Spirit Bound

Sea Haven/Sisters of the Heart #2

by Christine Feehan

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan comes her stirring new novel in a magical “series of six sisters not of flesh and blood but of the heart…”*

Lethal undercover agent Stefan Prakenskii knew a thousand ways to kills a man—and twice as many ways to pleasure a woman. That’s what made him look forward to his new mission: arrive in the coastal town of Sea Haven and insinuate himself in the life of an elusive beauty who had mysterious ties to his past, and a link to a dangerously seductive, and equally elusive master criminal who wanted only one thing: to possess her.

Judith Henderson was an artist on the rise—an ethereal, and haunted woman whose own picture-perfect beauty stirred the souls of two men who have made her their obsession. For years she has been waiting for someone to come and unlock the passion and fire within her—waiting for the right man to surrender it to. But only one man can survive her secrets, and the shadow she has cast over both their lives.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Magic, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Christine Feehan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author multiple times over with her portfolio including over 100 published novels, including five series; Dark Series, GhostWalker Series, Leopard Series, Drake Sisters Series, the Sisters of the Heart Series, Shadow Riders, Torpedo Ink and her Romantic Suspense novels. All of her series have hit the #1 spot on the New York Times bestselling list as well. Her debut novel Dark Prince received 3 of the 9 Paranormal Excellence Awards in Romantic Literature (PEARL) in 1999. Since then she has been published by various publishing houses including Leisure Books, Pocket Books, and currently is writing for Berkley/Jove. She also has earned 7 more PEARL awards since Dark Prince.
Her series include:
The Dark Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/darkb...
The GhostWalker series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/ghost...
The Leopard Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/leopa...
The Shadow Series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/shado...
Torpedo Ink series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/torpe...




IN HER WORDS:
I've been a writer all of my life -- it is who I am. I write for myself and always have. The ability to create pictures and emotions with words is such a miracle to me. I read everything; I mean everything! All kinds of books, even encyclopedias. I am fascinated by the written word and I love storytellers. It is a great privilege to be counted one myself. (www.christinefeehan.com)

Reviews

[Azet · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Spirit Bound" is another Marvelous,Thrilling and Carnal love-story and the second instalment in the paranormal "Sisters of the Heart"-series and tells the stories of six women who all have a dark past they try to escape from and find warm sister-hood in the support and care they give to each other.They have all opened a farm together in the town on the Norther California coast Sea Haven and are all women bound to different powers and together they are a powerful force.Christine Feehan introduced another Prakenskii brother in form of Stefan Prakenskii who gets the mission to get close to the painter Judith Henderson because of a link to a criminal master.I couldn`t put this book down and read it in one snap before i even knew what i was doing."Spirit Bound" was filled with desperation,torment,longing and a love so deep and strong that my heart got filled with it.I don`t know how the hell Feehan did this to me,but i am pretty much shaken by this story.

Judith Henderson is half-japanese and a great beauty who are filled with joy and passion,but also guilt and anger.Her brother got tortured and killed right in front of her by the man she thought she loved,and she have been slowly eaten away by the pain the memories have given her.Because she is bound by the element of spirit,she can read auras and transform her emotions to other people around her-which can cause destruction because of her powerful nature in feeling love and hate.She lives in peace with her sisters in Sea Haven,but only half alive and desperate to get over her past.When she meets her true soulmate,the man of her dreams,she never saw what fate really had in store for her.I completely loved that!

I have read about two Prakenskii brothers until now, Ilya Prakenskii in "Turbulent Sea" and Lev Prakenskii in "Water Bound"...so i know how lethal,dark and incredibly sexy these russian assassins are.BUT DAMN IF I NEVER SAW STEFAN PRAKENSKII COMING!
[image error]
Stefan Prakenskii made my mouth water,my heart beat faster and made me giddy with happiness!He made me cry and swoon all over the place.I NEVER SAW HIM COMING!His parents had been killed in front of him and his brothers had been taken away from him.The russian government made him into a killing,sexual and cold-blooded machine who could manipulate,seduce and eliminate wherever the missions led him.He was a ghost to the world like his brothers.With no emotions whatsoever and belonging in the shadows.There is a granite inside of him,a certain stillness and a black heart that seriously made me question his humanity.But once he meets his Judith my heart simply went backwards.He had been drawn to her even before he met her through her pictures-their connection was instant and powerful.The sexual tension and the pull between their spirits magnetic.Stefan got pulled down his knees by emotions he never knew existed inside him-and loved Judith so much he bares his soul for her.She trapped him into her hand and never let go of him.Poor hero choked in his deception and he begged her to save his soul.

Stefan and Judith were two lost puzzles that fit perfect together.There are so much SENSUAL CHEMISTRY between the two of them that my eyes actually hurt and i just craved them more and more.Everything was meant to be and i love how Stefan and Judith fall desperately in love with each other.Their magnificent bond of passion and love brought tears to my eyes.Christine Feehan always do that to me!It was fine meeting Jonas Harrington again (as he is one of my top favourite heroes),Lev and Rikki and the others sisters of the heart Blythe,Lissa,Airiana and Lexi.I so look forward to their stories with the rest of the Prakenskii brothers!

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread from November to December 2015.
My thoughts:

I liked this more the second time in some ways. I didn't have as high expectations because I wasn't reading this after Water Bound this time. It's not my favorite in this series, but it's still very good. I wouldn't knock the rating down much, but it would go down to 4.5/5.0 stars this time because I'm getting pretty strict when it comes to five star ratings.

I'm a sucker for Russian heroes. I won't even lie. I liked that Stefan is as much a creation of his experiences in the training school for spies he was forcibly inducted into as a child as he is a person who has a deep internal life that he's not been able to live. When he first sees the picture of Judith when he's undercover as Jean Paul Le Roux's cellmate, that's when he falls in love with her, I believe. Even though he didn't allow himself to admit his feelings at that point. Seeing Judith for the first time brings it some. I think Feehan excels at writing about soul mates and love at first sight. It's evident that it's the case with both Judith and Stefan. I enjoyed their journey. There's an interesting contrast between Le Roux and Stefan, both dangerous, rough men, and one was trained to be a killer but wasn't a sociopath, and the other seemingly had many advantages, but was emotionally dead on the inside, taking advantage of a young girl like Judith and destroying her young life. I'm glad that Judith was able to rise from that and become the woman she was meant to be, and that Stefan doesn't take her for granted.

I internally squeed when the brothers Lev and Stefan reunite. I'm Team Prakenskii 'til I die. I am so waiting for the complete reunion of all the seven brothers. I even hope that Feehan finds some cousins to look them up.

I love sisterhood and so the idea of Judith and her sisters by choice really hits home. You can have different kinds of soulmates, and in a non-romantic sense, her sisters are her soulmates.

It was really hard to squeeze in this reread, but I'm glad I did it!

