Bound to Shadows (Riley Jenson Guardian Series #8) [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Unknown
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749942223
• ISBN-13: 978-0749942229
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,661,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Keri Arthur has been nominated in the Best Contemporary Paranormal category of the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Awards, and recently won RT's Career Achievement Award for Urban Fantasy. She lives with her daughter in Melbourne, Australia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed this one, too, but..., October 27, 2009

By 

ReadingHobbit - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bound to Shadows (Kindle Edition)

I've enjoyed the Riley Jensen/Guardian series ever since getting a Kindle freebie of the first book a couple of months ago. I zipped through all of them, liking some better than others, but all have been enjoyable and worth the read. Bound to Shadows is no exception, but it had a couple of problems.

In this book, Riley tries to uncover who is beheading local vampires and killing women who are addicted to being bitten by vampires. The plot is fast-paced, but it seems to take a backseat to the dilemma between Riley, Quinn, and Kye. Usually I'm all for this kind of dilemma, loving the interaction and drama between the characters as much as an exciting plot. In this case, however, the drama and tension wasn't as intense as it could've been, or should've been based on previous books in this series.

I'm trying not to post major spoilers but this may contain mild ones, so please be aware of that before continuing.

Riley and Quinn's relationship has matured since the last book, and although Riley still feels the pull of her werewolf nature, she's committed to the love she feels for Quinn. That commitment should've been enough to make her resist accepting Kye as her soulmate - creating tension for the reader. The author didn't rely on that, though, and instead decided to villainize Kye too much. In previous books, he wasn't the epitome of warmth and kindness, but he wasn't quite the cold-hearted killer he was in this book. He didn't have many, if any, redeeming qualities in this book, so Riley's dilemma was too simplistic.

Although I've always pulled for Quinn, I wouldn't have minded seeing glimpses of what a relationship with a not-so-villainous Kye could have been. It would've made Riley's struggle to hold on to Quinn even more worthwhile and satisfying for the reader. The author usually does a better job with this emotional complexity and tension.

All that said, I did enjoy the book, just not as much as I hoped to. It just didn't quite reach its potential.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointed!!, November 13, 2009

By 

Bookworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 8) (Mass Market Paperback)

There was so much potential with the storyline of having Riely's actual soul mate in the running for her heart. I found Kye to be the dangerous man Riely needs in her life to counter the tameness of Quinn. Arthur took Kye's posessive behavior and turned it into that of a psychotic and at the same time she turned Quinn into a very uninteresting character. Without the intrigue of who Riely will spend her life with, the series has lost something for me and I most likely will not be continuing with the series.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor Showing, February 9, 2010

By 

Susinok "Susinok" (Norman, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bound to Shadows (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 8) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have been reading the Riley Jensen series since they first came out years ago. I enjoy the series immensely and this was the worst book to date.

The dialogue between Riley and Kye was amateurish and stilted. Her reactions to him were not believable. I also agree with a previous reviewer that Riley and family have no business bringing a child into this mess of a world they live in.

The ending did redeem the book, so I gave it three stars. I had trouble working my way through it and skipped ahead a lot. I hope that that in the next book we are back with Riley we've all come to know.