This book was filled with action and had a good storyline. Since its the final installment, its best to read the series so all the twists and revelations hit home. I would suggest this book for anyone that enjoys action and vampires.

Its always a sad thing when a series you love comes to an end so Blade Bound is one of those bittersweet books that you almost don't want to read because once its over it's really OVER. I've been a fan of the Chicagoland Vampires for so many years now and I've loved every minute of it. Merit is such a brilliant character and I love her relationship with Ethan. They've learnt a lot both as individuals and as a couple and they've faced all kinds of dangers along the way. I guess it's probably about time that they got to actually enjoy their happily ever after but I still wasn't ready to say goodbye to them.

If you have to leave a series behind you it's definitely best to go out when it's still on a high note though and Chloe Neill has achieved that here. I don't want to say too much about the plot but I'll give you a little hint - there might be a wedding (but only if they survive the hen and bachelor nights first!). Of course bad guys don't take time off for festivities so Merit and Ethan are still up against the clock trying to bring down the mastermind who has been the cause of so many problems over the last few books.

Blade Bound is full of action, there's plenty of the witty banter and humour that I've come to expect from this series and we get to catch up with all of our favourite characters. I'm sad that it's over but what a ride it's been & I know this is a series I'll be rereading in the future. Even better is the fact that Chloe Neill has announced a spin off series! I'm not going to say who the main characters are in this review because it would be a spoiler for anyone who hasn't read Blade Bound so you'll have to investigate yourselves for more information but I'm very excited by the direction things seem to be going. The first book in the spin off is called Wild Hunger and I believe it will be out sometime next year - it's definitely going straight to the top of my wish list the minute I find an official release date!

Love Chloe Neill, love this series and boy did it finish with a bang!! This story ties up all the loose ends and gives me the ending I wanted, I'm sad we have come to the end and will miss these characters but this book was just so satisfying.

Blade Bound, A Chicagoland Vampires Novel, Chloe Neill

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  Romance, 

It seems aaages since i read the first in this series, pre-kindle when I could still read text. I loved it and reread it and the other very early ones several times. Then That happened, the Ethan Disaster which spoiled it for me, I didn't think I'd continue but saw from reviews of a later book that he was back! So I picked it up once more and continued.

I've always had an issue though with this and similar books where the main character is a new supernatural of some sort and yet manages to do all the things that the old, hundreds of years old, others can't. How? Why are they so different? How come they never have all the stumbling blocks new vampires, werewolves, dragons et al do?
And that's what got me a bit irritated, that it seemed like each story was Merit Saves The Day Yet Again * Sigh * and I stopped. Then saw this on netgalley, wondered how the series would end, got approved and needed to play catch up and buy the previous four books I'd not read #slappedwrist

Reading the last five back to back it felt very much as if I was reading the same story, just tinkered with...and that brought back memories of Sookie S when I felt the same :-( that perhaps the series would have been better cut back a few books. There's only so many new discoveries two new supernaturals like Merit and Mallory can make. I guess its down to two sides, group A wants more about Ethan Merit and the crew whatever the issues, they just want to read more and don't care about the feeling of repetition. That's lots of readers, I know from other series some just don't want to let go of a group and will read anything connected to them. then there's group B, where I fall, that wants stories that are believable and different, even though its fantasy it has to feel that if a happened B could result. the early books were exactly that for me, and maybe f there'd been a longer story timeline rather than the just over a year between book one and the last things may have felt that way for me. 

So here we are, full circle in a way with Gabriel's prophecy still hanging in Ethan and Merit's minds. Actually the way that got explained/came about was well done IMO, something that made sense in the way that magic and fantasy can make a kind of sense. That bit of fantasy-reality that has you thinking "oh yes, so that happened, and therefore this was able to come about".

We start this book with pre wedding celebrations, and from there its yet again another magical puzzle to solve, Chicago under threat, calls for supernaturals to take all the blame, humans decrying it's Not Their Fault, let the supes take the blame. They've short memories when it comes to recalling that many of the past problems came about through human greed, and the supernaturals risked much to save human lives.
So much felt like I'd read it all before in those last few books. It was well written, tightly plotted and made sense in the way it played out but....it didn't feel fresh, unique, the way those first ones did. 

