Fire Bound by Christine Feehan
Series: Sea Haven/Sisters of the Heart, #5
Paranormal Romance
April 26. 2016
Jove

Reviewed by Tori

Favorite Quote: “Golubushka”

Lissa Piner is a talented artisan who uses her gift as a fire elemental to create one of a kind glass-blown works of art. Trained by her uncle as an assassin, Lissa has spent her whole life slowly killing her way through the family that had her parents murdered. Thought to be dead herself, Lissa works in secrecy, able to change her appearance with the skill of chameleon. When she is contacted to possibly create some of her art for a chain of luxury hotels, Lissa plans to take this time to take care of the last two people on her list. Calm and deadly, Lissa knows there is a chance she may not make it back to the her sisters  but she is prepared to die for her cause.

Casimir Prakenskii is also a fire elemental. Kidnapped and trained as killing weapon like his brothers, Casimir has spent the past few years off the grid and searching for a way to destroy the man who killed his parents and destroyed his family. When he is contacted by his brother Gavrill to go to Italy and keep an eye on Lissa, Casimir has no issues with playing bodyguard but when he sees Lissa, he realizes she is the one for him.

Lissa vowed never to bond with one the Prakenskii brothers like her sisters but meeting Casimir forces her to accept her destiny. As she and Casimir get to know one another, they realize their need for revenge coincides and soon this couple starts down a dangerous and passion filled path of love, loss, revenge, and redemption.

Feehan’s Sea Haven–Sisters of the Heart series is a spin-off her Drake Sisters series. The series is based on six sisters of the heart rather than blood who have built a life on Sea Haven in order to heal from their individually violent pasts. Fire Bound is the fifth in the series and focuses on Lissa Piner. Each installment in this series has in some way alluded to the events that happened in the last Drake book-Hidden Currents. This one is a little different in that the story takes place away from Sea Haven and the other sisters and the brothers do not play a large role in this storyline. We also see that unlike the other couples whose personalities are different but complementary, this couple is very much alike from their personalities, to their gifts, to their skills.

The ongoing arc is still in play concerning Ellie Drake but information is revealed that led me to believe it will all be coming to a head soon. You do not need to read the Drake Sisters series in order to understand this series as each storyline is self-contained with a resolvable conflict but the characters and arc do vaguely overlap.

Fire Bound is an emotionally, action packed PNR filled with mystery, suspense, and a very erotic based romance. It is one of the more darker stories in this series and I would be remiss in not warning readers of the explicit scenes of violence and sexual assault. Smooth plotting and strong characterization. Feehan does a good job of introducing us the protagonists and integrating their backstories into the narrative. She takes her time building the tension of the main conflict, allowing us to see every move and thought of our protagonists and the villains. I really enjoyed the assassin(s) plotline and the devious twists Feehan added to increase the sense of danger and anticipation. There was an issue of repetition in dialogue. Both Lissa and Casimir constantly repeated themselves. At first, I thought maybe it was a formatting error but each time there was a small change in the sentence or structure to show it wasn’t a copy.

Casimir and Lissa are very much in tune with one another. This is established almost from the beginning. Their histories run parallel -both have lost their parents to violence and both were groomed to be assassins. Intelligent, loyal, and dangerous; they are deadly individuals who when paired together are almost invincible. Feehan sets up their introduction and romance up very quickly in order for them to begin their story together. Casimir isn’t as dominant as some of his brothers, though he’s still very much an alpha and his protective streak goes into overdrive when he sees Lissa. Lissa asserts herself as his equal right off the bat, expressing that she is not a submissive and his caveman techniques won’t always work with her.

The romance has a strong foothold in the storyline, as to be expected, but I wasn’t prepared for how strong that hold was. I also didn’t expect the multiple sexual scenes nor for how detailed they were. I can’t believe I had an issue with this but they almost overpower the main storyline. It seemed every time I turned a page they are having sex or thinking about having sex. Due to the plotlines and pace that Feehan set, there were no mundane, everyday scenes to offset this. I do wish more time could have been spent building the romance between them; allowing time for them to really get to know one another, rather than using the insta-love bonding plotline. It may have allowed the romance to have blended better with the story. Feehan attempts to justify this fast pace she has set by allowing them to “see” each other’s memories, garnering a sense of longevity in their relationship.

The ending comes at you hard and fast, wrapping up the main conflict and an ongoing storyline. We are still waiting for Ellie and Jackson to return to Sea Haven and I for one can’t WAIT to see what happens then. I predict major fireworks. And maybe some elemental magic. We meet the final Prakenskii brother and get a brief look at what he has been up to. I have a feeling his book is going to be the wildest one yet. There are rumors that this is the last in the Sisters arc and the final brother, Victor, will be the beginning of a new series. I haven’t be able to confirm this rumor so we will have to see. While Fire Bound wasn’t my favorite in the series, Earth Bound holds that honor, it is a good addition to the series and fans are sure to enjoy.

Grade: C+

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