Hope to reread Air Bound soon and finally read Earth Bound for the first time.
*****************************************************************************
1st Review:
It's very hard to top a book like Water Bound, but this is a very good follow up. I think that Lev and Stefan managed to feel different although they are brothers, both very dominant, possessive, dangerous, edgy, and surprisingly passionate men. I'm not going to lie and say that I wouldn't have liked Stefan even if he was too much like Lev. I just have no resistance to this kind of character. But, I am glad that I liked him in a different way. Lev started out very rough and turned into, not a puppy dog when it came to Rikki, but a lethal guard dog, who loves her and her sisters so much that he can be soft for them. Stefan is still learning how to be soft. He undoubtedly loves Judith very much, but he's not going to soften the way Lev did in that way. Instead, his strength and his hard core are given to protecting his beloved and her family, her way of life. It should be interesting to see how Stefan adapts to being part of the family of sisters and husbands in Sea Haven.

Christine Feehan does have the tendency to be long-winded, so it makes her books a bit harder to read than a more concise author (my favored writing style). But she utterly worth the effort. She does passion, danger, dark love in a captivating, distinct way. It's interesting how her and Anne Stuart (my #1 author) write the same genre of romance, but do it very differently. And each one is obligatory in my reading regimen. When I want the domineering (which isn't my favorite except how she does them, go figure), possessive, lethal beyond belief hero who falls head over heels for a woman, along with an interesting intersection of mystery and paranormal, friendship, familial love, and an appreciation for the important things in life, I run to Feehan, because it's her trademark.

Okay, rambling aside. I really liked this book. It didn't move me like Water Bound, because that's just a one of a kind read. But there was a lot to offer in this book. I loved Judith. She has an effervescence, and a strange air of the zen in the middle of a swirling wind of chaos. That's not really easy to convey, but I get that from her. Stefan is the right man for her, because she can handle the things about him that make him a very tough sell for other women, and she touches his heart, makes him feel like a man, not a shadow. And for Judith, Stefan is the one. He calms her in ways she needs calm, opens her up and encourages her to be at peace with her abilities and her emotions, the good and the bad, and he meets her head on with the fiery passion she craves in life. Plus, he appreciates the importance of art in her life.

I thought long and hard, and I have to give this five stars, because even without being perfect, it meets my needs. As a emotional reviewer, that's five star criteria.

Man, these books don't help my Russian fixation at all!

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read Spirit Bound years ago when it was a new release but it's a book that I never forgot and decided to read it again. It was almost like reading it for the first time since my memory is horrendous and I barely remembered the specifics of what occurred in the story.

I did enjoy it this second time around and I know it will forever be a book that sticks with me since this series had some amazing characters. I did have some issues with it though because it connects to the Drake Sisters series, which I knew, but it was so much that I got confused sometimes. I have read the Drake Sisters series also, but again it's been years, as in almost ten years because I know I read these my freshman year of High School. With me not remembering a ton about the other books it was a little hard to feel like I was fully understanding what was going on in this book.

Even with the moments of confusion I still enjoyed reading this again and I actually want to eventually re-read all of this rest of the series.

[Elizabeth (Liz) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahem. Review revised from original comments whereupon I used foul and negative language to express my displeasure with GR for losing my original review, which I labored over for at least 40 minutes;) Ms. Feehan does not deserve to have my juvenile (though justified) tantrum associated with her fine, fine book:)


In brief: Russians and kaleidoscopes and spirit elements, oh my! This easily could have been the silliest book I've read all year, but Christine Feehan can, apparently, make me love *anything*:) Spy-type doings, InstaLove, psychological and emotional trauma, CF's established and well-polished paranormal pillars, badBADbad guys, and the critical advancement of foreign relations (aka Lusty Spy beds Intrepid Kaleidoscope-Maker, followed by Intrepid Kaleidoscope-Maker licking Lusty Spy like a lollipop).....this book has a little bit of everything. There's even time for Intrepid Kaleidoscope-Maker to give Lusty Spy a lesson in, well, making a kaleidoscope! Who knew brawny Russian spy/assassins were so arty and expressive?! Uhhhh...yeah. And, yet, even that mood-killer scene couldn't derail my love of a great Christine Feehan read;) Reading Christine Feehan is comforting to me. Her stories, somehow, usually have a real charm and energy about them, no matter how silly certain elements of the story can be. If you read CF already, you know what I mean, and I know you'll read and enjoy Spirit Bound!


I did drop one star because an animal is killed in this book, and, a brief scene or not, that isn't something I ever want to read about. For anyone who may hesitate to read because of this, the scene is not detailed, and it is very, very brief. It is more of a mention than anything else, but I, personally, don't want even that much. Just a heads-up:)

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spirit Bound is the 2nd novel in the Sea Haven series. This is the story of Stefan Prakenskii and Judith Henderson.
The story starts really slowwwww….and I struggled a bit getting into the book. The good news is that by page 70, things begin to happen.
I am a bit undecided about the two main characters.
Judith, artist and bound by the spirit elements, has found peace with her “sisters” after fleeing from some dark things in her life.

Stefan is a manipulative, deceiver, liar, cold-hearted killer as just as alpha as his brothers. In fact, he’s described much like Lev, from the previous book. His whole “control” issue really irritated me and I wondered how someone like Judith would not be put off him after her past experiences with men.

I skimmed over a lot of the sex scenes….it felt so repetitive and pretty much like in book #1.

What made it a more than decent read was that the suspense, mystery and intrigue, secrets, twists and turns and seeing the bad guys get their just desserts were pretty well done.
And I also enjoyed the character development in this series.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally posted at http://www.smexybooks.com/2012/01/rev...

Favorite Quote: “..he was drowning in the need to be a better man.”

Stefan Prakenskii is working undercover in a French prison, trying to uncover the location of a secret microchip. He believes his cell mate, Jean-Claude LaRoux, stole the microchip but that’s not what interests Stefan. It’s the hundreds of pictures of a single woman that decorates the cell. A beautiful solitary woman who speaks to Stefan through the photographs. When his mission ends, he is contracted to find this woman and gain her trust in any way possible. His superiors believe that La Roux will contact her and led them to the chip. Stephan believes that his superiors want him in Sea Haven for another reason. Something to do with his brother Lev who died there. He comes to Sea Haven and begins to set his trap.

Judith Henderson lives with her “sisters” in Sea Haven creating her art. A renowned artist, she had an affair with La Roux until she witnessed a devastating crime and realized that La Roux was an insane dangerous man. Her talent over whelmed her,creating danger to all around her, so she fled to Sea Haven and begins to rebuild her life ruthlessly cutting out all emotion. When she meets a man who wants to purchase the gallery she can’t believe the connection she feels to him. Her senses come alive for the first time in years. A single glance binds her to him but she refuses to allow herself the fall.

Spirit Bound is the second in Ms. Feehan’s Sisters of the Heart series. This series is a direct spin off of her Drake Sister series and there is a strong character and arc overlap that is present in the background. You can start with the first of this series but you would get a better overall understanding if you started with the Drake Sister series. Spirit Bound picks up where Water Bound left off.

Judith Henderson is an elemental spirit. She is able to transmit and imprint her emotions on other people. She chooses to now ‘live’ through her art to avoid hurting anyone. In the beginning I found her to be strong and interesting character. I soon realized that she is easily influenced. Once she met and fell for Stefan it was like she was absorbed in to him and while she voiced her opinions and thoughts, he steam rolled right over her and she sighed like a love sick teenager. She doesn’t like conflict which made me want to bang my head on my desk as I watched her gloss over and ignore certain situations. She completely embodied the term that love forgives all.

