Asylum Bound

by Analeigh Ford

No one leaves Ashford Asylum.

Or so I’ve been told.

I grew up near the asylum. My brother Kemper and I used to sneak through the woods to try and catch a glimpse of the inmates on the other side of its high brick walls. Sometimes we would see them flicker by, dressed all in ghostly white. Sometimes we would hear them scream.

But never once did we venture inside the walls.

Until now.

I hear voices one time at my parents’ funeral, and suddenly I’m no longer suited to exist in the outside world. I’m a danger to myself and others —or so they say. The only person I’m a danger to is my brother Kemper for putting me in here in the first place.

Or, at least, until I get to know the other inmates.

This isn’t your ordinary asylum, and these aren’t your ordinary patients.

Ashford isn't the sort of place you’re sent to get better, it’s the sort of place you’re sent to be forgotten…something I’m frequently reminded of from the moment I arrive. Long abandoned by the families who put them in here and left to run amok by incompetent orderlies, this place has had to develop its own sort of hierarchy to keep from falling apart.

And it all starts with Price, Ives, and Kingsley—the self-proclaimed kings of Ashford Asylum as untouchable as they are cruel.

They think they can bully me into submission, force me to bow to their reign…but there’s one little problem.

I don’t run from chaos. I embrace it.

I’m no victim. I’ve dealt with bullies like them all my life. Anything they do to me, I’ll do ten times worse. Let them try to bruise me, I’ll break them.

There is one thing I didn’t count on, however. The longer I’m stuck here inside the asylum, the more I start to wonder what’s really going on with the inmates. Is it just me, or does Price’s shadow sometimes look like it has a forked tail? My roommate, Adelaide, kind of has a point about drinking her own blood. And Ives…why does everyone look so scared when he starts to lose his temper?

I should be focused on getting out of here, on proving I’m not insane like the rest of them before it’s too late. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to roll over and play dead in the meantime.

Especially when the voices are telling me otherwise.


Asylum Bound is a reverse harem paranormal/supernatural prison romance. It is the first part of the Ashford Asylum duology.

Genres: Paranormal, Demons

182 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 27, 2020

Reviews

[Namera [The Literary Invertebrate] · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty odd mishmash of books.

It's technically a dark RH, but in my opinion there's zero romance to this thing. The 'heroes' don't really spend any time interacting with the heroine, they physically hurt her (a HUGE turnoff for me, I can read about sexual-harassment type bullying but I draw the line at pushing the heroine down the stairs) and we end the book seeing one of the 'heroes' having sex with another woman. So, if you're in this for the romance, you'll be majorly disappointed.

Why have I given it 3 stars then, you ask? Well. The gothic atmosphere is surprisingly well sketched out. It's all very dark and spooky and asylum-y, and despite myself I was quite sucked in. Maybe even sucked in enough to read the sequel.

Also, this might actually be the smartest heroine I've ever read in a bully romance. She acknowledgesthe guys are hot, but when the nicer version of one of them (he has MPD) tries to start something with her, she very intelligently nopes the hell out of there because she knows nobody can be trusted, not even the only one who was nice to her. THANK THE LORD. Other authors, take note.

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[Stephaniec · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ummmmm....I'm just not sure if I liked this or not - didn't fell like anything really grabbed me
May change my rating

[Mercy · Rating 2 out of 5]

what a distractingly stupid book.
The only thing I liked was the strange actions of the other asylum inhabitants, especially in the playroom.
Otherwise, we have an incubus who may or may not be raping all the women in the asylum regularly so he could feed.
We have one guy with at least two personalities.
And one guy that grows bigger when agitated or hungry.
No sex happens, there is this big mystery but it was overplayed and I just don't have the patience for another book of boring interactions.

[Rachel The reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story was better

I read the short story of this in an anthology and really enjoyed it but this longer version, not so much.
Thalia appears weak, naive and completely unaware of what’s happening around her. She’s coped with severe bullying, solitary confinement, death of her parents but can’t cope with the reality that she can hear others in her head and completely cracks when introduced to the fact that the asylum she’s in is for those who are not entirely human. The reader has already been told that Price is an incubus, and Ives is probably some sort of demon, but Thalia is only aware that Kingsley has an alter ego named Bentley and is blissfully unaware of the rest until the ‘cliffhanger’ ending.
The characters all need much more development which may or may not come in the next book.

[Margaret Harp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!

I don't know what exactly I was expecting from this book but what I got was a great story with good characters that had me mesmerized from the beginning. Be prepared to get all kinds of emotional while reading .

[Kayleigh Brooking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow

Not sure what I was expecting when I got this book but thought why not .
Was soo not disappointed , dark twisted tale that I'm not too sure where its heading

Well written, couple editing mistakes but doesn't detract from the story.