It was really fun to read a different Ruby Dixon book! Fantasy really is her thing, so it was no surprise that she would write a book like this. I loved the concept, and the characters were fun to read about. I do think that the pacing was off, maybe a little long at times, but I don't really mind. I would definitely read another book in this series, and look forward to any upcoming books!

Tropes:
• forced proximity
• enemies to lovers
• monster romance
• caretaking - both him taking care of her & vice versa

Candra the whiney sick princess vs a massive winged gargoyle like male with an interesting pp.

The fact that this wasn’t all spice and we had a good conflict & plot was super fun. I think the middle (from 50-75%) dragged a little bit but the ENDING! I wasn’t expecting those twists.

4/5 Stars - Thank you Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group and NetGalley for the free ebook ARC!

I really do love Ruby Dixon's originality. I thought the concept was pretty original and super fun. The book was well paced and the world was decently developed. There were certainly things here or there that had me scratching my head because it was inconsistent or didn't make sense, but sometimes I was just unsure if I personally missed something or it truly wasn't there to catch. Guess I will just have to re-read it!

Characters! I thought overall that the characters were well developed. This is something I think Ruby does well. I am personally very bad with remembering characters on a good day, so the fact that I can remember almost all of the characters (names AND personalities) she introduced says something about her developmental abilities. But Candra.......

I have to rant about her. Her overwhelming ditzy selfishness in the beginning (and easily through the middle) of the story made me have to put the book down at times. She was very absorbed in herself, her wants, and what others did or would think of her to the point of causing me annoyance. It really damaged the relationship for me for a long time since I don't think someone so selfish can TRULY love another. She does get better probably 60% of the way through, but that was a little too long for me. I didn't feel any actual chemistry or affection until that calmed down. Does her selfishness continue? Absolutely. But it was handled in a way that integrated it into the relationship and made it work for me.

Nemeth? No complaints. At the end of the day, he is a simp for his woman, and that is all I require of him.

When all is said and done, those minor things did not ruin the overall enjoyability of the book for me. It did not rip me from the story. I really enjoyed reading this and was loathe to put it down when I had to!

I just want to start off by saying this was my first monster romance ever and I think I have been converted. THIS WAS SO GOOD! I love that it was a perfect balance of spice and plot. Like I don’t think either was sacrificed.

We got forced proximity and a slow burn enemies to lovers the first half of the book and then a survival quest the latter half. I was amazed by the world built and their legends and stories. It definitely shined a light on the fact that there are two sides to every tale, and the one you hear is told from a “victor’s” POV and may not necessarily all be true. A representative from each rival side is sent to The Tower to appease the goddess and must remain inside for 7 years. That long spent in captivity with someone, you’re either going to grow to love or hate them.

The twists really developed the plot, and I loved that there was no 3rd act break up! Just tension, which is expected. SOMETHING has to happen in the 3rd act right? And trust me a lot does.
I’m glad this was a thick book because I was just eating it up and kept wanting more.

Thank you Wattpad Books for the gifted copy, I immensely enjoyed it!!

BK-R
4🌶️, a decent about of on page, fade to black moments and dirty talk.
Characters: 4⭐️
World Building:4⭐️
Plot:3⭐️
POV: First Person FMC

This Monster Romance is a soft-erotica with more about the story than the spice.

We follow out FMC (Candra), who is selected to go be a sacrifice to their Goddess, to love in a tower for 7 years with the enemy. They become close while outside the tower is a war between their peoples.

Thoughts:
This started out awesome. The first 75 pages were my favorite. But everything else became long winded. Yes there were some surprising twists but not enough to carry the story through the dragging. This is not what I was expecting after reading Ice Planet Barbarians.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book!

A Romantic Erotic Comedy Fantasy!
Princess Candra is forced to serve 7 years in the Golden Goddesses Tower along with Nemeth, a Fellian from Darkfell, Lios' sworn enemy.
Full of fun, emotional suspense, you get lost in the story and the spice is just a cherry knot😉 on top

Thank you to the NetGalley & the publisher for this ARC.

first all: i LOVE me some ruby dixon and this book was VERY refreshing to read (after some other subpar books)...at first. Negl, this, IMO, should've been split into 2 books (before and after they leave the tower tbh). It started getting dragging on wayyyyy too long and my attention wandered.

