Spellbound Hearts Series TOW Review
Heat Level: 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
I received these books in exchange for my honest opinion.
This series has everything I have been looking for in a fantasy genre book. In addition to loving the characters in these stories, I loved this world. I don’t know why, but I love all things fae. It is hard to find good books in this genre.
The author did an awesome job creating such a complex world . She took aspects of mythological creatures that are commonly known and gave them life and backstory. Plus, she created other fae beings (at least they were new to me). I figured some things on my own, but it was useful to have the glossary in the back for reference explaining the creatures’ abilities.
I do not usually recommend books that have BDSM aspects, but in this case, it is tastefully done and fits with the story line. The bondage was used a therapy in a way to work through trust issues the different women had.
While I loved all the story lines, of the three couples, my favorite HERO was the Huntsman (Caderyn). He was strong, rugged, and sexy. I sympathized a lot with him because he only wanted Cassie to be happy and it seemed that he was doing things for her protection but it would make her angry. I liked how straightforward he was with her and telling her what he wanted but emphasize that it was her choice to a certain extent.
TOW Final Word: Buy, Borrow, Pass?
BUY. Once you immerse yourself in this world, you will find that you do not want to leave. You might even start looking for portals in real life to escape to the land of Fae. Each book is a standalone but I recommend buying the whole series.
Taken By The Huntsman
Spellbound Hearts Book 1
by Mistral Dawn
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Adult Fantasy
Discarded and ignored by those around her for most of her life,
Cassie is a lonely human woman struggling to find her place in the world and meaning in her life.
Cadeyrn is the Erlking, the leader of the Wild Hunt, a hundreds of thousands of years old Fae who
has always known his purpose. He has spent his entire long existence tracking the criminals of
Fairie and punishing them for their crimes.
While hunting for the murderer of a child who has escaped to Earth Cadeyrn comes across
Cassie and realizes that she is the one that the great mother goddess has designated as his soul
mate. He kidnaps her and takes her to his fortress in Fairie to protect her from his many enemies.
He knows she will be angry and that he’ll have to work to earn her trust, but he finds his task to be
even more challenging than he had thought it would be due to Cassie’s difficulty in opening her
heart.
Will Cadeyrn be able to convince Cassie that the bond between them is real and earn her love?
Bound By The Summer
Prince
Spellbound Hearts Book 2
The Summer Court is in an uproar. The king has just been executed
for unpardonable crimes, and the queen is prostrate with grief over his loss. This leaves the
Summer kingdom bereft of true leadership; a problem which is compounded by the fact that the
laws of Fairie require balance to be maintained by having a male and a female ruler for both
Season Courts at all times. Uaine, the Summer prince, is the only one who can put things right,
but he is without a mate. Knowing that he must take a bride quickly, for the sake of his people,
even though he is struggling with his own feelings of pain and anger over his father’s treachery,
he goes for a walk in a forest near the palace to try to clear his head and determine how best to
choose a female to rule beside him.
While walking Uaine discovers a human female running loose in Fairie, which is against the most
basic tenets of Fae law. Furious at one more problem he must deal with, he takes her prisoner
and locks her in the dungeon; only to discover later that she is his soul-mate. The magical bond
between them means they are meant to be together forever, but humans can’t feel the magic of
Fairie. Will Uaine be able to win her heart and convince her that she can trust him to keep her
safe from all the dangers of Fairie…including himself?
Roni is a human con woman and petty thief. Having run afoul of the local crime syndicate in the
city where she is staying, she finds herself running for her life. Trouble is no stranger to her, but
when she falls through a hole in a wall and finds herself in a world with carnivorous trees and
rocks that eat people she realizes she may have found more of it than she can deal with.
Rescued/arrested by the prince of the Summer Court, it doesn’t take long for her to formulate a
plan to use him to get herself home. Unfortunately for her, she soon finds that her heart, which
she had thought long ago turned to stone, has begun to feel the love she has been playing at. Will
she be able to overcome a lifetime of caution and allow herself to follow her heart? Can a criminal
love a cop?
