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Bound to Blackwood by Sharon Lipman

ksmarsden's review

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4.0

Lena has spent the last couple of centuries honing her skills as a Guardian. She protects the King, vampires and humans from the Fallen. She keeps busy, to distract herself from her growing attraction to the King; but will soon discover something that will change everything.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book, it's a good mix of fun adventure and hot romance.
Lena is a tough warrior. The only female in the current set of Guardians, she works hard to prove herself. She also has a disrespect for rules, and a teeny tiny streak of stubbornness.
It's a lot of fun to follow her adventures, and she's clearly more at home kicking Fallen arse, than having to talk civilly to people.

Thorn is King of the vampires, a race that is steadily in decline. He has a responsibility to protect his people from the Fallen, and has been a steady figurehead for centuries.
Until fate forces him and Lena together, and his calm and composed life is suddenly ripped away.

The two of them together were a lot of fun. There's a lot of sexual tension, and these guys are as stubborn as hell in denying what's happening.
But everybody around them seems to know, and you feel like shouting at them and knocking their heads together!

The rest of the plot revolves around the missing daughter of a high born family. Eden went missing two hundred years ago, and it's up to Lena and co. to pick up this cold case and find out what happened to the girl.
There aren't any real surprises in the plot, but it provides enough intrigue to hold it's own alongside the romance.

The downsides.
The ecopy I was given could do with editing.
There are multiple narrators, which works better in some areas than others. It gave some parts a more rounded feel; but there was a lot of head-hopping and confusion over who the narrator was.
There was also some confusing moments when it changed from third-person to first-person. I think at least some of these were supposed to be thoughts - they they could do with being italicised or 'speechmarks' to show for sure.

The middle section was a bit of a lull for me, it felt like there was some padding and repetition, as Thorn stews in his own arrogance and confusion; and Lena suffers her pain. Kaden stresses. Ryver stresses. On loop. Which was a shame, because the rest of the story really pulls you along nicely.

Overall, a fun and feisty little read, and I can't wait to start the next book in the series.
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