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Bound
Bound: Book 4 - A Second Chance Romance
LOCKEY
I can't find the right beat; I don't know the key... The rhythm of my life is lost without the music of my heart.
I drew the Queen of Diamonds - a choice I can't help but regret, because now it seems that my bluff is about to be called.
But she of all people should realize; I had to learn to live before I could remember how to love.
CAOIMHE
He promised me they wouldn't come. He said they'd leave me alone.
He lied.
But these boots were made for walking, so that's what I'm going to do; right back into his life.
He is mine. And they will pay.
ANNA
If this is what freedom looks like, then send me back to Hell.
The white picket fence of real life; a suburban dream akin to the cold steel bars of the cell we deserved.
Locked together,
Chained forever,
Tied to this life;
we feel bound to suffer our twisted hate.
But could a girl with a key be the light that sets me free?
___________________________
This is a continuation of the story found in books 1-3 of the Incantenato Series: Locked, Chained & Tied.
Author warning: This series of books are adult novels and the content is intended for those over 18 years old. They contain reference to many adult situations and involve multiple BDSM scenes, some of which may be potentially upsetting to some. It is a story of disordered desperation set in a criminal underworld; a world where being nice doesn't pay off, and the good guys don't always win.
For further information and a more comprehensive content list including potential triggers, please visit the author’s website
LOCKEY
I can't find the right beat; I don't know the key... The rhythm of my life is lost without the music of my heart.
I drew the Queen of Diamonds - a choice I can't help but regret, because now it seems that my bluff is about to be called.
But she of all people should realize; I had to learn to live before I could remember how to love.
CAOIMHE
He promised me they wouldn't come. He said they'd leave me alone.
He lied.
But these boots were made for walking, so that's what I'm going to do; right back into his life.
He is mine. And they will pay.
ANNA
If this is what freedom looks like, then send me back to Hell.
The white picket fence of real life; a suburban dream akin to the cold steel bars of the cell we deserved.
Locked together,
Chained forever,
Tied to this life;
we feel bound to suffer our twisted hate.
But could a girl with a key be the light that sets me free?
___________________________
This is a continuation of the story found in books 1-3 of the Incantenato Series: Locked, Chained & Tied.
Author warning: This series of books are adult novels and the content is intended for those over 18 years old. They contain reference to many adult situations and involve multiple BDSM scenes, some of which may be potentially upsetting to some. It is a story of disordered desperation set in a criminal underworld; a world where being nice doesn't pay off, and the good guys don't always win.
For further information and a more comprehensive content list including potential triggers, please visit the author’s website
485 pages, Paperback
Published December 21, 2023
4 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 28, 2023
Whew. There’s a lot of time jumps in this one, and it does feel a little fractured and disjointed as a result. Though it does come together in the end, so bearing with it until you slip into the writing style does pay off. Honest.
We meet Lockey living a very different life, he’s married and a father. Living in hiding and trying his best to make the best of his new role and provide a good life for his daughters. Caoimhe too is a very different woman. She is confident and self assured in a way she hasn’t been before. She wants a life with Lockey and won’t let anything stand in her way.
The book follows many years in their life as they navigate their new lives and new responsibilities. Again, it twists and turns and whilst we do get a HEA it’s a long time coming and doesn’t come easily for any of the characters we’ve grown to love.
There’s a lot of exploring mental health and trauma for the characters and I appreciate the author for letting that exploration ring true. Their healing isn’t linear or easy, nor is it always nice. Lockey is still selfish at times, and asks much more of his loved ones than they always feel comfortable giving. I love that the author let his path to healing still ring true to his sociopathic and manipulative tendencies, it felt right to his character growth whilst also feeling right for him.
This one isn’t an easy read, but it does end their storylines in a way that feels authentic to the characters and the previous books. It was nice to live in their worlds for a while and nice to leave them in a happier place.
We meet Lockey living a very different life, he’s married and a father. Living in hiding and trying his best to make the best of his new role and provide a good life for his daughters. Caoimhe too is a very different woman. She is confident and self assured in a way she hasn’t been before. She wants a life with Lockey and won’t let anything stand in her way.
The book follows many years in their life as they navigate their new lives and new responsibilities. Again, it twists and turns and whilst we do get a HEA it’s a long time coming and doesn’t come easily for any of the characters we’ve grown to love.
