This....didn't do it for me.

As always, Ruby Dixon's writing is easy to get sucked into. From the first page, I had high hopes! The fmc isn't your typical heroine, and is actually a bit of an anti-hero. I was very excited to read from the perspective of a princess trapped in a tower who would honestly rather see the world burn than be there to save them.

But, well. The romance didn't quite hit the right spots for me. The fmc makes it clear that her only contribution to their relationship is sex. It's all she thinks about, and all she cares to be good at. (Pretty problematic if you have to learn how to take care of yourself outside of court.) And while I love sex positivity in books, I do want to see a bit more from characters and stories in general. A romance can't survive on lust alone. And yet, these two profess love before knowing anything more about each other than their names and body parts (basically). So I guess it just didn't feel very authentic.

Take this review with a grain of salt, though. I dnf'ed at around 50%, before they leave the tower. It's entirely possible there's more character development later in the story, but life is too short to continue reading books you don't love.

I recently read Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon, and I have to say, it was a fantastic continuation of the Bound to the Shadows series. The story picks up where the first book left off, with Princess Candra and her Fellian companion, Nemeth, facing a dangerous and unfamiliar world outside the tower they were locked in for seven years.

In this book, we get to see more of Nemeth's character and backstory, which adds depth to his relationship with Candra. The two of them continue to face obstacles and challenges, but their love for each other remains strong.

The plot is fast-paced and full of action, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. The world-building is also excellent, with vivid descriptions of the different kingdoms and creatures that Candra and Nemeth encounter on their journey.

Overall, Bound to the Shadow Prince is a thrilling and romantic read that I highly recommend to anyone who loves fantasy romance novels. Ruby Dixon's writing is captivating, and the characters are well-developed and relatable. You won't be able to put this book down!

This was my first read of Ruby and it was utterly incredible! I was blown away by this book. I devoured it. The writing style is amazing and I loved every page

MS Dixon does not disappoint! I loved this book I was hooked from the first few pages, I loved reading about theses characters journey to love.

I always enjoy this author’s works and creative mind. The worlds she develops are always creative and the characters have deep depths and nuances to them.
Seven years in a tower surrounded by water with your enemy seems a pretty harsh penalty for what your ancestors did hundreds of years ago, but Candra and Nemeth do their duty to their kingdoms by accepting the challenge. While for years, Nemeth studied and prepared for not stepping outside the Tower for seven years, Candra was ill-prepared to replace her sister who had been training for it since birth.
This world is harsh, and while Candra's upbeat court persona keeps her from screaming in despair, the lack of human contact and connection drives her to seek out Nemeth. His quiet, compassionate and logical view of their situation makes them the perfect team when things become dangerous and overwhelming.
Supposedly not knowing what is going on outside their Tower prison, they create a world they feel they can be happy and survive in.
This book was massive. It seemed to take forever to get to the 25% mark on it and took me a week and a half to finish the book. While the minutia in the beginning seemed to go on forever and at times, unnecessary, you found it worth it later in the book. It moves quickly in the last half of the book, with surprising twists and turns.
Pretty different from most of the other books I read and complete within a couple of days and still make it to work the next morning.
I consider this book well worth my time, and think it will also be worth yours.

Ruby Dixon will give you spice and everything a girl wants in this fantasy romance! The brief description leads a lot to the imagination. Ruby spills a lot of tea and you will sip sip sip it all up! This has romance monster fantasy has forced proximity with enemies to lovers so much more! This does leave it with a open ended feel to it which I think will be amazing for readers to come. If you loved or didn't love her barbarians series like me, I would give this one a try because I liked this a lot! Thank you so much to Ruby Dixon, the publisher, and Netgalley for letting me claw my way through this!

Ruby Dixon does it again!

I couldn't get enough of this book. I devoured every page and was terribly sad when I got to the ending. Dixon always gets the perfect balance in all of her books and this one was no different. Riveting characters, chemistry, and spice. The storyline is intriguing and keeps you enthralled from the first chapter.

RUBBYYYY!!! I have fallen in love with her writing and it just keeps getting better. The tension, the spice, the longing. So, so good and can't wait for more from her.

I had never read a Ruby Dixon book before this one so I only had a rough understanding of what the story might include, but I really enjoyed this read!

My initial ideas of the book were that it would be mostly romance/smut centered with some plot, but I found myself very engrossed in the mysterious and suspenseful plot!

As for the romance itself, I thought it was a tad bit fast compared to a typical enemies to lovers story, but I did find it cute and well-rounded.

My only real complaint was the usage of magic in the story to immediately solve what otherwise could be complex problems (like, the knife that give the answer to any yes or no questions asked of it) and well as, and this is weird, but the description of the male MC’s knees as being backwards really dashed his hotness for me in my head.