I did like Stefan in the beginning. Stolen from his family at a young age, he was molded into the ultimate weapon-a human chameleon. He is frank in his thoughts about what he needs to do and why and I respected that. The problem came when he meets Judith. When Stefan acknowledges he has fallen in love with Judith but starts to make excuses for his continuing to lie, omit, and makes decisions for her, all justified because of his love and childhood, I got disgusted. I felt like his love was nothing more then a gilded cage that he builds around Judith. He violates her privacy, lies to her, omits things from her, and at one point does something that completely shocked and horrified me. But what horrifies me more is Judith just lets it go with a tiny slap on the hand and a minor sulk session.

The chemistry is very sensually written, Ms Feehan has a gift for making a trip to the grocery store an erotic experience, but there is a lot of emotional pontification in here that drags the story down. I felt like Ms. Feehan was trying too hard to convince me they were made for one another. Their dialogue, both internal and external, is almost bi polar in its revelations. The plot and main conflict suffer because of this. Both were underdeveloped and completely buried under the romance of the story. We see the main villain once in the beginning, then once in the end. With the build up in the beginning, I expected more of a fight out of him.

The secondary characters were better. Personable with deeply developed characterization, their presence helped to calm the story down and bridge certain areas allowing for comprehension. I loved seeing the sisters, especially Rikki and her husband. The ending comes hard and fast, leaving me feeling like I missed part of the story.


I think the main problem I have with this story and Feehan’s work in general is that her heroes fall into two groups. Always mega alphas, they will either be calm and view their females as an equals, or overly dominate and force their will upon their females. You never know which type you’re going to get from book to book and it makes for uneasy reading. This one fell under the second category of heroes and was disappointing.

Overall Rating: D+

[Tilly Slaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of betrayal, lies, assassination, undeniable attraction, obsession and elemental magic.

Spirit Bound is the second novel in the Sea Haven series. This book is the story of Stefan Prakenskii and Judith Henderson.

After years of tracking down the criminals responsible for crimes against his country and months of undercover work in a prison as Jean-Claude's cell mate, Stefan is ordered to set up a cover in Sea Haven and gain Judith's trust. Using an identity other than his own, Stefan deceives, manipulates her even when every irrational jolt of feelings tells him otherwise.

Judith is a spirit element. You'll understand that after you have read the book. She is an artist who just happens to have fallen in love with the wrong guy. Reliving her traumatic past, the drowning fears and suffocating guilt eats away at her until she has to force a smile on her face to ensure her sisters and everyone else she knows that she is all right. Hiding secrets behind locked doors, Judith has only one safe place to unleash her fury.

Rage moved in the walls, breathing in and out, so that the slashes of red and orange undulated, bulging outward and then pressing back, great gulps of air to control the force of anger, the need for retribution, for vengeance. Rage lived and breathed alongside sorrow there in the spacious confines f the large, dark studio.

I had other notes saved from this book that would be inserted into this review, but decided they were just a bit too close to spoiling the progression of the story.

Ok, let's talk about my opinions on Spirit Bound.

First, Christine Feehan is my favorite author. The top dog, the head honcho and my inspiration.

After I read the first chapter I was left wanting. If I did not love her work as I do, I probably would have put the book down and walked away. I found it boring, slow and downright disappointing.

Thankfully, I do adore her work and of course continued to allow myself to be swept away by her latest release.

This book is extremely slow in taking off. I was at page 50 when things really started heating up for me. I like fast beginnings. I don't want the part of the back story at the beginning of the book. I want blood, guts, thrilling moments that will grab ahold of me and leave my heart pounding with anticipation.

Spirit Bound did not do that for me. On the bright side, once this book decided to really take off, it became a pretty good story. I did not much care for the first Sea Haven novel, and this one isn't on my top charts either. With the other sister's character progression and depth creation, I am looking forward to the next book in this series. I just hope it is more exhilarating than the first two.

I recommend this book to mature adults only due to moderately descriptive sexual content and blood gushing violence.

If you are going to read this series, read Water Bound first. The character development and understanding in the first book is crucial to know prior to reading Spirit Bound.

~Happy reading!

[Debra Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 Stars

Not as good as bk#1. And that one was just okay.
The repetition is off the charts. It is so bad it makes you Crazy. Not only his thoughts and her thoughts. And trust me, both are HIGHLY repetitive. But other aspects of this story and elements from bk#1 are constantly repeated throughout this story.

The potential of the suspense, action and mystery is there, but all of it ended up being monotonous and vapid. Quite frankly, it was beyond stupid and made very little sense.. Stephen a.k.a. Thomas is supposed to be this great assassin and constantly falls short of his 'Character Description'. Omg! He is even Gentle with a bad guy at the end. WTF?!
That scene was just absolutely Absurd! This person had physically harmed Judith and he
"... gently laid him on the ground." Not only is this out of character for the male mc, but ANYBODY!

Between the Editing Errors, the Repetition and the lack of believable character behavior of both MC's, this book is lucky to get 2.75 stars from me.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-read: November 2015
I enjoyed this much more this time and felt I got so much more from it - perhaps I was in a funny mood the first time around.

Originally read: February 2012 - 3 Stars
3.5 Stars..... I wanted to give it a 4 star bit it didn't quite make it for me but thought 3 stars was too low. I did like this book but found it a bit slow in places and I wandered off several times to read something else! However I did obviously come back to it. I struggled to feel the romance between the H/h and it often felt like I was reading 2 seperate stories which only intermingled when we can across a sex scene. I know that it was important to give us insight to Stefan's upbringing and his life but felt that too many pages were used in constantly re-hashing what we had already been told and could have been spent better in concentrating on his and Judith's relationship. I am looking forward to the next one but would hope that it has a little more romance!

[Laura V. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Al fin reuní valor para terminarlo. La verdad pareciese que llevo leyéndolo desde hace siiiglos.
Ya no me acuerdo mucho de porqué me disgustaba tanto. Es increíble cómo cambian los gustos con el tiempo. Fue una relectura que recordaré con desagrado, lamentablemente.

Admito que me gustan los Prakenskii, al menos los dos anteriores (Ilya y Lev), Stephan... es un monstruo aparte u_u


La autora ha hecho de él una bestia. Super hábil para todo, super fuerte, super atractivo. Super ama a su mujer, y super la protege. Lo único que le falta es detener balas en el aire.. aunque, wait, puede que eso ya lo haga.
Es un personaje super sufrido, que vive avergonzado de lo que es ahora y que quiere cambiar, porque ahora tiene a Judith, pero no puede renegar de todo lo que ha sido, así que conserva sus malos hábitos.. y los pone a prueba con ella. Es mentiroso como pocos, super cree hacer lo mejor para ella. Obsesivo, posesivo, "dominante". Si pudiera abrazar a Judith hasta que sus huesos sean uno, lo haría.

Judith es una mujer, que si quisiera habría sido un poco lista, pero solo logra ser estúpida en niveles astronómicos. La chica comete un error en el pasado, genial, es un trauma que tiene muy presente en la actualidad. Pero un día se presenta Stephan en su puerta y ella lo ama. Ella nada sospecha de este Dolph Lundgren recién salido del infierno. Cualquiera pensaría que alguien con problemas de confianza, dudaría al menos un poquittttititito de este chico. Pero ella.. es tan estúpidamente Judith que perdona todo y llora después.
Y me causa un poco de gracia que la autora se haya esforzado tanto en hacer de una chica que controla las emociones, alguien tan inestable emocionalmente, valga la redundancia. Salvo que el poder venga con el paquete de estupidez. Creí que tener poderes sería algo guay, no algo que te vuelve débil, inútil, un estorbo y te deja prácticamente indefensa esperando que te rescaten.