There’s a lot of exploring mental health and trauma for the characters and I appreciate the author for letting that exploration ring true. Their healing isn’t linear or easy, nor is it always nice. Lockey is still selfish at times, and asks much more of his loved ones than they always feel comfortable giving. I love that the author let his path to healing still ring true to his sociopathic and manipulative tendencies, it felt right to his character growth whilst also feeling right for him.
This one isn’t an easy read, but it does end their storylines in a way that feels authentic to the characters and the previous books. It was nice to live in their worlds for a while and nice to leave them in a happier place.
November 5, 2024
Bound, is the 4th book in the Incantenato Series by L.A. Douglas and what a whirlwind this series has been. I had no idea when I dived into Locked, the 1st book, what an addictive read it would be. I adored the ending of Locked. The author gives the option of accepting the HEA or reading onto Chained, the 2nd book for the warts and all version. And as a book hungry hoe I just had to slip into their world ............ And I highly recommend it.
This series isn't your average coming of age sexual experimenting story slash dark with many trigger warnings romance. There is much more depth to this story. I have been totally captivated by Caoimhe and Lockey and his plus one....... Anna! It's similar to peeling open a pomegranate. There are so many layers with juicy details popping off and many more layers found underneath. It's a true exploration of the effects of childhood/teenhood trauma and how it can manifest, the self preservation and how mental health issues can steer your future in different directions.
The author never loses how she portrays Lockey. She doesn't wrap him up and pretend he's not 50 shades of f*cked up. That goes for the ladies too. How their life plays out was fascinating and painful at times to read, but it was true to the characters and quite refreshing.
From beginning to end I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this world. The exploration in Bound and the growth shown for all is superb. There's many twists and turns and this book will probably have you excluding sleep, like it did me, but I highly recommended you dive between its dark, deliciously spicy and depraved silky pages 🖤🥀❤️🔥
This series isn't your average coming of age sexual experimenting story slash dark with many trigger warnings romance. There is much more depth to this story. I have been totally captivated by Caoimhe and Lockey and his plus one....... Anna! It's similar to peeling open a pomegranate. There are so many layers with juicy details popping off and many more layers found underneath. It's a true exploration of the effects of childhood/teenhood trauma and how it can manifest, the self preservation and how mental health issues can steer your future in different directions.
The author never loses how she portrays Lockey. She doesn't wrap him up and pretend he's not 50 shades of f*cked up. That goes for the ladies too. How their life plays out was fascinating and painful at times to read, but it was true to the characters and quite refreshing.
From beginning to end I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of this world. The exploration in Bound and the growth shown for all is superb. There's many twists and turns and this book will probably have you excluding sleep, like it did me, but I highly recommended you dive between its dark, deliciously spicy and depraved silky pages 🖤🥀❤️🔥
January 12, 2024
Beautifully written. There was a lot of story, with a time jump but don't let that put you off. It was necessary and you'll see why. I felt like I got to know some characters more in this book, which helped me understand them more. It'll take you through a LOT of emotion, you'll have your head in your hands at times but I promise, it's worth it. It's not the same as the other three, it's beautifully different.
January 6, 2024
I loved this book as much as I loved the previous 3 and ohh my goodness I need MORE! 🥰
April 16, 2024
Me again. Remember when I said in my review for Locked that I wouldn’t read the rest of the series? Well, I lied. Because I have this perverse need to see a story through and I hate not knowing how it ends, no matter how absurd it is. Spoilers for all four books below, not just this one….
Anyway, everything I said about Locked still stands for all the rest of them. Chaotic, sometimes hard to follow, writing and storytelling poorly executed in part, and lots of untied ends.
C is still so incredibly stupid. I don’t think anyone could be more stupid than this woman. After the events of Locked she falls further for Lock, eventually he gets her working at the club (but not with clients, because he’s hypocritical like that). Turns out the criminals are criminal and they kill people who work for them if they feel like they’re not doing a good enough job or are trying to screw them. We lose at least 3 supporting characters this way. This causes Lock to look for a way out that will save him and C and, of course, Anna. What does he do? He flips and gives them all up to the FBI. The organization goes down and he goes on the run into witness protection with his wife - Anna. Leaving C alone in Seattle, breaking her heart, and basically ruining everyone’s fucking lives.