But hey, Ruby got me to care about a pairing dynamic I usually don't care about (studious-shy MMC / flirty-outgoing FMC), the writing was engaging, the smut delicious, the unique plot intriguing, and the narrative voice delightful, so still 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. DNF. I will not be finishing this book. This book is slower than I thought it would be and the characters are irritating. I am rating and reviewing so that it doesn’t hurt my feedback ratio.

My only experience with Ruby Dixon is IPB - which I love. So trying something a little different is always exciting.

Our FMC has a sprinkle of Stockholm, in a way, after being locked in a tower for 7 years with a shadow daddy with wings monster hehehe

OH HOW WILL THEY SURVIVE

Tropes
Enemies to lovers
Forced Proximity
Ruby Dixon Spiceeee
Touch Her and RIP
He falls first hehe


Please check your TW <3

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an eARC of Bound to the Shadow Prince for an honest review.

📚✨Book Review✨📚

Bound to the Shadow Prince
Author: Ruby Dixon

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Notes: I received a copy of this book as an advanced reader, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

What I Liked:
🏰 The idea of two people from opposing sides being trapped in a tower for years together was super intriguing. Inevitably they fall for each other (this is a romance after all), but that’s only the start of this story!

🏰 I found this story truly compelling and thrilling. It hit all the classic notes fans of Ruby Dixon already know and love (monsters and spicy times) but it also mixed mystery and political intrigue into it. I think this might be my fave Ruby Dixon book yet!


What I Didn’t Like:
🏰Spoiler….I want to know what happens to everyone. Does the rain ever stop? I felt like when they take over, the goddess should be pacified, but yet the rains continued. Maybe we’ll get more and this will become a series! Also, F those dudes in the Alabaster Citadel!

Final Thoughts:
🏰Any book by Ruby Dixon is sure to be a hit with me. If you haven’t read her books yet, what are you doing?? Start reading!



#bookreview #reviewsneedlovetoo #readforeverpub #unpopularopinion #booktok #bookstagram #bookfriend #books #bookish #booklover #instablog #romancereader #romcom #fantasybooks #monsterromance

while I like it I also feel like it’s a bit slow moving also he looks like a monster which is weird to me lol.

Bound to the Shadow Prince
by Ruby Dixon

I received a digital copy of this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One of my favorite things about this book is the post script where the author discusses her inspiration and research. I love getting the insights into what made the book - reflecting on it like - yep that came through in the writing.

If you’re familiar with Ruby Dixon then you know that she is quite the prolific author. This story put me in mind of some of her lesser known works - Beauty in Autumn and the Aspect and Anchor books. One of which is named Sworn to the Shadow God and another is Bound to Battle God. However while this book does have some of the same feel in that it is somewhat an adult fairy tale there does not appear to be a connection.

This is an epic fantasy adventure, longer and deeper than many of her other books. It also starts off slower in the steam department but this fact is crucial to the plot but the quality/level of steam is what one would expect. In other words plentiful and awesome.

There are aspects of tragedy, survival and managing hunger that remind me somewhat of The Hunger Games.

The heroine is irreverent, practical, a little crass, a little spoiled and very real. The number of times she tells someone who’s in her business where they’re unwanted to piss off - isn’t that how many of us would really like to react?

The hero is shy, bookish, thoughtful, caring, a planner and a huge gargoyle type male with wings who can see in the dark and melt into the shadows.

If you like sci-fi/fantasy open door steamy romances and/or Ruby Dixon. You will want to read this book. I lost a lot of sleep rushing through it because I had to know what happens.

