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Bound by Flames (Night Prince #3)
Jeaniene Frost
Published: January 27, 2015 (Avon)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review Source: Copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review
Reviewed by: Chelsea
Rating (out of 5): 4.5 stars
Note: This review assumes you’ve read the Night Prince series. If you’re not up-to-date, please check out our review of Once Burned.
Vlad and Leila have had a lot of hurdles to overcome in the Night Prince series. Many of the biggest burdens in their relationship have come from Vlad’s obstinacy. At first he didn’t like to be touched. He controlled who was allowed to see him without clothes. That was a big step for him back in the first book of the Night Prince series.
He’s pushed her away before because of the way he wanted to control everything. They made progress. He learned that relationships function in a different way in the current century, and if he truly wanted a partnership with Leila, he had to treat her as such.
When it comes to Jeaniene Frost’s Bound by Flames, Vlad is straight-up ideal as far as vampire lovers go. He’s grown so much. He no longer hides his love for Leila, and every time he speaks to her I just melted.
What’s so fascinating—and accurate to many relationships out there—is that we see Leila manufacture problems. She’s so sure Vlad won’t see past some horrific events sent to him on video tape, and he won’t be able to love her or forgive her. She has time alone to build up all the reasons her beloved will see her as betraying him. She can’t fathom living eternity without him, but now contemplates this because of events out of her control.
Does our Vlad really care about actions outside Leila’s control? Of course not. The moment when she is reunited and she starts “confessing” is perfect in the way it baffles Vlad. He vows that nothing in her past or her future is going to change his unyielding love for her.
And that right there is what Bound by Flames is about. Marriage and the sweetness of having someone truly love you. Vlad puts Leila’s safety and happiness above all else, and she does the same for him. Their journey in this book is beyond accepting one another’s faults and instead focuses on how they can now be stronger as a unit. They can take care of one another emotionally (and we get some major emotional stuff from Vlad!), and they can work together to battle some of the biggest bads we’ve seen in this series.
Also, be aware that martial vampire sex is doubly hot when one of the vampires conjures fire and the other wields electricity.
I really liked Vlad and Leila’s relationship growth in this one. Just because they got married in Twice Burned didn’t mean everything would be fixed. Vlad has really had to work to be able to be comfortable showing his emotions and opening himself up to Leila. I liked that Leila, despite what everyone around her would say, she really tries to see things from Vlad’s point of view and tries to be understanding about his tendencies to be overprotective with her.
I loved their relationship growth here, too. Usually I’m all about the initial falling-in-love part of the relationship, but Jeaniene Frost always manages to make her married couples’ stories so romantic. Loved it.