Bound in Flame is the first book I have read by this author. It was a bit slow at certain points in the book. Overall, I liked it.

Banished to boarding school to tame her wild temper, Letty Liliuokalani Lang returns home to Hawaii, bringing her devotion to animals with her. She’ll be among the first female veterinarians in history—remarkable in 1909 when women still cannot vote.

2.5 stars.
I am having mixed emotions, because on one hand it was somewhat interesting, but another hand i felt somewhat...bored? and confused.

Leticia Lili‘uokalani Lang is returning to Hawaii in 1909, after being sent to boarding school in San Francisco, to turn her into a lady and for her to learn to control her fiery temper. Letty loves animals, she wants to be a veterinarian and she’s a proud suffragette.

On arrival Letty jumps into the water, she saves a horse from drowning and discovers she’s an mākāhā, a Gate to the healing fires of the land, and her hair turns a bright red. The ancient power that lives with in her is very intense, it's her connection to the islands, she needs to learn how to use her special type of magic and Kumu helps her.

Letty meets Mr. Timothy Rowley, it was his horse Diablo that she saved from drowning and he doesn’t know what to make of Letty. After spending time with her, he discovers the gift she has with animals, Letty finds the Englishman attractive, with her power a kiss from her is enough to kill him and she must control her feelings towards him.

I received a copy of Bound in Flame by Katherine Kayne from NetGalley and Passionflower Press in exchange for an honest review. I’m not a big fan of magical realism, it’s not really my style, as the narrative was set in Hawaii it did fit in with the islander’s beliefs and culture. I enjoyed reading about the beautiful island, food, clothing, Letty's dreams of being a vet, love interest, and her family are all lovely. Letty's a member of the Hawaiian Ladies Riding Society and what an impressive sight they would be riding their horses and holding their votes for women banner. Three and a half stars from me, I actually own a copy of this book and a quick read.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Part of me just wants to admit this book is not for me, and it was never going to be for me. Knowing this I should not have read it, and I should just rate it and move on without really going deep into what did or did not work. Then again, I'm tempted to say that any book that isn't within the parameters of what I usually read has the potential to convince me otherwise. I've picked up books on scientific history knowing full well I had no interest, and ended up loving it. I've not read many romance novels, but I have the full confidence that if I read the right one, I'll be on board in no time.

That's a long-winded and frankly unnecessary way to say this book wasn't the one. It’s not for me, it was never going to be for me, and despite my hopes and dreams, didn't sway me to the dark side. I don't know if this is a good romance novel. Maybe it is. But I can still tell you my observations and from that, you can decide if it's up your alley.

My first point is that I still do not understand Letty’s powers (neither does she, which is another problem) even after reading the book. She has flames that run up and down her back, although I am unsure if they are metaphorical flames or actual ones. According to the book summary, she's a "Gate to the healing fires of the land", but nowhere does it describe what that actually means? She also has an intimate connection to animals and can apparently speed up and/or assist in their healing, which I assume is related to being a Gate, but it's never exclusively said that is what Gates are supposed to do. Considering that the Princess Kehokulani (annoyingly referred to as Princess K throughout the book) also is a Gate, but for truth instead of fire, which doesn't clear it up at all. Truth and fire are two very different categories of things. Letty doesn't understand her powers or her role at all at the beginning, which is fine, but she almost knows even less about it by the time the book ends, which made it feel like nothing at all had been accomplished over the course of the story.

I didn't find that the story or the characters were all that riveting. For a historical fantasy romance novel, by the halfway point we should be somewhere, but by Bound in Flame's halfway point, I was ready to fall asleep. And you can't tell me that it goes slowly because it takes place in 1909, and life just went slower then. I've read hundreds of historical novels. I feel comfortable enough to call myself an expert on them. It did not need to be this painfully boring. What is interesting though is that I have a bit of conflicting opinions on the writing. On one hand, it was exhausting. We read from both Timothy and Letty's perspectives, but often it switched from one to the other mid-page. I don't mind multiple perspectives, but I need more of a distinction between the two if you are going to flip back and forth. The pacing of the story is also a bit touch and go. Whole chapters are dedicated to one scene or conversation, but then whole journeys go by in a few sentences. Part of me wants to chalk this up to the time period, but it still felt unnatural. But on the other hand, this book doesn’t need to be the next Great American Novel, so perhaps none of this matters at all and my expectations are unfairly high.

