Bound to the Battle God

Aspect and Anchor #1

by Ruby Dixon

When I went to my neighbor's apartment to investigate strange sounds, I never expected to fall through a portal into another world. Yet here I am, a stranger in an even stranger land . . . and I'm stranded. In this world, might makes right, men carry swords, and gods walk the earth. Within minutes of arriving, I'm enslaved.

The one person that might be able to help me is also the one person I want to throttle most. Aron, Lord of Storms, Butcher God of Battle, is my new companion. Or rather, I'm his. As Aron's anchor to the mortal realm, I'm the one that's supposed to be guiding him through his exile in the mortal world.

But Aron and I have a common goal—get home. And we're bonded—anchor and god—with a bond unlike any other. So we travel together. We bicker. We bathe together. We fight our many, many enemies together. And sure, he's a god, but he's also an arrogant jerk. Brawny, smoking hot, irresistible jerk. I should want nothing to do with him. I certainly shouldn't want to do things to him. Contains mature themes.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Paranormal, Slow Burn, Paranormal Romance, Magic

666 pages, ebook

First published June 30, 2019

About the author

Ruby Dixon is an author of Science Fiction Romance. She likes fated mates, baby-filled epilogues, and cinnamon roll heroes. She also likes to write biographies of herself in the third person, because it feels more important that way.

Ruby also loves coffee and dirty books and will probably be a cat lady at some point. :)

Reviews

[Corina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please don't judge this book by its cover!!!!! lol

4.5 stars

Let me tell you all the things I loved about it...

Bound to the Battle God is a slow burn romance, the couple doesn't kiss until 50% into the book. And it's not an Erotica novel. The amount of sex is average, in one word a perfect amount for such a long book.

It's a portal fantasy, an earthling female is being transported to a different planet, WITHOUT the dreaded going back and forth (like Outlander), which I hate. The heroine stays where she is.

The hero is deliciously aggravating in his arrogant way (there is a reason for it), possessive, sweet, affectionate and very much godlike. The way he was portrayed was perfection! And the visible character growth was something I really enjoyed.

The heroine is from Earth, and has no issues standing toe to toe with our God of Battle. She enjoys pushing his buttons, and telling him NO whenever it suits her. She is mouthy and sarcastic - in short I was delighted by her. And because she was unafraid of him, her ignorance balanced their relationship and made them equals rather than God and slave, which I appreciated.

The story was unique. I was captivated by the characters, plot and the overall feel of the story. The couple was passionate, and I couldn't get enough of it. Honestly, I hated putting it down, and every interruption was an annoyance. I can't wait to read the next book in this series.

One of the only complaints I have is that the book was LONG!!!!

With 665 pages it was one long story. The beginning was a bit slow, but I never felt that the story dragged. And the amount of pages makes sense since it's a big tale to tell. There were maybe some scenes that could have been cut, but in retrospect I'm glad it was a long book, because I didn't want it to end.

Also there were a couple things that didn't make much sense to me, like the heroine understanding everyone, but on the other hand can't read their books. But in the end, those were a couple small things that didn't really take away from the overall enjoyment.

I had the best time reading this book!!!

[Jilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently this book was written over a period of years, and you can kind of tell. It's super long and gets better as it goes on.

First things first - your feminism spidey senses will tingle, especially at the beginning. I wasn't a fan of the beginning because it seemed like there was going to be a whole glorifying rapeyness going on. But, it didn't go there. The heroine was not having any of that crap - which I liked. Still, not a good world for females in general.

Our heroine, Faith, is transported to the magical land of Not-GameofThrones and immediately captured and sold as a slave. She is part of a creepy beauty contest to see which "lucky" slave-girl gets to "serve" the high priest of the war god for a year. We meet the priest and let's just say that there's no way that "serving" doesn't include a happy ending.


well, that took a creepier turn than usual.

If she isn't picked by the rapey-priest she will be killed at sunrise. Hard to say which is better. She isn't chosen, but then a third option shows up in the form of the god of war. She can choose to serve him and live. He also doesn't seem that interested in sex with a mortal, so why not?



Uh, yeah. She didn't quite know what she was signing up for. So basically serving this guy is doing a lot of running for her life and getting dirty on this Planet of the Renaissance Faire.

This story is really long and complex. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I found myself getting more and more invested as it went on. The romance didn't come into things for a long time and it made it more enjoyable when it did. I also liked the whole mythology of the gods and how things worked. But, mostly I ended up loving the main characters.

Aron, the war god, will take a little while to warm up to because of things like this:


He sniffs my hair again, and I wonder.....Is he overcome with lust for me?

"You smell bad," Aron says. “When was the last time you bathed?”

Man, fuck this guy.

Yeah, dude needs a little time to grow on you. But, after a while, he is epic! Totally book-boyfriend worthy.

And, Faith is awesome right from the start. She's not perfect, but she is easy to relate to as a normal everyday girl. Also, she's sarcastic and curses a lot. My favorite of her qualities.

Overall, I would call this one of those epic-journey type of books, and I really hope that it takes off so Ruby Dixon will write more in this world. There were tons of characters that deserve their own stories.

[Penny Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, I'm angry at each and every person who never recommended this book to me. Why have you failed me thus? What hath I doth to offend thee?
Second, this book is so much fun. It's a well written, slow burn fantasy that was also 100% unputdownable. One minute I was laughing, the next I was cringing, the next I'm all like



Basically, if you want to read a 600+ page adventure story with sass, excellent characterization, and wonderful story progression, this is the book for you. Highly, highly recommend.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ignore the hideously cheesy cover, it's not representative of the quality of this book! It's hard for me to find a fantasy book (aka the setting is not here on Earth, and the plot or characters feature some sort of manifestation of magic or power) that features a romance (with no fade to black nonsense) and is not YA (no offense to YA, I just want adult characters and themes). It's especially hard to find one that is actually well developed in both plot and characters. Happily, this book is one of those rare finds!

I was a little skeptical about this book at first because A) that cover and B) the author is known for her alien smutty books, which didn't bode well. But my low expectations were blown out of the water. This book is laugh out loud funny at parts and features some big plot twists/reveals that I didn't see coming. Just don't come into this book expecting the romance to take center stage immediately - it's over the half way point before any real progress is made on that front.

This isn't a perfect book by any means (it's a bit too long, too many references to food, secondary characters aren't particularly well developed etc), but I still really enjoyed it!

[Aisling Zena · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

For all those that read Kristen Ashley's Wildest Dreams and Golden Dynasty, for all those that read The Winter King by C.L.Wilson, for all those that read Grace Draven's Wraith Kings or any amazing fantasy book and couldn't find something to satisfy you after reading them; look no more and pick this one up as soon as you can.

I don't even want to go into it too much because I feel it will detract from the enjoyment of discovering for yourself how good this one is, so I'll try to keep it simple.

Faith suddenly finds her self in a strange world after she walks in her neighbour's apartment to investigate the strange noises coming from there. And if standing in her pjs in another world isn't enough, she's enslaved within minutes. But that doesn't deter her or quell her fighting spirit. Even when she finds herself as a ritual sacrifice to a God she's never heard of. As luck would have it this particular God appears before his devotees and he requires a willing anchor in order to stay on that plane and help get him home. Faith volunteers and adventures ensue!



