Thank you to NetGalley and wattpad webtoon book group for this opportunity! This epic ARC will be available July 2,2024!!!

Holy spiciness with an actual plot Batman!!! I devoured this book. It’s my first book by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed their writing style. The plot was steadily paced with action, banter and steamy moments. The main characters were fleshed out. Not one moment was I ever bored.

I’m giving this three stars because the writing wasn’t terrible but my actual enjoyment was somewhere in the two star range.

I remember seeing Ruby advertise the chapters of this book as they were being released on Yonder. I didn’t read any of the story then because I’m not paying for another app, not even for Ruby, but was interested in the premise. So I waited to read it until now. Unfortunately this book had issues; mainly, it was too long. The story initially started out focused on the characters but eventually became about a meandering plot which was overly bloated. I could assume this would be due to the serialized pay-per-chapter release, but I’ve read other series written by Ruby that suffered from the same issue that were just published as novels.

Beyond that I don’t personally think the female main character was written well. She was pretty much one note and it was set to horny. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good steamy book, but want the characters to have more to them than just the desire to bone. I also understand and appreciate that was part of her characterization; however, it superseded any romantic buildup or chemistry which Ruby generally does well. In fact it was done well for the male main character in this book. As a reader this made it hard to buy into the romance or root for the couple.

There were also gripes I had that may not bother everyone but grated on my nerves. Specifically the countless times “dragon shite” was used even though there were no dragons in this book and the audiobook narrator’s choice to make the main character and narrator of the story have an American accent despite saying things like “piss off,” “arse,” “shite,” etc. Additionally the male main character, his people, and the human males all had what I think was a Scottish accent. Maybe the human males had an old school Transatlantic style accent but the women were just straight up bland American. So every “piss off,” “arse,” “shite,” etc. was just unbelievably off-putting. And lastly, along with having issues with several scenes throughout the story the final one was incredibly frustrating but I can’t get into the reasons why because of spoilers.

In the end, this book had issues. Some were just my personal gripes but others were with the writing. I still love Ruby’s work and will continue to try out whatever she comes up with in the future.

Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also, shoutout to my local library and Libby for having the audiobook.

I really liked the premise of this book, forced proximity and soft enemies to lovers. Candra started out a little spoiled but quickly realized her situation and had a lot of growth at the end. I enjoyed the twist towards the end of the book and how it came together at the end.
I do feel like the story dragged in places that could’ve been shortened up and some of the spicier scenes were a little repetitive.

Ruby Dixon has become one that can write a monster fantasy grocery list and I think I will buy it. She is a go to for me in this realm and I know that I will pick it up and devour it and finish it in that same day, if not the same sitting.

Bound to the Shadow Prince was the perfect forced proximity, enemies to lovers romance! Candra and Nemeth had me hooked from start to finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and W by Wattpad Books for the opportunity to ARC this book. I have read many of Ruby Dixon's books (well over 50), and Bound to the Shadow Prince is pretty much what I've come to expect from her. The worldbuilding of this fantasy story is very intriguing and although it's slower-paced, it still has a lot of humor and of course good amounts of spicy scenes. I do wish it was shorter though, there were definitely some things that felt like they could have been cut/edited down. I think I would have enjoyed it even more if it had been about 100 pages shorter.

This book was spellbinding and seductive! I absolutely loved it and wish I could give it more than five stars!

Ruby truely knocked it out of the park with this book! I really enjoyed the overall plot and the characters were so intriguing and complex.

My favorite thing about this book was the forced proximity between the characters. It made for some delicious tension and wonderfully spicy scenes!

If you're a fan of spicy romance then this book is for you, I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for allowing me to read this book ahead of release in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ruby Dixon is a contentious author for me because I find her books can be a lot of fun if a bit formulaic and often very lacking in their sentence-level craft. I’m afraid to say I didn’t find this one as fun as some of her other works, and that made the other issues of her writing all the more prominent.