Lo único rescatable aquí es Levi y Rikki, pareja adorable como pocas. Un ejemplo de confianza mutua. Judith y Stephan ..no. Llamar lo suyo romance es un insulto a los demás libros. Caen enamorados en el día. Y ya sienten que deben dar un giro de 360° a su vida solo por esa otra persona.

El libro es muy denso, repetitivo, una y otra vez sobre lo mismo. Vueltas y vueltas que no nos llevan a nada, salvo sentirnos un poco perturbadas por el modo en que Stephan irrumpe en la vida de Judith y se la apropia y ni hablar de Judith, que desde acá veo los hilos con los que la maneja.

[Varied Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK read
My gripe about a lot of CF books. For once couldn't the H/h take some pleasure or satisfaction out of killing the vilian.

Rolled my eyes when H after saving the vilian gently lowers him to the ground. Then plans on getting him help at the hospital even though he had beat the h & murdered her brother. Hello couldn't the H at least thrown him on the ground gotten a few kicks in.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads

The Drake Sisters series remains one of my favorites by Christine Feehan (Jonas and Hannah’s story is my most reread by far…ah Jonas!). The idea behind this series is each book follows one of 7 sisters, each with their own special talent. The youngest of seven sisters will in turn have 7 daughters, and the legacy continues. One of the Drake sisters married Ilya Prakenskii, the youngest of 7 brothers – brothers who were scattered and separated at young ages when their parents were murdered. SPIRIT BOUND is book 2 in the spin off series, Sisters of the Heart, which follows a group of 6 women, all with special talents, most surrounding the manipulation of elements, who will all end up crossing paths in the small town of Sea Haven with the other 6 Prakenskii brothers.

Book 1, WATER BOUND, introduced us to Lev Prakenskii and Rikki, an autistic woman, who had a hard time letting Lev into her life, when order and routine is her main source of comfort. I enjoyed their story and was eager to get to know the next Prakenskii in SPIRIT BOUND. Stefan is drawn to Sea Haven for a couple reasons. One of his “targets” is a man suspected of having a microchip with information on it, information that Stefan’s older brother almost died trying to protect. This man is evil x1000 and is obsessed with Judith, a woman he met, became obsessed with and ended up torturing and killing her brother. Judith fled to the U.S., met the other women who all also survived horrible tragedies and they relocated to Sea Haven, to run a working farm and be a strong support system for their family. Stefan suspects that Judith may have the chip but he doesn’t know if she’s innocent or as guilty as his primary suspect. He’s also given additional orders that an assassin is in Sea Haven looking to draw Lev out. Stefan suspects he’s being used to be the one that actually draws out Lev, or Levi as he’s going by now, but he there anyway to warn his brother and find the chip.

Judith’s emotions not only impact her strongly, but also those around her, often influencing people and their own emotions, making them act out in ways they normally wouldn’t. She tries to keep a tight leash on her emotions, only feeling them fully when she paints and creates kaleidoscopes. Stefan sees her paintings and is hit with all her emotions and can pick up scenes from her past that the emotions came from. It’s a way for them to connect, and recognize each other as their other half.

Where this story really lacked for me was the pacing. There’s a lot of inner dialogue with Stefan and Judith. They think over everything and it really dragged the story down. I had a hard time staying in the scene with the characters during these moments, and wanted to hurry and get through them to get back to actual dialogue and action.

Stefan was also a hard hero for me enjoy. He says many times that he’s never had a real relationship before, and that I fully understood. He grew up in training camps where beatings were common place and also looking over your shoulder was second nature, even expecting friends to stab you in the back if the occasion called for it. He used his body as a weapon, in all regards, sleeping with women to get the information he needed. So when Judith comes along and the real Stefan starts to come out and experience feelings for the first time in his life, he’s not quite sure what to do. But he does a few things that really put me off towards him. He lies to Judith, even when Lev tells him repeatedly that to build a relationship you have to tell the truth. And Lev (I liked him more and more in this one) he tells Rikki the truth, about everything. He has no desire to keep anything from her, and advises Stefan to do the same. But, when Stefan started drugging Judith at night so he could sneak out and hunt the assassin with Lev (who TOLD Rikki what he was doing every night) that was pretty much it. I didn’t try to keep an open mind with Stefan from that point on. I’m all for flawed heroes, it makes their story all the better when they can struggle beyond whatever is in their lives to find happiness, but Stefan just wasn’t that hero for me in this one. I’m not sure if I’m more annoyed that he drugged Judith, or that she very easily forgave the lying and in the end everything else that Stefan struggled with during their whirlwind romance.

I was completely satisfied that at least two of the Prakenskii brothers reconnected in this book. In book 1, I kept waiting and waiting for Lev and Ilya to cross paths, but it never happened. Ilya is in fact, MIA in this book as well, but I did enjoy the scenes when Stefan and Lev got to know each other again. It wasn’t all happiness and sunshine when they saw each other for the first time, each not sure if they could trust the other person, but they slowly let their guards down, and it does make me interested to see all the other Prakenskii’s eventually show up, and hopefully by the last book, they’ll all be settled in Sea Haven.

Overall, this book just didn’t grab me at all. There were a few moments when I felt really into the story, and I did like the scenes with Judith and her sisters, and of course Lev and Stefan. But the main romance didn’t pull me in at all. I would recommend reading book 1 in this series, WATER BOUND, but this one could be skipped. I’m sticking with this series for now, my interest in the sisters is still high – I want to know the remaining backstories and what they’ve each gone through and I am curious about who the next Prakenskii brother will be that shows up in Sea Haven.

[Ira · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars.

I know why I left this book last year.
I didn't really like the hero:(
The way he used the heroine rather sickening, eventhought he changed pretty quick but he managed to drug the heroine because he wanted to protect her? Yeah right! I bought that! NO!!! A selfish man:(
The heroine? I'm not her fan either, I guess these two deserved each other.

However I like the story and the relationship between the sisters and the brothers is worth reading beside it was continuing from the book #1 which I loved and described it as magical:)

[Jana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been a big fan of Christine Feehan for years. I've read every one of her Carpathian novels and most from her Game series. That being said, this was the first of the Sea Haven series that I've read and I was very disappointed.

Our two main characters: Judith Henderson is an artist who has stopped making the incredible pieces she used to make because she is haunted by the death of her brother, which she blames herself for. She also has distinct trust issues concerning men, which are understandable considering her ex-boyfriend, Jean-Claude, is a criminal mastermind who killed her brother trying to get to her. With all of these issues weighing on the beautiful and seemingly elusive character, she falls into the arms of Stefan Prakenskii with laughable ease.

Stefan Prakenskii is an undercover agent working to bring down the criminal Jean-Claude, who moves to Sea Haven to insinuate himself in the community towards this end. He is your basic cookie cutter secret agent protagonist. Haunted by his training, dreaming of having someone save his tarnished soul blah blah blah, you get the picture. He latches onto Judith, his light, the bright spot in his dark monster-like existence, certain she can save him.