Aron, Lord of Storms, Butcher God of Battle is a sort mix of Dax, Kratos and Conan with Faith tempering him, teasing him, and teaching him. Their relationship was a lovely slow burn. I found the worldbuilding and setting absolutely brilliant. Each page made me want more and when it finished I wanted to go back and read it all over again.

I want more. I want a whole series of this. I need to know what happens to the side characters too. Or even a new heroine and God pairing! I need to have more of this world! If you love fantasy do give this a try! I hope you'll fall in love with it as much as I did.

[Lacey (laceybooklovers) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one thick book so it took me foreverrr to finish, but I really did love it. This fantasy world of Battle Gods and Anchors is so unique and fun – I'm already dying to read more of it!! It's also sloooww burn, which surprised me given that it's Ruby Dixon (who is all about mates and claiming them at first sight) but I loved that the romance was slow! It fit well for Faith and Aron's story. They're thrown together reluctantly but genuinely get to know and fall for each other over time. This is a well-crafted fantasy romance that's like a mix of Game of Thrones and Outlander and I highly recommend it!!

[Lucie V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

✅ Plot
✅ Original concept of Aspects and Anchors
✅ Sexual tension and smut
✅ Kind of hate to love
✅(🆗) Romance and chemistry
✅(🆗) Characters
✅(🆗) Pace
✅🆗 Repetitive inner monologues at times
✅🆗 Length of the book
❗️❗️Trigger warnings: mentions of slavery, human sacrifice, and prostitution, death and some mild gore


This book is long, probably too long, but while not being the best, it is still entertaining, with a funny MC and smut.

I’m still not entirely sure how I got here. The kids from Narnia went through a wardrobe dresser and became kings. The chick from Outlander touched some stones and ended up with a hot kilted Scotsman.
Me, I knock on my neighbor’s door because I hear voices shouting, and the next thing I know, I’m being shoved in a slave pen and referred to as “Tart.”
Hollywood has definitely misled me.

Faith Gordon is a boring, ordinary woman working in an insurance firm. She is used to being a wallflower, and while she is not thrilled with her job or her romantic life, she is even less thrilled when she ends up portaled into a medievalesque realm, where women are still treated like objects and people have very weird religious rituals. Things get even more complicated for her when she ends up having to become the Anchor to a God to save her life and is now saddled up with a grumpy, arrogant God who thinks she should be honored and happy to serve him in every way he asks and deserves.

I really liked the concept of the Gods and Goddesses being split into Aspects, and having to fight each other. It is an original approach, and it created some interesting situations throughout the book.

The book is long though, probably too long. Many parts could have been edited, and shortened, and it would have made a story with a better flow to it. Some of Faith’s inner monologues got pretty repetitive near the middle of the book, and I just got tired of reading about or listening to her wondering how she truly felt about Aron, or what to do about those feelings. I understand the confusion, but I don’t need to read about it every other page.

“How is it I’m the immortal and you’re the one that has no clue how a city works?”
I slap his arm, irritated. “Don’t you start that shit with me. You want to know how it works where I live? We go into a tiny little room, sit on a toilet, take a dump, and then jiggle a handle and the magic poo gods take it all away. Whoosh. That’s it. That’s the extent of my knowledge. Once a month I pay the water bill and that’s all I do. So if your stupid city doesn’t work the way my stupid city did, don’t blame me.”
I glare at him, waiting for his answer.
He just watches me. His mouth twitches, just a little. Finally, he says, slowly, “Magic poo gods?”

Another thing that bugs me a little is how Faith just gave up her whole life on Earth for a sexy dude she met a few months ago. I am not saying that her feelings are not valid, but it reminded me of the whole “Bella Swan being willing to give up her life for Edward after dating him for a few months” situation. It got even more annoying and unrelatable when Faith mentioned that she didn’t really miss Earth and that she didn’t think she would truly miss it as long as she was with Aron. I understand that she loves the dude, but not missing anything? Seriously? How about electricity? Phones? Medicine? Heated houses? Grocery stores? You’re not missing anything Faith? Really? I find that hard to believe, and that’s when I rolled my eyes a little bit at her swoony, hormone-driven reflections.

“You wish to serve me in all ways?" The tone of his voice is arrogant, his expression practically a sneer. He also makes it sound as if serving him is going to have layered implications, and I can guess what some of those layers are by his tone.
All ways means exactly what I think it means.
I do my best to look unfazed and make a joke.
"Does that mean butt stuff? Because I draw the line at butt stuff.”

Overall, Faith was pretty passive and not that useful to the plot. She had to remain alive because she was bonded to Aron, and she was a spitfire with him, but she was mostly happy with just following him and waiting for him to vanquish his other aspects. I am not saying that it’s a bad thing, because she is obviously not a warrior, and there is only so much she could have contributed considering that she came from a different world, but it still annoyed me how except at the end, she felt like an accessory Aron was carrying along during his journey, more than an active character. That being said, I like how Faith didn’t hesitate to speak up her mind, and how she added some funny dialogue and banter to the story. She is not a bad character at all, it’s just that she annoyed me at times.

As for Aron, I am not that impressed with him. I liked his grumpy and super arrogant character at first, and I found it funny that he ended up being bonded to Faith because she was the furthest thing from a quiet and meek servant, but I find that he lacked character development overall. He did change, but mostly with Faith. He still didn’t care about the other humans around him at the end of the book, and I am still not sure why I was rooting for him to win the Anticipation. Besides the fact that he was the one bonded to Faith, we were never given any reason why he should be the one to win over the others, and we saw too little of the other Aspects to truly know if they were horrible beings, or if they could have ended up being passably civil as Aron was in the end.

I love that the romance is a slow-burn, and we can feel the sexual tension building between Faith and Aron, but I still find that their relationship lacked chemistry. There was good smut, but once they finally allowed themselves to be together, it was as if their whole personality now revolved around having sex and being together. I liked parts of their romance, but other parts were just okay.

I realize that I complained a lot in my review, but this book still was entertaining overall, and I do not regret reading it. The ideas are original, and there is action and smut, but I am not sure if I will read the second book, because it seems to be pretty much the same formula, only with another human being anchored to another Aspect, and I do not feel like reading another 600 pages of the same potentially rehashed plot and romance.


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[ren ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're avoiding this book because of the cover (and I totally don't blame you because wtf is going on?? are they in swimwear??), I humbly ask that you reconsider and give this book a chance because this book was SUCH A FUN AND WILD RIDE.

No spoilers because you're definitely going to want to jump into this book and experience it all for yourselves, but trust me when I say that the worldbuilding was so well crafted and all the characters were top notch. I loved Faith and Aron so much! The humour was perfect for me too. Even when there were some pretty absurd moments, I couldn't help but laugh and feel like it all just worked.

Super excited to read the next installment!

