Book Review: Bound to the Prince - Deborah Court

 Title: Bound to the Prince (Elven Warrior Trilogy #1) - Deborah Court

Release Date: The edition I have was first published August 19th 2011

Publisher: Smashwords

Pages: n/a (ebook)

Goodreads 

Some people believe that beneath our own world, separated only by a thin veil of human disbelief, there is another one—an ancient land of myths and legends, a place where magical creatures dwell. What would happen if one of them walked the streets of London at night?

Once a proud warrior, elven prince Elathan was living in exile, fallen from grace and separated from his own people. He wanted the mortal woman the moment he saw her standing on Blackfriars Bridge, staring down into the darkness with unbearable pain in her eyes. This strangely compelling female also happened to have luscious curves that made his body ache with desire. Naturally, he decided to hunt the woman down, drag her to his lair and command her to become his slave of pleasure. But would her frail human body survive a night of untamed passion in the arms of a Fae?

After a devastating breakup with her fiancé, Igraine Chandler was spending her honeymoon in England all by herself, her life utterly bereft of meaning. For who could ever love a plain, slightly overweight nurse from New Jersey with nothing left but a broken heart and her lost dreams of a home and a family? But she never imagined that she would soon set out into a world beyond her wildest dreams, and help a prince reclaim his throne...

Set in a medieval fantasy world of noble knights, monsters and magicians, honor, betrayal and revenge, Bound to the Prince is a romance influenced by Celtic mythology and Arthurian legends. But in its heart, it's a story of a woman's inner development to a new, strong, self; uninhibited desire, boundless love, loss and sacrifice.

THE COVER

My only problem with this cover is the model; I'm not a big fan of muscly guys. But all in all, it's really gorgeous and classy.

THE STORY

This is another "abducted girl" story so some female readers might not like it, but I think Elathan actually saved Igraine from her terrible life. 

I don't know if it's because it's an ebook (and I just can't stare at a screen for too long), but I felt like this was an overwhelmingly long read. I read it for almost a month. The pacing was good, the steamy scenes were written well, and the world-building was fantastic. 

Bound to the Prince is actually an erotica, but it's so good that I believe if the author cut out those scenes, this would still be an extraordinary book. The adventure and fantasy world alone was a story in itself.

THE CHARACTERS

I really pitied Igraine in the beginning of this book. Her king of douchebags fiance just left her, she had no family, and she had even sacrificed her education for the love she thought she'd had. Her hopelessness struck me straight from the pages. So I really loved it when she became stronger - physically and emotionally - during the training that Elathan gave her so she'd be ready for... him.

Elathan was this super cool, ultra bad-ass elven prince with a sad past. At first, he only thought of Igraine as a slave, but we could all guess where the story went.

 

MY FAVORITE PART was the ending. I read it during a programming lab class (sneakily, of course), and it was so gripping, I didn't realize my professor called on me until my seatmate kicked my chair, lol.

RATING: 3.5/5
(photo and summary from Goodreads.com)