The premise isn't bad, if a bit trite. The problems arise when readers are forced to wade through pages of my life is horrible, I'm a bad person, no one could ever love me, whining. I skimmed great portions of the novel when I noticed, mainly Stefan, falling into another one of his oh woe is me rants. Feehan uses this a lot with her male protagonists (the whole dark souled monster etc.), but the level to which it was taken in Spirit Bound was cloying and I found myself rolling my eyes. Perhaps if it had been cut back a bit, more character development and less overly repetitive descent into his dark soul, it could have been palatable. As is I had a difficult time finishing it.

The paranormal aspects of Spirit Bound were intriguing, but spotty and at times utterly unbelievable. Judith's empathic abilities were great and could have been amazing, but I felt she spent too much time being afraid and not enough time using her abilities. By the end of the novel I felt that I hadn't fully seen what she was capable of, we are given glimpses of it, but mostly it's a quick flash of potential followed by an even faster shutting down. Of course, it is understandable why this character would have such issues with her abilities and the potential for character development was there, but I feel Feehan could have made it work harder, faster to more fully expand this unique character.

There is one paranormal/secret agent fight scene that particularly stands out as being far-fetched. Now, this assumes that the reader is going to 'go there' and believe what these characters can do, which I am fine with. It occurs when Stefen and his brother Lev are in a battle with the other secret agent, Petr Ivanov, who was sent to Sea Haven to find out if Lev is alive and, if so, kill both Prakenskiis brothers. Just to sum up the scene; it takes place in the middle of town, at night. There are giant bear traps, many gun shots, a tornado, and a wall of fire. In the middle of town. No one comes out of their homes to see what is going on and no one calls the police. The utter unbelievability of the situation and lack of response/explanation as to how or why these happenings could go unnoticed lost me as a reader. If Spirit Bound was headed downhill prior to this scene, it plummeted into the ridiculous after it.

If you, like me, have read just about everything Christine Feehan has written, then I'd recommend reading it. I wouldn't, however, buy it, but borrow it from a friend or the library and prepare to be disappointed. Spirit Bound is in no way up to par with some of her previous novels.

[Mariana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finally finished this book! It literally took me 12 days of forcing myself to read 15 minutes at a time to finish it. I am not even sure why I pushed through. I guess it was because the book was loaned to me by a good friend, and I wanted to be able to discuss it with her.

The hero Stefan/Thomas is the brother of the hero in the first book Lev or Levi. His character and personality are just a regurgitation of the same, and Judith was not nearly as interesting a heroin as Rikki was. I think maybe I just started off with the wrong series by this author. From some of the other reviews I read, other fans of hers did not enjoy this book or series either.

My friend loaned me the third book in the series as well. I will definitely not be reading it next. However, after a while, I may come back and see if it is better than this one.

[Daughter of Paper and Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stefan and Judith were an instantaneous clash, but unlike the previous book that clash was not developed enough to justify the short amount of time it took for their feelings to grow.

I enjoyed the more dominant aspect of Stefan and Judith’s darker nature, but their conflict resolution and communication skills needed improvement. I have hope maybe they will work it out in the future given that they are crazy about each other, but these are the types of things a reader likes to see before the happily ever after.

There was also a glaring lack of dialogue. I needed more character interactions, more conversations and wayyyyy less thoughts and feelings. There were too many of them! Which were often repeated!

I enjoyed this one but it was not as great as the first one. Hopefully this repetition and lack of dialogue will be worked out in the next installments or this series might become a chore instead of a thrill.

3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Favorite Quotes (SPOILERS AHEAD):

“His imagination, so long repressed, leapt forward in spite of his desire to suppress it. She was waiting for someone to come and unlock that passion and fire. She was waiting for the right man to give it to. What the hell was he thinking?”
-
-
“Too late to cover up now. I see you,” he whispered again. “I’m coming for you.”
-
-
“There was no safety inside four walls. There would be no safety for him anywhere—ever. And anyone with him would be at risk. Anyone he loved would be taken from him. Better not to ever take the chance, so never feel.”
-
-
“I think Levi worries, but probably not in the same way. He wouldn’t care one way or the other if he’s accepted, and I suppose Rikki wouldn’t either if she could stay out of the village.” “A child would feel it,” Airiana ventured. “A child always knows when they’re being ostracized.”
-
-
“She was trapped by her own gifts, terrified to ever take such a chance again, to feel for a man, to trust. She wouldn’t be the one having children, when she’d always so desperately wanted a family.”
-
-
“He could hold his breath just waiting for her to smile—at him—for him. Just him.”
-
-
“She was filled with sorrow. Lost. He wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t the man who stepped forward and saved the innocent. He was lost himself. Shadows had invaded a long time ago and stolen his life. But he would give anything he had left to be the man who found a way to save Judith Henderson. He wanted to be that man and it made no sense.”
-
-
“She was already inside of him. He could feel her there where he could never get her out.”
-
-
“He normally wore tinted contacts, but it had been necessary to give a little of himself to this woman. What there was left of him—and it wasn’t much.”
-
-
“No matter how cool and controlled she acted, the fire was there seething beneath the surface, ready for the right man to bring out. He pulled back from his thoughts very sharply. What right man? He was nobody’s right man. He lived in another world, far from this one, and he had no right thinking a woman like Judith Henderson could be his. Not even in his imagination—yet he didn’t move, not an inch.”
-
-
“He’d lost his soul a long time ago, shed everything human and yet here he was, thinking he was going to be that man. The one to take that note out of her voice and remove the sorrow from her eyes. The man who would provide a shield for her so that she was never afraid to express any emotion she felt.”
-
-
“He had seconds to savor the fact that he’d found the answers to questions he’d always thrust into the back of his mind. He’d traveled around the world hunting and often stood outside the homes of people, looking at the lights, listening to the low murmur of voices, watching a woman bend her head toward a child and wondered what it would be like to feel that depth of emotion, if only for a moment, for another human being. With all the silky hair burning like fire through the center of his palm, he’d found what he was looking for.”
-
-
“We’ll be okay, Judith,” he assured, the compulsion to be that man for her, the one man she could tell the truth to without fear. He needed to be the man to free her from that clawing fear she held so tight inside of her. He’d never had the need to protect anyone or save anyone. ”
-
-
“And when she loved, she loved with every fiber of her being.”
-
-
“So it’s real.” He didn’t have to ask what she meant; he knew. He nodded his head, holding on to her gaze, unwilling to let this moment between them slip away. “I didn’t think it was possible for me after all this time.” That too was a Stefan Prakenskii truth.”
-
-
“Strangely, his palm had itched most of the night and this morning there was a strange burning. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the weird problem with his palm had something to do with Judith.”
-
-
“She was going to give him her soul in exchange for his. And damn it all, for once in his life, he was going to be that fucking white knight whether she thought she wanted it or not.”
-
-
“There had to be trust, a bond between a man and a woman that was sacred, or what was the use?”
-
-
“Darker emotions often got one through the most difficult circumstances.”
-
-
“When a man has nothing in his life worth anything and he finds a treasure, he guards her with everything he is. I’m a man of many talents, angel, and keeping you happy will be my first priority.”
-
-
“Don’t ever feel sad for me, Judith. My life brought me to you and that’s enough for me. That’s everything”