I found the main character and her love interest to have quite a boring dynamic in spite of what was some really great framing in the realm of “forced proximity.” The gargoyle-esque description of the love interest was hard for me to get past and I think ultimately this was a little out of my comfort zone when it comes to monster romances in fantasy. Potentially I could’ve grown past that initial discomfort with more investment in the characters, but I found that alongside the world building really quite lacking for a fantasy romance.

I also had a lot of issues with the lieu of time jumps in the story, it made it feel like I wasn’t experiencing the characters growing closer and rather I was just provided with snap insights telling rather than showing me about their developing relationship.

Unfortunately, Dixon hasn’t impressed me with her fantasy novels, and I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m much more fond of her scifi as formulaic as it might be.

It eas pretty good but not my favorite by Ruby Dixon. It's my understanding that this was a pay by chapter or something similar type thing that got bound together and it definitely reads like that. This could have been shortened a bit and still told a great story. The general idea of the book however is pretty good and I did enjoy the shadow daddy.

While I had expected a short, steamy romantasy, this book provides so much more. I was at the edge of my seat at each twist and turn. While some readers may feel like the book drags at parts, I loved getting to really know Candra and see her development. I will warn that the book explores some extremely dark topics, but it was done well and highlighted how dire circumstances were for our main characters.
Overall, one of my favorite reads of the year so far! I would love it if this becomes a series so we can see what happens with our main characters and the fickle gods next!

This was my first book by Ruby Dixon and I'll definatley be reading more from her catologe soon! Bound to the Shadow Prince centers on Princess Candra and Prince Nemeth who are royalty from waring kingdoms that have despised each other for centeries. The two are put into forced proximity in a tower where they're meant to serve out a seven year sentance to appease a godess and ensure prosperity for both their kingdoms.

While at first glance this bookmay seem like a striaght forward tale of enemies to lovers, it is actually much more than that! I don't want to spoil any plot points but Dixon keeps readers on their toes and introduces elements like political intrege that put test Candra and Nemeth's relationship to the test.

Overall, this is a fun, faced paced, and smut-filled fantasy that stands on its own! Readers of the genere will almost certainly find something to love within the pages of this book 🥰

Thank you to NetGalley, Ruby Dixon, and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review

WOW! Ruby Dixon does it again! I was so excited after reading the description of this book: Enemies to loves, forxed proximity, magic, politics, mating, and of course, the SPICE! Ruby writes romance and steam so well, she is truly talented. The slow burn of this book was ultimately slow, spanning over years, and she really makes you feel like you are trudging along with them.

My only little complaint would be the ending, it felt a little rushed (which like I get the book is already 500 pages), I almost wish she would split this book into two books and then flush out the ending.

Either way, so in love with this new adventure from her!

I loved the representation of a chronically ill main character. Nice spicy elements. There was also some unique world building with the mythology!

On the negative side, I felt there were pacing issues and some plot inconsistencies. The male main character also had an inconsistent personality, seeming like two different people in and out of romance scenes.

I have loved many Ruby Dixon books over the years, but I’m finding I need a little more stuff going on than just two characters sitting in a dark tower barely speaking to each other for 20% of the book.

By the time they do start interacting, I enjoyed it, but then the MMC decides that he wants to bare, like forever-mate with the FMC. And I’m not a fan of this conflict.

The lack of things happening and of outside information - though it is clear stuff is going on out there - are bogging down the story for me.

I think this will be a good book for those looking for a slow burn character driven story. There are some great relationship building moments here that did keep me reading for quite a while.

I love Ruby Dixon. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Ice Barbarians but this book was awesome. I love a shadow daddy and the romance was superb. I wish I saw some more angst in places and I can see what tropes were best selected for this book. I would say def a must read!!

The premise of this book is absolutely delightful - a spoiled princess and a "demon" prince trapped in a tower together for seven years, clearly destined for an enemies to lovers adventure. The princess, flighty and shallow, grows and learns but also stays herself. The steamy parts are just marvelous (except if you don't know what knotting is, google first, NSFW). It reminds me of why I liked the first few Ice Planet Barbarians so much. The character development and plotting pacing in this novel are superior to Ice Planet. Dixon is growing as a rider and I look forward to so much more!