Rating: 4.25/5

[Jacob Proffitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of me doesn't want to admit that I gave this a shot. It is every bit as schmaltzy as that cover indicates. And I stuck it out way longer than I would have expected given how little Dixon cares about worldbuilding or characterization. The thing is, if you can let go and just flow with the romp through a fantasy land without trying for things to make sense then you're going to be just fine. Faith can be a hoot and she just keeps trying to make the best of things even when they're pretty desperate. But there's a lot you'll have to overlook along the way. Like thriving towns in the middle of magical wastelands (where feasts that feature lots of ripe fruits and sweets abound) or slavers that leer and jeer but never actually do the obvious with a nubile new acquisition despite mouthy provocation or that the new portal world Faith dropped into not only speaks English but only stumbles on her colloquialisms when it'll be funny or awkward.

I was able to ignore all that for awhile. And then I put the book down. And I can't bring myself to pick it back up again. Because as charming as the romp is, I just can't get past all that other stuff. I toyed with not giving this a rating, because it is clearly indicated what you're getting and I took the chance anyway. But the fact remains that I just couldn't engage and the weaknesses added up enough to overcome some strengths that have real potential.

[vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4✨

'I just want to collapse and cry like a child. It seems that every time I turn around, someone's trying to kill us—or just me—and this entire world feels like one big death trap. I want my quiet apartment back home. I want my boring desk job and my boring reruns on television. Did I think my life was humdrum and monotonous? Clearly I was insane. I have a new appreciation for “safe” and “boring” and “quiet.” I'd like any and all of those things.'

so, how did she get there? lets start from the beginning

(feel free to skip this long-ass part, cuz, spoilers. but i’ll just keep it here for case one day i’d like to revisit this without actually doing a reread)

✧ p l o t ✨✨✨✨✨

↳ home girl gets transported to this other world where there’s gods and stuff. the second she got there, she’s a slave on a beauty pageant in a temple for this prelate to choose (case on point : quote below), and if she’s not chosen, she’ll be killed w/ the other slaves as a sacrifice for the gods by dawn. yay for her, right!

He flicks a hand at the front of my skirt-dress. “I should like to see your breasts. Disrobe.”
So much for being chipper and accommodating. I clutch the front of my dress. “No thanks.”
“What?”
“I mean…no?” I try to smile sweetly. “But ‘no’ in the nicest way, of course.”
He recoils, aghast at my response. “You dare?”
“Well, they’re very shy boobs.” I promise. Something tells me I’m not getting picked.
The prelate flicks his gaze over me one more time. “Pleasant appearance…distasteful personality.” And he moves on.
Sounds like my last annual review at work.'

↳ long story short she’s not chosen. Surrounded by other resigned slaves, Faith was trying to find an out when all of a sudden this naked god of storm showed up in the temple and everyone were shaking w/ fear. that god, our dear Aron, is looking for an anchor to... i guess anchor him? A human anchor works kinda like battery for the gods to recharge by feeding off the anchor’s energy as long as they’re on earth (not earth earth, but their earth). So the anchor eats, sleeps, drink for them. Plus, the only way to defeat the gods are by killing their anchor, it’s a risky role. of course, no one volunteered (it only works w/ volunteers), and Faith figured this was her only way to save her life, so she did.

spoiler alert, soon enough she's gonna throw the whole

↳ they’re both clueless & confused, they don’t really know what’s going on / their purpose in this world, that it’s actually pretty funny

Of course, after a minute or two of staring, he continues to ignore me. So much for gods being omniscient. I clear my throat softly, and when that doesn’t get me anywhere, I try again, a little louder.
Aron of the Cleaver turns to look over at me and scowls. “Are you sick?”
“Uh, no—”
“Choking?”
He really does make it hard to like him. “I was trying to get your attention.”
“By irritating me?” He gestures out at the room of revelers. “Do you think I am not maddened enough by these fools? You have decided to join in?”

↳ the first night in that city, we’re immediately thrown into some action. apparently someone wants to kill Aron, and one way to do that is through Faith. of course, they decided to leave that city right at that moment. and so their journey begins, and through it all they bonded (aside from the literal anchor bond)

His eyes narrow and he just stares at me. Slowly, he shakes his head. “You are not afraid of me at all, are you?”
I get goosebumps at that, wondering if this is the set-up for being eradicated by a god’s temper. Being a pain in the ass has got me this far, however, so I lift my chin. “Should I be?”
“I don’t know if I am amused or annoyed. I want to wring your neck and laugh at the same time. It is very curious.”

↳ at first it was only with the purpose of running for their lives from the mob. But along the way, they figured that there’s 4 divided parts of Aron called Aspects ; hedonism, arrogance, liar, and apathy. our Aron is arrogance, which means they gotta kill the other Aspects (hedonism, liar, apathy) before those Arons kill our Aron through Faith. Also so that our Aron can ascent to Aether, and Faith can go home

»»—— Characters ——««

1. I lie down on the bed, too depressed to even consider what the next few weeks—or hell, months! years!—of my life will be like. I pull the blankets over my head and roll over to face the wall.
"What are you doing?" Aron snaps, rustling the map. "We are discussing strategy. Stop this foolishness."
"Go fuck yourself," I tell him and ignore him. If he wants to be an asshole, I can be one, too.

2. His arm goes around my waist and he pulls me tight against him. I'm surprised when a moment later, he sniffs my hair. A hot flush moves over my body He sniffs my hair again, and I wonder if he's hard right now. Is he overcome with lust for me?
"You smell bad," Aron says. “When was the last time you bathed?”
Man, fuck this guy.

3. ”We require supplies," Aron tells them imperiously. "Food and drink for travel. A mount. And my consort needs a bath."
"Dude, are you going to tell everyone we meet that I need a bath? You're going to give me a complex." I make a face at his back.
"I will until you stop smelling.”

4. There's a stool, but I want to leave that for her, so I move to Aron's side and plop in his lap. "Hope you don't mind if your smelly consort takes a load off, then."
His hands go to my waist and he leans in to murmur to me, "As long as I do not breathe deep, I am fine."
"Prince Charming," I tell him. "You're going to make me swoon with your flowery words.”

5. ”Do not worry, my lovely Faith. You have my undivided attention, I promise you. Shall I spend all night in your bed so you can have your way with me?” He leans in and nips at my mouth.
I don’t know if I want to laugh or cry. “Have my way with you, you say?”
His eyes gleam. “You can tie me down and we can pretend I’m your anchor and you’re the fierce goddess who must lick my cock for endless hours to sate herself.”

6. ”Faith, you don’t understand. I will cease to exist if I die. All of who this Aspect is”—he gestures at his chest—“will be removed from who I am.”
“But you’ll still exist. Aron will still exist.”
“I won’t be the same. He won’t be the same. He won’t know what it means to make the rain stop for a starving farmer and his wife. He won’t know what it’s like to race away from a crumbling citadel and have glass picked out of his back. He won’t know what it’s like to hold you close.”
My breath catches in my throat.
He caresses my face. “I told you once that you’re my heart, Faith, and I mean it. You’ve shown me a different way of looking at things, and not just because you like to argue.” His hard mouth curls into a hint of a smile. “I learn from you. I learn to think about how my presence affects others. I think of how I can be a better god to my faithful. Every day that I am here on the mortal plane with you changes me, Faith. I don’t want to lose that. I don’t want to lose you.” He smiles. “That’s why I’m going to win.”