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There you are,” he whispered. “I see you.”
-Stefan about Judith

Many people in the world had family of the heart, kin by choice rather than by blood, and hers had come along in her darkest hour and saved her life.
-Judith's thoughts about her sisters

The woman needed to be outlawed.
-Stefan's thoughts about Judith

His fingers brushed hers. A jolt blazed through his body, the force of it shaking him. She was more frightening than any enemy he’d ever stalked and killed. She moved him when nothing ever had.
-Stefan's thoughts about Judith

He wanted to be the man who gave her freedom—the man she turned to in the middle of the night. The one who had the right to touch her, to hold her, to keep her safe. He would kiss that look off her face and make love to her until she couldn’t move, only look at him with her glorious eyes and be genuinely happy, not pretending, or finding moments, just little pockets of happiness. He would be that man for her.
-Stefan's thoughts about Judith

His mouth brushed her ear, nuzzling the fall of black silk aside. “Are you going to show me your home?”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Maybe later. I don’t trust myself right now.” She lifted her chin, her gaze finding his. “I know you don’t understand. I’m saying one thing and doing another, but you’re so . . .” She trailed off. Sinfully tempting.
-Stefan & Judith

“Then you owe me a tractor ride.”
Her eyes cleared, smiling at him. “I do, don’t I?”
“I thought about it last night,” he admitted, his hand slipping from the nape of her neck to slide down her arm, taking possession of her hand. “I could really be making a mistake. If I make a complete fool of myself and drive the thing into a tree, are you going to laugh at me?”
“Not only will I laugh,” she admitted, “I will take a picture and send it to all of my sisters. They’ll do a bit of laughing as well.”
-Stefan & Judith

“I’m not the perfect woman everyone wants to think I am.”
Her confession was muffled against his mouth and he kissed her again. “I’m not looking for perfection. I’m not a man who could live with that. I’ve committed a few sins myself, Judith. You’re safe with me. You are. I’ll tell you a million times if you need to hear me say it that often.”
-Stefan & Judith

“You called me ‘my fallen angel’ in three different languages.”
He flashed a small grin. “That’s called showing off.”
-Judith & Stefan

Those years of training, of enduring, had taught him to accomplish his mission no matter the hardship, to go on even when his body and brain protested and there was only his will driving him. Judith Henderson had become his mission. He would not fail in his objective. He was staking his claim and no one—no one—would stop him. Stefan knew only one way to play the game and that was life or death. For him, Judith was life and everything else was death.
-Stefan's thoughts

“I only know she’s the person I’d stand in front of. For the first time in my life I want to stay somewhere. Be someone. Is that love?”
Lev smiled for the first time. “I’d say you’re well on your way.
-Stefan & Lev

Judith, you’d better have that fucking security system on. Are you armed? When she remained silent, he probed further. With a gun? Stefan moved to cut the man off, picking a route that would intercept him long before he reached Judith’s home. Still . . .
Judith is a terrible shot. Lev put in his two cents.
I am not. The stupid gun is always jumping at the last second, Judith defended indignantly.
I fucking told you to practice, Lev snapped, his voice edged with worry.
You don’t need to talk to her like that, Stefan objected, ignoring the fact that he’d just used the same word a couple of moments earlier. Swing around to the left and send the birds straight at him again. Herd him back toward me. And don’t kill him yet, we need answers.
Don’t kill him at all, Judith objected. He’s probably some lost hunter.
He shot at me, Stefan reminded. Turn on that security system.
Again there was a short silence. Stefan worked his through the tall grass, careful now not to give the angle of his pursuit away. Judith?
Is he really heading this way? Her voice trembled slightly.
You don’t know how to set the security system, do you? Stefan guessed.
Well, I’ve never actually done it, Judith admitted reluctantly.
Lev gave a snort of disgust. Damn it, Judith. How many times have I told you it’s important to lock up at night?
Don’t swear at her, Stefan snapped. Just walk her through the damn thing.
-Stefan, Lev, & Judith

“How come he isn’t here with us?” Judith asked. “He’s usually glued to your side.”
“Well . . .” Rikki’s mischievous grin lit her eyes. “I told him no.”
That brought another collective gasp, more astonished this time, and then the women burst into laughter—even Judith. The thought of Rikki telling Levi no, when he was so protective and male, had them all howling.
Judith wiped the last of her tears away. “How did he take that?”
“Not very well actually,” Rikki admitted. “He’s prowling around your house like a wounded hound dog, but this is women power. He can be all macho and sulk outside.”
-Rikki, Lissa, Judith, & sisters

She blinked at him. “Are you spying on me?”
“I’m watching over you. There’s a difference.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay. Maybe I was spying on you,” he conceded. “I needed to know you were all right.”
-Judith & Stefan

“Rejecting me is out of the question, Judith. It just is. Obviously, you have no real comprehension of what you’ve done, but that doesn’t exempt you from the consequences.”
A slow smile curved her soft mouth and crept into her eyes. “Rejecting you is out of the question, is it?”
He nodded. Serious. He had nowhere to go after she’d destroyed who and what he’d been for years. There was only . . . Judith. “That’s it exactly.”
“I did this?”
He nodded again, knowing he had no control left, not when she’d taken his pride. He was asking her to save him—save his soul—to save that small part of the real Stefan Prakenskii he’d protected for so long. She’d opened the floodgates for love—and for pain. He’d blocked pain for all those years, yet now the memories felt raw and all too real. Close. So close he felt almost as if he were losing his mind. She’d left him alone for four endless days and three nights. “I can be the man you need, Judith—for anything. I can be that man. You can’t shut me out because you’re afraid of this.”
-Stefan & Judith

“My shame, Judith, is that I’m wholly capable of doing terrible things to other human beings without mercy, without emotion. If you asked me to make this man suffer for you, or to kill him for you, I would get the job done. You wanted a weapon, and I’m standing right here, willing to do anything for you. Sadly, if you asked that of me, it would be the easiest thing you’ll ever ask of me.”
-Stefan

“I don’t need a man to rescue me.”
“Is that what it feels like to you, Judith? A rescue? I don’t mind saying I need you. Can I live without you? Of course. I have for years, but can I sleep at night? Breathe right? Feel happiness? I don’t know, I never felt happiness before so now that I know what it’s like, maybe I’ll have a more difficult time. I want a partnership with you. I want your joy in my life. Your sense of fun. The bright colors you bring to life in me. I think you’re the one rescuing me, not the other way around.”
-Judith & Stefan

"I’m here for myself. Pleading with you to see me, with my soul in my hands, asking you to save me.”
-Stefan to Judith

Someone needed to love this man.
-Judith's thoughts about Stefan

“I want you, Judith. I want to live with you and love you. I want to be everything you need.”
-Stefan

“I can be good at this one thing, radost’ moya, making you happy. Keeping you safe. Loving you. I can do that.”
-Stefan to Judith

She wanted this man. She wanted to be that woman he lived for, the one he built his life around. She wanted to belong to him. Her element had chosen him, and then her body, long before she’d ever had a chance to think clearly. She was already freefalling, it was up to him whether or not he caught her.
-Judith's thoughts about Stefan

