Ash’s review of Bound by Darkness (Soul Gatherer Series Book 2) by Annette McCleave
Paranormal Romance released by Signet Eclipse 04 May 10
I really liked the first book in this series, Drawn into Darkness, and I kept putting this one off because I was afraid it wouldn’t be as good. Well, I had nothing to worry about and Bound by Darkness reminded me why I liked the first one so much.
Bound by Darkness is just full of interesting and intriguing things. It has angels, demons, and magic. Even Death herself makes appearances as the boss of the Soul Gatherers, which is what Brian is. Annette McCleave does a great job of staying away from the typical warrior heroes. Brian gets manicures and dresses in expensive suits. His fellow warriors even assume he’s gay and are quite surprised when he lays a claim on Lena. He is not so simple as he seems though, he is hiding a painful past and he is still trying to move past it. It was something that I haven’t seen very often in books I’ve read. It made him into more of a person and less a character in a book. He is strong in his beliefs and in his honor, and he didn’t let a woman change that, even when she tried.
Lena is another Soul Gatherer and a thief, and she is the reason I didn’t grade this book higher. I didn’t like her at all. The way she acts throughout the book, keeping important information, was just too much for me. She has her reasons for choosing the life of one over the world, but when she had other options she should have taken them and I never bought her feelings as real. Even Brian calls her cold and I felt the little emotion she does show was too little, too late. Once he finds out all the facts, Brian immediately forgives her for helping Satan gain more power and I wanted him to be angry. She constantly did things to put people in jeopardy, and I felt she should have at least acknowledged that more.
From start to finish this book grabbed me, I cared about the characters (well, except Lena), and their fight against Satan. We even get into the minds of the demons and while usually I couldn’t care less about what the villains are thinking, it works here. I especially wanted more with the fallen angel Lucifer, not to mention the good ones Uriel and Michael. Lachlan (and I love how Annette McCleave has done his Scottish accent) and Rachel from the first book are still around, as well as Rachel’s daughter Emily. Her role in this world is becoming more important. I really liked the ongoing story with Emily and Carlos. They are teens but I found myself wanting them to end up with their own book, and soon. This series stands out to me among all the of paranormal romances, and I think the wait until the next one comes out is going to be very hard.
Grade: B+
Summary:
Soul Gatherer Brian Webster has long lived with the guilt of his failure to save his teenage sister. When another girl dies in his arms as she protects an ancient coin from a demon, he takes up her cause. The coin is one of thirty pieces of silver paid to Judas. United, the coins are a dark relic of immense power, and in the wrong hands, they could destroy civilization.
Lena Sharpe is on her own mission to find the Judas coins. A Soul Gatherer by day and a thief by night, she’s negotiated the most important deal of her life. When Brian intervenes and kidnaps her to obtain the coins, she attempts to escape. But the brazen warrior is unrelenting, as he is fearful that the beautiful felon has made a pact with the devil himself. And he’s not entirely wrong.
Bound together by burning desire and a similar darkness in their hearts, they race against time to recover the missing coins. But as the truth behind Lena’s bargain surfaces, Brian is faced with a desperate choice—save one or save many.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
