Category Archives: The Ones That Got Away

The Ones That Got Away – Bound by Flame by Anna Windsor

Posted on July 20, 2012 | 1 Comment

The Ones That Got Away is a feature where I review books that might have been sitting on my shelf, waiting on my Kindle or ones I have found at a used bookstore that should not get away even though they are older titles.

This week I am going to review Bound by Flame by Anna Windsor. This is the second book in The Dark Crescent Sisterhood trilogy.

Title: Bound by Flame

Author: Anna Windsor

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Release Date: July 29th, 2008

When Cynda gets hot and bothered, things start to sizzle.

Gorgeous flame-haired Cynda Flynn knows fire–its heat, its power, its magic. A fully trained Sybil warrior priestess, Cynda’s weapon is flame. But she’s unprepared for the passion ignited by Nick Lowell, an undercover cop in the NYPD’s Occult Crime Unit. He’s half human, half demon, and hotter than hell, with fathomless black eyes that ignite something buried deep inside Cynda, making her melt in all the right places.

Luckily, Nick has found a way to control his dark side, but he’s done it old-school–through steel-willed self-control. And after five years working secretly within the deadly Legion cult, he’s unbreakable. Or he was, until Cynda came along. Now it’s personal–and even his big bad love may not be enough to halt a terrible new evil snuffing out fire Sybils like Cynda. It’s nasty. And if it can’t be stopped, they’re all going to fry.

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review: I started this series and devoured the first book, Bound by Shadow (review here), in one day and immediately downloaded book two. We pick up in Bound by Flame a couple of months after the first book. Anna seamlessly brings us back to this world and what the Sybils are up to now.

In Bound by Flame we are following Nick and Cynda as they hunt a new evil taking out all the fire Sybils across the world. No one can figure out why, but it is not looking good for the fire Sybils. While Nick and Cynda fight side by side to unravel this mystery they are also trying to sort out their feelings for one another. I will admit it did take me a while to warm up to Cynda because of how she behaved towards Creed in the first book. However, we do get a glimpse into her childhood and I can understand her need for family and why protecting it is so important. Nick really had his work cut out for him since she literally sets herself and other things on fire when she gets emotional. Good thing his half demon side can absorb fire, because he needs that ability every time he gets around Cynda.

This book was more emotional for me than the first one because of the issues both Nick and Cynda had to work through. Not necessarily with one another but within themselves as well. Cynda struggles with letting people in or letting anyone get near her for that matter. She loves her triad sisters, but is afraid that one day she will have to give them up. Nick on the other hand was forced to kill his birth mother in the last book and now he might have to kill his brother Jake as well. There is so much guilt that he internalizes and keeping it all bottled up is starting to get to him.

As for the action, it slowed a little in the middle, but the climax…wow! I was getting towards the end of the book and a major battle was going down but I still had at least fifty pages left and I could not figure out how it was going to play out. That is because Anna saved the best for last and that final fight seriously tore at my heartstrings. I don’t want to say anything about it because it would ruin way too much, but Anna seriously knows how to write a finale. It was amazing! I was glued to my kindle screen and didn’t want to get up for any reason because I had to know how everything was going to be resolved.

Overall, this is turning out to be one of my new favorite series. I love how powerful and independent the women are! The men in their lives are pretty hot too though, literally in Nick’s case, haha. There is a real sense of family laced throughout the novels and the action is fantastic! I would recommend this book to any lover of paranormal romance looking for something different that does not involve vampires, werewolves or shifters. I am off to download the next book, Bound by Light right now.

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Posted in Adult Paranormal Romance, Book Review, The Ones That Got Away

New Feature: The Ones That Got Away

Posted on July 6, 2012 | 1 Comment

I am very excited to introduce a new feature to my blog today. It is called “The Ones That Got Away.” I love to shop at used bookstores and often pick up a series that I had not heard of before, but they are usually a couple of years old. After I read them I still want to share my thoughts about them, but that is hard to do when most of the time people want to read reviews for recent titles. So, this feature is my chance to review books that might have been sitting on my shelf, waiting on my Kindle or ones I have found at a used bookstore that should not get away.

This week I am going to review Bound by Shadow by Anna Windsor. This is the first book in The Dark Crescent Sisterhood trilogy.

Title: Bound by Shadow

Author: Anna Windsor

Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance

Release Date: June 24th, 2008

Falling for a demon can be hazardous to your heart.

Riana Dumain is a fully trained Sybil, a warrior priestess battling evil whose practical magic keeps her grounded in earthly science–and desires. She knows that gorgeous NYPD detective Creed Lowell is dangerous, and possibly a foot soldier of the evil Legion cult, using his badge and drop-dead looks to consolidate demonic power.

Creed’s low-profile Occult Crimes Unit pulls Riana and her two sister Sybils into the case of a politician’s son, murdered in a ritualistic sacrifice. Soon, Riana’s instincts prove true. Creed, the hottest half-human she’s ever known, a demon in bed and out, is guarding a trapdoor to hell. And unless Riana can find a way to tame her mystery man’s treacherous inner self (and her heart), all of Manhattan may be enveloped by darkness.

Summary from Goodreads.com

My Review: Bound by Shadow revolves around a group of women called Sybils. They are female warriors who battle an evil group called the Legion using the elements to aid them. I loved that the warriors in this book were female and not male. Many of the adult paranormal romance books are male warrior dominant and seeing women take the reins was very refreshing. Bound by Shadow focuses on Riana, she is an earth Sybil and the leader of her triad. She protects the other two women in her triad with everything she has and has no idea what to do with Creed when he comes into her life. She thinks she has everything figured out and finally has control over her life when Creed comes along and rocks her solid foundation to her core. She is determined to put her feelings for him on the back burner and lead her triad. It is not easy though with Creed doing everything possible to break her resistance towards him.

Creed was a bit of mystery. Even though the women in this novel are the bad asses, Creed is still all alpha male. He does however, have something inside of him that he has labeled as “other” that does not always let him get what he wants. For much of the book we are unsure about his origins and while I had my suspicions I was still eager to see what he really was and where he came from. Anna did a great job of keeping the mystery interesting and while I did have a couple of things riddled out there were still some surprises I did not see coming at all.

The romance in this book was h-o-t! There is a point where the girls have Creed restrained in a cell but Riana and him still come up with some creative ways to be together with the bars between them. While the physical attraction was instant it took time for Creed and Riana to form an emotional bond and it felt natural and was very tender. These two had so many obstacles to overcome, but they were determined to find happiness with one another. They were easy characters to fall in love with and really root for.

The action was a little slower in the beginnings of the book, but definitely picked up. The fight scenes were very well done and exciting. While they were jammed with information I did not feel overwhelmed or was confused at any point. I liked the way the girls fighting style and the way Anna described the events as they occurred.

Overall I loved this book and the world that Anna has created for us. It is something different in the paranormal romance world and had me glued to the pages until I read the book cover to cover. I have already downloaded the next book and will be starting as soon as possible. Any lover of paranormal romance should definitely check this book out!

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Posted in The Ones That Got Away