I love Ruby Dixon, the only books I’ve read of hers before this is Ice Planet Barbarians, but this one was just as fun, but definitely different.
This is enemies to lovers, a sci-fi/fantasy/monster romance combination. I love Ruby’s writing because it’s so easy to digest and SO entertaining. This is more slow burn than I have come to expect from her, but I enjoyed it all the same.

If you love smutty romantasy this is the book for you. The main characters, Candra and Nemeth, were lovable and also infuriating at times. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to anyone wanting an accessible romance. The only thing I would complain is that there was maybe a few too many twists and turns. But otherwise I enjoyed this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an E-ARC to review.

I wasn’t entirely sold right away but holy crap, this was SUCH A GOOD BOOK. I was enthralled, couldn’t put it down until I was literally falling asleep reading.

20/10

This was top tier smut in all the best ways and a pretty engaging plot. I wish this would have been a duology just so I could have a bit more details and things flushed out. I think the ending was my favorite though, like that’s pretty wholesome. I do wish Erynne had a happier ending, I’m very sensitive about things happening to children and I wish this part was just left out- she deserved both her babies.

This book was not for me. I have read many Ruby Dixon books, but this one just didn't hit for me. I think it may have been the forced proximity but I just didn't find the romance compelling.
But You'll like it if you like:
- Monster Romance
- Spicy Romance
- Opposites Attract
- Forced Proximity

2.5 ⭐️ Interesting concept, but the book did not feel complete in pacing and editing.


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ Tower setting (for half the book)
✨ magic
✨ Forbidden romance
✨ Rival houses
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Tension
✨ Naive/spoiled fmc at times
✨ Family trauma

My Thoughts:

I thought going in that this book would be more in depth pining and tension with forced proximity. Instead with the editing style and pacing, the book felt more insta-love and then “waiting.” The second half of the book felt like it was meant to be a different book, the editing of the tower versus when back outside felt very off. I think the concept of this book is fantastic, I just think the execution felt very strange.

I loved:

Concept
I loved the concept of having to be stuck in a tower for 7 years with a family rival. The set up for complete tension, pining and forbidden love was a great concept. I enjoyed the idea of having to be in the tower due to the gods, and the possibilities of famine. It was a very extreme reason to have to be in a tower for so long.


The things I disliked
Insta love/lust
Due to how the editing of the tower was done, even though time was passing slowly the romance felt very fast. I was highly unsure of the reason either felt a spark, and it was not explained. The book went from horror of being stuck in a tower with a monster to wanting to have relations with him pretty fast.

Editing
I think this is what ended up making me dislike many pieces of the book. The chapters felt very long, with many of the pages having absolutely nothing happening, then the last bit had action to “push” the reader into the next chapter. This would be fine a few times, yet every chapter felt this way. The book is set up basically in 3 parts; before the tower, during the tower, after the tower. Before the tower and during the tower make up the majority of the book, and blend together decently. After the tower felt rushed, incomplete and did not feel like it was meant to be together with the previous pieces of the book. This book was too long with too many things not happening for the first 60% of the book that it should have to feel rushed at the end.



Overall, Bound to the Shadow Prince was not for me. I think it was an interesting concept, but not fully executed.


Thank you Netgalley and W by Wattpad Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review! As always, all opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this read, but I felt like the enemies to lovers was too fast. One page they were enemies and the next page they were already lovers. It was still an entertaining and well-written book. The characters grew and developed very well. I really enjoyed the angst throughout the story, and I don’t think that is something I have ever said before. I enjoyed getting to learn a new world outside of IPB.

A special thank you to Ruby Dixon, Wattled Webtoon Book Group, and Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Solid 3.5/5!

Let me start with saying I am a huge Ruby Dixon fan. I have read almost all of her books at least once, and think of her Ice Planet Barbatian series constantly. This book was centered in a completely different setting than I was used to from her other series which was refreshing because I got to experience a new world!

