Best of the series so far – but it comes with a price…

I will tell you straight off that the Riley Jensen Guardian series has never been one of my favs. I read the first four a while ago, and couldn’t continue because I felt like it was more “filler” than a series that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go until there are no more books. This is not to say it’s not a good series, it is, but that unfortunately for me it’s simply not a must read series. Anyways, with a smaller than usual TBR bookshelf, and no time or money to hit up the bookstore, I noticed three additional Riley Jensen books I hadn’t read sitting there and I essentially said: “why not!”. Sometimes a break in a series and then coming back to it a later date can do wonders for my appreciation of said series. In this case, it was true, and as of today, I am officially up-to-date and I have to say that Bound to Shadows is by FAR the best of the series and for the first time has made me curious about the next installment in the series!

I will warn that, if you are not familiar with the series, or haven’t read past the first couple books, some of the details may be considered spoilers or confusing to you! This is after all book number 8, and some details are rather unavoidable! So just a heads up!!!

At this point, we readers know that Riley is half werewolf / half vampire, has a twin brother Rhoan, is a victim of experimental drug use that so far has given her some interesting abilities (welcome our newest Seagull shifter, haha), has also reunited and is totally in love with Quinn (this makes me totally happy – one of my favourite characters), is still a pain in the rear guardian who is heavily relied on by the Jack/Directorate, and in this particular novel has discovered her wolf soul mate who is not who she expected and not someone she likes at all.

Every Riley book usually has some kind of murder - or eight - to solve. This one is no different. Not only are relatively high-powered vamps getting their heads taken off, but human women are finding themselves dead without an obvious cause of death. And if you have read this series, by now we should all know that A) there are NEVER any coincidences, and B) the cases always seem to be somehow linked – this case not being any different. Of course Riley is the lead guardian on this case, and there are definitely some surprises in store for readers! What I personally felt made this book different from previous books – especially since I sometimes find these books a little redundant and repetitive at times – is the emotion and tone of THIS book! This book was more heart wrenching than any of the others. It was shocking, hilarious, sad, frustrating, sincere, and a whole lot more. And for the first time as a reader of this series, I felt a pull towards Riley and her character. She wasn’t all about satisfying her wolf’s sexual urges, and definitely had many different mental struggles, the worst which is yet to come… That being said, those last fifty pages were killer – and for the first time made me happy to have given the series a second chance and read up to that point!



While I normally would give a little more information on the story, I fear I may say too much! And while the emotions do run much higher and generally there is a seriousness to this book unrivaled by the other installments, that doesn’t mean there still isn’t that great witty dialogue between Riley and the other characters, or that there aren’t any awesome action sequences with Riley! The woman still kicks butt, what can I say, and I am so happy she is where she is with Quinn. Those two are so good together!

Suffice to say, if you love this series, then you will NOT be disappointed. And if you are looking for a good series, give this one a try. I will say that the books get better as the series go on. Riley grows a lot in the series in my opinion and that is a VERY GOOD THING! Enjoy!