My final gripe is the Hawaiian-ness of it all. It's clear to me that the author is a big fan of Hawaii and its culture. She clearly has spent a lot of time there immersed among the locals, more of an expat than visitor. But it feels like now she's trying to prove it which isn’t necessary. I'm worried that the ridiculously broken English and "savageness" of her native Hawaiian characters border on stereotypically racist. She also shoves in Hawaiian words wherever she can, in places in conversation that I know it would never come up naturally. It felt like in movies when characters have explanatory dialogue that is in no way natural, but instead is supposed to provide context to the viewer. I don't think the author had any malicious intent in doing this, but it felt a bit overboard. I think she was trying to immerse the reader and make sure they never forgot where they were or what her characters' heritages were, but instead it felt excessive and unnecessary. No one is going to forget this book takes place in Hawaii, I promise you. The language itself, apart from what I mentioned above, is too modern for the time period, which is a critique I have for a lot of historical novels. You cannot include modern words and inflections into historical dialogue. Language evolves and they don't speak like we do. I also had a problem with the exorbitant number of sentence fragments in the text. Prose cannot have sentence fragments. Dialogue, sure, but not your narratives. Speaking and writing are two different forms of communication and need to be treated as such. It made the book feel amateur and unfinished.

As far as the romance goes, I'm going to leave that largely up to you. It didn't feel like there was much romance going on, even if its 1909. Everyone kept saying they saw sparks fly between the two main characters, and all I read between them were a handle of friendly gestures. And if you're looking for explicit, sweaty, Hawaiian smut between the two, you won't get it here. Letty and her beau don't even kiss until two thirds of the way through the book, and the only explicit scene is at the end. It honestly makes me wonder who this book is supposed to be for? Romance readers will be disappointed in the lack of descriptive romance. For a fantasy novel, the magic is never explained or elaborated upon. And as for historical fiction, the writer makes it clear (both in the writing and in her afterword) that it's entirely fictional and not based upon anyone at all - despite certainly feeling like it’s supposed to be. It makes the overall experience disappointing.

Anyway, I think the perfect audience for this book are those who like to travel back in time with a little bit of “will the won’t they” while on holiday at the beach. In other words, I think the ideal reader who will appreciate this book are retirees with a holiday home on Maui. Essentially, the author wrote what she wanted to read and that’s great. I wish it didn’t have so many stereotypes, and I wish Timothy Rowley didn’t have a white saviour complex to him. I won’t read the rest of the promised series, but if this sounds like your thing, feel free to pick it up.

This book was definitely not for me. It is extremely well written, but I couldn't bring myself to enjoy it the way it should be. Thus, I ended up DNFing it.

Title: Bound in Flame
Author: Katherine Kayne
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3 out of 5

In 1909 Hawaii, Letty Lang is a suffragette, a rebel, and an animal lover with a temper who’s determined to become the first female veterinarian in Hawaii. There’s also the flames she feels around her, that she’s never understood. When she dives into the ocean to save a horse, she sets things in motion that will change the way she sees the world.

She is a Gate to the land she loves, but her flames will destroy anyone who comes close, even Timothy, the horse’s owner and a lord looking for an heiress to help fund his dreams. Can she control her flames, or will she lose everything she wants in the attempt?

I’m not sure how to classify this book. It’s sort of YA, sort of historical, and sort of fantasy. But not completely any of these…I loved the setting, but the location/date tags on every chapter were pointless, as the timeline was straightforward, and most of the novel was set in Hawaii. This novel… could have been fascinating, but it felt unfinished, like the bare bones of the story was there, but it needed details filled in and sometimes events seemed to happen unrelated to anything else. The subplot about the serial killer seemed entirely pointless and unrelated as well.

