Diana J. (eqfan80) -
Helpful Score: 1
Riley spends much of this book being torn between feeling the tug of her soul-mate bond to a man she despises and her choice to loving another. My heart went out to her as she struggles with the death of all the dreams she had of living "happily ever after" when she found her soul-mate. It figures that she would be bound to a psychopath. In the end, she has to decide whether to chance her own life. Because if she kills her soul-mate, as he so badly needs to be killed, then she may just be killing herself. As in all good stories, love wins in the end.
Laura B. (rureadinganotherone) -
Helpful Score: 1
A Riley Jenson must read, wow so much action. So much turmoil over Quinn and Kye, her Soul Mate, a very unexpected twist. Great book.
Barbara S. (barbsis) -
Helpful Score: 1
I guess you have to understand the werewolf mentality to get past the fact that Riley's in a committed relationship yet she has sex with strangers. Sometimes I find this disturbing especially the one-nighters. Soul mate or not, I really couldn't understand her having sex with Kye who she admittedly hates. He's also blackmailing her and he shot her brother. WTF. In theory I understand the soul mate thing but I guess you have to experience it to fully understand the draw even to a hated foe.
A very satisfying conclusion to the whole Rye situation. It will be interesting to see where Riley goes from here.
A very satisfying conclusion to the whole Rye situation. It will be interesting to see where Riley goes from here.
Alicia C. (longhornfan) -
Helpful Score: 1
This may be the best in the series for Riley's character development. The previous books showed her torn between the choice of becoming a Guardian and wanting a "normal" werewolf life. To be honest, this got old. We all knew what the outcome was going to be. In this storyline, however, she actually has to choose between, as she says, her soul and her heart. It does kind of make me wonder why Rhoan didn't have this problem, unless it was because he was drawn more to the vampire part of their heritage.
One thing which drives me nuts is why Ms. Arthur keeps introducing new races of beings whom no one except one person has ever heard about. You would think there would be at least a database of pooled knowledge in the Directorate library of paranormal beings---especially considering some of the vampires working there are centuries old. The new hire paperwork should list a question "Name? DOB? What other paranormal beings have you come across in this century? The last one? The one before that? Use the back of this page as needed."
And for all you out there that are calling Riley some choice names out there for her free and easy use of sex---you do realize you are flirting with how the humans in the series treat werewolves? These almost rants seems to drive home to me whether this series is also a commentary on alternative lifestyles which have stereotypes of loose individuals with low morals and a high sex drive, like swingers or LGBT. Sex outside the so-called norm is ugly and repulsive and anyone practicing it is called names and demeaned (is that a word?). It's ok to not understand how Riley can have sex with a man she despises for information while being in as much as a committed relationship as a werewolf can be to someone not her soulmate. I don't agree with calling her a whore, though.
{off my soapbox} GREAT BOOK! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
One thing which drives me nuts is why Ms. Arthur keeps introducing new races of beings whom no one except one person has ever heard about. You would think there would be at least a database of pooled knowledge in the Directorate library of paranormal beings---especially considering some of the vampires working there are centuries old. The new hire paperwork should list a question "Name? DOB? What other paranormal beings have you come across in this century? The last one? The one before that? Use the back of this page as needed."
And for all you out there that are calling Riley some choice names out there for her free and easy use of sex---you do realize you are flirting with how the humans in the series treat werewolves? These almost rants seems to drive home to me whether this series is also a commentary on alternative lifestyles which have stereotypes of loose individuals with low morals and a high sex drive, like swingers or LGBT. Sex outside the so-called norm is ugly and repulsive and anyone practicing it is called names and demeaned (is that a word?). It's ok to not understand how Riley can have sex with a man she despises for information while being in as much as a committed relationship as a werewolf can be to someone not her soulmate. I don't agree with calling her a whore, though.
{off my soapbox} GREAT BOOK! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
Christine H. (solarawynn) reviewed Bound to Shadows (Riley Jenson, Guardian, Bk 8) on + 724 more book reviews
Lots of action. The ending suprised me.I am looking forword to more Risa and her mom.
Stephanie S. (skywriter319) -
BOUND TO SHADOWS will satisfy fans of this series, be enjoyable for fans of paranormal lit published in mass market paperback format, and most likely be frustrating for those with a wider range of literary interests. This ambitious novel had a lot of flaws that bothered me but would probably go unnoticed by steady readers of this genre.
Riley's world is complex, with supernatural creatures of all kind running together, getting in one another's way, adding multiple dimensions to the story. The characters in this book were well drawn, appealing and believable. Riley is, unfortunately, not as likable as her love interests, for I often found her narration, dialogue, and thought process to be a bit stilted. In fact, the writing was what held back my opinion of this book and series. Much of the story seemed a little too staged to be believable: the author was clearly following a set route around the story's world, with a completely different scene and subplot abruptly following the development of another. In addition, the romance scenes were blunt, and thus unromantic. There is a lot of buildup to the act, and then the actual sex was treated very brusquely, leaving readers detached from Riley at those moments.
That being said, Keri Arthur's ambitious ideas make sure that she doesn't shy away from the tragedy. BOUND TO SHADOWS ends sadly: I was practically screaming in tears at the book at the end. But I can't help but being impressed at Arthur's decisions. Like I said earlier, BOUND TO SHADOWS will definitely make Riley Jensen fans happy. I don't think I will read this series, but those who love their paranormal worlds complex and sexy will get a kick out of these books.
