire Bound may have turned me onto the Romantasy genre! I did listen to Fourth Wing and enjoyed it (I admit, the dragons are what made me want to read it, and I adore those dragons), but Dire Bound completely pulled me in from the beginning with its story. And we have wolves too! There is a lot of everything in this book: Action, extreme violence, romance, spice, betrayals, trials and training. What pulled me in from the beginning was the story: What we have at the heart of the novel is a story about sisters and sisterly love.
If you have followed my reviews for a while, then you know I don’t need all the spicy details, and I admit I did skip over the spicy parts after listening to the first one. There are only about five spicy scenes in the novel, which is a long one at 22 hours/ 600+ pages, which is not too bad.
I really liked Meryn, and from the beginning we see she is badass, and you know she is going to make it through these training trials. But the growth we see from her, I can’t wait to see what else happens in the other books in series. I have always enjoyed strong female characters, and she also had a vulnerability to her. We want to see her get her sister back.
And Stark….Ok, I am totally crushing on him…For the entire novel! I’m ready for those spicy scenes in book two! I may not skip over them…
The narrators are Avery Caris and Gabriel Michael and they really brought the characters to life. I was glad to see they returned as narrators for the second in the series.
Dire Bound ends with big twists and I am hating having to wait for my turn for the audiobook at the library. But the wait between the second and third will be much longer as the final book in the trilogy comes out next July. My short wait for book two is nothing in comparison!
It’s obvious that I really enjoyed Dire Bound as I gave it five stars! This is a big deal as I am selective with what I give five stars too and Romance/ Fantasy is far from my usual read let alone Romantasy!
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING BLOG TOUR: When Women Talk Volume 3: Notes From The Future
Today I am taking part of the blog tour for When Women Talk Volume 3. This is a book co-written by ten women giving heartfelt advice to their younger selves. The author featured on this blog tour is Elle Mott. I will be sharing an extract today and this book was just released on October 6th! This extract takes place during Halloween, which was just a few days ago.
Book Description:
Do you ever wish you could call your younger self and say, “It’s going to be okay”?
In When Women Talk: Notes From the Future, ten incredibly diverse women look back and do just that.
This isn’t an “I told you so” lecture; this book gathers honest, heartfelt stories from women across generations, reaching back to tell their younger selves what truly matters. From messy breakups to career wins, these stories offer a roadmap for your own journey. It’s not about quick fixes; it’s about the timeless wisdom of resilience, self-worth, and trust. You need to read this because it feels like a long coffee date with your future, much wiser best friend.
“While a single voice can make an impact, many voices can make change. We all have a purpose and a story to tell; there is someone who needs to hear it, and by showing up we can make a difference in someone’s life, career, or business.” — Cathy Kuzel, curator.
“We don’t have to bring ill-emotions from an unsettling childhood event into our adulthood. And yet if we do, there is hope for renewal. After all, it takes what it takes to get us to where we are today in life. Sometimes the journey from nightfall to sunrise is not an overnight matter.” — Elle Mott, co-author.
Buy Your Copy Here:
When Women Talk Bookstore
Amazon
My Journey From Nightfall to Sunrise
A year earlier, we had fit in with this crowd of kids. This year was different. It was the year we should have stayed home or perhaps done Halloween differently. At twelve years old, we were a bit too old for trick-or-treating. And yet, we pushed ahead as little kids tried to keep up. After hitting the whole neighbourhood, stuffing our bags with candy, we arrived back at my friend’s house. Her mom met us at the front door. Stretching out her arm to point in the direction of my house, she asked, “Can I give you a ride home?” Ice cubes clinked in her glass.
“No, thank you,” I said.
“Are you sure? You really shouldn’t walk home alone.”
“Yes, I’m sure, Claudia. I’ll be fine.” With other friends, I addressed their moms respectfully with a Mrs. This mom was different in a carefree sort of way.
