I loved the representation of a chronically ill main character. Nice spicy elements. There was also some unique world building with the mythology!

On the negative side, I felt there were pacing issues and some plot inconsistencies. The male main character also had an inconsistent personality, seeming like two different people in and out of romance scenes.

I have loved many Ruby Dixon books over the years, but I’m finding I need a little more stuff going on than just two characters sitting in a dark tower barely speaking to each other for 20% of the book.

By the time they do start interacting, I enjoyed it, but then the MMC decides that he wants to bare, like forever-mate with the FMC. And I’m not a fan of this conflict.

The lack of things happening and of outside information - though it is clear stuff is going on out there - are bogging down the story for me.

I think this will be a good book for those looking for a slow burn character driven story. There are some great relationship building moments here that did keep me reading for quite a while.

I love Ruby Dixon. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Ice Barbarians but this book was awesome. I love a shadow daddy and the romance was superb. I wish I saw some more angst in places and I can see what tropes were best selected for this book. I would say def a must read!!

The premise of this book is absolutely delightful - a spoiled princess and a "demon" prince trapped in a tower together for seven years, clearly destined for an enemies to lovers adventure. The princess, flighty and shallow, grows and learns but also stays herself. The steamy parts are just marvelous (except if you don't know what knotting is, google first, NSFW). It reminds me of why I liked the first few Ice Planet Barbarians so much. The character development and plotting pacing in this novel are superior to Ice Planet. Dixon is growing as a rider and I look forward to so much more!

The year is 2024, I am a full grown woman, but I am 100% still a Wattpad girly 🤣

Bound to the Shadow Prince was sooo good.
Let's be real, we're all mostly here for the monster smut... But OMG the story was actually super captivating! I loved the way romance bloomed between Candra and Nemeth. There's a reverse gender roles trope used and I am addicted to that - Candra is more sexually inclined whereas Nemeth is more bookish and better at the "homemaker" role. There's also some great commentary on illness. Candra has an underlying/incurable condition and while at times she needs to be cared for, she's never made out to be less than. She's fiesty and stubborn in the face of her illness.

There's so much powerful resilience in this story that I found myself unable to put the book down. And as for the steam - I'd have to say it's a 3.5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️ There is plenty of it and it's great, but it's also not super varied (more repetitive). I definitely wouldn't say that's bad, it just rates a bit lower for me on the chili pepper scale.

Also, as a side note. I kind of pictured Nemeth like Goliath from Gargoyles with a few anatomical differences. One of those differences is his legs bending the opposite way and I do have to say that I never could quite picture how Candra sat in Nemeth's "lap"seeing as a lap is typically the tops of thighs and those would be upside down and behind him 😅

Either way, the book was still 5 stars for me! Highly recommend for all those into Monster Romance and even Romantasy. There's a lot more plot, exposition, and world building in this book than the Ice Planet Barbarians books which actually makes this great for Romantasy fans too.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ruby Dixon, and W by Wattpad for the ARC!

**I would like to thank NetGalley, W by Wattpad Books, and Ruby Dixon for an ARC of this book! This will be available on 7/2/2024.**

I love the Ice Planet Barbarians series so I was very excited when I saw this as available to request. I enjoyed it for the first 200 pages, but after that it was just too drawn out. I think IPB is successful cause the storylines are so short and sweet. This had sooo many words but not really anything happening. The last 150 pages were spent skimming and so. much. boredom. The ending wasn't satisfying either with the resolution happening in a few pages. You can't have a 500+ page book wrapped up in 10 pages.

I'm giving it 3 stars because i thought Candra and Nemeth had a cute relationship, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

Ruby Dixon does not disappoint. Can we call it an adult fairytale? I don’t know for sure, maybe a bit like Beauty and the Beast, or perhaps Rapunzel, only way better. Once every generation the Kingdom of Lios and the Kingdom of the Fellians must put a royal heir into the “tower” for seven years to appease the moon goddess. If they do not, or if either leaves the tower before the seven years expires drought and famine will plague their lands. Candra, Princess of Lios is called upon to go. The Fellians send their prince, Nemeth. These two factions have been at war with each other for generations. So many rules, so much hate and hostility between the Liosians and the Fellians….If Candra didn’t have her magic knife, well that’s just a small part of it. Gotta love that magic knife.