Riley's world is complex, with supernatural creatures of all kind running together, getting in one another's way, adding multiple dimensions to the story. The characters in this book were well drawn, appealing and believable. Riley is, unfortunately, not as likable as her love interests, for I often found her narration, dialogue, and thought process to be a bit stilted. In fact, the writing was what held back my opinion of this book and series. Much of the story seemed a little too staged to be believable: the author was clearly following a set route around the story's world, with a completely different scene and subplot abruptly following the development of another. In addition, the romance scenes were blunt, and thus unromantic. There is a lot of buildup to the act, and then the actual sex was treated very brusquely, leaving readers detached from Riley at those moments.
That being said, Keri Arthur's ambitious ideas make sure that she doesn't shy away from the tragedy. BOUND TO SHADOWS ends sadly: I was practically screaming in tears at the book at the end. But I can't help but being impressed at Arthur's decisions. Like I said earlier, BOUND TO SHADOWS will definitely make Riley Jensen fans happy. I don't think I will read this series, but those who love their paranormal worlds complex and sexy will get a kick out of these books.
Rebecca B. (bookmuncher) -
In the eighth in the Riley Jenson series, Riley is trying to juggle her love for the vampire Quinn with her soul-hunger for the soul mate she distrusts but can't stay away from, plus a few extra complications from another couple of sexy men - not to mention her brother and his partner and - while solving a couple of mysteries: a series of beheading-murders of vampires (where her boss seems to know more about how they might be connected than he's telling) and a series of apparently causeless deaths of women addicted to vampire bites. After several books that had started to seem a little formulaic, the author now throws in some unexpected twists that could take the series in somewhat different directions.
Valerie (IDOLFAN) -
An amazing book. Loved it!
Stacy W. (whatstacy) -
Another great story in the Riley Jenson series. Arthur can not write these fast enough for me. If you have not read this series, i strongly suggest you give it a try from the beginning. I love every action packed page.
(spoiler alert) The background of the murder mystery is just that, the background where the true story plays out. Her wolf soul mate Kye is back and wants what belongs to him, if for no other reason than his need to control what he feels belongs to him. But unfortunately he has become a part of the murder team beheading vampires on the council. Riley has to make the ill-fated decision to hunt down her wolf soul mate and possibly lose her other half. In the last standoff between her and Kye a favorite member of the team is killed and Riley sinks into a death spiral only to be brought back by the cute Risa stating "Riley's decided to live". All in all, it looks like Riley might just get that happily ever after with Quinn while they start their own pack with Rhoan and Liander.
www.texasreader-stacy.blogspot.com
(spoiler alert) The background of the murder mystery is just that, the background where the true story plays out. Her wolf soul mate Kye is back and wants what belongs to him, if for no other reason than his need to control what he feels belongs to him. But unfortunately he has become a part of the murder team beheading vampires on the council. Riley has to make the ill-fated decision to hunt down her wolf soul mate and possibly lose her other half. In the last standoff between her and Kye a favorite member of the team is killed and Riley sinks into a death spiral only to be brought back by the cute Risa stating "Riley's decided to live". All in all, it looks like Riley might just get that happily ever after with Quinn while they start their own pack with Rhoan and Liander.
www.texasreader-stacy.blogspot.com
I certainly enjoyed this book more than I did most of the "middle" books. I'm not sure the mystery was that interesting but the character development was strong and by this point in a series, that is what we care about.
The situation with Kye, Riley's soul mate is explored more deeply and ultimately unraveled. I was a bit disappointed that Quinn was more of a decoration than a real player - in the first books he was often deeply involved in the story. I missed him. However I think that this book is more about resolution of the issue of the soul mate - established as the key obstruction to Riley and Quinn's relationship from book one. You can't move forward with R&Q until this issue is resolved.
I thought Keri Arthur did a better job in this book of making Kye unlikeable. I know we aren't supposed to like him but in the previous book it seemed more like Riley just kept saying she hated him but we didn't really see much about why. But even in this book I thought she should be more outraged by his behavior.
The situation with Kye, Riley's soul mate is explored more deeply and ultimately unraveled. I was a bit disappointed that Quinn was more of a decoration than a real player - in the first books he was often deeply involved in the story. I missed him. However I think that this book is more about resolution of the issue of the soul mate - established as the key obstruction to Riley and Quinn's relationship from book one. You can't move forward with R&Q until this issue is resolved.
I thought Keri Arthur did a better job in this book of making Kye unlikeable. I know we aren't supposed to like him but in the previous book it seemed more like Riley just kept saying she hated him but we didn't really see much about why. But even in this book I thought she should be more outraged by his behavior.
This book contains the most conflict for Riley yet. Hard to put down.
Chad N. (articwolf) reviewed Bound to Shadows (Riley Jenson, Guardian, Bk 8) on + 2 more book reviews
if u have read all the other Riley Jenson Guardian books u need to read this book b4 u read the next 1. That said if you love werewolves, action, a wee bit of romance and a whole lot of hair raising, nail biting suspense then this book is 4 you. an a bit of vamps 2 if u like that
