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corymartine's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Very rushed. Lack of details and depth made it very…Twilight-like.
klippy's review against another edition
4.5
I will say I think anyone that enjoyed the early part of Sherrilyn Kenyon's dark hunters will enjoy this book. I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series and then more of Amanda Ashley's books.
charms1976's review against another edition
5.0
Author Amanda Ashley has done it again. She has swept me back into the world of Vampire Romance in its true form. She takes the root of Vampire Paranormal Romance and puts it into a story to captivate the reader.
I loved the characters of Drake and Elena. While Elena was pure and innocent, Drake was her balance in danger and mystery. After living with her drunk Uncle, Elana flees to the castle called Wolfram Estate on the hill. She has heard numerous stories of it being haunted and abandoned, but she feels she has no choice to hide away in the castle and leave the abuse of her Uncle. She discovers that the house indeed has someone living there and he is the most gorgeous man she has ever seen.
Drake has lived for a long time and humans barely interest him anymore except for nourishment. Yet when he sees the lovely Elena at his castle, he is intrigued by her. He develops feelings for her that he has never felt before. Even though he is suppose to marry another woman to secure his rightful place in the Vampire Royalty, he has no desire to be with anyone bu Elena. Together they share a love that is deep and true even if there is danger to come.
Both characters were great in Bound By Night. I loved how Drake treated Elena like a princess and cared for her well being over his own. Elena handled the supernatural better than most people would have. Her courage was just as great as Drakes, but in her own way.
Again, Amanda Ashley has delivered an amazing paranormal romance that will quench your thirst of vampire lore! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book which is suppose to be based on a character you will discover in this book!
I loved the characters of Drake and Elena. While Elena was pure and innocent, Drake was her balance in danger and mystery. After living with her drunk Uncle, Elana flees to the castle called Wolfram Estate on the hill. She has heard numerous stories of it being haunted and abandoned, but she feels she has no choice to hide away in the castle and leave the abuse of her Uncle. She discovers that the house indeed has someone living there and he is the most gorgeous man she has ever seen.
Drake has lived for a long time and humans barely interest him anymore except for nourishment. Yet when he sees the lovely Elena at his castle, he is intrigued by her. He develops feelings for her that he has never felt before. Even though he is suppose to marry another woman to secure his rightful place in the Vampire Royalty, he has no desire to be with anyone bu Elena. Together they share a love that is deep and true even if there is danger to come.
Both characters were great in Bound By Night. I loved how Drake treated Elena like a princess and cared for her well being over his own. Elena handled the supernatural better than most people would have. Her courage was just as great as Drakes, but in her own way.
Again, Amanda Ashley has delivered an amazing paranormal romance that will quench your thirst of vampire lore! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book which is suppose to be based on a character you will discover in this book!
alboyer6's review against another edition
3.0
A decent book but full of fairly one-dimensional characters.
elliefufu's review against another edition
1.0
Bound By Night (Bound #1) by Amanda Ashley
Grade: D-
“ You’re teasing me.” “Not at all. You’re beauty puts the moon and the stars to shame.”
Elena Knightsbridge was just twelve years old when her parents died and she moved from Colorado to Romania to live with her aunt, uncle and cousin. Now seven years later, her aunt has passed away and her cousin has eloped with a young man from their village and Elena is all alone with her uncle. When her uncle declares that Elena must marry him she panics and flees to the only place she can think of Wolfram Estate. Wolfram is rumored to be haunted and has stood empty for as long as anyone can remember but Elena soon discovers her new refuge is not haunted at all but is home to the most handsome man she has ever seen Drake Sherrad.
Lord Drake Sherrad is shocked to find a young woman sleeping on his couch late one night and as a five hundred year old vampire Drake is not surprised easily. After hearing Elena’s story he offers her a place to live and safety from her uncle and his threats. As Drake spends more time with Elena he finds himself drawn to her as he has never been drawn to another, vampire or human, and can’t help but take her as his bride even though it is forbidden by vampire law. As Drake is summoned by his father to take his place on the vampire council he and Elena must fight for their relationship and future and convince everyone that love between a vampire and a human can work.
I love vampires. All you have to do to get me to read a book is say that there’s a vampire in it and I’m reading it. With that said this was the worst vampire book I have ever read. It makes me very sad to write that sentence but I have to be honest. The only reason that this wasn’t a DNF is because I’ve heard the second book in the series is really good and I am planning on reading it.
I found that both Drake and Elena to be very boring, cheesy, spineless and so frustrating. The way they interacted with each other and they way they spoke I found to be something out of a historical romance novel instead of a paranormal romance set in present day. I felt like their relationship was very hurried and I couldn’t believe that they were in love and married by chapter eight. Elena is only nineteen years old and is just such a weak character. Through the whole story I wanted her to stand up for herself and stop being so weak and she never did it. She also asked Drake to marry her without knowing his last name, where he goes at night, how old he is or that he is a vampire. I found their entire relationship laughable and unbelievable.
After the first very cheesy one hundred pages the story starts to pick up a little with the introduction of Drake’s family and the vampire council. This part of the book could have been enjoyable but it included Drake and spineless Elena who and they both just let everyone walk all over them for the next fifteen chapters. The major problem was that i didn’t care at all about anything that was going on and so much of it was cheesy lines and classic vampire cliches that it was painful to read.
The entire book seems like a set up for the next book, Bound by Blood, which is fine because I read the first two chapters in the back of this book and it actually seems like a real paranormal romance. Again, as someone who loves vampire books especially vampire romance books this was just plain bad. I love my characters, especially my female lead, to be strong, independent, kick ass characters and Drake and Elena are the farthest thing from that. I know this is a harsh review but I stick by my feelings and I stick by the fact that I hated this book.
Grade: D-
“ You’re teasing me.” “Not at all. You’re beauty puts the moon and the stars to shame.”
Elena Knightsbridge was just twelve years old when her parents died and she moved from Colorado to Romania to live with her aunt, uncle and cousin. Now seven years later, her aunt has passed away and her cousin has eloped with a young man from their village and Elena is all alone with her uncle. When her uncle declares that Elena must marry him she panics and flees to the only place she can think of Wolfram Estate. Wolfram is rumored to be haunted and has stood empty for as long as anyone can remember but Elena soon discovers her new refuge is not haunted at all but is home to the most handsome man she has ever seen Drake Sherrad.
Lord Drake Sherrad is shocked to find a young woman sleeping on his couch late one night and as a five hundred year old vampire Drake is not surprised easily. After hearing Elena’s story he offers her a place to live and safety from her uncle and his threats. As Drake spends more time with Elena he finds himself drawn to her as he has never been drawn to another, vampire or human, and can’t help but take her as his bride even though it is forbidden by vampire law. As Drake is summoned by his father to take his place on the vampire council he and Elena must fight for their relationship and future and convince everyone that love between a vampire and a human can work.
I love vampires. All you have to do to get me to read a book is say that there’s a vampire in it and I’m reading it. With that said this was the worst vampire book I have ever read. It makes me very sad to write that sentence but I have to be honest. The only reason that this wasn’t a DNF is because I’ve heard the second book in the series is really good and I am planning on reading it.
I found that both Drake and Elena to be very boring, cheesy, spineless and so frustrating. The way they interacted with each other and they way they spoke I found to be something out of a historical romance novel instead of a paranormal romance set in present day. I felt like their relationship was very hurried and I couldn’t believe that they were in love and married by chapter eight. Elena is only nineteen years old and is just such a weak character. Through the whole story I wanted her to stand up for herself and stop being so weak and she never did it. She also asked Drake to marry her without knowing his last name, where he goes at night, how old he is or that he is a vampire. I found their entire relationship laughable and unbelievable.
After the first very cheesy one hundred pages the story starts to pick up a little with the introduction of Drake’s family and the vampire council. This part of the book could have been enjoyable but it included Drake and spineless Elena who and they both just let everyone walk all over them for the next fifteen chapters. The major problem was that i didn’t care at all about anything that was going on and so much of it was cheesy lines and classic vampire cliches that it was painful to read.
The entire book seems like a set up for the next book, Bound by Blood, which is fine because I read the first two chapters in the back of this book and it actually seems like a real paranormal romance. Again, as someone who loves vampire books especially vampire romance books this was just plain bad. I love my characters, especially my female lead, to be strong, independent, kick ass characters and Drake and Elena are the farthest thing from that. I know this is a harsh review but I stick by my feelings and I stick by the fact that I hated this book.
sadie_rae's review against another edition
3.0
... Not the greatest read but still somewhat enjoyable. The writing style is very detached, so while interesting it feels like you are just glazing over the story. I would have loved to read this story with in depth details and explanations about what was going on. Also the whole build up with her uncle could have been a lot more dramatic, some times drama is a bad thing but you didn't even have time to worry about her before she was rescued, both times. In the end I'll most likely read the second book but i'm in between 2.5 and 3 stars on this one.
duskvamp's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book, it was well written, had a great plot that drew me in and left me wanting more. I do still have a couple questions that were not answered in this book but the questions that were directly linked to the main story I thought were answered quite well.
rclz's review against another edition
2.0
This is the first in Amanda Ashley's Bound series and the second book of hers I've tried to read. I thought maybe I didn't like the first one because of the time travel but that's not it. I finally realized that the problem is her characters are one dimensional and boring. I read this one farther in but still didn't finish it.
hcoles's review against another edition
3.0
I deserve a medal for getting through the first one hundred or so pages of this book. Painful is an apt description. After that, the story gets better.
In short: To avoid her uncle's unwanted sexual advances, nineteen-year-old Elena runs away from home and situates herself in Wolfram Castle where she meets a "dark, enigmatic man" to whom, after a few days' acquaintance, she proposes a marriage of convenience, which he - unsurprisingly - immediately accepts. So, the journey to eternal bliss begins, filled with vampire duties and intrigues and a lecherous, problem-causing uncle.
In short: To avoid her uncle's unwanted sexual advances, nineteen-year-old Elena runs away from home and situates herself in Wolfram Castle where she meets a "dark, enigmatic man" to whom, after a few days' acquaintance, she proposes a marriage of convenience, which he - unsurprisingly - immediately accepts. So, the journey to eternal bliss begins, filled with vampire duties and intrigues and a lecherous, problem-causing uncle.
kassandra_detroy's review against another edition
1.0
Why I read this I cannot say, other than just needing a bit of fluff in my reading diet…
Although there are probably plenty of other fluff filled books that would have been a better.
The only reason I finished this was because of my morbid curiosity to see how it ended. The characters were weak, there was no depth in any of the characters and I could care less about anything that might happen to them.
Although there are probably plenty of other fluff filled books that would have been a better.
The only reason I finished this was because of my morbid curiosity to see how it ended. The characters were weak, there was no depth in any of the characters and I could care less about anything that might happen to them.