Bound & Barbed

Plot: 1
Writing: 1
World building: 1
Characters: 1
Themes: 1
5/5

Spice: 3.5/5

What you can expect:
- Fated Mates
- Vampires
- Masked Ball
- Arranged Marriage (not the MCs)
- He trains her
- Dual POV and dual narrated
- Witty Banter
- Slower burn
- Who did this to you?
- Nightmare trope (my favoritee)

Whoa, even I'm surprised this is a 5 star read for me. This was the most pleasant surprise. I have 332 highlights from this book. 332!! This is one of my new favorite Romantasies for the year. It's better than What Lurks beyond the veil, flames of chaos, etc.

This gives FBAA vibes in all the good ways (MMC, his best friend, and the FMC, the trio) and Twilight vibes, like the Cullens killing stray vampires or the volturi by beheading. We also have two types of vampires, the good ones (Kova) and the bad ones (Vasi).

Ok, look, I gave this 5 stars but it's not a literary masterpiece. For each of the five things I look for in a book, I enjoyed all of them. The plot was interesting, there's some mystery, political intrigue, and it's very action-packed. I never felt like the story was dragging so the pacing was good. I will always love paranormal creatures and cool magical abilities. I felt fully immersed in the world without being bogged down by heavy world building. I was also fully invested in the characters and their relationships. the angst and tension had me squealing. I also liked the representation of PTSD, depression/anxiety.

**SPOILERS:**
FMC is depressed and/or anxious with PTSD. Randomly bursting into tears because of her truama? That's what happens when you're depressed. Having panic attacks after being triggered? I've never read a representation of depression/anxiety in a book like this. We're shown but not told and I think (hope) we'll see Evaline deal with it in future books, but I just loved how it wasn't shoved in our faces.

They (Wyott and Maddox) literally told her that they kill people, they've been through wars. They're over a hundred years old. How could she think they'd abandon her if they found out she killed the man that attacked her? A recurring thing that annoyed me was how much she didn't trust them after everything they'd done for her. Not once did they give her a reason to not trust them.

I enjoyed the banter between the three. It was entertaining (more so than funny). It really brought me back to Casteel, Poppy, and Kieran...without the endless questions. Evaline isn't some naive, innocent girl but that doesn't mean she's fully aware of the world and society. It gives enough for us to still get information/worldbuilding without it being overwhelming.

Is it weird that Maddox was Evaline's father's friend? Not really...I've read weirder scenarios. I appreciate that Maddox doesn't read like a teenager. I would like to continue learning about his history. HE ONLY READS ROMANCE NOVELS WRITTEN BY WOMEN!! This is probably why he's so cheesy when professing his love. lol. In the best way! We have yet to see him feed from Elspeth. They're probably going to feed from eachother and she's going to turn.

I love Wyott. I'm a little sad he already has his mate because I really wanted to see him fall in love. He's so charismatic where Maddox is or normal morally grey grump.

Elspeth as the Female Main Character was fine. She's the typical truamatized, stabby and can fight FMC. I like her fine. I think it's interesting that she may have shadow powers. I love the flip of the script here. I can't wait until we find out for sure. I don't think Elspeth is fully human. Her mother is probably a descendant of a goddess or something since the taste of blood is sweet to her. Also, WHY are the Vasi looking for her?!
**END SPOILERS**

The audiobook was really good! Dreamscape media usually does a good job so I'm not surprised, but this definitely added to my enjoyment of the story. It's dual narrated by Auri Alden and Tor Thom. I'd highly recommend consuming this story via audiobook if you're able to! I'm definitely also getting a hardcopy for my bookshelf!

This was such a strong start. I can't wait to continue the series. I'm SO GLAD I got approved for the Advanced Listener Copy. Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, this one was solid and this is my honest review.

"Evaline Manor was sure she'd lived the worst day of her life when she witnessed the death of her father, and narrowly avoided a brutal attack. Now, she's trapped in the kingdom ruled by her aunt and uncle, who are desperate to keep her docile and marry her off. Maddox Vicor doubted whether the Goddess of Fates would grant him a mate. Most Kova found theirs in their first hundred years. He'd long passed that mark. But on his first day in Kembertus, he catches Evaline pickpocketing his dagger. In one moment his world turns on its axis as he feels the bond snap into place. With time slipping through her fingers and danger closing in on all sides, she must do the one thing she fears most in order to save herself, Evaline must trust a bloodthirsty immortal."

