I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Fire Bound
by
Christine Feehan
paranormal romance in a paperback edition that was published by Piatkus Books on April 26, 2016 and has 400 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Dark Predator, Savage Nature, Spirit Bound, Darkest at Dawn, Samurai Game, Dark Storm, Leopard's Prey, Air Bound, Hot Blooded, Viper Game, Power Game, Earth Bound, Spider Game, "Dark Crime", Covert Game, Judgment Road, Toxic Game, Vengeance Road, Bound Together, Shadow Warrior, Leopard's Wrath, Wild Cat, Cat's Lair, Vendetta Road, Lethal Game, Desolation Road, Leopard's Rage, Reckless Road, Dark Whisper
Fifth in the Sisters of the Heart paranormal romance series and revolving around a self-made family of six women who band together in Sea Haven, California. (This is a spin-off series from Sea Haven and fourteenth in the overall series.) The couple focus is on Lissa Piner and Casimir Prakenskii.
It’s been five years since the women bought the farm. No, really, they bought a farm that they all help work.
My Take
It’s a release for both Lissa and Casimir, that each sees through the mask and into their true selves. Feehan uses third person global subjective point-of-view with the primary perspectives coming from Lissa, Casimir, and Luigi. Other minor characters do chime in with their own thoughts and emotions.
Feehan does create interesting stories, and then she wrecks them with the overly melodramatic scenes and those excessively loathsome characters she loves to create. Oh, that’s not fair. Well, the characters are loathsome with a brutality that will make you sick, but I’m whining about the paragraphs that made no sense continuity-wise, the expression of the story which is crude with restricted character development, and it’s getting so tedious with the same routine, the same insta-love, and all the sex. It’s sex, sex, sex. Not that I’m against sex, but oy…
And yet, I do like the “sisters”, and I don’t understand why Lissa thinks her big secret will put them off. Please. How is her great tragedy so different from theirs? Why wouldn’t they be supportive of her? The women have supported each other throughout. As for the boys, I do like the protective strength of those brothers *grin*, even if they are too macho for words.
If you’re looking for action without fear, you’ll find it here with a fast-slow pace that drove me nuts with that storyline jumping from character to character each of whom has their particular issues, and all that sex that simply slows it down. I know. I was bored. What can I say?
A few bits of foreshadowing introduce Bound Together, 6, which should end the Sisters of the Heart series with Viktor and Blythe’s story.
The Story
It’s been years since Casimir saw his brothers…and he’s willing to do this one favor for them: protect Lissa. A woman who needs no protection.
A woman with her own mission of revenge, hiding her true purpose under the guise of a glass blower traveling to clients who wish to commission her work.
The Characters
Lissa Piner is a world-renowned glass artist who has banded together with five other women, including Blythe Daniels, a massage therapist; the autistic, urchin diving Rikki Sittmore (a Water gift), who is married to Lev Prakenskii (Water Bound, 1); Judith, who is an artist married to Stefan Prakenskii, a gallery owner, who runs when she beckons (Spirit Bound, 2); Airiana (an Air gift) is an artist who recently married Maxim Prakenskii (Air Bound, 3) who are adopting four children, including the mischievous Benito, Lucia, Nicia, and Siena); and, Lexi, the youngest, who has fallen in love with Gavriil Prakenskii (Earth Bound , 4).
Casimir Prakenskii has a Fire gift and has been a premier elite assassin since his fifteenth birthday. He is currently working as a bodyguard, Tomasso Dal Porto, on Luigi’s estate.
Viktor Prakenskii is the oldest brother and has spent five years in deep undercover with the eighteen men who survived Sorbacov’s schools. Blythe is his wife…only she’s not so sure. Each Prakenskii had a psychic gift they kept hidden.
Jackson Deveau is hated by Shackler-Gratsos and is married to Elle Drake (Hidden Currents, 7). Another sister, Joely Drake, is married to Ilya Prakenskii (Turbulent Sea, 6).
Uncle Luigi’s estate is…
…in Italy. Luigi Abbracciabene retired years ago from being the family enforcer due to multiple sclerosis. Angeline is his hated wife, Aldo’s sister, and they have three sons. Arturo, a bodyguard, has been with Luigi for years. More security includes Raimondo and the mean Enzo. Alberto is the crazy head gardener, angry at Tito.
Lissa was born Giacinta Abbracciabene, the daughter of Marcello and Elisabeta Abbracciabene, a small mob family living in Ferrara allied with the stronger Porcellis.
The Porcelli famiglia is…
…a major crime family in Italy, now headed by Aldo Porcelli. Lydia Sartini is Aldo’s mistress. Cosmos Agosto was the dog handler hired by the Abbracciabenes. Carlotta is Cosmos’ beautiful model wife.
A hotel in Italy wants…
…Lissa to create unique chandeliers for them. Mariana Loria is the manager.
The Krasnyy Drakon Hotel, St Petersburg, Russia, is…
…partly owned by Kostya Sorbacov (a behind-the-scenes power who had murdered the Prakenskiis’ parents and forced the children into brutal training) and his son, Uri (intending to run for president, Uri has put out a hit on all the “students” to erase the Sorbacov legacy). They wish to hire Lissa to create unique lighting for them.
Patrice Lungren, Friedrich Bauer, and Steve Johnson are undercover. Sophie Rigoli is a famous Italian designer. Father Lazzaro is a convenient priest.
Ivan Belsky is a weasel for the Russian mob who sells secrets and information. Borya Polzin is his partner (who enjoys killing) and had come out of the same school as Casimir. Evan Shackler-Gratsos is a billionaire who runs a human trafficking operation and is the international president of a motorcycle club called the Swords.
The Cover and Title
The cover is rather scary with the dark-eyed, dark-mouthed, black-clad Casimir, his body turned away from us but his face looking back, and it feels as if he’s assessing how he’ll kill the viewer! In the background is a choppy blue, green, and yellow sea with a lurid reddish-orange sky with multiple bolts of yellow lightning touching down. The author’s name, in white, starts at Casimir’s shoulder with the title in a pale yellow with a black background immediately below it. Under this is the series information in a darker orange with a white info blurb at the very bottom, orange flames licking at the text.
The title refers to Lissa and Casimir, who are Fire Bound.