This is an amazing story of how two enemies, locked in a tower by their families to appease the Goddess, become best friends, lovers, and more. Is there more? Oh yes, so much more.

Humans and Fellians sharing a world, but at war. Politics, deceit, hubris, love, lust, and steam everywhere. I found it intriguing that for a good part of the book the story was just about these two and how they were living in this tower, cut off from everyone and everything, and it was more than enough - life was pretty challenging. Well done! Then it turned into a great love story, what a wild ride. And just when you start wondering if they are staying in the tower, or maybe, will they starve if supplies are not brought? Will they leave? What has been happening out in the world that seems to have forgotten them?

I hesitate to say more as I don’t want to take away any of the amazing surprises that are in store for you. It will keep you guessing for a while. I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about this after I finished… Does not happen too often.

Take the time to sit down with this one, definitely worth your time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for letting me read the ARC for an unbiased review.

This was such a fun premise- two warring peoples send a royal to live in a tower, and in exchange, their goddess doesn't blight the land. I really enjoyed the slow burn and how Candra and Nemeth learn to cope with life in the tower together. The life in total darkness was such an interesting piece of this story and was so original. I really enjoyed this one, and would suggest it to anyone who enjoys spicy fantasy romance and is looking for something slightly monstery, but just a bit :)

I went into this book with zero exceptions, I’ve heard of Ruby Dixion before. But I didn’t think to look up who that was before requesting this book. Ice Planet Barbarians, so this book is technically part of the omega-verse. Would’ve liked to know that before hand.

That being said, this book was fine. I did skim over the copious amount of smut scenes, since this type of “intimate” scene isn’t my cup of tea. But I liked the banter between the characters before they started having sex. It was amusing and realistic. But the sex scenes, as the book neared the end, often happened at such odd times in my opinion (Shortly after the FMC was almost SA’d for example). It just felt out of place.

The world-building was pretty weak at times. The magic was very glossed over, to the point where I’d prefer zero explanation over the flimsy descriptions that were given. The dynamic of being locked in a tower for years, didn’t make sense to me. They were given more supplies, during that time, but other than that, there are no windows and the door is bricked shut… It’s not very clear why exactly they had to be locked in complete darkness either. My suspension of disbelief was broken even more by the fact that they would’ve run out of air, even with the slight breeze under the door. It just didn’t make sense to me. Why couldn’t they have one of those windows that you can’t even stick your arm through. Or why they couldn’t have lights. I also didn’t understand why the country the FMC was from wasn’t a Matriarchal society, especially if the women born from their bloodline are supposed to be important. It was just another trope this book had that I’m tired of seeing. Sexism for the sake of sexism.

The characters were, meh. I didn’t care for any of them. There was an attempt to make them multi-dimensional, but it just came across as them being inconsistent. I also saw the twist to Candra’s “cursed blood” a mile away. Something else that bothered me throughout the book is the over use of the swear “dragon shite” It was the only swear used… and it got old fast.

Ultimately, the two main problems with this book are 1) it is way too long, and 2) there’s too many twists. The final 10% was just bonkers, where another 10+ twists happen in a very short span. The conclusion also came abruptly compared to the rest of the book, where things moved so fast they felt glossed over.

This book was both gratuitous in sex and violence, and also very silly.

I have loved everything Ruby Dixon has written and this was no exception. I am just blown away by how amazing this story is and I instantly want to read it again and that’s my top rating in my opinion. Re reading is the top way to know you loved a book in my opinion.

IMAGINE being locked in a windowless tower for 7 YEARS with your mortal enemy 😏 in total darkness! Can you say CLAUSTROPHOBIA!?!
Candra was never meant to be a sacrifice. She is a carefree Princess with a flirtatious streak & and chronic illness. Basically an everyday modern girlie 💕 after her sister says ‘bye-bye’ to the mortal realm Candra is placed in a dark tower to survive on her own. Started from the top now we…down here. Let’s just say our girl went through it in that tower 🗼

Bound to the Shadow Prince is a story about rival reigning houses that send their heirs to live in an enclosed tower with no open windows or doors for 7 years to avoid a curse.