Our main characters, Evaline and Maddox are well crafted and rounded characters, both quite likable. In that mix we end up with side characters who are mostly looked over until a time they are needed - however Maddox's best friend Wyott was the MVP here with his comedic banter. Told in dual POV, Bound and Barbed gives such an insight into both Evaline and Maddox without giving you all of the spoilers into their secrets. It's written in a way so we as a reader find out most of the deeper secrets as the time is passing. Speaking of passing, the read is more on the slow to mid paced side, so keep that in mind if you aren't a reader of slower reads. I did find myself asking if we needed another training session - or an Aunt yelling at the FMC. Overall, it was a great debut for SRG. I can't wait to see what happens in book two.

Bound & Barbed is for you if you like;
✔️ fated mates
✔️ vampire (like) MC's
✔️ secrets
✔️ incredibly slow burn
✔️ sassy best friends

Thanks to Dreamscape Media, Samantha R Goode and Netgalley for an audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review. I found the narrators to be engaging and clear and would definitely recommend a listen and read along.

Bound and Barbed is an adult fantasy romance with:

* vampires
* slowburn with spice
* fated mates
* he falls first
*dual POV

The story follows Evaline, a human living in a kingdom ruled by her aunt and uncle because her father was killed a few years ago and they were the only family she had left. While her home was more egalitarian, the kingdom she's in now is very misogynistic and she has been saving up covertly for years to leave, but when she meets Maddox (a vampire) things start to change. At first she is wary of him but he comes into her life right when her uncle and aunt arrange a marriage for her to a horrendous man she has a vendetta against and is determined to used the marriage as an opportunity for revenge. Since her previous combat skills are out of practice (women aren't allowed to train to fight in this kingdom) she starts re-training in secret until Maddox finds out and offers to help.

Maddox and Evaline have amazing chemistry and I loved the flirty banter between them. I particularly enjoyed how Maddox was all in as soon as he saw her because he recognized her as his mate even though she didn't. He's always there when she needs him and supports her as best he can.

This world has two types of vampires - Kova (the "good" vampires who don't kill and their kingdom treats women as equals) and Vasi (the "bad" vampires who kill when they feed even if they don't need to feed, delight in cruelty, and treat women horribly). Most humans don't know they exist but the ruling family in each human kingdom does, and they've all historically allied with one of the vampire kingdoms and you can see the influence in their policies about women. The kingdoms that allied with the Vasi are oppressively misogynistic while the ones that allied with the Kova are more egalitarian. I think the classification of vampires and differentiation of human kingdoms based almost solely on their treatment of women is a little oversimplified. A little more complexity and nuance would have made it feel more fleshed out and compelling.

I really enjoyed the world this story created but the first 20% was a little rough with the worldbuilding. It felt like a series of infodumps and they felt over-explained in a way that could have been more concise but once I got passed it, the story really found its rhythm and I was so invested in the stories and characters. Can't wait for book 2!

Thank You NetGalley and Publishers for allowing me to listen to an advanced copy of this book.
I went in blind to this book and thought overall it was a decent story. I liked how it was written and it seemed to flow pretty easy. It gave me some Robin Hood vibes in the beginning and I felt the main character had a good heart who got into some tricky situations throughout the story. There were moments where I thought the character rambled on and on but it was not too awful. overall this was an easy listen and let me explore a new world along the way.

The audio book was really good. Both the narrators did an awesome job! I also really enjoyed the book!

The narrators did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. I enjoyed their style and cadence and felt like they complimented each other very well. I would absolutely listen to another audiobook they narrated together or separately .

Because there isn't an option to rate the audio book separately from the physical book I chose to give "Bound and Barbed" a 3 ⭐ star rating.

The writing style definitely wasn't for me, I really struggled to form a connection to the characters or plot. I do think the premise was very intriguing and it may work for another reader.

Thank you Samantha Goode, Net Galley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with an Advanced Audio Copy of this book.

A respectable debut but I feel like whole chapters of inner monologues were not necessary, not enough happened in the first book for a sequel to be worth it