Water Bound by C. Feehan

I have yet to read a novel (or novella) by Christine Feehan that I don’t absolutely love. Water Bound, the first book in her new series, Sisters of the Heart, was not an exception to that rule.

Off the shores of Sea Haven, a beautiful diver rescues a man from drowning, a man with no memory of who he is-or why he seems to possess the violent instincts of a trained killer. But soon, he and his savior will be engulfed in a storm of dizzying passion and inescapable danger…

Although it is a new series, Water Bound takes place in Sea Haven – a small, magical town where the Drake sisters live. While readers don’t have to read Feehan’s Drake Sisters series before reading Water Bound, they might want to because the Drakes are back. Albeit in the background, but there nonetheless. (Also, Lev Prakenskii, the hero of Water Bound, has a small role in Hidden Currents, the seventh and last Drake Sisters novel. His brother, Ilya Prakenskii, is the hero in Turbulent Sea, the sixth novel.)

Following the tradition of sisterhood from the Drake sisters saga, the Sisters of the Heart series is about six women who bonded during a special grief counseling group. Each woman was the victim of a violent crime and suffered through oppressive losses. Together, they purchased a large farming community, built homes for each other and finally had the family they all thought they’d never have again.

Water Bound is Rikki Sitmore’s novel. Because she’s autistic, on the outside she appeared to be soft and weak. But in actuality Rikki had a core of iron, unwilling to bend under the abuse life has heaped upon her. With a childhood literally destroyed by fire, Rikki is drawn to water. She needs to touch it, see it, listen to it. Water calls to her and Lev was able to explain why: she’s an element – she has the ability to control water. After reading the descriptions of how she sees water, I’ll never be able to look at it the same way again. Listening to the rain is like listening to a symphony. Washing hands is like sinking into a jacuzzi after a long hard day of work. Water, which used to be something mundane to me, has changed into something magical after seeing it through Rikki’s eyes.

Using his telepathic abilities, Lev was literally able to see that through Rikki’s eyes. It was that ability to see water as Rikki saw it that brought them closer together. Not to mention the fact that he found her autistic tendencies endearing rather than annoying as most people would have. As a man who only had memories of killing people, it would have seemed unbelievable that he could so suddenly fall in love with Rikki and be content with a life with her if not for the fact that when they had a problem involving another person his first suggestion was to kill the man.

In Water Bound, there is such a strong sense of family/sisterly love. Everyone accepts Rikki for who she is, despite her autism and the fact that she thought she might have subconsciously started the fire that killed her parents, the ones that burned down two of her foster homes and the one that killed her fiancée. Her sisters and Lev never made a big deal about her odd compulsions – they were part of Rikki and she had her own ways to deal with it.

But like always, there’s that dark, evilness that always lurks in the background of Feehan’s books. Both aspects balance the novel, reminding the reader that family (by blood or by choice) will always be there for you. Yet, there is evil out there, just waiting to pounce. The fact that the chemistry between Lev and Rikki was hotter than the fires that haunt Rikki’s nightmares only added to the intensity of the plot.

Water Bound will not disappoint Feehan’s fans.

About Casey 203 Articles
Casey is the founder of Heart Full of Ink, Director at Reading Until Dawn Con, and a full time cheese addict. She's been ranting and reviewing for Literary Escapism since 2010, and is part of the trio #3Bloggers1Series podcast. When she's not reading, looking for new books, or stalking authors online (waiting for more books), she can be found binge watching Netflix. But really, her life is all about DEM BOOKS!

4 Comments

  1. honestly, I haven’t read your review, because I haven’t read Water Bound yet, but it’s on top of my TBR pile ;) I only saw your first sentence and now I can’t wait to see for myself!

  2. I have loved all of Christine Feehan’s books I’ve read. This sounds like another good one. Thanks so much for the great review :)!

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