All in all, I had fun reading Candra and Nemeth’s story and would totally be down to read another Ruby Dixon book again!

Can I love Ruby Dixon as much as I already do? I think so.. this new series is just as good as the the Ice Planet Barbarians. Thank you so much for writing so amazing books!

I appreciate ARCs greatly and I typically will push through and read a book even if I don't enjoy it, but I could not get past the first 10% of this book. I found the FMC to be unrelatable and generally annoying. I could not get past how many times she complained about how difficult it was to take her of herself "like peasants do.

So, usually forced proximity romance is like, “Oh no… we’ll have to tolerate each other in this well-provisioned mountain chalet for the duration of a snowstorm!”

Ruby Dixon would never.

Princess Candra “I Don’t Know How to do a Damn Thing Myself” Vestalin is given three days notice before she is sent to live in a windowless tower for SEVEN YEARS.

All by herself?!? Girl, of course not. The Gods won’t be pleased unless a beastly Fellian delegate is trapped in there with her.

Wouldn’t that get boring?! Well, what if I told you there was a war brewing outside the tower? How about a magical object that is maybe telling the truth, but maybe not? What if I mentioned that Dark Beastie Enemy can see in the dark and is secretly super into boobs but doesn’t know what to do about it? Yeah.

This is a totally epic tale of rival kingdoms and survival that could only have come from the mind of Ruby Dixon (IYKYK). I absolutely devoured this book, and then stewed in the feels for weeks before I felt I could write a proper review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the honor of reading an advanced copy- I’m honored that you value my honest opinion.

I am a huge Ruby Dixon fan, and wanted to love this book, but upon finishing found that I just liked it. I am a reader for entertainment, and while this book wasn't phenomenal, it was still entertaining and worth my time.

I love that this story was enemies to lovers, a trope that never gets dull. The concept of forcing enemies to live together, isolated and alone, for 7 years is delightfully scandalous.

It did take a rather long time for the two to mix and communicate, but I don't mind a slow-burn. I believe this was written as a slow burn, but missed a few landmarks. Slow burns should have the slow evolution from enemies to friends to lovers to in love. This one kind of slowly went from enemies to lovers in love quite quickly.

My biggest sticking point, which is the main reason I dropped the rating to three stars, is the ending. I enjoyed the two characters, their intimacy, their struggles and overcoming of navigating two different cultures... but the ending just kind of quickly ended. There is a lot going on at the end of the book and it felt rushed, especially after the slow story-telling that allowed in depth construction.

I am still Ruby Dixon's #1 fan and would grab the next book that pops up from this world.

I absolutely love Ruby Dixon, but this one just wasn't it for me.

I recently discovered that this may have been released as a pay by chapter story, and that would make sense for the pace the story seemed to follow. I believe a really good edit to shorten the story and make it a little more readable as a novel would be beneficial. This plot was very good overall, but stretched too far to hold the readers attention.

4 1/2 stars Some people thought this book dragged or was too long and thats what I loved about this book. We see so much world building and we learn so much about the characters instead of them just jumping into bed together. There's reasons for them not liking each other or trusting each other. We see the heroine Candra grow up so much because in the beginning she is a spoiled... well princess. I loved the whole back story of why these two have to enter into the tower it was such an amazing story as well as the character's story themselves. Ruby Dixon OUTDID herself with the world and story she creates for this book. I was truly amazed and even weeks after reading this book my feelings haven't changed.

Yes there's romance here and a great romance but there's a story that captivated me, that made me not want to sleep so I could read a little more and once it was done I wished I could go back and read it again for the first time. I was one of the people who read the Barbarians books when they first, first came out and were a serial and this book is how I felt after reading the serials for the Barbarians series.

Candra is a princess with a blood curse, so no one will want to marry her, she is also not the oldest so no pressure to marry for the kingdom and maybe best she isn't the youngest so she wasn't raised away from her family to be taught her future of living in a tower for years to appease the god's who are angry. Candra is spoiled and doing everything she can to please herself. Till the death of her youngest sister on the way to the tower to serve and be locked away for years. And with only one other sister who is married to the king and pregnant Candra is taken to the tower to live with the enemy for years. The only rule, not step foot outside the tower or the world will have the gods wrath.

What Candra could never be prepared for is the years of sitting with only a Fellian(her enemy's) named Nemeth for company who was prepared for the time in the tower and as it seems was given more from the Fellian people to survive. The more times passes the harder it gets for Candra and soon her and Nemeth strike up a truce though Candra isn't sure she can truly trust Nemeth, and then they start to fall in love and the years in the tower start to feel like it may not be so bad until the food and supply delivery's stop and Candra and Nemeth must decide what the are willing to do to survive and if the gods wrath on all people is worth staying in the tower.

