Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Friln had always counted on his lover to be there when things go wrong. But when one brief moment of death breaks his bond with his Thresl mate, he loses the only thing in the world he needs to make him happy.

For the past ten years Friln, the king’s Captain of the Guard, has lived with and loved his Thresl mate Nelrin. When an assassination attempt catches Friln in the crossfire, he is killed. In the brief moment before he’s revived, the bond to his lover is shattered.

At Friln’s death Nelrin loses everything. Bereft of the only person he’s ever loved, Nelrin turns back into his cat form and runs away. Unfortunately he falls into the hands of a pair of scientists who have different plans than redemption for the Thresl race.

 

Book Review

This fourth book of the fantastic 'Thresl Chronicles' series continues the ongoing story of the Thresl kingdom trying to reassert itself as an independent power. With the reincarnation of King Vohne in book one, the freeing of the king's brother in book two, and the uncovering of one, or more, interconnected evil plots to smuggle Thresls and make money off selling them in book three, the stage is set for a major thickening of said plot in this fourth book. With a sideways move away from the royals and high-placed diplomats, seeing events from the eyes of the captain of the guard, Friln, and his bonded mate, soldier Nelrin, was an interesting change of perspective that added some color and kept the story fresh for me. 

Friln is the king's captain of the guard, a very loyal soldier, and deeply in love with his Thresl mate. They have been together for ten years, and the book opens on their very happy lives. Guarding King Vohne and his mate, Kres, may be stressful, but on the whole, neither Friln nor Nelrin can wish for a different or better life. Imagine my shock when disaster hits and Friln gets shot in an assassination attempt. As if this weren't bad enough, he is wounded so severely that he dies and the mate bond to Nelrin breaks.

Nelrin loves his mate to distraction and is totally devoted to him. When the bond is gone, in utter despair, he changes back to his Thresl form and runs. Straight into the hands of an evil scientist who is trying to find a way to stop Thresls from needing human mates. She may have good intentions, but her methods are more than questionable. Nelrin is pretty lost already, confused and grieving, and the experiments she does on him don’t help. He'll have to fight hard to find his way back to being who he is.

What follows is an intricate plot, containing spies and counter-agents, twists and turns of the story line, and quite a few surprises as to who might be behind the evil plot. Smugglers interested in the now rare Thresls play a role, as do scientists experimenting on them, even a duke is implicated. Through it all Friln and Nelrin struggle to discover what is really going on, despite their broken bond and Nelrin's apparent inability to change back into human form. More shenanigans are sure to follow in the next volume!

If you like stories that contain a mystery, evil villains, and paranormal elements, if you enjoy reading about alien cultures and other planets in the far future, and if you're looking for a hot read that is close to a thriller, then you will probably like this novella.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novella, 91 pages/30139 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	04-October-2013
Price	$4.50 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/bonded-broken