Bound to the Beast (The Greenwood) [Kindle Edition]

This is a fab book. Tam is a young gay man struggling in a Tudor world who agrees to a fairy marriage to be accepted by his brothers. When it all goes wrong, he ends up magically 'bonded' to Herne the Hunter, and they have to break the spell or he will die. This is a fun take on the 'arranged marriage' genre, but the setting is totally novel, and I loved the historical, half mythological world. I hadn't read the previous book, Bound for the Forest, but that didn't seem to matter. The sex was a bit weird, but well written. Totally recommended. I've just got the first one (Bound for the Forest) now and looking forward to reading it.

After reading Bound for the Forest, I read the second book in this series 'Bound to the Beast', and its actually my favourite of the two. All the elements I loved the best (a cameo from Herne in book #1, all the magical naughty fairies and forest settings) were more abundant in book #2, which is why it's my fave. If you love mythology, ancient British folklore, and beautiful yet slightly scary visuals (demon riders of The Wild Hunt, spooky forests) then this is totally the story for you.

One very happy customer.

Kay Berrisford - Bound to the Beast (The Greenwood, #2) {Reviewed by Don @ Hearts On Fire Reviews}

This book was a bit of a letdown after reading Bound For The Forest. It seems that this book should have come first. Herne the Hunter was given immortality and the ability to lead the Wild Hunt over fifteen hundred years ago by the goddess herself. Now he is mostly legend and woodsman living a lonely existence deep within the Greenwood. Tam is a young man from a village on the outskirts of the Greenwood who is about to become betrothed to a fairy maiden.

Things go awry when Herne is called to the ritual and becomes betrothed to Tam instead. The betrothal must be consummated within five days or Tam will die. Tam, the fairies and Herne the Hunter do everything they can to find a way to break the betrothal but the answer evades them. Both Tam and Herne desire each other but Herne the Hunter is afraid of killing Tam by consummating their betrothal. Both Tam and Herne the Hunter were well developed characters and I liked both the exuberant Tam and the brooding Herne. The angst dragged out much too long for me which is why the rating is lower. The world building was pretty much in place so Ms. Berrisford could have thrown more action into this story in my opinion.

It would have been nice to know how most of the fairies were killed off because it was stated in book one that there were very few fairies left in the Greenwood. The plot twist at the end was interesting and made for the HEA ending most readers crave.

I would still recommend this story if the reader has read book one but would not suggest this book as a stand alone story.