“Take your clothes off. This time, I want to see all of you,” she gasped.
He lifted his head, his ever-changing eyes dark with turbulence, with lust. “Are you certain you’re ready for that, Judith? My body’s a little banged up.”
She touched his face—that beloved face, so perfectly sculpted. It was a man’s face, no sign of the boy long gone from his spirit. She traced the scars with shaking fingertips. “Let me love you, Stefan,” she whispered. “These things that have happened to you shaped you into the man I want. Let me have you completely.”
-Judith & Stefan

“You drugged me, you cretin,” Judith accused the moment they were inside her house, whirling around to glare at Stefan, hands on hips. “In the chocolate—your old Russian recipe. You drugged me. And don’t you dare tell me you didn’t.”
Stefan nodded his head. “I can see that was probably a mistake.”
“Probably? It was probably a mistake?” Judith looked around for something to throw at his head. All that she could find was a kaleidoscope sitting on the end table. She launched it at him, instantly regretting it, not because it might dent his thick skull but because she loved that kaleidoscope. It was one she’d created for all of her sisters, a mandala for each of them, and one for herself. Each of them had one in their homes.
The ornate cylinder stopped in midair, inches from him. Stefan reached out and carefully wrapped his fingers around the kaleidoscope and set it gently back on the end table, wincing a little as his bloodied arm protested. “Definitely a mistake. I clearly should have said definitely,” he stated.
-Judith & Stefan

Whatever soul he had left was hers.
-Stefan

He'd been waiting for her, holding his breath for her, all of his life.
-Stefan

Art, kaleidoscopes, microchips, photos, tractor rides, mistakes, family, hot chocolate, balance, birds and a bee, assassin, connection, & love.
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

[Colorado · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Sea Haven series. The series centers around a found family of women who originally connected in a group for the survivors of violent events and the Prakenskii brothers, men who survived brutal training as assassins in Russia. It's paranormal and both the women and men have psychic powers. Spirit Bound features Judith who can amplify and use emotion to influence others and Stefan who has telepathic and telekinetic abilities.

The twist is that Stefan is undercover for the Russian government and his investigation of the theft of secrets includes Judith as a suspect. He meets Judith when he's posing as a potential buyer of a local art gallery. There's instantaneous attraction even as Stefan is concealing his true identity. (I had trouble with Stefan's deceptions and Judith's easy acceptance of his dishonesty.)

As in other Feehan books, there are multiple threats. Stefan and his brother Lev (from Book 1) are being pursued by a hitman and Judith is being targeted by a criminal.

This really doesn't work as a standalone because it continues plotlines from the earlier books in the series.

Edit

Delete

   Permalink

[April Mc Vey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually a reread and I still love these 2 face a double threat and see the reunion of brothers!!

[The_Book_Queen · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars--the review that follows is a partial review. To view the full text, please visit:
http://tbqspersonalbookpalace.blogspo...

Judith Henderson is an artist that puts her whole heart and soul into her work. And since she is an
element, with a strong psychic gift connected to spirit, that means that she puts a lot more than just passion into it, and it shows. But after an unfortunate occurrence in Paris, which leads to her brother's death in Greece, she suddenly finds herself unable to contain all her dark emotions. Scared that she might hurt others with their intensity, she begins to lock them away on secret paintings that she keeps hidden in her house. She's certain that she will never again have a normal life and has resigned herself to putting on a happy face whenever she's around others, never to experience true happiness, true love, for herself... Until she meets Thomas Vincent, a sexy, if a bit shy, businessman. Suddenly she finds herself opening up to him, something she hasn't done before—and it scares her.

Stefan Prakenskii is a tough, and very lethal, warrior. As an undercover agent, trained in horrible
schools in Russia, he is a ghost; he doesn't really exist and his only mission is to carry out the orders of his handlers, killing without a thought. His latest mission has taken him to Sea Haven, where his cover is that of a businessman interested in buying the local gallery. He has worked for years on this cover, and anyone would believe that he is actually Thomas Vincent. But as he begins to fall hard for Judith, he finds himself wishing that he was actually Thomas, rather than who he is: a shadow of a man with the training of a beast. But as much as he loves Judith, how can he stay with her, knowing the dangers his presence would bring to her home, to her family, to her?

Judith wishes to hide herself and her emotions away from the world, locked away so no one can see.
So no one can get hurt. Stefan has been taught since a child to keep emotions out of the equation, to
be nothing more than a trained shadow, there and yet never seen. But for the first time in his life, Stefan wants to act on his new found emotions, and there is only one woman he wants to do that with: Judith.

...
~*~*~
Review property of NightOwlReviews.com

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a road map to dysfunction. Following this example, will most likely bring you relationships that are psychologically and possibly physically abusive. It sounds like the author/narrator has received counseling for something like codependency, but has chosen to reject healthy thinking. She uses healthy phrases like, "you can't be responsible for his choices," but in the same paragraph she uses unhealthy ones such as "he makes me feel..." (which can give "him" power over and responsibility for the speaker's feelings). The whole idea of the relationship between the two main characters is a dysfunctional, codependent relationship that works. They don't work. I can't even remember if the author is a good writer; I am so overwhelmed by her flawed thinking and social irresponsibility.

[Vicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like at some point Feehan must have reached critical mass of feedback from people saying "your heroes behave like crazed stalkers. This is not healthy relationship behavior!" but instead of changing how they act she now just has the heroine say at some point in the book, "that seems stalkerish, not romantic ... hahaha I'm being silly he's really sexy!" Better to not acknowledge it than to have the heroine assess the situation and think, Oh well, at least I'm being stalked by a hottie!, IMHO.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

3-1/2 stars.
On the whole I liked this. Sometimes there was too much magic stuff and many times there were too many sex scenes. I can overlook the over use of magic better than the over use of love scenes. At least the magic was part of the action but the sex scenes mostly just interrupted. Still I liked the hero and how he was so overcome with the heroine and how he felt about her and how open he was that he needed her. She was much more of a nonentity.

[AlwaysV · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will post my review soon.

[Soare Florentina · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star

I will come clean first and admit that halfway through reading this book it became a hate read. I am petty and I need a place where I can vent my frustration this book caused me because I can't remember the last time a book made me swear in my natal language. Buckle up, rant in 3, 2, 1 ...

Spoilers ahead~
I should start with the only thing I liked about this book, and that is Lev Prakenskii, our married Russian murderbot from book 1. Lev was the source of common sense and decency in this book. He was the only fresh breath of air, and honestly he's the only reason why I will be continuing this series.