Going into this I should have known that the male main character was some kind of fae beast like man similar to Ruby Dixons other series Ice Planet Barbarians and if I would have read that, I probably wouldn’t have requested an arc. I wasn’t a huge fan of IPB so it’s my fault.

But overall, I found the story to be lacking. The characters didn’t really have any chemistry, and they seemed to forcefully fall in love with each other rather quickly in my opinion. The plot was kind of predictable although there was a twist towards the end that I wasn’t expecting.

This was okay, not my fave but it was quick to get through and interesting enough to keep your attention. I wish there was more about the actual plot than spicy scenes, but it is erotica so I can’t really dock any points for that.

Thank you to Wattpad Webtoon Books, NetGalley and Ruby Dixon for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ruby Dixon never misses!!! As a huge fan of the Ice Planet Barbarians series I had high hopes for this story. This is my first time venturing outside of that series and I loved every minute of this book. And the spice? Immaculate.

Ruby Dixon seriously knows how to write a romance novel. I love her sassy FMCs and the brooding, protective MMCs they get paired with. There’s always a perfect balance between spice and smut and I will eat it up every single time!!!

From the author of all the blue alien sci-fi romances, this fantasy romance excels in story telling and world building. I especially love that the entire story is contained in one volume.

It was fun to read something different from Ruby Dixon. I liked the story building in this story, the whole locked in a tower makes a really interesting story. Candra is kinda an unlikable character that Ruby makes you grow to love. Fun read.

4.5 stars

This is a slow burn romance set in a really interesting world. I personally wouldn’t have lasted with no windows even in the tower as long as they did, but they certainly decided on an interesting way to pass the time. I appreciated the character growth our female MC went through, and only wished the male MC didn’t essentially get worse. The end left a lot of things up in the air, (and one issue I have with the knife’s answer) I would love to read on to see these beings all in peace. If you like epic fantasy with romance I would give this one a try.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy to share my honest opinions.

So to be honest, the beginning of this book had me. I was super interested in the Fellians and Nemeth, but i was kind of annoyed with Candras people. Reading on and watching the relationship develop was awesome! I really enjoyed the way Nemeth was with Candra. Then they had to leave and it just went downhill for me there. Candra saw how her people ended up and Nemeth is "dealing" with his people. But for real, I just cant come to terms with how Nemeth has treated Candra since. I have just about lost interest in this and am struggling to get past page 445/509. It isnt a bad story just not what I was hoping it would be.

The only other book by Ruby Dixon that I have read was the first Ice Planet Barbarians, and this one was so different

I loved this book. If you know me, you know I love a shadow daddy and Nemeth was *chef’s kiss*. The beginning of this book was the slow burn I needed and then we got to the SMUT.

There were twists and turns to this book that I did not expect and I loved every minute of this read and was so sad when it was over.

If you love a shadow daddy too, RUN and grab a copy.

Let’s have a conversation about Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon. This book follows Candra, who after her sister dies, is forced to live in a tower for seven years to appease an angry goddess. Her only companion is Nemeth, the prince of a people at war with hers. As the two are forced to help each other survive, their relationship changes from one of enemies, to lovers.

If you have read any Ruby Dixon books, you know that she is an author who knows how to create these well-developed worlds with interesting creatures, and this book is no different. Taken inspiration from various fairy tales and historical events, this book’s setting of a tower could be boring., especially in such a small space setting. Dixon takes what could be boring and makes it interesting with Candra’s fight for survival and Nemeth’s need for friendship. This monster romance also features some great characters who show huge growth throughout the entire book. Candra, a human, starts off spoiled, but soon blossoms into an independent woman. Nemeth, a Fellian, is a shy monster who becomes more sure of himself with the help of Candra.

Something to keep in mind is that this book is very long, and I do think it could have been shortened a little bit, but I did enjoy the story overall. Readers should also keep in mind that this story does get heart-wrenching and can be very emotional.

Thank you to Ruby Dixon and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book prior to its release. Bound to the Shadow Prince comes out July 2, and I cannot wait for you all to read it!

I feel like I know exactly what I'm getting with a Ruby Dixon book. To me, this was just like the Ice Planet Barbarians, but make it vaguely fantasy instead of vaguely sci-fi. It was weirdly long though?? Even when she had massive leaps of time??