Please be aware that this book contains explicit sexual scenes and
depictions of BDSM. If these things disturb you, then this may not be the book for
you.
Intrigue In The Summer
Court
Spellbound Hearts #2.5
Jillian knows something bad is going to happen! She has been a
loyal adviser to the throne and friend of the queen, Briallen, for thousands of years, and now Roni
and Uaine’s wedding and coronation are to take place in just a couple days. The Summer Court
will have a new king and queen, who, it is hoped, can repair the damage and heal the schism the
late king created.
But Jillian can’t shake the feeling that trouble is brewing. Many of the Summer nobles aren’t happy
about the changes that are taking place in the Summer Court, and many of the other Fae just
aren’t too sure about having a human on the throne…even if she has been blessed by the
goddess. When Angelica, the leader of the Pixies, comes to her with news of a plot to murder the
prince and princess, Jillian’s suspicions are confirmed. Will the two of them be able to unravel this
conspiracy in time to save the royal couple? Or will prejudice prevail, and the hope for peace in
Fairie be lost forever?
*This is a novella and is number 2.5 in the series.
**This story contains adult material, BDSM play, and explicit sexual
scenes. If that is not your thing, this may not be the story for you. 🙂
Captivated By The Winter
King
Spellbound Hearts Book 3
Kate is a woman on the run. After years of being physically and
emotionally abused by her fiance, she’s finally had enough. But leaving might be even more
dangerous than staying, so she needs to get as far away as she can as fast as possible. A late
night, desperate drive through the pouring rain ends suddenly when a cat appears in the middle of
the road. While trying to avoid the half-drowned creature, Kate loses control of her car and
crashes through a portal to Fairie.
Ankou is a fallen God of Death and the king of the Winter Court of Fairie, and he’s facing pressure
from every direction. The magic of the Court is out of balance due to the centuries-long lack of a
queen. He is harried constantly by the Court nobles who want him to either step down or take a
mate. All the duties of a ruling pair rest squarely on his shoulders. And added to all this is a soul-
crushing loneliness. His existence stretches back hundreds of millennia, and in all that time he
has never found the one person who could warm his lonely heart. He is exhausted and
discouraged, and the last thing he needs is to go tearing off into the night on a fool’s errand. But
one of his lingering god powers is the ability to sense the right course of action to follow, and his
instincts are screaming at him to go to a particular place in the forest of the Winter kingdom and
wait. Imagine his surprise when he finds the one he has been waiting for his whole life!
Using a careful blend of patience, seduction, and domination, the Winter king tries to win his
soulmate’s love. Feeling safe and valued for the first time in her memory, Kate explores her new
freedom by agreeing to try the BDSM games her lover suggests. As she experiments with both
domination and submission, she learns just how liberating surrender can be. Will Ankou be able to
convince Kate that she can trust him with her feelings as well as her body? Will Kate find a way to
overcome the trauma of her past and open up her heart to accept the love that is offered to her?
Can these two broken people find a way to fit all their disparate pieces together into a stronger,
united whole? You’ll have to read to find out!
**Trigger Warning: please note that this story contains depictions of
domestic violence and other forms of familial abuse. If these types of situations cause you
distress, this may not be the story for you.
**Please note that this story contains scenes of violence and explicit sexual scenes including
BDSM. If this type of material offends you, this is probably not the story for you.
Mistral Dawn is a thirty-something gal who has lived on both coasts
of the US, but somehow never in the middle. She currently resides in the Southeast US with her
kitty cats (please spay or neuter! :-)). She has written three full-length novels in the Spellbound
Hearts series, Taken By The Huntsman, Bound By The Summer Prince, and Captivated By the
Winter King.
Amazon * Facebook * Website * Twitter * Google+ * Goodreads
The Opinionated Woman's Musings 