Big thanks to NetGalley and W by Wattpad Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book. Rate 3.5

I was hooked on this book during the first half; I found myself engrossed for a solid four hours before reluctantly putting it down to get some sleep.

The protagonist, Candra, was incredibly relatable, and I adored her laid-back attitude. The forced proximity between Candra and Nemeth, trapped together in a tower with nothing to do but bond, was the perfect setup, and I savored every moment of it.

However, my enthusiasm waned a bit in the second half. It felt almost like a different story altogether. While still enjoyable, I found myself less invested than I was initially. As Candra and Nemeth ventured into the outside world together, the spark of their relationship seemed to dim. Additionally, the plot became increasingly complex in the latter half, almost too much to fully explore within the confines of this single book.

Nevertheless, I would still recommend this book to fans of Ruby's writing or anyone seeking a standalone fantasy romance.

There is a plot hole about a third of the way through the book that never gets explained. I finished the book, hoping it would be addressed, but it wasn't so I'm giving a low review. Also, Candra really annoyed me, and there's way too much information revealed at the end without Candra seeming like she's truly questioning anything (think no emotional reaction to it all) so I kind of ended up hating it by the end.

3.5 stars

To keep the Golden Moon Goddess happy, one royal representative from the two warring kingdoms must stay locked in a tower for seven years. No one can enter and neither person can step foot outside of the tower - to do so is to bring the wrath of the goddess upon their heads.

Candra wasn't supposed to be sent to the tower; she has a blood curse that means she needs medicine every day and which causes her to be infertile, so she's always been the family's forgotten child. However, the king gives her a choice: she goes or he sends his wife, the queen, who is pregnant. Obviously Candra goes, but she's woefully unprepared for life taking care of herself and she's stuck in a bricked-up tower with her enemy. But the more time she spends around Nemeth, the more she realizes that he's just a man and it's awfully lonely in the tower without a friend.

I've read a couple of the books in Ruby Nixon's Planet Barbarian series and I forgot how dark the author can get. The first 80% of the book wasn't terribly deep, but boy, did that change; I don't want to give any spoilers, but definitely check any CWs available if you need any.

Candra was an interesting character, and the day-to-day realities of living locked in a tower was interesting. This is a very long book, but it was engaging, so I didn't have trouble reading it quickly. This book was certainly entertaining, so I will definitely be recommending it for fans of Ruby Dixon, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, or spicy romances.

This was a good slow burn enemies to lovers story. The story did move kinda slow but the attraction between the two characters made it worth the read. The characters are pretty unique and so is their situation. I did enjoy this.

Ruby went DARK! And, I'm okay with that.

Throw-away princess gets stuck in a tower, to appease an angry goddess, for seven years, and SURPRISE, she has to rough it with the enemy prince. Oh no! What could possibly go wrong? Everything, apparently.

Why I love Ruby Dixon's writing: Her FMCs are relatable, her MMCs blow all of the conventional book boyfriends out of the water, her plots are straightforward and adventurous, and without fail, I'm going to cry at least once. I got everything I expected in Bound to the Shadow Prince, and then some.

I believe this may be the first time I'm actually encouraging readers to check TWs before diving into this one because there are several moments when the subject matter is borderline shocking, but within an appropriate context.

🌟Enemies to Lovers
🌟Forced Proximity
🌟Virgin MMC
🌟Touch Her and Die
🌟Magic
🌟Knotting
🌟Secrets
🌟Banter
🌟Peril
🌟HEA
🌟🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️


Bound to the Shadow Prince was my introduction to Ruby Dixon’s work and it did not disappoint. There is so much to love about this story.

Candromeda is feisty, funny, and flirty AF. This Princess of Lios knows how to work a room. And though she lives with a chronic illness that requires daily medicine, she is out to live her best life. She is all about having fun and playing games. And when she suddenly becomes the sacrifice that must live in the tower for seven years to appease the goddess, she sees no reason not to continue being herself.