7. 'Yeah, Aron’s a jerk and a half, but I still love him. His arrogance is the perfect foil for my salt. He doesn’t care that I’m a potty mouth, that I’m surly in the morning, or that I have a soft heart underneath all my vinegar. He likes all of that about me

All in all✨✨✨✨✨

this was awesome, it needs more recognition

complain : this book has a slow burn, such anticipation, such buildup. but once they got together, the execution was kinda anticlimactic for me. I loved it up until we hit the 75% mark, crazy skimmed the last 25%, except for the epilogue, so I don’t really know how they won this thing 😂

what I loved the most was the fact that this book has an epic journey (at some point there were other people joining them, but my favorite part is when the journey only consisted the two of them, more banter)

the cover’s weird. but the book was solid

[Just Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ruby.

Ruby, Ruby, Ruby...

This book? Damn. Just damn. *insert slow clap 🤩

I lost count of how many times I thought to myself: “Gosh, I love this”.
😍
I was enraptured from the very first page. Ruby Dixon sure knows how to write fantasy romance.

Faith is my new favorite person. Funny as hell, sassy as fuck and so much backbone. Delicious💜
And Aron?
Omfg Aron.
God of Battle.
Arrogant, protective and the perfect amount dick-ish asshole😂 #ilovethemalphas

But what really blew me away?
The world building- Holy shit Aos was stunning.
The Aspect and Anchor thing was beyond perfect.
Such an incredible and well written idea.
Stunning work (and this was a bloody side-project!!)

Faith is Aron’s anchor. She is tethered to the God of Battle (Aron) and before Aron can ascend to his godly throne ones again in the “Aether” he needs to kill his 3 other “aspects”.
(Hedonism, lies and Apathy)
In order to do that their anchors needs to die. With mean Faith is pretty vital for Aron of Arrogance’s survival.

And Faith? She just wanna go home to earth.

The story was deep, I cried, I laughed, and I cannot express how much I loved it.

Read: 14/06/2020
1st rating: 5 stars
Genres/Tropes: Fantasy/romance/humour/magic/portals/gods
Cover: 2 stars- Okay, hear me out- I can see that is resembles Faith & Aron, but the cover just seem a little cheesy and because of how intricate the book was I find it a little misleading😂
POV’s: Single- 1 st person (Faith)
Will I recommend: YES YES YES AND A BIG FAT YES!

[Giorgia Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good!!

I am glad I overlooked the very misleading cover, I know it’s shallow of me but that cover does not make one pick up the book with high hopes!

Anyway, back to the praise. I can start enumerating the things that are so right about this book:

1. The writing is good and consistent.
2. The world building and storyline are top notch.
3. The characters go through a great journey of self discovery I’d say. Not only do they become better people but the book actually has characters reflect on their actions and analyse how they may be wrong in doing or thinking a certain thing.
I know most will say that it’s the male lead that did most of that because the storyline is actually in part about him conquering his flaws, but in my opinion the female lead did a lot of growing on her part.
She came into the story already being a normal, kind, righteous person but we were shown that even good people have room to reflect on their actions and thoughts and better their response to others.
Her choice to be kind to Yulena and understand her from a different perspective other than a 21st century woman from Earth for example. Also her understanding that some of her reactions are based on her own prejudices not the other persons flaws, I think that it was all very beautifully illustrated.

The best thing about this book are the characters, but everything else was perfectly crafted around them therefore there’s really nothing that left to be desired or improved.

I cannot wait for the next book. The concept is intriguing and I look forward to learn what Ruby comes up with.

[NMmomof4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars (Originally Read 4/1/2020)

4 Stars (Re-Read 2/23/2023)

Overall Opinion: This was a fun read! I read a few reviews and the blurb and was immediately sold when I saw (what I thought was) the parallels between one of my favorites, The Golden Dynasty, and this book. After reading it, I wouldn't say it's all that similar though. The only similarity I really saw was the alternate universe thing. Which is fine! This was all on its own and an enjoyable story. It was long! It didn't feel that long to me though which I also feel is a good thing. I've enjoyed this author's storytelling capabilities in the past, especially with the unusual type of romances -- and that's no different here! She wrote a strong h, an alpha H, a whole new world, and an actual complete-a-task-type-adventure for us to experience! It was fun 🤗

Re-Read Note: This was still a fun re-read even though I pretty much knew what was going to happen. While it is long, it didn't feel like it! Im keeping this at 4 stars because I still liked it.

Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Faith and Aron's story. Faith hears some weird noises in the empty apartment next door, and they haunt her until she finally gives in to her curiosity and gets in and ends up sucked into a whole other world. She is quickly captured and made into a slave and possible sacrifice for a God in this weird world. She ends up volunteering to be bound to the God, Aron, when it seems to be either that or face her pending death. She doesn't realize that she just started a whole new journey with this God who she doesn't like that much. There is an adventure, some good banter with laugh out loud moments, some sexy times...and they get a HEA ending.

Point Of View (POV): This was told in Faith's POV.

Overall Pace of Story: Good. I did feel that there were parts that could have easily been edited down, but I thought it flowed pretty well and I never skimmed. It is long! The story was 646 pages in my kindle app.

Instalove: No, they take a while to develop stronger feelings.

H (Hero) rating: 4 stars. Aron. I liked him. He was arrogance personified, so there was that...but he was not unlike the Hs I usually enjoy and label as "alpha" 😏

h (heroine) rating: 4.5 stars. Faith. I really liked her. She was so strong, brave, sassy, and loyal!

Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed

Push/Pull:Yes The H pushes away at first because he doesn't care to get attached to the h since she's mortal

Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story. They take a good while to do anything intimate, so I'd say this was a slow burn type of heat.

Descriptive sex: Yes

OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: No

Sex scene with OW or OM: Not with mcs They are scenes with other people having sex in front of the mcs but they don't participate.

Cheating: No

Separation: Yes, but only physically They are separated a few times shortly, but there was no mention or suggestion of other partners during this time.

Possible Triggers: Yes Violence/murder/magic (on page) and brief mentions of violence against women (none on page and not the h)

Closure: This had pretty good closure with what I would call a HEA ending They're together and she's pregnant. I still wanted a little more of their HEA though if I'm being honest, but simply because I had read the whole thing!! I should be rewarded with some more time experiencing their HEA with them 😉

Safety: This one should be Safe for most safety gang readers

- Does Not have cheating
- Does Not have a descriptive sex scene with a mc and OW/OM
- Does have the H pushing the h away
- Does have a few physical separations between the h and H
- Does Not have abuse by mcs
- Does have a HEA ending

[SHOMPA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad the cover of this book has been changed, or I wouldn't have had the courage to read it as much as I always wanted to. And oh my sweet God, what a crazy rollercoaster ride it was! I got much more than I expected; it's kind of impossible to express how much I was surprised and delighted to read this great creation. I would have read this a long time ago if I had known that my favorite type of crazy fantasy content would be here—I absolutely devoured every single moment of it!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️ Really interesting world but I wasn't THAT invested


"You're the only mortal who thinks she can go toe to toe with a god, aren't you?"