There's lots of drama once more, some of Mallory's on-the-fly magic combined with lots of theory and Catcher's voice of reason - I love his character.
We haven't seen much of Gabriel these last few books, he's here but in very minor position, and I'd really have liked all the supernaturals to have pulled together for the Big Battle.
Finally the RG get more involved but once more looking back to the beginning I always thought they'd play a greater part.
I guess I'd just have a better chance of believing things will work in the future for everyone if they'd all been working on the solution, rather than Cadogan house, Mallory, Catcher and the Ombuddies.
A year of manic mayhem, scary deaths, tragedies, violence, disaster and suddenly everyone will live peacefully? What happens when the next issue arises? Will Ethan and Merit pick up their Katanas once more and wade in or claim other responsibilities, let someone else sort it?
If all forces had joined in this last book and been part of the solution I'd have believed they'd have a better chance of peace. Still, its fiction, the series has ended and it'll be perfect for many readers :-) 

Overall the series starts off a five for me, with later books dropping drastically and I guess comes out a 3 to 4. This final book assessed alone though is a four for me, maybe a four and a half, pretty good but could have been better. 

Stars: Four, pretty good but at times felt a little repetitive, and the final solution could have been better IMO. 

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers

It is sad that this series is ending! I have enjoyed every book in the series and this one is no different. I love how Merit is so strong and kicks butt.

What a SUPERB final installment to what has been a very enjoyable series .

Somehow there is no major 'disaster/event' to impact on Merit and Ethan's wedding .
All goes well until later , when , taking extra wedding photos they come across Humans fighting/screaming without apparent cause , other than VOICES in their heads .......wedding outfits end up torn and bloodied - WHO is going to tell Helen ??

The Honeymoon is cancelled !!!

Merit and Ethan wake up the next evening to a Chicago covered in ice and snow and getting colder by the minute ..... what is causing it and more importantly why ?
According to Humans , especially the Mayor , its all their fault .

It takes all the Supernaturals coming together to fight the evil that has returned and save Chicago for ALL its residents AND to also realise a 'prophecy' ................

The relationship between the main characters from the different supernatural groups makes for an excellent series - from the 'outing' of the Vampires to a Dragon trying to destroy their Town .

I enjoyed this book so much I went out and bought all the preceding books in the series - so would have no difficulty in recommending them to anyone who wants Romance/Supernaturals/Chaos
and brilliant characters .

I received an ARC copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
For those of you who didn’t read all of the previous books in the Chicagoland Vampires series this review may contain some minor spoilers.

This book provided me with a bittersweet experience as I was looking forward to a particular event that’s supposed to happen in this story but this also means that one of my favorite paranormal series comes to an end. But to be honest with you I completely satisfied with how Merit and Ethan adventures came to a conclusion, the story arch thorough the series followed a beautiful and exciting path until it reached a peaceful and happy point.
Merit is a little bit different from her usual headstrong, confident and initiative self. At the beginning of the story she is serene and happy but she feels that something is coming, waiting for the other shoe to drop. After said shoe drops in a quite spectacular way she starts to doubt herself. She is still brave and runs into danger if she needed but she starts to question her future and it’s a bit unusual from her. It dampens the mood of the plot and its true for the whole book, the more sedate atmosphere and it’s not so energetic than the previous books Merit and Ethan is more passive in this story than in others. The limelight is more focused on Mallory this time; she is the one who works on solutions and such.
I have to problem with the book but only one of them is something that is really relevant the other is just a personal thing. The relevant one is that I think the storyline is not balanced well. I mean this is a 380 pages story and over 100 of this concentrates on the wedding which is cute and happy but for me it had an epilogue-y feeling and nothing eventful went down during this period. This part of the plot is too detailed for my taste. I need action. Not to mention after the happy- go-lucky atmosphere this particular event creates there is a really sharp negative change mood wise.
The other thing that bothered me was the fact that the whole series which is 13 books is takes place a little over than a year. It never really occurred to me to follow the dates and such in the books but the huge amount of conflict that goes on in the stories suggest a longer period of time. For it only being a year I just couldn’t wrap my head around it and unfortunately I couldn’t avoid it either because it’s mentioned at least 10 times during the story. But as I said earlier this one is just a personal thing.
The characters settle every question, emotional or otherwise that ever occurred in the books they encounter every supernatural faction they ever met in the stories even if only briefly and some already resolved issues rear their head time to time. So this book kinda brings back memories from Merit journey to becoming a fierce protector of Chicago and the vampires. I really pleased with how things went down and especially loved the last chapter in which we are witnesses an adorable encounter which also foreshadows the possible new lead of the rumored spin-off series.

Gotta say, Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series is literary crack to me. It drove me NUTS waiting for this book! I loved it! It was a great finish to a fabulously entertaining series. In this book we see Merit and Ethan marrying and eagerly awaiting their honeymoon only to have to deal with the return of evil sorceress Sorcha. There was snark, kick-ass magic and fighting and of course, a dragon. This was a nice wrap to the series with questions answered and a glimpse of the characters future. LOVED IT!

Love the Chicagoland Vampires! Since this is book 13 and the last book in the series, don't start with this one. Go back and read them all. I'll be missing Merit and Ethan and mallocakes. Can't wait to see what Chloe Neill writes for us next. In the mean time I'll be re-reading the series.