Marked by the Moon

Bound by the Veil, Book 1

By: Helen Scott

Narrated by: Tim Campbell, Evelyn Rose

All my life, death was right around the corner. I just never expected it to be delivered by the man I was falling in love with…

Magic has been outlawed for almost a century, and anyone caught wielding it or bearing its mark is executed. Which is why I know every day could be my last.

I'm marked for death. My skin bears the branding of the moon. I just thank the stars that it's not somewhere visible.

For one night, I willingly put myself in danger, picking a stranger to lose myself in before I begin my life of servitude to the crown as a member of the King's Guard. But the man I thought was a stranger turns out to be the Blade of the King, Thorn, my new boss.

It doesn't matter that he's temptation incarnate or that the slightest flick of his fingers against my skin brings back echoes of the night we spent in each other's arms. We can never be together again because I can't risk losing this job, and I definitely can't risk him finding out my secret.

Not everything in the Eaorin Kingdom is as it seems, though, and my boss has secrets too. Ones that are just as deadly as my own…

The first book in a new fantasy romance series, Marked by the Moon is filled with steamy enemies-to-lovers romance, mystery, a heroine who will fight for everything she has, and a hero who might just be a villain. For fans of Elisa Kova, Sylvia Mercedes, and LJ Andrews, this thrilling forbidden love romance will keep you entranced until the very last word!

©2023 Helen Scott (P)2023 Podium Audio

Adequate Story

I felt the story was a little boring. While I’m interested in the magical system and have my brain churning to figure out why the king is so anti magic and why Thorne made some of the decisions he made I’m not really interested in any of them as characters.

This feels like virtually every other fated mates story but without enough going on in the world or with the characters to really be invested. If the stories were free I may check them out to see if it got better, but I’d never spend my money or credits on the other books in the series.

Interesting story line

The narration is good and the expressive voices add to what is an interesting story. sex is present and ads to the story

Good Story to pass the time but the writing was just ok

Writing - the writing was repetitive. The author spends a lot of time re-stating the same ideas/sentences throughout the book and it honestly just gets tiring. There was a lot of times where I was like yes yes we get it, he’s hot. Or yes we get it, FMC feels a certain way about something because of XYZ. It was a lot of unnecessary repetition of thoughts/sentences.

Male POV didn’t really add much to the story, except to further show the attraction that the reader already knows is there.

Plot - the plot was interesting. I’m not exactly sure where the book is going but I have a pretty good idea for why they are so attracted to one another etc. and where book 2 will lead. I’m not sure if I want to continue on to book 2 but I am a bit intrigued to see what happens next,

There’s also the questionable sex scene at the end. I can agree with other reviewers that it is not consensual but I wouldn’t say it was romanticized, despite FMC having positive responses to it. It’s not the worst I’ve ever read, so maybe that’s why I’m not super impacted by it.

I hope Ronin gets a chance. I actually like his character more than Thorne.

Narration - Female narrator was good. Male was a bit scruffy sounding but I guess that was the point. Just ok, not amazing, but at least it wasn’t unbearable.

the voice acting was phenomenal

this story caught me from the beginning. I love the voice and the emotion with it.

MFC is annoying

This male treats her like crap and she keeps coming back. Like he won’t betray her again. I have very little sympathy for her since having sex with a user is more important than mental health and safety. I pd for book two but I’m going to pass on book three. She needs help and I don’t sign on to purposefully gaslighting yourself. Nice world building, and great narration. Just the story is aggy. She can’t let him go. Hard eye roll. I needed more than a Romeo and Juliet situation after the MMC in question spit on her and killed her after hate f#cking her.