I really can't tell you enough how wonderful this story is there are so many layers to the story and once you think you know it al Ruby Dixon adds more to the story creating my tension and drama. Once I thought I had it figured out more was revealed and the story turned up on its head. I didn't guess all the ending and Im one of those readers who is trying to figure everything out as I grand Im usually pretty good at figuring it out but the twists in this book had me. This is a great book that is so worth the read. I can't recommend it enough. Take a chance if your not he fence and read this book.

*thank you Netgallery and W by Wattpad Books for this ARC!

I loved this book. Candra a princess with a blood illness is made to sacrifice herself to the Goddess. She has to live in a dark tower for seven years with only her enemy as company. They have to live bricked in the tower. Her enemy Nemeth is use to the dark. His people live under mountains. Candra and Nemeth have a rocky start. They learn to live together and work together and of course fall in love.... I loved the ideas of the story and all the twists and turns.

I adored Ruby Dixon’s IPB series so I knew that I would absolutely love Bound to the Shadow Prince. The story was fun, spicy, the characters meshed together so well and Ruby definitely hit the point with plot. I will definitely be wanting this in a paper copy when the time comes!

This is the first book I have ever read by Ruby Dixon, and I went into this blindly. I was thinking it was going to be a very smutty fantasy romance, which it was but I did not realize how she writes her main male characters to be supernatural creatures. This through me for a loop for a bit since I do not picture my sexy males to be gray skin colored and have horns. This a side, it ended up being a great read. It hit all the marks! Hot sex, action and adventure, love and loss, betrayal and loyalty!

This novel had an incredibly intriguing plot. I loved how clues and tidbits of information are dropped throughout the story but you don’t fully realize it until the end. Once the plot twist is revealed, you can go back through the story and see things a little bit differently than when you first read them. This is a slowly paced story, a true slow burn romance, for sure. There were times when I felt like the story was dragging on but I stuck with it and eventually the momentum picks up.

I rated this novel four stars. Overall I liked this story. I liked how the forced proximity romance developed, the magic made sense and even though the plot twist was a bit predictable, the story felt pretty well rounded.

I always have a fun time with Ruby Dixon's stories. Her writing style is immersive and easy, and her romances are always so swoon-worthy. Bound to the Shadow Prince follows Candra and Nemeth, royals from enemy kingdoms who, because of a long-ago curse, are cursed to spend seven years trapped in a tower together.

Candra wasn't meant to be her kingdom's sacrifice, and she is wholly unprepared for what awaits her, unlike Nemeth, who has been planning for much of his life. This is just the beginning of their differences. Their story is very much an opposites attract romance. Where she is outgoing, he is reserved. He is quiet and scholarly, she is a socialite. They don't have a lot in common, but for some reason, they work. They have a super-steamy enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine romance, and I loved seeing their relationship turn from frosty animosity to tentative friends to more.

I liked both main characters and became easily invested in their love story as well as the overarching plot that involves a simmering war between Candra and Nemeth's kingdoms and the wrath of the gods. Used to a life of leisure, Candra doesn't really know how to do things for herself, and she has a lot to learn about managing her supplies, clothing herself, cooking, and more. She is so vivacious and full of life, and she doesn't take herself too seriously. A curvy girl with a lot of confidence, Candra is unapologetically herself, and I love that about her. She also has much more liberal views about romance and sex than Nemeth, who is much more reserved in all ways.

Candra also has a chronic illness, and she's lucky Nemeth is there because he is more prepared, and he helps care for Candra. But when their supplies begin to dwindle and Candra's medicine is almost gone, the pair has to make a difficult decision. Do they risk the anger of the gods (and their families/kingdoms) and leave the tower, or do they remain in the tower where they will probably die? And since they are from enemy kingdoms who do not mix, how will each react to the romance between this star-crossed pair? Candra and Nemeth go through so much, and their road to happiness is filled with obstacles.

I really enjoyed this story. It's fun and intriguing, and the romance is absolutely delicious. Special thanks to Wattpad Books for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

What an entertaining book! The world building, characters and history were interesting and so much fun to read.

Candra and Nemeth are forced to spend seven years in a tower to appease a god but things don't really go as planned. I will say, I didn't like Candra at first. Her attitude and personality weren't really my cup of tea but I really enjoy Dixon so I trusted the process and I'm glad I did. While I won't say that Candra changes, I will say she grows up and I was happy with how her character matured through the story. We never get Nemeth's point of view but I still felt like we got to know him pretty well from Candra. We also se character growth from him but, as we don't get any time in his head, is just from Candra's observations.

This was a long book but I still felt like I could read more. I'd like more from these characters, in this world. There aren't too many side characters since the majority of the book Candra and Nemeth are alone together but I don't feel like the book was lacking anything. In fact, with so much of the book focused on Candra and Nemeth, you feel as if you really get to know them and are deeply invested in their stories.

As always, another excellent book from Ruby DIxon!