BOUND BY SIN is Book 3 in the Immortal Brothers
series by Jacquelyn Frank. I've been a long-time fan of
Frank's stories, but Frank's writing has been hit or miss
for me with her more recent books. The series is romantic
fantasy set in an alternate world with gods and a light
touch of magic. I was thrilled with CURSED BY FIRE, Book
1 in this series. Book 2, CURSED BY ICE, left me feeling
tepid. BOUND BY SIN also leaves me wishing for the magic
of Frank's earlier publications.
Our hero for Book 3, Jaykun, and his three brothers have
been punished for centuries for their hubris in tracking
down and snatching the forbidden gift of immortality from
the gods. Jaykun and his brothers were all plunged into
separate hells for their individual eternal punishments.
Jaykun has been condemned to burn alive from the inside
out, as a star does, over and over every night. Jaykun
has taken his brothers' place as the unenviable leader of
an army for the goddess Weysa, after Weysa released the
brothers from their eternal torments and also released them
from leading her army. Jaykun is now obliged to conquer
foreign lands to bring more worshipers to Weysa, to
increase the goddess's power. This worldbuilding serves to
remind me how much I despise the Greek and Roman pantheons,
with their childish and selfish gods who do nothing but
fight and are anything but fair.
Jaykun and his brothers are in a foreign city,
consolidating their power after defeating the opposing
army. Jaykun meets an unusual woman in the cave where he
retreats to suffer his nightly torment from the gods. The
sultry innocent Jileana captures Jaykun's imagination and
his passion. The two spend three vigorous days and nights
together, with endless pages of sex scenes. I find it hard
to believe that Jaykun would not have more questions about
such an unusual woman, and would not be more suspicious of
her motives, especially when he is conquering a region.
The subjugated ruler as well as the ruler of Jileana's
people seem almost cartoonish in their depictions. Between
the believability of the hero's actions and worldbuilding,
BOUND BY SIN did not resonate with me as so many other
Frank books have done.
From New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Frank comes
a blazing hot novel in her thrilling series featuring four
immortal warrior brothers whose fate lies with themselves as
much as with their stars.
After being chained to a star to burn endlessly as
punishment for stealing immortality from the gods, Jaykun
has been unshackled to wage war alongside his brothers. But
his freedom comes with a price: Each night Jaykun must still
suffer—his body burning from the inside out. One early
morning, recovering from his torment, he encounters a
beautiful stranger on the beach. Naked from her
midnight-black hair to her sandy toes, she approaches him
with starry-eyed innocence and the unmistakably full body of
a woman.
Soon Jaykun is swept up with the force of a comet, his
desire for this woman hotter than any sun. His brothers fear
he is blinded by her radiant beauty, and that she has been
sent by their enemies to seduce and destroy him. Jileana is
indeed from another world—one Jaykun cannot begin to
imagine. But will their passion burn brightly enough to
light the way through the darkness that threatens to consume
all in its path?