The things I didn't like:
-The annoying repetitive descriptions. If you take a shot every time Stefan tells us that he is the greatest thing that happened to women, you'd die before you get halfway through. Another annoying repetition was about how Judith was this mix of innocence and sensuality and I just wanted to die every time my eyes landed on it.
-The usage of the word "schizophrenic" in a totally wrong context.
-The honestly creepy fetishizing of Asian females, i.e. Judith is half Japanese. Every time Stefan described how innocent, pure, and elegant Judith was, I would cringe so hard and my distaste for Stefan will somehow grow even more.
-Judith. Some people are kind and compassionate, and it's a good thing. But not Judith. She is the extreme of kind and innocent, so vulnerable, so goddamn useless without a man to tell her how and when to breathe. She can see auras so she can understand the real nature of a person and because she was an idiot in the past now she doesn't trust her own instincts anymore. Aw, isn't she precious, refusing to use the only thing that could keep her alive? Look how innocent she is. She is a terrible person because she wants revenge for her brother's TORTURE and MURDER like a normal fucking person. She is essentially a flower vase; beautiful on the exterior and empty on the inside. And by inside I mean her head (just making sure everyone knows she's an idiot.) She is the type that attracts abusive assholes and believes that they are good people because. Just because. Her powers didn't tell her that. She just somehow knows. She also puts the other women in danger by inviting Stefan, after only meeting him ONCE, to their farm. Another thing I noticed about Judith is that she really likes to play victim.
-Stefan goddamn Prakenskii. Where do I start? I have 5 words that describe Stefant perfectly: liar, selfish, coward, hypocrite, and manipulative. His lies are so many we could fill the Danube and still have some to spare for the next year. Out of ten words, seven are outright lies, two are deflections, and one is a half-truth. He lies so many times, and it's not like he doesn't have chances to tell the truth. He just doesn't. He's a coward- too afraid to tell Judith the truth because he knows damn well that what he did was wrong, but that doesn't stop him from DOING it AGAIN. Which leads me to- selfishness. Stefan is so goddamn self-centered in so many instances that at some point I just wasn't even sure if he actually cared about what Judith thought or wanted. He has to have everything without giving away nothing. He is also a massive hypocrite. He is so angry and full of self-righteousness when he finds out that Lev married Rikki. I repeat, the man who approached a mark to seduce her is angry because (to his knowledge) his little brother did the same thing. Doesn't it make you just want to walk into the ocean to scream so nobody can hear you? Not only is he a hypocrite when it comes to his brother, but also towards Judith. He DEMANDS she tell him every painful detail of her past, and she does (because she can just see he is such a good man, remember?*eye roll*) and when she doesn't want to tell him shit, he emotionally manipulates her into confessing. He's also stupid. Someone breaks into the art gallery. Who could it be, Stefan? Aren't you supposed to be some kind of awesome spy assassin? You stayed in a cell with an obsessed French bastard for two months that had a fixation on Judith! Who could've done such a thing, indeed. I guess when Judith broke up with you she also took your brain with her, huh?
Oh, you thought I was done? Nope, I have more things to say about this garbage of a human being. Other questionable things Sefan did:
-He broke into her house. Twice. The first time, he entered her private studio because she didn't show it do him. The second time, he broke into her bedroom because she ignored him for a few days.
-He DRUGGED her so she couldn't follow him. He's also not sorry for doing it.
-He shuts her up with kisses when they argue. Because who needs communication when you can have sex and continue to be a manipulative liar, amirite?
-Judith asks him if he was spying on her. He responds that he is "watching over her". Sorry bub, in my country this is called stalking.
-"I've clipped your wings, honey." Hello, police? Yeah, I'd like to report a crime. Was I the only one being creeped out by most of the things that came out of his mouth? Looking at the ratings, it would seem so. It was like watching a toxic relationship unfold before my poor eyes.
In conclusion, Stefan Prakenskii is the gift that keeps on giving if the gift is massive disappointment. One moment you think that he can't stoop lower, and then he DOES. He is the definition of the meme "all men do is lie"; he is so bad that I had to make a separate book shelf just for him.
I hated this book with the intensity of a thousand suns, and I'm glad that I didn't have it as a paperback, but as an ebook; otherwise I would've burned it.

The last thing I have to say is this: In a world full of Stefans, find yourself a Lev.
"What do you tell your wife?"
"I tell her the truth. Everything."

Peace out.✌

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't my favorite series by the author, but I am enjoying it. For the type or stories these are there's less actual action than I expect there to be. There's always the big ultimate encounter, but I don't know I expected there to be more actual actions taken by Stefan. Still I liked him and Judith. I felt for her and her fear of her own powers. She's seen the dark side of what can happen when she loses control. I liked the balance of powers as Stefan and Judith discovered what they could be together.

This group of sisters are great. I do like the way the care for each other, always willing to be there for each other. The reunion of the brothers was fun too. Lev and Stefan weren't sure of each other at first, too many years and too much trauma between when they had last seen each other. Their stalking each other as they figured each other out made me smile.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the different physic abilities of the characters. These women are not blood related, but claim each other as sister and their abilities boost each other. It would be a bonus to have a physic ability to tell you who you belong with, but as humans, would we really listen easily? Feehan has given an excellent story of love and loyal. A story of redemption, even the blackest souls have light in them somewhere.

[Megan Riverina Romantics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4/5
Heat Rating: 3/5
Narrator Performance: 3.5/5

[JenMcJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was repetitive like all of her books (but I expect that) but also had some really big plot holes and WTF moments. Still good.

[Bookaholics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spirit Bound by Christine Feehan
Paranormal Romance Dec. 27th, 2011
4 ½ stars

Sprit Bound is the second book in a series about women from varying backgrounds with elemental powers who find each other and create a haven in a small village known as Sea Haven. Together they have built a small but successful farm. (It is not necessary to have read the first book, Water Bound, but some characters do tie in from that book and the Drake sisters series.)

Judith Henderson is haunted by a mistake she made when she was young. The boyfriend she thought she loved turned out to be a ruthless crime boss named Jean-Claude. With the aid of her brother, she was able to escape him but at the cost of her brother’s life when he would not reveal her whereabouts. Haunted by her beloved brother’s death, she longs for vengeance. But Judith’s power is based on the spirit which prevents her from really causing someone harm.

Stefan Prakenskii is a hardened agent who will do whatever is necessary to finish the job. His latest assignment is to find information held by the evil Jean-Claude. But after working undercover as Jean-Claude’s cell mate, Stefan can only find one weakness of Jean-Claude’s -his obsession with a woman named Judith Henderson. Stefan believes that Judith is the key, and when he is reassigned to Sea Haven to find Judith, he discovers that he was bewitched by her, too. Can he save Judith from her own dark vengeance and protect her at the same time? And what will she do when she discovers his lies?

The strong writing and sympathetic characters make this the story one that fans of Christine Feehan will love. Although I did not find myself as emotionally connected to the characters as I did in the first book, Spirit Bound. This was still a pleasure to read. Stefan is part of a group of specially trained brothers, and I really enjoyed reading more about him and his training/past. Stefan is dangerous and single-minded, and I loved how his focus changed from the job to taking care of Judith. Judith has her own demons as she is tortured by the death of her brother. She feels responsible and cannot forgive herself. Since Jean-Claude, she has felt dead inside and is shocked by her attraction to Stefan. This story felt a bit like sleeping beauty as Judith is awakened emotionally and passionately by the hardened and focused Stefan. All the Prakenskii brothers are the perfect heroes, and I am glad the author has continued them in her stories. I only hope there will be more! I like how the brothers are very protective, capable and with a core of steel but they do not overpower their mate. Besides this, one of the best things about this new series are the love and devotion between the women who have banded through heartache and are determined to care for each other. Every book brings more depth to each character, and I am already looking forward to reading the next romance in this series. If you enjoyed the Drake Sister series, getting into this one is a no brainer!

Another strong and emotionally powerful paranormal romance that explores the healing power of love and sisterhood. Gotta love it and the hot hero!

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club