Katherine Kayne lives in Hawaii part of the year. Bound in Flame is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Passionflower Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. A full review will be posted on Amazon and Goodreads

Absolutely loved this book! This follows a young woman in Hawaii who is a women’s suffragist before her time. I love the bold characters in this book and the beautiful imagery that you get of the island! This mixes historical fiction, romance and fantasy all into one magical book! Excited for more of this series!

Banished to boarding school to tame her wild temper, Letty Liliuokalani Lang returns home to Hawaii, bringing her devotion to animals with her. She’ll be among the first female veterinarians in history—remarkable in 1909 when women still cannot vote. With one mad leap into the ocean to save a horse, Letty sets another destiny in motion. She is a mākāhā, a Gate to the healing fires of the land, her beloved ‘aina. Letty must learn to harness the ancient power that lives within her, fueled by her connection to the islands. But the price is steep. Her inner flame burns hot—hot enough that her kisses can actually kill, a precarious inconvenience since the horse’s owner, Timothy Rowley, lights another kind of fire. Can Letty learn to command her power in pursuit of her passion, or is the danger of love too great?
For some reason, I had a hard time with this story. I wanted to try it for something different. I was at Oahu years ago and learned a bit about some of their culture so this peaked my interest. Unfortunately my interest didn’t stick. I had some issues with it throughout. It just wasn’t for me. DNF.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

A hit debut by a new author Katherine Kayne set in early 20th century Hawaii. First book in a new series called Hawaiian Ladies' Riding Society main character Letty Lang a feisty and headstrong women who wants freedom to become a veterinarian.
She's a suffragist but that part of the story was mentioned but would of enjoyed to see Letty interact with the suffragette.
The story was concentrated on her accepting her power's redflame's and fighting her feelings for dashing british Timothy which in the end a marriage was celebrated.
The story of the Gate's will continue. The search for the nine Gate's is on going because the 'aina demandes that they reunite.
The cover of this book is gorgeous very bright colours.
I want to thank NetGalley, Passion Flower Press, Katherine Kayne and Sarah Miniaci from Smith Publicity for sending me an Advance Reading Copyof this amazing book in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Romantic fiction has never been more contrived than it is in Ms. Kayne's novel. The writing style is ok, but her thoughts and references to Hawaiian culture and language are scattered and aren't as profound as the author intends them to be. Characters are flat, interactions dull. The main character is too modernly feminist to be believable in 1909 society, as are her compatriots. The storyline had promise but failed to live up to it. Suggest much more editing.

1 out of 5 stars. Do not recommend.

I do hope Kaherine Kayne has been busy writing the next instalment in The Hawaiian Ladies Riding Society series. I was totally drawn into Katherine's debut book.

Bound in Flame is a story of Letty and Tiimothy; a love story...which keeps us waiting. But also so much more..........Set in the most beautifull of places and laced with the most alluring language, I felt as if I was in Hawaii, rooted to the aina myself. The imagery is undeniable - the colours, scents of gardenia and pikake, sounds of the sea, leap off the page.

Coming from New Zealand, pacific island life is known to me. The language is melodic, the sun warm and the people equally so. Magical mystical powers exist in our culture too.

So many historical fictions currently in vogue seem to be set in Paris - a city of love for sure. But I have discovered the history and the beauty of Hawaii works as a unique backdrop too, as this strong wahine discovers her powers and her destiny.

We are also introduced to many characters in this book - too many some would say? But I can see the value of this, as we expect further books in the series. I am keen to see where these "co-stars" also take us. Agnes the Lioness particularly.

Thanks to Netgalley, Passionfire Press and Katherine Kayne

There is fanstasy, romance and all that is set in an historical setting.
I am not sure I liked it nor can I honestly say I did not enjoy this book.
However my experience with this book was different. I do look forward to reading more from this series though. Perhaps then I can write a complete review for this book.

Thank you for the chance to review this book.

Overall, I liked this book. I think it is the perfect summer read with its slow-paced plot and rich setting. The writing creates the perfect atmosphere for a summer holiday read. The plot was incredible and kept me interesting but there was a small pacing problem with major events in the book. The characters were fun to read about and I cannot wait to read more about their stories in future books. This is a book best going into without knowing too much. Thank you so much to Smith Publicity for providing me with a copy of this book!