WHAT TO EXPECT:
✨ fantasy romance
✨ gods and mortals
✨ he's the god of battle and storms
✨ she's gets trapped in his world and becomes his human anchor
✨ dislike to love
✨ slow burn
✨ 3.5/5 🌶️ (really starts at 75%)
✨ hilarious banter
✨ dangerous quest
✨ action and adventure
✨ unique world building
✨ HEA
✨ single POV (FMC)
✨ TW: slavery, mentions of rape, murder (on page),


My Thoughts:

Overall, I think this story is a good one. The world is fascinating and the plot was intriguing! I'm into stories about humans getting sucked into other realms, and this world was so different than anything I read about. The premise of gods becoming Aspect and having mortal anchors was unique and the quest storyline was full of mystery and exciting action. Props to Ruby Dixon for building out this world. I think this story would totally make a great mini TV series.

However, the story dragged for me the entire time. We start slow with Faith finding herself transported from Earth to another realm and having to deal with that. Then she meets Aron and they embark on a journey that takes them all over this world. This was more of a fantasy than romance, which is totally fine, but the moments between each conflict felt repetitive after a while, so I tended to skim those parts. Also, the story is also incredibly long (646 KU pages), so it took me forever to read even though I skimmed. Probably 10+ hours.

While I don’t mind the MCs, Aron and Faith, I don't know if I really care about them. Faith is a good FMC. She's strong, independent, sarcastic, and doesn't let the fact she's in a completely different world get her down. Aron is exactly what he's supposed to be - an arrogant god who thinks nothing of mortals. So he was a total asshole and it took me a while to warm up to him. I don't really have complaints about them as characters . . . I just didn't really connect with or care about them. Not sure what else to say about that.

I might have liked the story and characters more if it wasn't single POV. I kept hoping we'd be able to get inside Aron's head but sadly not.

This is a random issue I have with the story, but the MCs were constantly getting dirty from sweat, dirt, shit, and blood and it really irritated me that the moment they would get to take a bath they’d immediately get into a situation where they’re dirty again. The storyline of them always on the run and needing baths got repetitive and Faith was complaining about it all the time which irritated me. I wasn't annoyed she complained because girl . . . same. Instead I was frustrated for her.

I also found some of the wording ridiculous. I know Ruby Dixon wanted to make it obvious Faith was from Earth but the amount of colloquial English phrases and words she used felt out of place and try-hard. Here are some examples: dude, tit-meat, hot diggity, and ho.


Favorite Quotes:

He sniffs my hair again, and I wonder if he's hard for me right now. Is he overcome with lust for me?
"You smell bad? When was the last time you bathed?"
Man, fuck this guy.
_______

"You're very violent for one so soft, Faith. I like that."
_______

"You are an arrogant asshole."
"The god of dirty brown ones, apparently."
_______

"I remember what you have sacrificed, Faith. And the only one allowed in your bed is me."
_______

"You think I would let anything happen to you, my Faith?"
_______

"Because you're mine. My companion. My woman. My anchor. My Faith. I will protect your life with my own."
_______

"You are a distraction I don't need, but I am already lost."
_______

"You are mortal and unimportant to the rest of the world. But not to me. To me, you are everything."
_______

"Remember that you belong to me. And I do not give you permission to die."
_______

[MG *Bury Me with My Kindle.. & a REALLY Long Charger* · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 LONG but excellent story-telling stars

This book should count as at least 2 because it was LONG (650+ pages!), but I loved it!

Faith is not living the dream in the American city where she has been working as an insurance agent. She has a couple of friends, but she does not have any family and does not feel her life has amounted to much. Add in a lackluster love life, and she is really not finding the fun. One thing she does enjoy, however, is sleep, and it has been rudely interrupted by the sounds of a banging drum and a growly-sounding man in the allegedly vacant apartment next door for the last several nights. At first, she believes it must all be in her head, but the noises become more insistent, and Faith finds herself in front of the neighboring unit at a ridiculous hour in the early AM with a credit card attempting to pick her first lock. When she enters the apartment, there is nothing out of place or even suspicious looking, but as she inspects further, the sound starts again... Feeling compelled to find the source of the disruption, she finds herself literally falling into a completely different world. Obviously, she is dreaming, but when she is quickly captured as she wanders and enslaved, she begins to realize it is not all in her head. Faith soon learns that she is being offered as a sacrifice to the god of battle and storms, but suddenly, he god himself appears - something that has not happened in hundreds of years - and she finds herself agreeing to be his "anchor" (whatever that means) since it seems the better alternative to being killed. Now if only this god knew what any of this meant, it wouldn't be the amnesiac god leading the alien on a long journey filled with danger and unpleasant surprises.

Aron, god of battle and storms, finds himself ejected from his godly world and tossed into the mortal plane. Thankfully, he lands in the city that is known to be filled with many of his most devout worshipers. All he needs now is an anchor to tie him to the plane for the time it requires to make himself whole again, and thus able to ascend back to his rightful place. The catch is that an anchor must willingly offer his or her services, and no one seems to be coming forward despite the glory of serving a god such as Aron should inspire. When a slave volunteers, Aron ascribes to the beggars can't be choosers philosophy and waves her forward to begin her duties.

Both Faith and Aron soon realize that neither of them actually knows what an anchor is or why the god has fallen in the first place, much less how to get him back to his godly plane and Faith back to earth. This lack of knowledge soon turns dangerous as everywhere the two wonder in their mission to figure out what their mission actually is, they encounter one perilous situation after another. Is there anyone that they can trust to help them find their way? Can they uncover the mystery of why Aron fell and how he can return before falling prey to the seemingly endless string of assassins coming from all sides? If they can, is Aron a powerful enough god to help Faith return to earth? And if so, will Faith actually want to leave the pain in the ass, arrogant, jerk... well, sometimes okay and seemingly caring, and maybe a little nice even, that she is finding herself starting to care for?

What I liked:
--- I loved that the h did not give a single f that the guy she was tethered to was a god; she didn't take crap from him and did not back down
--- Aron was hilariously ridiculous at times; it was fun to see his character develop and to see the positive impacts Faith had on him that made him more "human" in his ways of thinking
--- Very intricate and well-built world - I am still unclear on a few things, but knowing that there are more books in the series, I am guessing that things will become more clear as it goes on
--- The relationship between the two MCs was well-developed, and they grew together throughout the book - I love the "us against the world" tropes, and this was mostly that (for Aron, it took a little longer get there, but to be expected with a god steeped so completely in arrogance)
--- Once we finally got there, STEAMY GOODNESS!!

