Book five in the Sea Haven Sisters series by prolific romance writer Christine Feehan, Fire Bound follows the life of Lissa, a fire elemental and trained assassin and her developing love of Casimir.
Alright, dust of the hands, that’s a wrap folks!
Sorry.
It’s alright. I’ve been reading Feehan since 2004 and enjoyed a great many of her books. Dark Destiny was my first, and I’ve read Water Bound about three times.
But, I think the years have affected the writing. Outside of a very good standard formula that makes it easy to expect long sex scenes, quick burst of action, and minor character development to justify the static world build, the books are what they are: Walmart popular. And it sells, because it’s guaranteed what you’re getting. Hot characters, detailed spice, a happy ending.
The style has shifted, though. The early Dark series was softer in tone. I don’t know how to pin point it, but the recent years have been leaning harder into dom/sub territory mixed with a certain level of crassness. I noticed the frequency when her motorcycle series came around. It feels like she can’t quite split up her styles anymore. She can’t differentiate them outside of the minor magic rules.
I would love to see what those early 2000s held. To feel that style in her writing again. I keep going back to reading her books, but keep feeling disappointed. I like a good spice scene. I eat that up. But anymore, I’m just flipping through the chapters, jumping paragraph to paragraph – speed reading so I can have the plot. At least she’s taken to giving the female characters more time to develop to orgasm rather than just depending on the characters to poke them a couple times and use that as justification for a spectacular outcome.
One would ask why I keep going back to read her work if I don’t have rave reviews. Easy – I know what to expect. Sometimes that’s what I’m in the mood for. I don’t like chancing wasted time of writing that might be frustrating if I’m already struggling to fit reading into my schedule.
Is this one I want on my shelf? Nope. I rented the ebook through Libby and enjoyed it for an afternoon. I own Water Bound as an ebook and am happy to leave it at that. Fire Bound is just a bit more repetitive than Earth Bound in making sure the reader knows what is going on up front. That isn’t a bad thing if you read your series out of order, but for those reading in order, the amount of ‘what you missed’ needed to be taimed.
Also, her editor is getting lax on catching typos. And the over used words and repetitive words. Its a cheap paranormal romance. I shouldn’t be all that judgy, but still – the number of times ‘velvet’ was used for a particular chapter was grating.
Suggest it?
Yeah, sure. Enjoy. Maybe you’ll find it a fun little diversion.
Books in the Cottage 