Nemeth is a Prince of Darkfall. He is a shy, scholarly warrior and could not be more opposite of Candromeda. He is the sacrifice from Darkfall to live in the tower for the next seven years.

It was so much fun to watch these two interact once they were locked in the tower. His attempts to avoid her for the next seven years was futile. The way this woman baited and tempted him…so good!

It didn’t take long for things to get incredibly hot between them. And once Nemeth began to give into desire, 😮‍💨 game over. As their connection grew, the outside world was crumbling. And when things became dire for them, it was incredibly tender to watch how they took care of each other. They were committed and devoted, and completely saw each other as ride or die.

The story has some great twist and turns that I didn’t see coming and I was captivated by the story. Bound to The Shadow Prince is a fantastic spicy romantasy with an HEA 💖 Highly recommend.

Ruby Dixon did it again; this was so much fun! I really loved the characters, and seeing Candra's development was a delight. So spicy, but also lots of tension between the two main characters. Also, when the twist hit, it TWISTED. I genuinely did not see that coming! I had a hard time putting this down, and read it in a weekend. I will continue to devour anything she writes! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Ruby Dixon for the eARC in exchange for a review.

This has a bit of a beauty and beast feeling, with the make main character being winged, grey, and backward being knees.
It was extra spicy with a side of knots (iykyk)

It dragged a bit in a few different scenes; locked in the tower, walking through the rain.
I liked the histories each side had, with some of their storylines being connected, some contradicting showing that neither side was sharing their sides honestly.
Overall, not a bad read.
4 stars

You just know you’re going to be in for a good time when picking up one of Ruby Dixon’s books. And that is exactly what this read was an extremely good time!!! I absolutely enjoyed myself while reading this one, the characters the story line, the spice all was a great time!!! I will forever be a fan of Dixon!!!

Thank you to publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this side of Ruby Dixon’s writing. It had similar themes to IPB, but was her take on fantasy.
This story follows Candra and Nemeth.
Candra is a flirty, life each day like it’s your last kind of girlie. She unexpectedly gets told she is going to be locked in a tower for 7 years with her kingdom’s enemy.
Nemeth, on the other hand, is a prince who keeps to himself and gives German shepherd energy.

I loved this book. And I loved it for a couple of reasons. It felt like enough fantasy that it was easy to read, but also had Ruby’s typical spin on monster romance. (Knotting, shadow daddy, you can run but I’m going to catch you, who did this to you?)

I loved it. But I also LOVE monster romance and smutty fantasy.
5/5 for me 🖤

Getting through this book was so hard! The plot started out great but then went into a completely different direction. Much of the book was drawn out so much more than necessary. Why was this book SO LONG?!
In theory the story could’ve been really good. I didn’t find the characters likable. The MFC was whiny, selfish and annoying. The MMC seemed a little needy in my opinion. And he didn’t have much personality which made it really hard to read.
I love fantasy romance but this one just really fell short for me. I wish the MFC had a little more bravery and a lot less of not being able to take care of herself AT ALL. I would’ve liked it to be shorter instead of dragging on unnecessarily. It was overall a struggle to finish.

As someone who has read Ice planet barbarians and quite enjoyed not only the premise but the banter as well, I was excited to read something new from this author. While this story was quite entertaining, the premise seemed pretty stupid to me. Due to x, y and z in the past, two opposing houses must each send a member of their ruling family to live together in a dark, isolated tower for seven years or else the gods will become angry and basically trash the land. So forced proximity meets enemies to lovers plus a couple more tropes thrown in for good measure. Generally an excellent book in the making. I loved the idea of a magical truth telling weapon, but sadly, it was hardly used. The banter was there and of course, the smut, but the rest of the story kinda fell flat to me. I loved Nemeth, our mmc, but Candela, the fmc was a kind of a jerk. After learning about her family, it makes sense. Her family is a bunch of jerks too. Without giving too much away, I enjoyed the book, and will continue to be a Ruby Dixon fan.

This....didn't do it for me.