What I didn't like a much:
--- Not sure it needed to be as LONG as it was - 666 pages (ha) is a lot for this story; yes there was complex world-building, but it did feel like it was dragging a few times
--- SLOW BURN - come on! Yes it was nice that the relationship developed, and once we got there, it was delicious, but it took WAY too long, imo (you're making me read a 666 page book - I need a little more action before the 75% mark, please and thank you)
--- Not so much criticism as I don't understand why people were trying to kill Faith early on - like when Aron first arrived at the place that was supposed to worship him, there was no indication that another Aspect was there or had been there, so why would they want to kill his anchor, and thus, him unless it was bc the dude that lived there was over-the-top jealous which seems a little ridiculous; same for the next town they went to where they stayed at the inn - there didn't seem to be any reason for the townspeople to be losing their sh!t and trying to kill him; finally, what was the deal with the floating palace or whatever that place was with the hedonism version of another of the gods - seemed unnecessary and much longer than necessary to make the brief points I think the author was trying to make, especially bc that god never came back into the story anywhere

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. I have read this author's Ice Planet Barbarians and Icehome series, but this was a definitely departure from those as this was much more involved, thought out, and more complex than the light and fluffy blue man group planet stories are. The characters in this story were very well-developed and likeable despite the obvious flaws. Once we got there, the steam was magnificent, and of course, the couple got its hard-fought and well-deserved HEA in the end.

Plot --- 4.5/5
Main Characters --- 4.5/5
Supporting Cast --- 4.5/5
Steam Level* --- 4/5
Violence --- he's the god of battle, so yeah.... but nothing overly graphic
Language --- a LOT
POV --- 1st (h)

*Note that steam level is not a rating so much as a how hot was it: 0/5 - clean; 1/5 - mild (nothing descriptive); 2/5 - 3rd base action/1 home run; 3/5 - now we're getting somewhere (a couple of full-on steamy scenes); 4/5 - yes please! (erotica territory); 5/5 - they did EVERYTHING in this one, y'all

[B.E.Love · Rating 5 out of 5]

*re-read
So Ruby Dixon said this book was an "epic fantasy romance" that's big words and big claims for a book, annnnnd those words are 1000% true. I loved this book in fact hold your seats ladies I think this is the best book from Ruby Dixon to date. Seriously this book blew me away I love Ruby Dixon and this book was nothing short of astonishing. I started this book having no clue it was so long (almost 600 pages) and as I started reading I noticed I was reading and reading and my page count was getting high but my percentage was still low when I finally looked I was so happy this book was long. Even though this book was long it was filled to the brim and flowing over with amazing content.

The story in this book is so remarkable so thought out its not a simple story its a whole new world that is created with once in a life time charters and a world with gods thrown onto this world to learn lessons and seem to wreak havoc in their wake. While a girl from earth is thrown into this new world and becomes the only person who can save Aron the god of battle and storms. We see their fails and struggles as well as their love that shouldn't be possible grow. In all honestly this review will never give this book justice. It's one book that you finish and when you think about it so much come to your mind that its hard to get it all out. I finished this book last night and what I can tell you is I can't stop thinking about this book. I want to read it again right now. I am jealous for everyone who hasn't read this book yet and who pick it up because you're in for something special with this book.

I truly hope we get more books like this, please. We get friends in this book that would be great to have their own books, but I am really hoping that we get more god's books with this anticipation (god's being brought down to earth because they are needing to be taught lessons). I will also say I can not recommend this book enough. If you love Ruby Dixon read this book, is you love a good fantasy/romance please read this book, if your after a slow burn with a build up far and away worth it I highly recommend this book but regardless if you like romance at all you must read this book. The romance is something special(think Barron's and Mac from the Dark fever series). This is one of the best if not the best books i have read so far this year(I would actually have to look at my read list to see if something was better and I have read some great books). This is also one of those books that 5 stars will never even be close to enough stars. Whatever you do read this book please.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

don't let the cover throw you... this book is actually a whole lot of fun!

We have our h, Faith, who ends up traveling to another world through some possible manipulation from the Fates *wink wink*



After arriving, Faith gets mixed up with a bunch of different gods who have been punished to live and survive in the world of mortals. She eventually ends up being tethered to Aron- the god of storms and battle- and has to help him navigate the world, while also trying to find her own way in a new reality that is seriously different from modern day Earth.



(Think something like the Dark Ages or Ancient Greece, where 'might makes right' and there is a hell of a lot of corruption going on. But sprinkled with magic and mysticism.)

While some points of the story dragged on- the book is over 600 pages- so fair enough, but this was a lot of fun and has some seriously cute and sexy romance!

[Milla · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨4 stars✨

Ok I feel peer pressured into reviewing this book lmao so imma keep it short and sweet.

“I don’t know if I am amused or annoyed. I want to wring your neck and laugh at the same time. It is very curious.” “Well, you didn’t ask for obedient volunteers, just volunteers,”

Bound to the Battle God was generally a great time! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t a super long, very well built fantasy world with crazy rules and interesting side characters.
It definitely served everything I want in a pnr:

✔️a slowburn
✔️good worldbuilding without exposition dumping
✔️an interesting plot
✔️a grumpy hero who gets super soft for the heroine but stays mostly an asshole to everyone else
✔️good banter
✔️a heroine who's smart, funny, kind, quick thinking, not emotionless but not overrun by her emotions

For me, the heroine was the best part of this book, hands down boots. I think what I liked best was that upon realizing she's stuck in an alternate world, she freaks out for a minute, but smartly gets her shit together and does everything in her power to survive and go home.

"I want to press my hands to my forehead and cry. I want to collapse, but I know all of that won’t do any good. So I take a deep, shuddering breath, straighten my shoulders, and try to figure out where I am."

Faith is my fave type of heroine, basically the antithesis of TSTL. More like TSTDFASFRTCHBEA (too smart to die for a stupid fuckin reason that could have been easily avoided) 😌 She's not a secret badass or an international super spy (super spy!) who can sneak around, have military level attack plans and fight better than anyone else around. She's just a regular girl with a healthy dose of snark who does that she can to stay alive and I love her for it.

"Fuck this guy. Fuck all these guys. I’m going to go out fighting, I tell myself. This isn’t the end. There has to be more to why I’m here than to just die in a pile of anonymous blondes."

As for the romance it was pretty good, satisfactory! It wasn't super thrilling and definitely didn't grip me from the beginning, but by the time everyones boinking and starting lovingly into each others eyes, I was invested. I think my favourite part of their relationship was right at the very end with the underworld business. The world-building was a little more interesting than these two getting together.


All in all, this book was a great time and I definitely recommend it. Just ignore that horrific cover and you should be good.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

If you ever see me write a bad review of a Ruby Dixon book just know my account has been HACKED because I don't think Dixon can write a book I don't like. It's like she's writing specifically with me in mind because she literally checks all the boxes for me every time.

When I think about Ruby Dixon's books I think about something that a) has an MMC who's an alien/minotaur/other mythical being b) is short-ish and c) very smutty.
This book was so pleasantly surprising. Bound to the Battle God had all the literary elements that Dixon uses that make us love her books, but also the fantasy elements in this book were more elevated, thanks to the longer format. I was worried that this book might be a little *too* long for me, but that wasn't the case at all. There was no fluff or filler here, and every chapter kept me engaged.

Our FMC, Faith, is a normal ol' boring human who accidentally falls into a different world. Long story short (and without spoiling anything), things aren't looking good for her in this new world, and she's only able to see one way to improve her situation: binding herself to the battle god, Aron. Aron (and other gods) have been exiled to the mortal world to learn a lesson. Minor spoiler (it's something we find out at 20%-ish): Each god gets split into 4 parts (arrogance, hedonism, laziness, and lies) to compete in basically a fight to the death. Faith is paired with arrogance Aron. Aron starts out as an arrogant, unsympathetic god who doesn't care about the mortals he's among. Thanks to Faith we see his character develop beautifully over the course of the book.

