A cursed human princess finds herself irresistibly drawn to a powerful, stern prince from her people's enemy species in the thrillingly epic, unabashedly sexy high fantasy monster romance Bound to the Shadow Prince by indie publishing sensation Ruby Dixon (Ice Planet Barbarians series). Dixon originally published this lavish forced-proximity love story as an online serial, and the collected print edition is so easily devourable that one wonders how readers of the serial version managed to wait between installments.
Princess Candromeda of Lios has never excelled at royal duty. She and her two sisters are born of the revered Vestalin dynasty, "the blood of heroes," a line of royals whose ancestor sacrificed herself to save their kingdom. Unfortunately, Candra also carries a family curse that renders her barren and therefore undesirable as a bride. The curse also leaves her dizzy and nauseated unless she injects a medicinal potion every day. Candra has never taken her royal status seriously because of her "tainted" blood. In fact, "I'm the one who got caught losing her virginity in the chapel with one of the court knights... and gets in trouble for embroidering mustaches onto all the important historical tapestries." Her sisters serve several purposes. Meryliese has trained from an early age to serve their people's goddess. Erynne is Queen of Lios and expecting a royal heir with her husband, King Lionel, or as Candra knows him, "my nemesis." What's an extra princess to do other than amuse herself with unintelligent men, since "they're usually the prettiest ones"?
Then Meryliese dies in a shipwreck, and King Lionel orders Candra to take on her sister's holy duty. The golden moon, symbol of the goddess of chaos, appears in the skies every 30 years. Dangerous seas and foul weather proliferate during its seven-year ascendancy, and the Golden Moon Goddess requires a royal sacrifice for appeasement. A member of the Vestalin bloodline must spend seven years locked in the Tower of Balance with no servants, never stepping outside until the golden moon sets again. Candra has never started a fire, dressed herself, or cooked in her pampered life, let alone make and inject her own medication. It would be a death sentence. Besides, she has parties to attend. "I am... too popular. Yes, that's it," she tells herself, but gives in when the king threatens to send her pregnant sister, his wife, instead.
The Tower is fully dark inside, and Candra isn't alone there. The Liosians' enemies, the Fellians, also send a required sacrifice from their royal house of Darkfell. Candra has never seen a Fellian but has "heard that they are devils, so hideous and unholy to look upon that they avoid the Absent God's light." She assumes her new companion will also be a princess and is shocked when a decidedly masculine voice scolds her from the shadows as she explores her surroundings: "This chamber is mine."
Prince Nemeth is hostile, imperious, and massive, made of "deep gray muscle," crowned with a sweep of horns, and cloaked by strange, leathery-looking wings. The reluctant roommates verbally spar, but their mutual disdain doesn't stop Nemeth from walking in on Candra's bath or Candra from noticing his muscled thighs. Then, Nemeth comes to her rescue when Candra runs out of firewood and can't make more medicine, and the two forge a peace. The gruff Fellian injects Candra's daily potion so she won't have to and arranges a meager feast day with their pooled supplies to cheer her. Faster than one can say "tale as old as time," Candra begins to feel a reluctant attraction to her fellow sacrifice. Their friendship boils over in a moment of white-hot passion, but Nemeth quickly sets a boundary. If the playgirl princess wants more than friendship, she'll have to embrace a commitment beyond their years in the Tower and lose her place among her people forever.
Dixon welcomes readers into an expansive, mythology-inspired high fantasy world rich in detail and filled with peril, politics, and consequences. Bound to the Shadow Prince raises the forced proximity trope to new heights as its heroes navigate every challenge and deprivation of life in the Tower, with only each other for support, and then must unexpectedly test their love against the reality of the outside world. Candra begins as shallow and flippant, but her love for her family, her sense of humor, and her zest for life make her compelling despite her flaws. Her journey to maturity feels as rewarding as it does hard-won. The chemistry she has with stern, protective Nemeth runs effervescent and scorching by turns, and Dixon gives a master class in using love scenes to advance an emotional story arc. Her frank, sympathetic portrayal of Candra's chronic illness emphasizes both the struggles and normalcy of life with a disability. Monster romance longtimers and first-timers alike will fall under the spell of this very spicy, complex story of perseverance, betrayal, and true love. --Jaclyn Fulwood