I really liked how her male character was written. This book was much like her others in that the MMC was a total sweetheart, and waited on the FMC hand and foot. This one is an enemy to lovers romance so if you like that, definitely pick this one up. Overall, Dixon writes in a way that’s so easy to digest. I was able to get through this one quickly and I really enjoyed it.

I love Ruby Dixon's IPB series so I was really excited to give this a try. Unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I went into this expecting a forced proximity, enemies to lovers relationship. The forced proximity was there but it felt like the enemies became lovers too fast. In addition, it had one of my last favorite tropes later in the book then it seemed to really hyper focus on it. I'm being vague to avoid spoilers. The story was still entertaining overall but just not my favorite Ruby Dixon book.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

As an avid reader of Ruby Nixon, this was nothing short of what was expected. Glorious. You have possessive men, loving their females. The MFC is curvy, and she is not from a strong female background, loved, she is spoiled, foolish, and has to learn how to survive not thrive. But this time as gargoyles. I love the added features of the men, close quarters, and mysterious that lay together. I loved the environment, and main storyline of this book. The location was something completely different than most of her books. It was more pages then her usual but it was so well done throughout. Many twists and turns, Both sides of the species to make it so much more thrilling, keeping you engaged throughout the whole story! Best part is there is a happy ending. 4.5 Stars for me and Spice to me was a 4.

Wow! This book was so much - in a good way! Fantasy, mystery, angst, intrigue, and SPICY! Imagine being locked inside a windowless and lightless tower for seven years with the mortal enemy of your people... and being drawn to him in ways you know you shouldn't be...

5 stars all around!

Pros:
- Growth / character arc of FMC
- Enemies to Friends to Lovers done very well
- The spice is piping hot and so good!
- The mystery and angst kept me on my seat throughout the whole book. It definitely ranks as "un-put-down-able"

Cons:
- Inconsistencies in the story - not large but small things such as how she marks days and specifics she knows about her ancestors changes from time to time in the story.
- Lots of issues between Candra and Nemeth could have been resolved if he would stop keeping secrets - and it's never really clear why he kept those secrets.
- I'm a little iffy on the pregnancy trope but it wasn't too bad in this one.

Overall - a really good fantasy romance read!

You'll like it if you like:
- Fantasy Romance
- Monster Romance
- Spicy Romance
- Enemies to Friends to Lovers
- Opposites Attract
- Dystopian World
- Forced Proximity

This book kept me interested, wanting to know more, and thinking about the story line when I wasn't reading. The author does a wonderful job of only letting us see the world through the princess's eyes and tickling our suspicions as we don’t know what’s going on with her enemy within the tower or the world outside it. I loved Candra and Nemeth's relationship. This was a 5 star read for me until about the last 6% of the book. I wondered to myself "Will this end on a cliffhanger? There's no way to wrap up so many open items!" The ending felt implausible and like an afterthought.

I am so happy to have read something by Ruby Dixon that was different than Ice Planet Barbarians. This book was such a fun read, and definitely longer in page count than the IPB books, so it was also great to read a longer, in-depth novel by Dixon as well.

I really liked the concept of this book, with the main concept being forced proximity by forcing the two main characters, who are enemies, to live in a tower together for 7 years. The spice scenes in this book were, in true Ruby Dixon fashion, very well done. The relationship between these two characters kept me interested and reading through the whole book.

The reason why this is not 5 stars is because I did feel the pacing was a bit off. I wish there were more tension points in this book to keep the stakes higher. Also, the personalities of these two are not ones I generally I enjoy reading about, but if you like the spoiled overly sexual princess mixed with sweet innocent good boy, this book will definitely be for you.

Overall, this was a solid book and kept me entertained most of the time. The last 25% was a slog. I will definitely be reading more of Ruby Dixon in the future, though. My one question is, why did the main character not use the magical knife more?! This would have solved so many problems.

Provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

overall, an interesting read. though I've read other books by Ruby Dixon that have enthralled me, I wouldn't go quite so far to say the same for this one.

pros:
- chemistry!! shy, nerdy guy + confident, flirty girl combo is a constant favorite pairing of mine.
- the development of the romance was done at the perfect pace for who the characters were and the situation they found themselves in.

cons:
- there's a lot of conflicting plot points. for example, when Candra first arrives to the tower, anyone else who enters is burned by the shadows. later when someone else tries to enter the tower, they are able to walk in with ease.
- a stagnant plot. perhaps the stagnant plot derived from the characters being stuck in a tower. they couldn't physically go anywhere so the plot relied heavily on romance development between species that hated each other greatly. there is no other way to cultivate that but through a slow, gradual build. also we don't meet the baddie until a large part of the book has passed. with no villain prevalent, it felt like a lot of time was passing while the characters and reader are kept in the dark about what was happening outside of the castle.

Loved this epic fantasy romance. Nice strong FMC who is sexually open minded and a shy MMC who is not so shy in bed . Very slow burn for ruby Dixon. Loved that this had chronic illness rep. This book does mainly take place in a tower with just our mains for most of the book. Loved the nods to fairytales. Really loved the adventure and romance blossoming in this book I really didn’t want to put it down.

I really wanted to love this as forced proximity / enemies-to-lovers tropes are my favorite. There was plenty of tension between the characters however instead of feeling like a slow burn it just felt LONG to the point of dragging at some points. As a result the story fell a bit flat for me. I think I would have enjoyed it more if some of the fluff was cut out. I do intend to try some of her other books.

Wow! This was my first “monster” romance. First of all, I had no idea it was one. Second, I loved it.
This book has a lot of smut, but it also has a lot of folklore, politics, and heartfelt love. I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end!
I really enjoyed the world building and use of magic. I loved the twists and turns. Every few chapters something new happens and it made me want to keep reading.
Now I need to read the rest of Ruby Dixon’s books. Thank you to Netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

I really wish I would have enjoyed this more. The premise was great.

Then it was monotonous. And then it started to seem like we were just trying to shove every popular book trope in there.

By the time you get to 60% of the way through all of a sudden they are leaving the tower and a whole other plot line starts?

It wasnt my cup of tea unfortunately.

Story was a little hard to get through in the beginning when describing the Sun Goddess and the lore around the tower that Candra had to stay in. Luckily, there was enough references throughout the book that I caught on.
I enjoyed Candra and Nemeth as individuals and a couple. I WISH we could have gotten a POV from Nemeth. I would have loved to get his thoughts on things and I also envisioned with all the war poems he would read, that he would also read filthy stuff as well.
I loved that Candra was self aware that she was a spoiled princess and needed doting on constantly. She owned who she was and was unapologetic about it and that made me like her more.
I loved Nemeth as a character and especially loved that he was such a book worm. Candra and Nemeth were a good 'opposites attract' couple and I enjoyed reading their story.

Bound to the Shadows by Ruby Dixon is an incredible monster romantasy set in a unique world. While it is definitely adult in nature, it is not only just adult.
Nemeth has been training for the tower for his whole life; raised celibate by a monk like sect. While infinitely more prepared for the tower life than Candra, he was definitely not prepared for her.
Candra is the inconvenient royal offspring. She has a blood disorder and is considered useless until she is needed to serve the time in the tower. Candra has been treated as an invalid and inconvenience for most of her life, the tower gives her some time to learn to be only herself.
This is one of the best monster romances I have in the last year. I was fully invested in the characters, even when I wanted to punt them. Personally, I find when I do get extreme emotions towards the characters it’s a better book. The character growth, setting, and plot were executed with forethought and planning. This is 100% on track with Ruby Dixon’s normal writing style. Fans of monster romance and Ruby Dixon alike won’t be disappointed and if you haven’t read her works, this is a good one.
I received an arc and am leaving this review of my volition.

Thank you to @netgalley for the chance to review Bound to the Shadow Prince by Ruby Dixon. I’m happy to provide an honest review for this book.

Excellent world-building, super hot spice, and entertaining character arcs. I loved the story - two MCs locked in a tower for seven years to appease their gods. It was just a tad slow at places, but overall, quite an enjoyable read!