5/5

This is one of those hard books to rate because even though I didn't love it, I also didn't completely hate it either. I think my main issues with the book was the MC's. Most of the time I didn't really like Candra, her thinking process was at times just backwards and annoying, and then she would swing to logical and mature and you think she is growing as a character, only for her to swing right back to immature. It got tiring for me to be honest, it was like the plot around her was moving along and she just stayed in the same place the whole time, no real character progress until maybe the very end of the book. And while Nemeth was definitely more likeable, he was also not vert developed as a character. I know that he spent his life getting ready to be in the tower, likes to read, and loves Candra, but other than that we don't get much from him. This could be because the story is told completely from Candra's POV but ultimately he needed to be more fleshed out for me to connect better to him. Another issue is the pace of the book, it takes a long time for anything to actually start happening, and then it felt very stop and go, and longer then the it probably needed to be.
There is a lot of potential here, the plot it very interesting, it just needs to be reworked a bit to keep readers more engaged.

ARC Provided by NetGalley for an honest review

If you love a good fight for romance, fantasy, and being drawn into a world then this is the book for you! You won’t want to put it down.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 💐

Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon

When I tell you I DEVOURED this book 👀

Having read all of the Ice Planet Barbarian books, I thought I knew what was waiting for me when I received this ARC! BUT NO! This was so so so much more! Next level unlocked. I mean, I saw the page count and was like, 'ooooh, that more than double the usual?'. Curiosity piqued.

🔹Romeo & Juliet star-crossed lovers trope ... CHECK ✔
🔹Trapped Rapunzel damsel (not your typical damsel tbh) in distress... CHECK ✔
🔹Forced proximity sexiness... CHECK ✔
🔹Eternal mates... CHECK ✔

The female main character, Candra, is actually pretty selfish, zero% altruistic and fabulously funny. Aware of her flaws and being able to wield her charms confidently, she's a winning leading lady. Then we have Nemeth... bat-boy-shadow-daddy-beastly-sweetheart.

The chemistry is off the charts 🔥 and the spice is a steady 🌶🌶🌶.

In the tower this book had my whole heart. 5/5 ⭐
After, (being cautious of spoilers) I felt we spent maybe a bit too long getting to the mountains and, even though we skipped over the citadel, that time might have been a bit better spent in the closing stages of the coup where I felt we skimmed over a little too much.

That being said, those plot twists kept on making me, 'whaaat?', 'nooooo!' *GASP*! What more can you ask for?

A world that I can see so well in mind, characters that will stay with me for a long time, love that conquers all, and sexiness that has those pages turning faster and faster!

A joy to read.

This leaves me at a strong 4.25 ⭐ read that I would definitely recommend.

I absolutely adored this book! I am a fan of IPB so I wasn’t sure what to expect going into a new series/world of Ruby’s but I was pleasantly enamored! Candra is one of my favorite FMCs I’ve read recently. Her personality and wit makes her relatable and hilarious. The spice is delicious, the plot is attention grabbing, and I absolutely couldn’t put it down.

IG BookFamilyRobinson

3.5 ⭐️’s

Thank you to NetGalley and Ruby Dixon for the eARC of Bound to the Shadow Prince.

I love Ruby Dixon and IPB and I’m always willing to dive into another one of her stories.

I did love the first 50% of this book, the Tower and the relationship between Candra and Nemeth growing was done so well and I was obsessed with it.

The second half of this book fell flat for me. I feel like it lost the magic the first half had and the relationship that had been beautiful created between Candra and Nemeth changed a lot and it didn’t feel as they had the same connection. I really enjoyed the premise for the second half of this book, but I just didn’t connect to that part of the story and I feel like the ending went by too fast and we missed out on some build up!

The first half of this story definitely saved it for me and was my favourite part!

While different from Ruby Dixon’s beloved Ice Barbarians series, this was a fun romp and delving into another fantasy world. The blood illness of the main character was well thought out. The build up was believable and the spice is enjoyable. I had a hard time putting this one down!

Ruby Dixon is incredible. I stayed up until 3am finishing this book because I literally could not put it down. I HAD to know how it ended! I thought it was fun, creative, and with a twist I didn’t expect!

Fun smutty read. There was definitely more plot than I was expecting (more than IPB) but it was very enjoyable. A light monster romance, it made for a quick read and was a nice palette cleanser.