The year is 2024, I am a full grown woman, but I am 100% still a Wattpad girly 🤣

Bound to the Shadow Prince was sooo good.
Let's be real, we're all mostly here for the monster smut... But OMG the story was actually super captivating! I loved the way romance bloomed between Candra and Nemeth. There's a reverse gender roles trope used and I am addicted to that - Candra is more sexually inclined whereas Nemeth is more bookish and better at the "homemaker" role. There's also some great commentary on illness. Candra has an underlying/incurable condition and while at times she needs to be cared for, she's never made out to be less than. She's fiesty and stubborn in the face of her illness.

There's so much powerful resilience in this story that I found myself unable to put the book down. And as for the steam - I'd have to say it's a 3.5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️ There is plenty of it and it's great, but it's also not super varied (more repetitive). I definitely wouldn't say that's bad, it just rates a bit lower for me on the chili pepper scale.

Also, as a side note. I kind of pictured Nemeth like Goliath from Gargoyles with a few anatomical differences. One of those differences is his legs bending the opposite way and I do have to say that I never could quite picture how Candra sat in Nemeth's "lap"seeing as a lap is typically the tops of thighs and those would be upside down and behind him 😅

Either way, the book was still 5 stars for me! Highly recommend for all those into Monster Romance and even Romantasy. There's a lot more plot, exposition, and world building in this book than the Ice Planet Barbarians books which actually makes this great for Romantasy fans too.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ruby Dixon, and W by Wattpad for the ARC!

**I would like to thank NetGalley, W by Wattpad Books, and Ruby Dixon for an ARC of this book! This will be available on 7/2/2024.**

I love the Ice Planet Barbarians series so I was very excited when I saw this as available to request. I enjoyed it for the first 200 pages, but after that it was just too drawn out. I think IPB is successful cause the storylines are so short and sweet. This had sooo many words but not really anything happening. The last 150 pages were spent skimming and so. much. boredom. The ending wasn't satisfying either with the resolution happening in a few pages. You can't have a 500+ page book wrapped up in 10 pages.

I'm giving it 3 stars because i thought Candra and Nemeth had a cute relationship, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

Ruby Dixon does not disappoint. Can we call it an adult fairytale? I don’t know for sure, maybe a bit like Beauty and the Beast, or perhaps Rapunzel, only way better. Once every generation the Kingdom of Lios and the Kingdom of the Fellians must put a royal heir into the “tower” for seven years to appease the moon goddess. If they do not, or if either leaves the tower before the seven years expires drought and famine will plague their lands. Candra, Princess of Lios is called upon to go. The Fellians send their prince, Nemeth. These two factions have been at war with each other for generations. So many rules, so much hate and hostility between the Liosians and the Fellians….If Candra didn’t have her magic knife, well that’s just a small part of it. Gotta love that magic knife.

This is an amazing story of how two enemies, locked in a tower by their families to appease the Goddess, become best friends, lovers, and more. Is there more? Oh yes, so much more.

Humans and Fellians sharing a world, but at war. Politics, deceit, hubris, love, lust, and steam everywhere. I found it intriguing that for a good part of the book the story was just about these two and how they were living in this tower, cut off from everyone and everything, and it was more than enough - life was pretty challenging. Well done! Then it turned into a great love story, what a wild ride. And just when you start wondering if they are staying in the tower, or maybe, will they starve if supplies are not brought? Will they leave? What has been happening out in the world that seems to have forgotten them?

I hesitate to say more as I don’t want to take away any of the amazing surprises that are in store for you. It will keep you guessing for a while. I honestly couldn’t stop thinking about this after I finished… Does not happen too often.

Take the time to sit down with this one, definitely worth your time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group for letting me read the ARC for an unbiased review.

This was such a fun premise- two warring peoples send a royal to live in a tower, and in exchange, their goddess doesn't blight the land. I really enjoyed the slow burn and how Candra and Nemeth learn to cope with life in the tower together. The life in total darkness was such an interesting piece of this story and was so original. I really enjoyed this one, and would suggest it to anyone who enjoys spicy fantasy romance and is looking for something slightly monstery, but just a bit :)