Bound To Me (Dark Days Prequel) by Jocelynn Drake
Paranormal Romance
Novella
April 10, 2012
Reviewed by Tori
Favorite Quote: “You are bound to me. Not because I am your maker. Not because I have the power to control you. You are bound to me by love. Time will pass and we will drift apart, as all our kind does, but we will forever have our hearts bound to each other by deep love and respect.”
Mira, the heroine of Jocelynn Drake’s New York Times bestselling Dark Days series, has been a nightwalker for centuries, traveling the globe as an enforcer for a secretive, powerful organization. In Bound to Me, for the first time, we travel back into Mira’s distant past to see the great love affair that shaped her. (Goodreads)
I am a long time fan of Ms. Drakes Nightwalker series. After Burn The Night released, I wasn’t expecting to see anymore of my beloved Mira and was thrilled when I was offered this novella, Bound To Me, which talks of Mira’s younger days and her Valerio. While we only caught bits and pieces of Mira’s complicated relationship with him through the series, we always knew in the back of our minds that theirs was a love affair that affected Mira to the point where she never removed a small silver ring that he gave her many years ago.
The novella starts out with Mira and Valero playing subtle power games with mortals while enforcing the laws of the coven in London. Mira soon learns when she and Valero are summoned back to the coven that she was under strict orders not to set foot in London, something that Valero neglected to tell her. As she awaits her punishment from her mentor, Jabari, she is informed that she and Valero will travel to Madrid and see what is killing nightwalkers there. Mira has no urge to go to Madrid as it is the home of her maker, Sadira, whom she left years ago. Once Mira and Valero arrive in Madrid, they soon realize that once again Jabari is once again playing games with Mira’s life and destiny.
Ms. Drake does a wonderful job of showing a younger more playful Mira of the past and the beginning events that led to her disillusionment towards her mentor and the entire coven. I enjoyed not only seeing more of Mira and a small but indulgent mystery, but also the smoking hot relationship with Valero. We always knew it was a sexual one but seeing evidence of the deeper feelings they felt for one another explains much about the Mira we grew to love in the full series.
Bound To Me will appeal to both old readers and those just discovering the series. I am sad the series has ended but thrilled Ms. Drake gives us one last goodbye.
Overall Rating: B
Recent Reviews:
Red Hot Books – 4/5
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I’ve only read the first book in this series so it sounds like I should check this one out before continuing on. Thanks for the review Tori!
The series starts years after this occurred. it’s just a nice little walk down memory lane.
Great review, Tori. I really enjoyed this one as well! I was surprised by how much I liked Mira and Valerio together.
It was very sweet.
Hey T, this sounds good. I’m curious about why an author writes a prequel after a series has ended. Do you think you would have enjoying the series any more or less if you had this story before or during the series? I’m probably not wording this right…I’m curious if the character of Mira would have been as engaging if you knew what you learned in the prequel before reading the series.
This novella is just a memory in her life. The series start off many years after this. I would have enjoyed the series just as much.
O I just bought this series, do you think I should read this prequel first? Or last, like it is published?
This novella won’t give you a huge insight to the series. It’s like a private memory. I like that I read it after because it added something a little special to the series that you really won’t appreciate if you read it first.