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Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted #1)

by Stephanie Julian (Goodreads Author)

4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 · rating details · 21 ratings · 8 reviews

"...a great story along with a great romance" BITTEN BY PARANORMAL ROMANCE

She’s running from fate…
Shea Tedaldi is the only thing standing between her six-year-old brother and the men who killed their parents. Descendents of the ancient Etruscan magical race, Shea and her brother keep powerful secrets that make them the targets of the evil Malandante. They’ve been looking f...more

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Published September 27th 2011 by Moonlit Night Publishing (first published September 22nd 2011)

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Dec 24, 2011 Cecile rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was given this book for my honest thoughts and words... So here goes...

If you come to my place often, you know I am not a newbie to Ms. Stephanie Julian writing. This woman can create worlds that make you want to fall in... and never surface. She wraps you around in the blanket of mystery, a cloak of suspense. She charms you into the heart of her character, she will cast you in a spell of desire, and weave a web of a hell'va story....

Now first, I need to let you in on something... I have read...more I was given this book for my honest thoughts and words... So here goes...

If you come to my place often, you know I am not a newbie to Ms. Stephanie Julian writing. This woman can create worlds that make you want to fall in... and never surface. She wraps you around in the blanket of mystery, a cloak of suspense. She charms you into the heart of her character, she will cast you in a spell of desire, and weave a web of a hell'va story....

Now first, I need to let you in on something... I have read Ms. Julian's other stories where there was Boschetta, Goddess Gifts, Lucani, Stega, Versipellis, Mal, Etruscan witches and creatures like that... I know the lingo, I know the vocabulary... So... if you have not read a book of this world.... You will be a bit lost in the beginning. But I promise, hang on and keep reading because this world will enchant you... maybe even bewitch you... So, bear with the confusion for a bit... because I promise you it is well worth the ride!

Ms. Stephanie did an awesome job at capturing me in a world that had me having dreams of my own when I closed my eyes and went to sleep. Her world captured me so much I could not put it down....

Shea is a woman I want on my good side. That is if she stayed in one place long enough. She is on the run and on the run for good reasons... Someone or should I say someone(s) is/are after her and her brother... They are deadly, they are powerful and they want her brother... But Shea has no one to turn to... No parents she can run to for protection. No friends to trust long enough to feel safe. I truly admire Shea for what life has dealt her. She does not fall down and play victim. She picks herself up and dust herself off.

Shea is a woman hell bent on saving and protecting her brother - no matter the cost. She knows she is different, but how different she truly does not know. Not until....

Gabriel is a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was born to serve and protect, he was born to never fail... But with a five hundred curse on his ass, well... any man would be kinda scare to fail. But that all changed when the one mission he cannot fail at walks up to him and ask him for help. Help of which he refuses.... Only due to his own stubbornness, but what struck him the most was the mission, Shea, did not take any crap from him. Gabriel is a man you do not want to reckon with... Well, maybe in bed. Hint hint... You will want to read about this one! But what happens when the mission... is no longer protecting and serving the people you are sworn to... But when you are trying to protect your heart... and the mission comes to mean saving your world... What will Gabriel do...

This is truly a wonderful start to an amazing story to come... Ms. Stephanie's craftsmanship at creating a world in which you will fall will leave you enthralled. Can't wait for more to come of this series.(less)

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May 23, 2012 Joyfully Reviewed rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: erotic, e-book, self-published, series, fantasy, paranormal, joyfully-reviewed-miranda, suspense

Many moons ago a curse was laid against the Etruscan women. The Etruscan women are magical women and since the curse they have lived in shadows praying for the day the curse ends. They have suffered through long solitary lives forced to watch the people they love die.

Shea Tedaldi is on the run with her six year old brother, Leo. Since their parents death they have been trying to stay ahead of the evil that would like to take Leo’s powers and pervert it for evil. Shea will do whatever it takes to...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Laurie (Bitten by Paranormal Romance) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: author-request, paranormal-romance, requests

Stephanie Julian sets up a magical world that will leave you in wanting more. But I have to admit I was confused (I say this was totally my fault somehow) for the first 2 chapters as I keep plugging along I found things were falling in place and then I couldn’t get enough. I found a great story along with a great romance. There were a couple of things that stood out. One was Stephanie packed a lot in for 158 pgs. The other was this is not a quick romance as you see in these shorter books. No, th...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Vanessa theJeepDiva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, ebook, fantasy, request, romance

Shea is running. She’s running with her little brother from the nightmare that killed her parents. She keeps going because she knows that the people who are after her little brother have all kinds of vile intentions for him. The running is wearing her down and she has begun to realize that she can’t do this on her own any longer. She has to start seeking out the protector that her mother told her about in her final letter to her.

