Proceed With Caution:
This book contains blood, violence, kidnapping, Alzheimers, mentions of rape and death.
The Basics:
Oath Bound is the third book of the series and picks up four months after the ending of Shadow Bound. I'd definitely recommend reading at least that one to get the full picture here. This time we're following, newcomer Sera, and Kori's brother Kris. Sera has just arrived in town to ask Julia Tower for a favor when she's interrupted and kidnapped by Kris who was looking for his kidnapped sister, Kenley. From there it's a battle of wills as both try to get what they want without revealving too much about themselves.
My Thoughts:
Oath Bound started out very frustrating. Well, it actually started out intriguing, as I wanted to know about about the long-lost Tower heir and how she'd be connected to the characters from the previous books. But after Kris snatches her from her meeting with Julia, I quickly got annoyed. Over 100 pages in and they were still going in circles.
Sera doesn't know Kris. She doesn't know Kenley. She's not from around here and just met Julia Tower five minutes before Kris burst in. She keeps telling him this, and he keeps insisting that he didn't kidnap her, he saved her, she's not a hostage, but she might know how to get his sister back. How in the world is she suppose to help him get his sister back when she doesn't know anything about anyone, and it's not like Julia would trade Kenley for her either. Yet, Kris is adament that he's in the right and can't let her go. On and on. Back and forth. For 100 pages. Seriously.
Whenever Sera tried to get Kris to take her back because she's useless to him, and tried to get an answer as to why he grabbed a random woman, he can't answer. He tells her to be quiet so he can think. He ties her up and tries to convince her (and himself) that she's not a hostage, she hasn't been kidnapped, he can't trust her. To me, it seemed like it was the author who didn't have an answer to Sera's questions. She just needed to force them together. There is a convenient one paragraph explanation after all this. But did we need 100 pages to get there?
Once we get past that nonsense, I really enjoyed Oath Bound. It was nonstop twists and turns. Every chapter added a little bit to the puzzle that is Sera's complicated life and connection to the Tower syndicate. Of course, there's also her growing relationship with Kris. Yes, it's basically insta-love, as they go from kidnapping to sexing to i-love-you-ing over the course of three days. There's a surprise ending which I though was really good! I didn't see that one coming. But there wasn't really a sense of closure. Kris was obsessed with Elle's journal and what it all means, but we never get that answer.