As always, Ruby Dixon's writing is easy to get sucked into. From the first page, I had high hopes! The fmc isn't your typical heroine, and is actually a bit of an anti-hero. I was very excited to read from the perspective of a princess trapped in a tower who would honestly rather see the world burn than be there to save them.

But, well. The romance didn't quite hit the right spots for me. The fmc makes it clear that her only contribution to their relationship is sex. It's all she thinks about, and all she cares to be good at. (Pretty problematic if you have to learn how to take care of yourself outside of court.) And while I love sex positivity in books, I do want to see a bit more from characters and stories in general. A romance can't survive on lust alone. And yet, these two profess love before knowing anything more about each other than their names and body parts (basically). So I guess it just didn't feel very authentic.

Take this review with a grain of salt, though. I dnf'ed at around 50%, before they leave the tower. It's entirely possible there's more character development later in the story, but life is too short to continue reading books you don't love.

I recently read Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon, and I have to say, it was a fantastic continuation of the Bound to the Shadows series. The story picks up where the first book left off, with Princess Candra and her Fellian companion, Nemeth, facing a dangerous and unfamiliar world outside the tower they were locked in for seven years.

In this book, we get to see more of Nemeth's character and backstory, which adds depth to his relationship with Candra. The two of them continue to face obstacles and challenges, but their love for each other remains strong.

The plot is fast-paced and full of action, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. The world-building is also excellent, with vivid descriptions of the different kingdoms and creatures that Candra and Nemeth encounter on their journey.

Overall, Bound to the Shadow Prince is a thrilling and romantic read that I highly recommend to anyone who loves fantasy romance novels. Ruby Dixon's writing is captivating, and the characters are well-developed and relatable. You won't be able to put this book down!

This was my first read of Ruby and it was utterly incredible! I was blown away by this book. I devoured it. The writing style is amazing and I loved every page

MS Dixon does not disappoint! I loved this book I was hooked from the first few pages, I loved reading about theses characters journey to love.

I always enjoy this author’s works and creative mind. The worlds she develops are always creative and the characters have deep depths and nuances to them.
Seven years in a tower surrounded by water with your enemy seems a pretty harsh penalty for what your ancestors did hundreds of years ago, but Candra and Nemeth do their duty to their kingdoms by accepting the challenge. While for years, Nemeth studied and prepared for not stepping outside the Tower for seven years, Candra was ill-prepared to replace her sister who had been training for it since birth.
This world is harsh, and while Candra's upbeat court persona keeps her from screaming in despair, the lack of human contact and connection drives her to seek out Nemeth. His quiet, compassionate and logical view of their situation makes them the perfect team when things become dangerous and overwhelming.
Supposedly not knowing what is going on outside their Tower prison, they create a world they feel they can be happy and survive in.
This book was massive. It seemed to take forever to get to the 25% mark on it and took me a week and a half to finish the book. While the minutia in the beginning seemed to go on forever and at times, unnecessary, you found it worth it later in the book. It moves quickly in the last half of the book, with surprising twists and turns.
Pretty different from most of the other books I read and complete within a couple of days and still make it to work the next morning.
I consider this book well worth my time, and think it will also be worth yours.

Ruby Dixon will give you spice and everything a girl wants in this fantasy romance! The brief description leads a lot to the imagination. Ruby spills a lot of tea and you will sip sip sip it all up! This has romance monster fantasy has forced proximity with enemies to lovers so much more! This does leave it with a open ended feel to it which I think will be amazing for readers to come. If you loved or didn't love her barbarians series like me, I would give this one a try because I liked this a lot! Thank you so much to Ruby Dixon, the publisher, and Netgalley for letting me claw my way through this!

Ruby Dixon does it again!

I couldn't get enough of this book. I devoured every page and was terribly sad when I got to the ending. Dixon always gets the perfect balance in all of her books and this one was no different. Riveting characters, chemistry, and spice. The storyline is intriguing and keeps you enthralled from the first chapter.

RUBBYYYY!!! I have fallen in love with her writing and it just keeps getting better. The tension, the spice, the longing. So, so good and can't wait for more from her.