In a traumatic start to EARTH BOUND, Lexi is found by a face from her past. The nervous young woman was previously captive of a cult and a supposed husband has trailed her to her sanctuary. Gavriil comes along in time to aid her.

The family surname is Prakenskii, of Russian origin; doubtless if I'd read the earlier books I would know how they came to be in this area at all. Some unusual names are in the mix, Rikki, Viktor, Benito, Airiana, making this series easy to distinguish from other paranormal reads. The family has lived through many traumas which are recounted; abductions, sex slavery and witness protection. But the men have a gift, which shows them when they bind to the right woman for them. Lexi happens to have some earth magic and others control water magic in their coastal fishing work. By now the married couples also have children on the property, so the thought that other cult members might be coming to grab Lexi awakens all their protective instincts.

Actually, it occurred to me that this family has developed their own benign cult. I was worried that a twelve-year-old boy is shown carrying weapons. However Lexi is horrified and Gavriil removes the weapons and explains to the boy why this is wrong at his age. Overall this is definitely an adult read, between the romance that gradually develops and the scenes of conflict, on top of the frequent discussions of past abuse. Readers may feel touched by some human tragedy aspect of the story, or may prefer to focus on the paranormal elements. Christine Feehan has written several previous books in different series, with words like murder and dark frequently found in the titles. EARTH BOUND won't be for everyone but if you like paranormal romantic suspense, you may just have found your latest favourite author.

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