ARC Review--Blade Bound by Chloe Neill

The thrilling final installment of Chloe Neill s New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series sees sinister sorcery advancing across Chicago, and it might usher in the fall of Cadogan House....

Since the night of her brutal attack and unwilling transformation into a vampire, Merit has stood as Sentinel and protector of Chicago s Cadogan House. She s saved the Windy City from the forces of darkness time and again with her liege and lover, Ethan Sullivan, by her side. 

When the House is infiltrated and Merit is attacked by a vampire who seems to be under the sway of dark magic, Merit and Ethan realize the danger is closer than they could have imagined. As malign sorcery spreads throughout the city, Merit must go to war against supernatural powers beyond her comprehension. It is her last chance to save everything and everyone she loves.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. I was in no way compensated by this review.

It’s the end of an era! I cannot believe how quickly Chloe Neill’s Chicagoland Vampires series has come and now gone! Blade Bound is the exciting finale we’ve all been waiting for! And while I am always sad to see a series end, I also enjoy seeing my favorite characters get a well-earned happy ending! And you can pretty much bet on Chloe doing that for us!

As we all know by now, Merit and Ethan are in love and engaged. I was actually surprised by how quickly the wedding came up in the book! This is it folks! The moment we’ve all been waiting for since these two finally got serious! The wedding is takes over the first few chapters and with only the start of otherworldly shenanigans. Soon though, those shenanigans hit Chicago in full force!

A vampire is plagued with something that essentially makes him a bit crazy. He’s hearing voices and nearly attacks Merit. We then see whatever this malady is infect humans and it’s time for our favorite heroes to once again, save the day. Some honeymoon, right? It’s not long before they get an inkling of an idea about who’s behind all the chaos.

I must say, this was quite the exciting novel! We had a lot of excitement going on in this one, first with all the wedding happenings and then the big bang of problems that tend to float to Chicago like a moth to flame! And while this is the final book for this series in particular, I kind of liked how it read just like any of the other novels. There’s no grandeurs of goodbyes happening, those little moments that you can see that tend to be the final farewells. Granted, Chloe does have a spinoff series, from what I’ve heard, but even disregarding that, I like how this doesn’t necessarily feel like a goodbye though at the same time, being a marvelous sendoff to the great land of Happily Ever After…hopefully. I mean you never know these days!

I once again found myself delighting in the romance that is still very much between Merit and Ethan. A wedding certainly didn’t dull things between them. Not that I expected it to. Really, I felt like a wedding just made things official for them! Lol! Needless to say there were quite a few toe-curling moments between these two. And let’s also not forget the incredible humor and snark that is always Merit! I loved how that never changed about her either. Especially with her and Mallory! These two definitely make my top bookish BFFs list! Their friendship is just that great!

The conclusion to this one was quite explosive! I hadn’t really been expecting that amount of excitement, but at the same time, I kind of was! The details though, those are always what blow me away and naturally, Chloe blew me away yet again with this one! Thankfully not for the final time, as she will still be writing something down the line! Lol! And the epilogue was a seriously nice touch! Sometimes we like to just imagine where our characters might end up in the future and other times we need to know. This was definitely one of those times that I was happy to know! It was such a sweet and happy moment for our characters! It was a well-written one for sure!

The Chicagoland Vampires series has been one that’s been with me from the very moment I stumbled upon Some Girls Bite! A book featuring a heroine wearing jeans and a tank top rather than the leather she’d soon don, drew my eye immediately and it’s been one of the best decisions I ever made (we’re talking pre-serious blogging years!)! This series has had it all, action, humor, romance, incredible characters, and stories that just grip you! It doesn’t hurt that Chicago is a place I am familiar with somewhat due to all my road trips. Chicagoland Vampires is a series that will always remain close to my heart as it was an immediate favorite of mine. I am happy to have joined Merit in this journey! And I most definitely looking forward to whatever else Chloe Neill will write next! Hopefully you will too! The series is done! It’s safe to read beyond Hard Bitten, y’all!

 
Overall Rating 5/5 stars

 
Blade Bound releases April 25, 2017