A lovely historical fiction novel with horses, hula and beautiful Hawaiian traditions woven throughout the story. I especially like the mystical magical element of the story.

This was a wonderfully written romance with some interesting Hawaiian folklore/magic. I really liked the characters in this story Letty being so determined to make women equal was wonderful. I do however wise the romance level of this had been amped up just a smidge, The first half of this book felt more fantasy then romance and when its billed a certain way readers often lose interest. Just a thought.

Once again the cover and the blurb lured me in, however, the content itself was... lacking.

Took me a bit to finish it - and I did so by skipping, reading a dialogue here and there.

Why? Well, it started out interesting. Kudos to the author for the Polynesian culture and lore research she conducted in order to write this book. But at less than 40%, I kind of had to push myself to read. It was more telling than showing, not real depth to the story or the characters. I liked Letty's description but that's about it because she wasn't actually developed.

Because of said lack of development, the entire story felt shallow, it floated on the surface of the water, instead of diving in, real deep, pulling at heartstrings, even though there were scenes that could have had me sobbing - and I'm sure I skipped a few others because I just wanted to reach the end.

Pity. I cannot rate it more than 2.5 stars. This author's style is not for me. I voluntarily agreed to read a copy via Netgalley.

I was provided with an ARC of this title by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a delightful story about a heroine determined to flout convention and find her own path. Her journey is made all the more complicated by the legacy of magic that runs in her veins. It is a legacy that ties her to the lush history of her Hawaiian homeland.

I found the pace of the story a bit slow, and the dialogue was stilted at times. However, the story includes many cultural aspects that will be fascinating to readers who are unfamiliar with the history of Hawaii's colonization, and the primary character is a wonderful reflection of the women who launched the Suffrage Movement.

Title : Bound To Flame

Series: Hawaiian Ladies Raiding Society

Author: Kathrine Kayne

Genre: Historical romance /magical realism

Pages: 347

Rating: 5

Publication:Oct 28,2019


Letty Lang is a suffragist of the most fearless kind, with a bullwhip, big dreams, and ancient powers she doesn’t understand. Can she save her lover from her own lethal passions?

Banished to boarding school to tame her wild temper, Letty Liliuokalani Lang returns home to Hawaii, bringing her devotion to animals with her. She’ll be among the first female veterinarians in history—remarkable in 1909 when women still cannot vote.

With one mad leap into the ocean to save a horse, Letty sets another destiny in motion. She is a mākāhā, a Gate to the healing fires of the land, her beloved ‘aina. Letty must learn to harness the ancient power that lives within her, fueled by her connection to the islands. But the price is steep. Her inner flame burns hot—hot enough that her kisses can actually kill, a precarious inconvenience since the horse’s owner, Timothy Rowley, lights another kind of fire.

Can Letty learn to command her power in pursuit of her passion, or is the danger of love too great?


My thoughts

Would I recommend it ? Yes

Will I continue on with the series ?yes

Would I read more by this author? Yes

Wow ,just wow ,the story its self is beautiful written that she brings to life her characters , of course it would have to make me cry at two different parts of the story but over all it's now one of my new favorite 2019 books. And the characters ,out of all of them Letty is my favorite ,the way she's out going and sprited, and her love for animals, other thing I love about the story is how the author use the myths of the Hawaiian people and their islands , it shows just how much they love them and honored them. Plus I loved how there was usage of the Hawaiian language and there's even a language glossary in the back of the book , plus the mentioning of the flowers and their meaning.And while it does mention the colonialism and how the Hawaiian people was look down upon it also show that there was people even from the islands that worked against their own people.Hopeful I'm putting my thoughts down in a way you the readers of this blog can somewhat understand, because in many ways I'm not sure if I'm give it the justification it deserves. With that said I want to thank Netgalley as will as Smith Publicity for let me read and review it exchange for my honest opinion as well as a big thank you once again to Smith Publicity for send me a copy