I had two reasons to decline her ride home. One was that she had been drinking cocktails again. When she drank, which was often, she would suddenly fall asleep. I didn’t want that to happen with me in the car. Also, I wanted seconds on candy from the houses between hers and mine.
“Okay, you be safe, and you two will see each other come tomorrow morning.”
In that moment, I paid no real mind to what she said, and as I turned my back, she seemed to wave goodbye. It was a safe neighbourhood where kids could run free, without any worries to be had.
I didn’t see my friend the next morning. What happened next left me too ashamed to pull the covers off my head come the next day. I was allowed to stay home in a sick day from school. Sometimes the journey from nightfall to sunrise is not an overnight matter. But that’s getting ahead of my story.
I had only a short way to go, so I proceeded with my trick-or-treating, skipping houses with lights off. Street lights, too, were far and few between.
My walk took me past a few houses to reach the end of my friend’s block on Dogwood, which put me catty-corner to my street, Camellia Drive. I paused, reasoning that I could get even more candy if I took the long way home. So, I kept going and turned down the next street, Balsam Drive. I would take the alley that cut through the middle of this block to Camellia Drive. No cars drove that alley. It was a dirt path we kids took as a shortcut, and my house sat one over from that alley. I didn’t see any other kids around, and for a quick second I questioned myself as I wondered whether going the long way was the right choice.
About Elle Mott, one of the Co-Authors:
Elle Mott writes creative nonfiction focused on resiliency, empowerment, and advocacy. She is a featured co-author in the new book, When Women Talk Volume 3 (The Connected Woman, 2026). Elle toured with WOW! earlier this year for the historical biography, “Marie Conner, A Leading Lady” (Luminare Press, 2026). She is also the author of “Out of Chaos, A Memoir” (Boyle & Dalton, 2018), and “People Helping People” (2020). Her shorter pieces are widely featured in ezines, literary journals, national news magazines, and regional collections. Elle works at the public library in downtown Cincinnati and dedicates her free time to her passion for writing. She lives in nearby northern Kentucky with two cats and several pet birds.
Contact Elle:
Website
LinkedIn
AllAuthor
Ko-Fi
See The Entire Blog Tour:
My October 2026 Reads
HOW have we gotten to November?!?!? Time really does go by faster as you get older. Since it is November 1st, it is time to share what I read in October. I listened to one short story, three novellas by the same author, and two novels. All were audiobooks. I did also have one DNF.
Here are the books I listened to. They are listed in the order that I finished them:
Wedlocked by Hillary Frank- 4 stars
Wicker by Ursula Wills- 4 stars (short story)
The Babysitter by Tanisha Stewart- 4 stars (novella)
Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen- 5 stars
The Student by Tanisha Stewart- 2.5 stars (novella)
The Hitchhiker by Tanisha Stewart- 4 stars (novella)
I can say “Thank you!” to the Facebook Algorithm for ‘introducing’ me to Tanisha Stewart! I got quite a few of her books for free with my Audible account. I listened to three of hers in October and can’t wait to listen to more!
Yes, Wicker is the short story that has become a movie where the lady’s husband is made from wicker. And the Wicker Husband is played by Alexander Skarsgård. The trailer for the film makes it look all smutty, but there actually IS a story. My review will be coming soon!
I did have one DNF: Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz. I tried the audiobook twice. Both times I made it a little over 3 hours 45 minutes out of 11.5 hours. I realized I did not have any idea what was going on and I was not going to keep going after trying twice. This was just not a book for me.
My ‘top rated read’ was Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen. And I think this might be the series to turn me on to the Romantasy genre! I am on a wait list for the second one from the library. I am currently 12th in line for the audiobook. I did skip over the smutty parts, I just don’t need all the in-depth details.
My ‘lowest rated read’ was The Student by Tanisha Stewart. This novella just did not work for me. My review for it and her other two novellas I listened to were all posted this past week.
October was a good month, and maybe one day very soon I can find my reading mojo and get back to reading physical and kindle books! I miss reading!
What did YOU read in October?
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