Gabriel is a grigori (warrior.) He is part of the Etruscan race bo...more Shea is running. She’s running with her little brother from the nightmare that killed her parents. She keeps going because she knows that the people who are after her little brother have all kinds of vile intentions for him. The running is wearing her down and she has begun to realize that she can’t do this on her own any longer. She has to start seeking out the protector that her mother told her about in her final letter to her.

Gabriel is a grigori (warrior.) He is part of the Etruscan race born to protect the streghe (witch.) Gabriel is very persistent in his search to find and eliminate the family who cursed a specific group of thirteen streghe nearly five hundred years ago. His frustrations are running very high as Dario and the rest of his Malandante minions consistently stay one step ahead of him.

I love how Gabriel and Shea come together, both after the exact same thing, for completely different reasons. He is attempting to put an end to a curse. She has no clue what curse he is talking about. He believes that if she is truly who she claims to be then she should just know what she is. I liked the way the romantic built up in Spell Bound. Shea and Gabriel throw sparks from the very beginning, but it takes some time for them to see what exactly can become of those sparks. Julian has also woven a complex plot into this tale. I felt like I got more of the Etruscan world with this book than I have with other books set in this world. This curse has affected numerous individuals over the course of the past five hundred years. It was interesting to read about how the curse affected the different secondary characters and not just the main characters.

The cast of secondary characters were fantastic. I would love to know more about them all. I’m hoping Julian goes more in depth into their lives in future books. Quinn’s life is so terribly heartbreaking. To know that he is someone’s blood bound mate, for that person to deny him, and for him to know all the reasons he is denied and still he wants to be with her. Matt has to have an interesting past. He is blunt and to the point. His fellow grigori brothers all think him a bit crazy. Leo, even though he is just a child played a fairly large role in Spell Bound. It would be interesting to see where all of his extraordinary abilities take him once he is an adult. I can easily see Leo having an incredible book. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed!

I know I’ve said this numerous times before but I really love Julian’s magical Etruscan world. Each book in each of her series’ gives readers a taste of this world from a different magical beings perspective. The series’ are loosely tied to each other, readers can definitely read one series without reading the others. If you’ve never read any of her books before this would be an easy place to start. I can guarantee that you’ll soon have read all of her different series’.

***authors note at the end states that Spell Bound take place before Seduced by Magic. Having read both books I can honestly say that one can be read without having read the other***
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Nov 02, 2011 Susi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, 2011-10, paranormals, gods, magic, shifter, erotic

Julian's Etruscian world is something fresh in the world of monotone mytholical settings. Her new series is again set in this world but it takes places before any of her previous series so this is actually a good way to take the chance and jump into her world. It will also show some other aspects to those of you who already fell in love with her work.

In Spell Bound we meet Shea currently on the run with her little brother. An old enemy, Dario Paganelli, is chasing them and they are in dire need...more Julian's Etruscian world is something fresh in the world of monotone mytholical settings. Her new series is again set in this world but it takes places before any of her previous series so this is actually a good way to take the chance and jump into her world. It will also show some other aspects to those of you who already fell in love with her work.

In Spell Bound we meet Shea currently on the run with her little brother. An old enemy, Dario Paganelli, is chasing them and they are in dire need of help.The siblings are totally lost in this battle even more so because they don't know why all this is happening. I have to admit that I never really warmed up to Shea. She is a strong heroine but for me she was at times too angsty and self condescending. She blamed herself for so many things and no matter what she didn't seem to want to stop doing it.

Gabriel is a Grigorio deep to the bone. He was raised to be one and it is truly his calling, I really liked him. He is a strong and stubborn man but he also has a soft side who isn't too manly to tell his mother he loves her. *sigh* He has many facets and well he just plain fascinated me- to see his soft and hard edges and the way all those made him the man he is. Just great.