I also feel obligated to mention how much I loved Faith as an FMC. If you've seen my other reviews you know that my biggest pet peeve is when the FMC (who has no friends, family, or attachment to her old life) spends half the book debating about whether she wants to leave her life behind for the most beautiful man she's ever seen who loves her and respects her. I mean come oooonnn. LUCKILY, my girl Faith had none of that. Sure, she needed time to adjust to a lot of the stuff that was happening, but she was always sure about her decisions and stuck to them without lots of internal debating.

preread

Y'all KNOW I'll read absolutely anything by mommy Dixon and the premise of this book is just SPEAKING to my soul!!

[Lana Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars

I was looking forward to this book for such a long time and didn't know what to expect from it, especially because the first cover is really unappealing. Yet some of my trusted friends seemed to love it so in I went.

And I loved it too! The heroine was not only funny, she had a great backbone, pushed back like a boss, and I enjoyed every moment of her going against one very arrogant god. And damn, did she grow in the process!

It's not the first time I'm realising this author can write absolutely anything because she DEVELOPS the characters fabulously, builds the most exciting words and wraps up every piece of information neatly at the end, not leaving one stone unturned. And even though this book BADLY needed an editor or at least a couple of beta-readers, I still was able to ignore everything because the story was worth it.

It was full of adventure, unexpected turns and twists and some wonderful side characters. The hero was an arrogant piece of ass but it was kinda the point of the story so I just rolled with it. 

I was reading it with my friend Leila and it was actually the first book we both read at the same time and haven't waited for each other to catch up, lol. Off to the second one.

[Aurialis · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

The worst part of the book is the cover! I would never, never ever have read this book just based on cover. Or even the blurb. I only read this book because it was recommended.

Next worst thing about this book was that it was 300 pages too long. That is half the book that could have been edited out to make it a reasonable sized book. But kudos to it, I finished the book. That should count for something.

So, when a book is 650 pages long, there are bound to be good parts and bad parts. There is no one specific thing that I like throughout the book. Even the characters were inconsistent. I liked them at some points, at other places, I wanted them to kill them myself. The redeemable quality of the book was the original approach on the Gods. That was one thing that made me keep reading.

The world described was pretty similar to medieval times. For me, how an author approaches this world through eyes of a modern women, is very important. It is also about how a modern woman would react to the times that were so oppressive for women. It is a very difficult time to write about. And I have never been entirely satisfied by the different books that talk about time travel or ending up in a world that has something similar to that. For this book, I like how the author talks about some hardships that the heroine goes through. But in other places, I find it sorely lacking.

Talking about the characters, I found the heroine, passive. Only at the very end, she actually does something and she ends up dead because of that . I did not feel like she actually contributed anything to the story. As for the hero, there is no character development. There is no specific reason why one Aspect of the God should win over the other, except that the story is about them. There is not much depth to the characters.

There were also a lot of loose ends in the books. There are bound to be, in a book so long. So many things that are mentioned but then forgotten. For example, the beginning - there is no conclusion to the assassination attempt. Another example is the heroine asking to learn to fight. They start, and then nothing comes of it.

As for technical details, pacing was off, the details added were too many and plot was okayish. The dialogues were unremarkable and stilted at times. The world building could have been better.

In conclusion, I think this book would have far better, if it had undergone tight editing. I would have liked it so much more than.

[❤️Emma Book Lover ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️ I love my Battle Gods for sure🤷🏻‍♀️
IGNORE THIS COVER ❗️❗️ lol
Just think of Aron as :

or maybe this??

Anyhow..anything is better than that cover ffs... moving on:

So first things first:
•this book is looooong but not long enough to bore you , it was written over the span of several years as a secret project of the author ( which in my opinion nailed it) and maybe in the future we can read more about the secondary characters stories (hopefully, personally I’m dying to read about the God of Dead 😋)
•I started to read this as a recommendation to similar books as The Golden Dynasty by Kristen Ashley so I jumped right into it 🙃yaayy.Also this is a slow burn..so don't expect much sexy time until very late in the book.
•this may have triggers for some of you : slavery , “prostitution” (kind of ) human trafficking ( selling slaves) , orgies , public display
If you can get over the above and are a fan of paranormal romance with steamy scenes with a bossy/ arrogant/ dirty talking Hero than this is for you!!!

The story :
Faith is a mouthy chick from Chicago with a boring existence until she hears weird sounds coming from her neighbors apartment . Obviously she is intrigued about this so she breaks in and “falls” into another realm called Aos. Here she is caught and is sold as a slave to be sacrificed to one of the Gods these weird people believe in , to be more specific, Aron Lord of Storms ,Butcher God of Battle. Thinking this supernatural being is her best chance to get back home , Faith volunteers herself to be his anchor and guide on the mortal plane. So the adventure and story of our H and h begins.

Pros

•I love their dialogues and the funny interactions between them ( him not knowing how to sleep or that he needs to wear clothes 😋😂)
• the world portrait was not always beautiful but was very interesting and different from all the other “realms “ i ve read before
• loved the second characters and how they formed a bond with eachother ( would be very interested to hear Yulenna or Markos story )
———————
Cons

• sometimes I was a bit exasperated with Faith, her way of cursing and being a brat (all independent and strong women and this shit but in the wrong moments 🤦🏼‍♀️)
• Aron was awesome, I mean he is a God after all, but I would have liked him to stop with the push away earlier in the story ( I mean ffs , they kiss at almost 70% of the book only , fuck that .. the goodies could have happen much earlier, just saying 🤷🏻‍♀️🙃)

I am happy tho , they have found their HEA and am gonna continue this story if the author decides to keep going 🙂🤗

[Vashti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to my fellow Goodreads friend B E Love for bringing this book to my attention.
I really enjoyed this fantasy romance and looking forward to more in this series if the author decides to continue with it.

[Laura ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨3.75 stars✨

1. I love Faith
2. I love Aron
3. I love Faith + Aron together
4. I'm still not over the cover of this book 💀

I might write a proper review eventually........
but maybe notttt

Thanks for the rec Emma!🤗

2024 reread: What a throwback and still very entertaining LOL, I love the change to a more… subtle (?) cover but why do I low-key miss the terrible one from before 😭

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

7/15/19 This was fucking perfect! I hope this is the start of a new series because I NEED Yulenna's story and even Markos!
_________________________
I'm not reading the blurb. I don't give a shit what it's about. I don't care what the cover looks like. I'm going to read the shit out of this! I'VE WAITED TOO LONG FOR MY RUBY DIXON FIX! I will read anything this woman writes!

[Mei · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly don't know how to rate this book!!!

I love Ms. Dixon's books; they're light, funny and quick reads. That's not the case here...

Yes, the heroine was occasionally funny. But I found her language too foul and inappropriate for the story.

Our heroine, Faith is snapped from Earth and ends in a world where Gods walk among mortals. She's clueless. And I mean clueless - in the most stupidest way possible! She speaks American slang to people who are obviously in Dark Age. She acts like a 20th century woman and pretends to be heard when it's obvious that women are not considered else than cattle...

She ends a slave and to avoid being sacrified accepts to be an anchor to Aron, the battle (storm, lighting, ecc.) god.

He's clueless too. He doesn't remember anything besides that he's a god.

I will not spoil the book and tell you, but the story is complicated. Very complicated and that's why it is so unusually long. And that was really interesting part. I loved how things went, the unexpeting hppening, the bits of mysteries revealed. The world building was the best part of the book.

I must say that I appreciated Aron more than Faith because she was so cuelessly stupid!

So, with tears in my eyes, I could not rate it more than 3 stars...

[Mindy (Book Snitch) · Rating 5 out of 5]

BUY THE BOOK




Oh my goodness!! This book is awesome! Ruby Dixon is one of the greatest story tellers! This book is pretty long but totally worth it! Epic sexy damn fantacy!

[Donyae Coles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was 665 pages which is very unusual for romance especially Dixon's style of romance. That being said, I am used to reading such long books so I said, bring it on. This ended up being three stars for me because there are some interesting parts but Faith, the main character whose head we travel in, is so dumb.

Just, really stupid. And nearly 700 pages of that is a problem.

So lets talk about what this book did well. It created a unique world. The pacing wasn't horrible for such a long story. We weren't overloaded with characters. The tone of the book stayed consistent. I don't know if the tone really worked but it was consistent. But even in these good points, there are issues.

We are given hints of the world as they travel and the story progresses. What we are shown is interesting but it is also really underdeveloped. We don't have a sense of how this world operates. We never see more of the animals or foliage than the horse-hippo things. Governments are pretty greatly under explained, how slavery works, the magic that may be there, etc. None of this would matter in a normal romance novel but this more of an epic fantasy and honestly it needed WAY more world building.

The pacing wasn't horrible but also very little happened from location to location, from issue to issue. Past events are forgettable and even if they play a role in the last bit of the story, there's no great spark of connection mainly because Faith, the person we're following, barely remembers them or recognizes their importance herself. The book could have been cut down to far fewer events and travels and would have not suffered for it in the least.

The tone of the book is similar to others by Dixon which is fine, but this is 700 pages and it needed to be more. By the end I was just skimming and I literally missed nothing important. Somewhere around 75% it just became a slog to get to the end of the book. I didn't even care if she died.

So now we need to talk about Faith. Faith was dumb as a rock. Either this girl was dumb or Dixon lost track of her story details in a bad way. On multiple occasions Faith is given information about the world and then later when that info is relevant, she doesn't remember it all. Then when someone brings it up again, she acts as if this is the first time she's heard it. This happens a lot.

She doesn't put simple dots together. She doesn't ask meaningful questions about anything. And she does that "I'm mouthy" garbage like it's a good idea to pop off at the mouth to people who can and will kill you all the time. And despite being in the world for weeks she completely fails to pick up any sort of basic etiquette of the culture.

And even in the romance part of this story, because she is dumb, she can't understand Aron in any meaningful way. She is unable to parse his flaw that dominates him from who he really is even though he's pretty constantly showing her.

And being inside of the head of someone like that for so many pages is frustrating. Nothing in the story pays off because Faith has the memory of a goldfish. You think you're going to get this big connect the dots moment but you don't because Faith is dumb and some other character has to explain the same information to her AGAIN making the whole scene fall flat. By the end I didn't care what happened to her. I just wanted her to complete the process so the book would end.

I don't know why Dixon chose to stay only in her head. The book would have been so much better if we got Aron's POV of view as well. Being cast out of heaven, your memory stripped away, having to kill aspects of yourself, being a GOD but being unable to do very basic things for yourself, these are all really compelling story elements that could have been explored. And we would have better understood why he liked her.

I didn't really buy their their love either to tbh. Faith is annoying. She's ANNOYING. She's cute (I guess?) but other than that, she has no redeeming qualities. Of course she falls for Aron because she's a dumb B and that's what dumb Bs do but he had no reason at all to like her. He just suddenly was like, oh, I like this human now. Ok but why? You were cool with leaving her so what changed exactly?

This story has an HEA but I don't feel like it was ever really earned. The stakes weren't ever very high for me while I was reading this nor was I at all invested in the characters themselves. This was not a strong outing for Dixon.

I gave it three stars because I did finish it but I was mostly annoyed with the book and this boarded on a hate read more than anything. I think it's probably possible to write a romance at this length but this ain't it chief.

[★Me Myshelf and I★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think I've ever been to say before now that a book was a slow burn and standalone.

But with 665 pages for the build-up it was the equivalent of getting the romance in book 2! Which I was not complaining about. The pacing and timing was perfect. Slow enough to build the romance and the world with detail but fast enough to keep it moving and hold my interest.

I should have never visited that fortune teller. King of Pentacles—a man like a force of nature? Try a god of storms. A journey about to begin? Fucking understatement of the year. Lovers? I shiver at the thought. I’m not sure if I hate it or want it so badly I ache.



Faith has been pulled into a portal from modern day to a fantasy world where Gods exist and where any woman found alone is taken into slavery. Faith is no exception and finds herself up for sacrifice to the God of Battle and Storms Aron. When he makes a surprise appearance and in need of an anchor to hold him to the mortal plain Faith chooses him over death and they end up bound together.

The kids from Narnia went through a wardrobe dresser and became kings. The chick from Outlander touched some stones and ended up with a hot kilted Scotsman. Me, I knock on my neighbor’s door because I hear voices shouting, and the next thing I know, I’m being shoved in a slave pen and referred to as “Tart.”

I loved the "different dimension" aspect to this epic fantasy based romance. As Faith says during the book it was like being on a set of Game of Thrones but she had the whit and humor of a modern woman. The banter between Faith and Aron was top-notch and laugh out loud funny.

If he touched me right now? I’d be wet. The realization is shameful. He sniffs my hair again, and I wonder if he's hard right now. Is he overcome with lust for me? "You smell bad," Aron says. “When was the last time you bathed?” Man, fuck this guy.

Most of it was a adventure on horse (or hippo) back across the world. It reminded me alot of Laura Thalassa’s War and Pestilence because of that and because it was about instilling humanity into a God who had none. He had to look after Faith least he be killed also, so there was a lot of protective Alpha Maleness as well as the arrogance of a God who was once all powerful.



It was a slow build for her to accept his nature and him to take advice from someone else but when we did get there it was so so satisfying and sweet. Oh yeah and hot, can’t forget that one. Aron is a dirty talker and boy I love a dirty talker.



The only thing wrong with this book is that cover. The quality of that cover is not reflective on the content I promise. And the only complaint I have about the content is that it wasn’t explained how she could understand there language but couldn’t read it? But it didn’t make me enjoy this journey any less.

I’ve read everything Ruby Dixon and this is my favourite of a brilliant bunch. Seriously the woman can write Alien, post apocalyptic Dragons and now fantasy. I should also mention I liked the little Star Wars references that are present here and in Ice Planet. She must be a serious fan. I dig that!
I’m cheering on for more in this series. Preferably the Spidae because you know I’m a fan of RH and there is 3 of those guys.