Yea. Queen bitch finds herself pregnant, it might be Lock’s since they screw all the time behind C’s back, and he fucking decides to marry her to keep her in the country. Best part? He just doesn’t tell C. Like simply neglects to mention that he’s married his “partner” who might also be pregnant with his child. Nbd. Moving on. Of course someone lets the cat out of the bag and C is rightfully pissed off. But of course she forgives him so they can enjoy their “time left together” before he takes off on the lam with his pregnant wife. See what I mean about the fucking stupid??
So Lock and Anna turn state’s evidence and go into witsec. C is left in Lock’s apartment heartbroken, betrayed, and alone. Book four opens 5 years later with Lock and Anna living under assumed identities playing happy suburban family. Oh, yea, they have two more kids together. The first one wasn’t his. So he just went and had two more with the woman he claims he “hates,” is tied to because of a bad decision, who ruined his life, etc. bla, bla, bla. Right. Sure. Save it, asshole.
C got suckered into doing online porn for the bosses as a way to basically get back at Lock and eventually lure him back into their service. After 5 years she finds him, they immediately screw, she immediately forgives him for everything and for having more fucking kids with Anna, they carry on an affair for a month or so and of course C finds herself pregnant. Naturally.
Lock, being the asshole he is, decides this is a perfect way to have everything he ever wanted. Anna and C and a new family so he basically forces them into a poly relationship. And C, like the fucking idiot she is, goes and plays second fiddle to Lock and Anna’s marriage.
After way too many time jumps, flashbacks, unnecessary side stories, tangents, and various other minutiae, we end up several years in the future. Lock and C and Anna and all their kids, which keep popping up out of nowhere, all live happy together doing online porn and pretending that there’s some semblance of respect between them. Anna gets cancer and dies and her dying wish is to see Lock and C married. So they do. And have more kids. Lock gets a degree and becomes a counselor and they continue to do porn and have an open relationship.
Overall, the series was emotional and very heavy. It went off on a lot of tangents and could use the benefit of both a developmental and copy editor. I will say, though, that the writing did get markedly better as it went on with much less of the technical issues found in the first book appearing by the last.
Lock is still the best part of the series but I truly hated his guts by book 3 and that didn’t change by the end. He consistently cheated on C. Yes, she knew he slept with clients for work. She accepted it. Never tried to tell him not to. But he constantly slept with other people outside of work behind her back and hid it from her knowing it was wrong. Anna, fucking Anna, even tells him he’s a lying cheating asshole. The Christmas Day “three way” was the nail in his coffin. Fuck that guy. Trauma aside, that’s not an excuse to choose to be a dick to someone you allegedly “love.”
And truly, he didn’t love C. He loved Anna. The person whose needs and wants and life he consistently prioritized and chose again and again over C. He always relegated C to second place. He always chose Anna. Platitudes be damned. He never chose her, never put her first despite how much he “loved” her and she was his soulmate, bla bla bla. But she’s dumb as fuck and took it and kept coming back so that’s her cross to bear I guess. If there had been an equality between them, equal places in his life and equal respect by him for both of them, I would’ve received it much better. But there wasn’t. It was always Anna and I hated him for it. She’s so traumatized. She can’t handle being alone. She needs help. We need each other because we’ve always had each other. Give me a break. My cold dead heart wasn’t upset when she was finally out of the picture. So, yes, Lock had a lot of growth (and this was particularly well written and developed by the end) but that doesn’t erase everything he did and my conclusion remains the same - fuck that guy.
I can’t give this a rating yet because, honestly, I don’t even know what it would be at this point. Read at your own risk because there’s a whole heap of triggers.
Anyway, everything I said about Locked still stands for all the rest of them. Chaotic, sometimes hard to follow, writing and storytelling poorly executed in part, and lots of untied ends.
C is still so incredibly stupid. I don’t think anyone could be more stupid than this woman. After the events of Locked she falls further for Lock, eventually he gets her working at the club (but not with clients, because he’s hypocritical like that). Turns out the criminals are criminal and they kill people who work for them if they feel like they’re not doing a good enough job or are trying to screw them. We lose at least 3 supporting characters this way. This causes Lock to look for a way out that will save him and C and, of course, Anna. What does he do? He flips and gives them all up to the FBI. The organization goes down and he goes on the run into witness protection with his wife - Anna. Leaving C alone in Seattle, breaking her heart, and basically ruining everyone’s fucking lives.