I also really loved the sideplot between Quinn and Serina. So much tension and heartbreak to find in this story. I so hope these two will get their own book. They deserve a shot at love and happiness.

Sadly the mainplot didn't really keep my attention. I can't really point out why. Perhaps it didn't happen enough at times and other times the action just seemed to tumble over each other. The balance felt off. And well I admit it the romance took too long for my taste to really start. The build up was rather slow and my interest started to diminish on the way. Also I missed Julian's humor a bit. There were glimpses of it but not enough to lighten the overall mood of the book.

It seems my expectations were too high this time. It's not like this is a bad book it really isn't but it just didn't grab me as much as her previous novels did. Nonetheless Spell Bound is the start to a new promising series and well I'm already hungering to see who we will meet in the next book (chants Quinn and Serena). If you like your paranormal romances on the serious side this is just the book for you.(less)

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Oct 06, 2011 Anna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: erotica, fantasy-romance, reviews

Shea and her brother Leo are descendants of the Etruscan magical race. Ever since their parents were killed, they have been almost constant danger. Gaberial is a warrior, it's his job to protect the Etruscan witches. But he is cursed and is forever trying to break it. Shea and Gaberial can find salvation in each other, for they share a common enemy.

Wonderful read! A story filled with magic, love and danger. Spell Bound is the first in a series called Darkly Enchanted. I enjoy this story, althoug...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Colette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-authors, paranormal-romance

When I started Spell Bound I didn't know that it was supposed to draw on all three series that Stephanie Julian has written about and creates a new world in the process. This made me confused for the first part of the book, but once I figured out that the story moved really fast and didn't slow down. How can you not love a novella that has cursed witches, almost immortal bad guys, a heroine on a run and a hero bent on getting revenge against the guy who killed his father while having to protect...more When I started Spell Bound I didn't know that it was supposed to draw on all three series that Stephanie Julian has written about and creates a new world in the process. This made me confused for the first part of the book, but once I figured out that the story moved really fast and didn't slow down. How can you not love a novella that has cursed witches, almost immortal bad guys, a heroine on a run and a hero bent on getting revenge against the guy who killed his father while having to protect cursed witches at all costs??

What I really enjoyed about Spell Bound was that there were three intertwining stories: The romance between Gabriel and Shea and the mystery of solving how to break the curse of the witches & finding out who was after Shea & her brother. The three stories worked well together, and I liked how the mystery of the curse gave Sorcha and Quinn a chance to be apart of the action, and I loved their romance almost more then the main one of Gabriel and Shea. Quinn was a nice compliment to Gabriel, and I liked how Shea and Sorcha didn't sit back and let them take charge.

Shea has some problems with Gabriel, mainly because it's his way or no way, and I love that she gives him crap for that attitude. Gabriel admires her for standing up to him, and the two learn to work together not only to find out who the bad guys are after Shea and her brother but to see how to break the witches curse. Sorcha was just as stubborn as Shea when it came to her romance with Quinn, and I have a feeling that their story might be the next one in the series.

Even though both Shea and Sorcha were strong and independent I had a hard time connecting to them-especially Shea. However, my problems with them were pretty much the same thing. I hated that it took them so long to realize that Gabriel and Quinn were the right guy for them, and then they couldn't get enough of them. My being annoyed with them though could have something to do with the fact that Spell Bound was about the fifth or sixth paranormal romance I read in a row and I always have little patience left for characters when I read that many books in a row in the same genre. (I'm a quirky reader.) Gabriel and Quinn more then made up for them though, and I loved how the ending made me want more of this series.
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Dec 19, 2012 Ellen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance-series, paranormal-series

I know the curse was broken, but how?

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About Stephanie Julian

I'm a writer with a reading habit, though some days, it's the other way around. I love to read and write erotic romance, paranormal or contemporary, and sometimes with romantic suspense.

Forgotten Goddesses reading order: WHAT A GODDESS WANTS, HOW TO WORSHIP A GODDESS and GODDESS IN THE MIDDLE.

Lucani Lovers reading order: KISS OF MOONLIGHT, MOONLIGHT MENAGES, EDGE OF MOONLIGHT, MOONLIGHT TEMPTATION...more

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What a Goddess Wants (Forgotten Goddesses, #1)

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Spell Bound (Darkly Enchanted #1)

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