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A review by ezichinny
Darkness Bound by Stella Cameron
3.0
This book had a really good premise but it ended up being just okay for me. A solid 3 stars.
Heroine Leigh Kelly moved to Chimney Rock (located in Whidbey Island) to live in a cottage left to her by her recently deceased husband. She chose to Chimney Rock because it held some special memories for her and her late husband Chris. While she was healing, she also wanted to cherish the happy times of her past. She quit her job at Microsoft and got a job as a Manager of the local Diner in Chimney rock. Her new boss Gabriel remembers her and Chris eating there, so he tries to ease her transition into the town. One of the ways he helped her was by arranging for his friend Niles Latimer to chop wood for her fireplace.
Niles Latimer is a former special-ops solider, who just returned from the Middle East. He seems like a nice guy, just suffering from a little Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (or at least that is what I attribute his nightmares to). Plus, he is dealing with another kind of stress. Niles was the alpha leader of a Were-hound pack that was dying out. Niles needed to mate and reproduce, and Leigh was a compatible match for this rare were-breed. In fact, all the female were-hounds have died due to their hard child birthing process. So Niles set out to gain Leigh’s trust, and hopefully win her affections one day. The problem is that time is against him as the pack needs to start increasing their numbers and as well as guard against their various enemies such as the werewolves.
Leigh and Niles make an immediate connection. When her feelings for him grow, Niles is forced to admit to Leigh that he isn’t quite human. The pack agreed that any human female that they connect with, must have full disclosure before they can seal with that female. Fortunately, Leigh takes the news like a trooper.
The problem is that every species wanted Leigh for one reason or another. As the story unfolds, we learn a little bit of Leigh’s background. Specifically, she is half-fae, so her offspring would have some powerful abilities. We also see that the vampires, werewolves and faes don’t want to see Niles and Leigh end up together because they are all trying to gain more power as well as control the Chimney Rock territory.
This book had some issues for me. First of all, it got more and more elaborate and complicated as the story unfolded. There was just so much going on. Add to that, the writing was a little choppy. Second, I really didn’t connect with Leigh. I liked Niles a lot, but I didn’t connect with them as a couple. I kept reading to find out what happened, but I didn’t get that butterfly in my stomach feeling that I get as the action unfolded. Also, I can’t think of a single passage in the book that I read again or care to read again. I don’t think the author’s writing style appealed to me. I can’t say that I enjoyed this book. I do think Sean’s book will be a better book because we got a chance to get to know him so there is a great foundation to build upon. I may read Book 2 as I always try to give series a minimum of 2 books to win me over.
***copy received by Netgalley***
Heroine Leigh Kelly moved to Chimney Rock (located in Whidbey Island) to live in a cottage left to her by her recently deceased husband. She chose to Chimney Rock because it held some special memories for her and her late husband Chris. While she was healing, she also wanted to cherish the happy times of her past. She quit her job at Microsoft and got a job as a Manager of the local Diner in Chimney rock. Her new boss Gabriel remembers her and Chris eating there, so he tries to ease her transition into the town. One of the ways he helped her was by arranging for his friend Niles Latimer to chop wood for her fireplace.
Niles Latimer is a former special-ops solider, who just returned from the Middle East. He seems like a nice guy, just suffering from a little Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (or at least that is what I attribute his nightmares to). Plus, he is dealing with another kind of stress. Niles was the alpha leader of a Were-hound pack that was dying out. Niles needed to mate and reproduce, and Leigh was a compatible match for this rare were-breed. In fact, all the female were-hounds have died due to their hard child birthing process. So Niles set out to gain Leigh’s trust, and hopefully win her affections one day. The problem is that time is against him as the pack needs to start increasing their numbers and as well as guard against their various enemies such as the werewolves.
Leigh and Niles make an immediate connection. When her feelings for him grow, Niles is forced to admit to Leigh that he isn’t quite human. The pack agreed that any human female that they connect with, must have full disclosure before they can seal with that female. Fortunately, Leigh takes the news like a trooper.
The problem is that every species wanted Leigh for one reason or another. As the story unfolds, we learn a little bit of Leigh’s background. Specifically, she is half-fae, so her offspring would have some powerful abilities. We also see that the vampires, werewolves and faes don’t want to see Niles and Leigh end up together because they are all trying to gain more power as well as control the Chimney Rock territory.
This book had some issues for me. First of all, it got more and more elaborate and complicated as the story unfolded. There was just so much going on. Add to that, the writing was a little choppy. Second, I really didn’t connect with Leigh. I liked Niles a lot, but I didn’t connect with them as a couple. I kept reading to find out what happened, but I didn’t get that butterfly in my stomach feeling that I get as the action unfolded. Also, I can’t think of a single passage in the book that I read again or care to read again. I don’t think the author’s writing style appealed to me. I can’t say that I enjoyed this book. I do think Sean’s book will be a better book because we got a chance to get to know him so there is a great foundation to build upon. I may read Book 2 as I always try to give series a minimum of 2 books to win me over.
***copy received by Netgalley***