Today I'm thrilled to be part (even if it is a little
late!) of the Blog Tour for Binds by Rebecca Espinoza. This tour was hosted by The Indie Bookshelf and they were
gracious enough allow us to participate late. Thank you!
Binds by Rebecca Espinoza
Published: April 3rd 2013
Purchase: Amazon
About the book: Ophelia Brand’s life is in shambles. Married to an abusive man and forced to act like the perfect politician’s wife in public, her freedom has been completely stripped away. Alone and without purpose, Ophelia feels as if there isn’t much in this world to live for. Everything changes when an employee kidnaps her from a state dinner. Ophelia is thrust into a new world filled with people who claim to be an ancient race of Mages. They also claim that she is one of them.
While the country falls into the hands of a tyrannical dictator, Ophelia finds herself torn between the friendly Reece who wants nothing more than to protect her, and Spencer, the leader of the resistance who sees her as a tool to fight the war. Tensions run high as Reece and Spencer both try to help her master her powers and unravel the spells that restricted her from using them. As revelations of her past come to light, and the war is brought to her feet, Ophelia must quickly make a choice of who to trust.
Binds is the first in a series of adult urban fantasy novels with sexy Mages, a sugar skull army, and an unfortunate set of Hello Kitty pjs.
Binds was a promising start to an original UF series. I am a newbie to the Urban Fantasy, but I’m quickly learning to be patient when it comes to UF. You don’t get all your information in one book and things are not tied up neatly at the end. The world building, relationships, and romances are built slowly over time, and this makes it all the more satisfying when eventually things wrap up.
Ophelia is married to a powerful politician and tyrant, kept
in a gilded cage, and unable to escape.
She knows because she’s tried.
Her husband, Donovan seemed sweet and loving when they were dating but
she now knows he’s a monster. When
kidnapped by a Reece, a member of a resistance group, and told that she has
powers magical powers she is shocked, and doesn’t know who to trust. She’s told there’s a bitter war between the
government and the Mages and they need her help. As the evidence shown to her is irrefutable,
Ophelia knows she wants answers and the only way to get them is to work with
Spencer, the infuriating leader. She
wants to know why her mother kept all this from her. And why didn’t she warn her of the dangers
surrounding her?
Like I said at the outset, UF is something you need to be
patient with. Usually the first book is just
the set up and slow introduction into the fantasy world, and
relationships. Binds was no
exception. I felt thrust into this world
much like Ophelia with confusion and a desire to figure things out. I loved the whole magical world of Mages and
the Binds they use to manipulate the world around them. I can’t wait to see Ophelia really master her
powers, because I suspect she’s a force to be reckoned with.
Ophelia was a likeable character and I felt sorry for all
she went through at the hands of her husband. She seemed so powerless at first and it was a
bit frustrating. I also thought Ophelia seemed
to be a little slow to grasp things that seemed obvious; the whole situation with
Cass being one example. I’m not sure if
it was because she was isolated for so long or if it was because she was kept
in the dark most of her life. At any rate, I hope we see this change in the
next novel. If the last 10% is anything
to go by, I think it will. Ophelia
finally seemed like she was getting the strength to stand up and take some
action.
Now onto the men, we have Spencer the powerful and enigmatic
leader, and Reece her gorgeous rescuer and member of the resistance. I hate love triangles and for just a second
this looked like it was well on its way to being one. *groans* I’m happy to
report that it didn’t turn out that way. For me there’s a clear winner in the
romance department, but I’ll let you figure that one out on your own. Let’s just say there was a kiss that swayed
me:
His soft lips contrast with the urgency I feel from him. It’s as if it
is the last moment of the last second of the last everything before the end of
the world and we are both trying to make it count.
Romances take time to develop in Urban Fantasy, and I can
tell there’s going to be some big obstacles to overcome in the future. I think Ophelia is going to be ticked when
she finds out things were held back from her, yet again.
Binds sucked me right in and I was surprised how quickly I
breezed through. It ended just as things were really getting interesting with a lot of the major reveals left to
the last 10% of the novel. I can’t wait
to see how things turn out. I just
looked up the second book and I don’t see any release date yet, but hopefully
it will be soon!
3.5 Suns
About the author: An Army
wife, has lived in 8 different houses and 5 different states in the past 10
years and she can’t wait for the next move. She is skilled in the arts of
basket weaving, origami, and bullshitting. She is a book thief and likely to
pilfer any she sees lying around in friends’ houses, so keep an eye out if you
invite her in.
She
currently resides in beautiful Wahiawa, Hawaii (Army wives will get this joke)
with her two sons and dog, Tosh.0 (her most favorite person in the world…the
dog, not the comedian), and her husband pops in from the field, missions, or
deployment every now and then to say hello. She tends towards the sarcastic
when referring to herself in third person. Rebecca is a Turtle, are you?
Rebecca Espinoza has generously provided an e-copy of Binds to
giveaway to one lucky reader! Just fill in the rafflecopter below for a chance
to win. Thank you for stopping by and good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
No comments:
Post a Comment