Review: Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost

Play with fire, pay the price.

Leila’s years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn’t learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin…

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn’t like Vlad to feel fear, but he does…for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad’s greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad’s love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both…

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MY REVIEW

Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 it's Vlad what can I say STARS

“You aren’t just my weakness, Leila.” Vlad drew me next to him, one hand sliding along my jaw while the other caressed my back. “You are my destruction, because if I were to lose you, it would finish me.”

*sigh*

I had high hopes. Really high hopes...and yeah some of them were met, but it wasn't as perfect as I thought it would be. I had a blast reading never the less. So, let's get this party started!

Actually we are literally starting with a party. Vlad has invited a few hundred guests for a little masquerade ball and Leila is on touching and unearthing secrets duty. Szilagyi is still at large and nothing would make Vlad - that being Vlad Tepesh...or Dracula, but don't say it to his face or you will regret it...unless you are Bones - so, nothing would make him happier than seeing his arch enemy impaled on his front lawn.

For those of you new to the party...here is a the backstory in a nutshell...

(view spoiler)[Leila had an accident when she was a young girl. In the aftermath she is not only scared, but can also channel electricity and learn a person's darkest sins by touching them. That in return makes her unable to touch people without electrocuting them.

Until she meets Vlad. He can wield fire and as a vampire he is practically immune against electricity. With his help she learns more about her powers how to deal with them and yeah they fall in love. Throw in enemies who create problems. People die. Leila gets kidnapped a few times and two books later....they are married and she is a vampire after being killed by one of his enemies. Yes, it's all about power and revenge and everyone is very angry all the time. (hide spoiler)]

Anyway...Szilagyi is Vlad's biggest enemy and he must be stopped at any cost. That's also the agenda for this book in a nutshell.

Unfortunately said big bad is always ten steps ahead and causes not only immense loss and destruction he has also the power to strike the night prince where it hurts the most...Leila, his wife.

“Vlad loved the same way that he lived--untamable, dangerous, and full throttle.”

Vlad is THE MAN! He is brutal and bloody and he would do just about anything to safe Leila, even sacrificing his whole line. I just love how Jeaniene Frost took the original character and made him so much more. Unfortunately I still have the problem that I like him even more when he appears in the Huntress Series. Nothing beats Vlad getting on Bones' nerves and playing BFF with Cat. Hands down. Don't need a love story when I get that particular interaction.

“Our pasts might shape us, but they weren’t the end sum of us”

Leila is a kick-ass heroin who has to deal with a lot of shit this time around, but she takes it like a boss. That woman is strong and just right for dear old Dracula. ;P

I really enjoyed their relationship a lot more this time around. They felt a lot more like equals and Leila got a break from his overbearing assholishness. In fact both characters seem to be much more on the communicating side in the third instalment. Well, after him trying to make decisions for her leads to more drama than when they listen to each other. And it is much appreciated, tbh.

I'm not here for Leila being abducted...AGAIN! I'm just done with that story line. I'm sure that are other ways to cause trouble in Vlad's life. Why do they always go for his women. It's boring and the things she has to endure are over the top. Seriously!

“You’re mine,” he breathed against my neck when his lips left mine to travel lower. “Forever. Say it.” “I’m yours,” I swore, the words ragged from passion. “Forever. Now, take me and prove it.”

The hunt for the big bad was interesting and the conclusion has an interesting twist I didn't see coming. But then again it was more of a tool to keep the story going. Did you know that there will be another book? I really thought it would only be a trilogy. Oh well, I guess there was more money to be made.

The thing with Jeaniene Frost books for me is that I just love them. I love the world I love how she brings back the characters from the whole Nighthuntress Universe. The interactions are always golden and make my heart get all nostalgic. I think Halfway to the Grave was one of the very first PNR books I ever read. So, no matter what, I will pick up her books.

Here is to hoping that #4 in the Night Prince series will be fabulous. ;D Now that those two crazy kids actually work with each other. I predict a bright and possibly bloody future ahead and Vlad and Leila sure deserve some happy times.