Bound

Fire on Ice, Book 1

By: Brenda Rothert

Narrated by: Chris Ruen, Kirsten Leigh

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

College senior Kate Camden has learned to adapt - to her last year of school, to the promise of motherhood, to the fact that she's doing it all alone. But just when she's learned to adjust, heartache threatens to break her apart.

Pro hockey player Jason "Ryke" Ryker has it all: adoring fans, a promising career, and a beautiful wife. But when his seemingly perfect life is shaken by tragedy, he's left questioning whether having it all is ever more than an illusion.

When circumstance brings Kate and Ryke together, they discover they don't have to hurt alone. Bound by a grief that haunts them both, they must rely on one another to survive heartbreak. But that grief is more powerful than they realize, and the tie that binds them together may ultimately tear them apart.

Warning: This audiobook contains adult language and situations.

©2013 Brenda Rothert (P)2014 Brenda Rothert

great enjoyed more than I thought I would it

enjoyed it more than I thought
slow in parts but great plot
liked it. thanks

Loved this audiobook

This was a first with me listening to Chris and wow...loved how his voice brought Rothert's story to life.

Inconsistencies bugging me

I don’t understand how a psych major from Northwestern could be so against psychiatry that she refers to a psychiatrist as a shrink and doesn’t understand the grieving process. It’s such a glaring inconsistency- it bugs me. And how can a 22-year-old have no experience making coffee? I’m having a hard time getting past this beginning.

Loved Ryker and Kate

So this was my first read by Brenda Rothert but it certainly will not be the last. Ryker and Kate's story was fantastic yet heartbreaking, a sweet slow burn that hooks you in the beginning and doesn't let go. Their connection through grief brings them together and it could not have been told in a better way.

Second chances

Narrators: Chris Ruen gets an A.
Kirsten Leigh an B+
Total: A- = 4.5
Story: 3.5 stars
Overall: 4 stars
Plot: Hockey great Ryke, loses wife in a car accident. While he is grieving he also knows that his marriage was on the rocks and probably headed for a divorce due to her lack of maturity and unfounded accusations of cheating.
The “h” got pregnant in college and her boyfriend freaked and left her. She miscarries and many months later the “H” and “h” find themselves in a grief counseling group.
The main story was a bit thin for me and there really wasn’t much development of secondary characters. In fact as I am writing this I realize that I had to think about what interaction there was between the main characters and others ... not much.
Chris Ruen was believable as Ryke so that’s what bumped the rating to a 4, otherwise a solid 3.5 is deserved.

Believeable

One of the things I liked about this audiobook was it was not out of the bounds of possible truth. The characters were empathetic, however, I would like to have known the reason behind the former boyfriend's need to make amends. The readers were very good, also.

Really loved the book

Wow this was a roller-coaster ride with some sad parts and some eye opening parts

Finding love after grief and loss!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙❤️💚
Steam: 🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘
World building: 🌏🌍
Character development: 😊😅🤨
Narration: 🎙🎙
Narration Type: Dual Narration

The Hero: Jason Ryker - he is an NHL hockey player who lost his wife Maggie two years ago. Since then, he hasn’t dated, though he isn’t celibate. He attends a bereavement support group which has helped him quite a bit. His relationship with his wife wasn’t perfect, though many thought she must have been the love of his life, he knew she wasn’t and that caused a lot of guilt.

The heroine: Kate Camden - she was a senior in college when she found out she was pregnant. The father wanted nothing to do with her or the baby when he found out. Her mother went to her doctors' appointments with her and while at one of her appointments, they found the baby had no heartbeat. She had to deliver the baby and soon after had to get back to her classes. She never had time to grieve properly and after graduation, she decided to go to a grief support group.

The Story: Ryke and Kate meet at the support group, and he was interested in the beautiful but sad woman from the start. When he finds out she is looking for a job, he offers her a job as his personal assistant. He looks forward to seeing her every day, until one day she does something similar to what his wife did for him. He is a bit troubled after that, but they keep working together.

I usually don’t read books like this where people are suffering a loss, because they are a bit depressing, and this one was all that. I picked it at random out of my audiobook library, so I listened to it all. I did like the characters quite a bit though it definitely isn’t a book I would read again. There were quite a few flashbacks both to when Ryke was married and when Kate lost her baby. I wasn’t fond of those, but they did provide some insight. Of course, the book did get better as it went along, it just isn’t really my cup of tea.

This audiobook was told in dual points of view via dual narration and was narrated by Chris Ruen and Kristen Leigh. I am not really a fan of either of these narrators, they both sound like they are reading rather than speaking naturally. Chris’s voice isn’t as deep as I usually like for a Hero, but it is gravelly which is nice. Kristen’s voice is soft which does match Kate and she is good sounding sad and depressed.

Bound Audiobook Review

If you could sum up Bound in three words, what would they be?

totally freaking amazing!

What did you like best about this story?

what didn't i like? everything about this book is absolutely flawless. Kate is just about the sweetest heroine in a book i've ever read, and Ryke? sweet baby jesus in the manger, how much hotter can a guy get? hocky player, intelligent, sweet, funny and built like a brick house. wowza! the circumstances that brought them together are heartbreaking but through their pain they found love, light and life again. so sweet!

Which scene was your favorite?

i honestly can't pick one favorite scene, i literally love everything about this book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

i read the ebook version the first time around, but hearing the audio companion only intensified my reactions. i cried harder, laughed louder, smiled bigger and blushed brighter.

Any additional comments?

i think Brenda did an absolutely remarkable job picking the voices for these two characters. they were Kate and Ryke personified, they fit the bill to the letter.

Freakin Loved it!!!

What did you love best about Bound?

I loved everything about this book....2 lost souls finding each other...it doesn't get much more emotional then that!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

uh yea...Kate an Ryke....Loved them both. Kate so strong an brave an Ryke...OMG he is the perfect man...wow

What about Chris Ruen and Kirsten Leigh ’s performance did you like?

I really liked them both. They both did such an amazing job making me feel the words. They both have the perfect voices for this book

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I did both...more then once. My family thought I was crazy...