Yea. Queen bitch finds herself pregnant, it might be Lock’s since they screw all the time behind C’s back, and he fucking decides to marry her to keep her in the country. Best part? He just doesn’t tell C. Like simply neglects to mention that he’s married his “partner” who might also be pregnant with his child. Nbd. Moving on. Of course someone lets the cat out of the bag and C is rightfully pissed off. But of course she forgives him so they can enjoy their “time left together” before he takes off on the lam with his pregnant wife. See what I mean about the fucking stupid??
So Lock and Anna turn state’s evidence and go into witsec. C is left in Lock’s apartment heartbroken, betrayed, and alone. Book four opens 5 years later with Lock and Anna living under assumed identities playing happy suburban family. Oh, yea, they have two more kids together. The first one wasn’t his. So he just went and had two more with the woman he claims he “hates,” is tied to because of a bad decision, who ruined his life, etc. bla, bla, bla. Right. Sure. Save it, asshole.
C got suckered into doing online porn for the bosses as a way to basically get back at Lock and eventually lure him back into their service. After 5 years she finds him, they immediately screw, she immediately forgives him for everything and for having more fucking kids with Anna, they carry on an affair for a month or so and of course C finds herself pregnant. Naturally.
Lock, being the asshole he is, decides this is a perfect way to have everything he ever wanted. Anna and C and a new family so he basically forces them into a poly relationship. And C, like the fucking idiot she is, goes and plays second fiddle to Lock and Anna’s marriage.
After way too many time jumps, flashbacks, unnecessary side stories, tangents, and various other minutiae, we end up several years in the future. Lock and C and Anna and all their kids, which keep popping up out of nowhere, all live happy together doing online porn and pretending that there’s some semblance of respect between them. Anna gets cancer and dies and her dying wish is to see Lock and C married. So they do. And have more kids. Lock gets a degree and becomes a counselor and they continue to do porn and have an open relationship.
Overall, the series was emotional and very heavy. It went off on a lot of tangents and could use the benefit of both a developmental and copy editor. I will say, though, that the writing did get markedly better as it went on with much less of the technical issues found in the first book appearing by the last.
Lock is still the best part of the series but I truly hated his guts by book 3 and that didn’t change by the end. He consistently cheated on C. Yes, she knew he slept with clients for work. She accepted it. Never tried to tell him not to. But he constantly slept with other people outside of work behind her back and hid it from her knowing it was wrong. Anna, fucking Anna, even tells him he’s a lying cheating asshole. The Christmas Day “three way” was the nail in his coffin. Fuck that guy. Trauma aside, that’s not an excuse to choose to be a dick to someone you allegedly “love.”
And truly, he didn’t love C. He loved Anna. The person whose needs and wants and life he consistently prioritized and chose again and again over C. He always relegated C to second place. He always chose Anna. Platitudes be damned. He never chose her, never put her first despite how much he “loved” her and she was his soulmate, bla bla bla. But she’s dumb as fuck and took it and kept coming back so that’s her cross to bear I guess. If there had been an equality between them, equal places in his life and equal respect by him for both of them, I would’ve received it much better. But there wasn’t. It was always Anna and I hated him for it. She’s so traumatized. She can’t handle being alone. She needs help. We need each other because we’ve always had each other. Give me a break. My cold dead heart wasn’t upset when she was finally out of the picture. So, yes, Lock had a lot of growth (and this was particularly well written and developed by the end) but that doesn’t erase everything he did and my conclusion remains the same - fuck that guy.
I can’t give this a rating yet because, honestly, I don’t even know what it would be at this point. Read at your own risk because there’s a whole heap of triggers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2025
What a series!
Wow, this was DEFINITELY off the charts with the messed up stuff it discussed. There isn’t much that isn’t touched on so if you’re easily triggered, stay away from this one!
I loved their story. I was so angry at Anna the whole time until the end. I felt a little pity but it angered me so much when they ran off even though I knew the reasons behind it. Ugh, the emotional rollercoaster this took me on never stopped! If you like dark messed up twisted romance….you gotta read these.
Wow, this was DEFINITELY off the charts with the messed up stuff it discussed. There isn’t much that isn’t touched on so if you’re easily triggered, stay away from this one!
I loved their story. I was so angry at Anna the whole time until the end. I felt a little pity but it angered me so much when they ran off even though I knew the reasons behind it. Ugh, the emotional rollercoaster this took me on never stopped! If you like dark messed up twisted romance….you gotta read these.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews