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Monday 16 March 2015

{Review} Bind the Soul (Steel & Stone #2) by Annette Marie

23871421Posted by Melanie
Release Date: January 9th, 2015
Finished Date: February 22nd, 2015
Publishers: Self Published
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Source: For Review
Format: eBook
Pages: 304
Buy: Amazon UK Amazon US 

The most important rule for an Apprentice Consul is simple: Don't get involved with daemons. Well, Piper is planning to break that rule — big time.

After a near-deadly scandal with the Sahar Stone, she has the chance to return to the only life she's ever wanted. All she has to do to keep her Apprenticeship is forget about Ash and Lyre. Ash might be enigmatic and notoriously lethal, and Lyre might be as sinfully irresistible as he is irritating, but they’re not bad for a couple of daemons.

There's just one problem: Ash is missing.

Really, she shouldn't risk her future for him. He lied. He betrayed her. But he also saved her life, damn it. Wherever he is, he's in trouble, and if she doesn't save his sorry butt, who will? But with every dangerous secret she unravels, each one darker than the last, she slips deeper into Ash's world — a world with no escape for either of them.

BIND THE SOUL is the second book in the Steel & Stone series.

The Review: BIND THE SOUL is the second book in the Steel & Stone series.
Wow, wow, wow! What a sequel this was! I loved it!
The story had it all – danger, action, battles, magic and a nice dash of romance. Piper is again thrust into the thick of things when she decides to go hunting for Ash with Lyre. Ash has been missing for a while following the showdown from book one, we know he went back to Asphodel and back to Samael but Piper isn’t convinced he is there willingly and unharmed. Piper and Lyre end up jumping through hoops for any information that they can get leading Piper on a slippery slope with her father and her position as Apprentice Consul. In the quest for that information, she must turn to Micah who leaves her with more to chew on than what she needed to know and just when they finally think they are getting somewhere…. She is kidnapped, Somehow, Samael knows that she can wield the stone and he wants her to unlock it for him but Piper hasn’t got a clue how she came to use it and Samael wants that information and will use any means to get it – giving Piper and insight to the control he holds over Ash. It’s during this time that Piper gets to grips with something that will help her, to help Ash but to do that… she needs to unravel a few secrets first before all hell breaks loose.
Piper really developed throughout this story, she was more willing to take risks, she did not let fear rule her, she sacrificed herself for those she believed in and she really got to grips with the stone. In this you can truly see her as a leader and along with her friends - could change the world that they inhabit. I loved how things progressed with her and Ash, although it does take a while. They aren’t in a definite relationship but you can tell their feelings are becoming deeper with the life threatening situations they share, they have bonded on a level most people would never feel and I think it’s perfect for them and especially Ash because he is so intense. You can tell that their bond will become something amazing and not easily broken because Piper really steps up and shows her loyalty and determination. I still feel that Lyre is holding a torch for Piper but the connection to Ash is way deeper and as a reader I have definitely been drawn to Piper and Ash.
The storyline takes place a few weeks after book one and it doesn’t take long before Piper is faced with more danger. There are multiple people after her for one thing or another so it feels like she will never be safe. I loved the story progression in this, the first part of the book had that UF feel as we see Piper and Lyre gathering information from dubious sources, making deals they really shouldn’t and getting blindsided by others agendas….. That’s without lethal Raum tracking her for Samael and it’s a good job she gets captured - because it puts her right where she needs to be and really puts her in the enemies hands and out of her comfort zone. This in turn gave the book a more fantasy feel and brought some amazing fight scenes and action that took my breath away, Piper really impressed me here and we meet a few new characters along the way. It’s not all plain sailing though because war is coming and it will be over the Sahar stone and the one who can wield it…..Piper. The latter part of the book again is filled with action, some truly wonderful scenes to read about and I was astounded by it all, the author has done an amazing job of bringing this world and its characters to life and I was sucked into the story from the very start. It has everything I love in a book of this genre and it literally kept me gripped to the story, I was so engrossed with what was going on and hoping it would never end….. but it did…. And now I want more! You NEED to read this series, which is all I can say. 

1 comment:

alessya said...

Great review! So excited to read it! :)

 
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