Bound and Tide

Villains and Virtues

By: A. K. Caggiano

Narrated by: Ellen Quay, Seth Podowitz

Xander Shadowhart's mother is dead. Well, no, not exactly—nothing could probably kill Birzuma the Blasphemed—but she is banished to the infernal plane, and that's almost as bad, especially considering she seems to have taken Xander's control over his powers with her.

Born to a demon, Xander’s purpose has been beaten into him his entire life: serve his maker and carry out her will, but when the time comes to summon his mother back into the material realm, he’s not exactly sure he wants to…er, is able to, not without mending his command over the noxscura first. As luck and plot would have it, though, he’s in possession of a decades-old clue that just might teach him how.

But quests always have their interruptions, and when a haughty herbalist refuses to give him the attention he deserves, Xander becomes distracted, especially when her threats and demands awaken in him a new desire to serve. He can’t be blamed, not when she’s so beautiful and so talented and so mean, but the piling on of newly discovered kin and complications with his arcana jeopardize everything—his connection to his dark powers, his plan to bring his mother back, and, most horrifyingly, his feelings.

Blood mages aren’t really supposed to have those, but it may finally be Xander’s turn to learn what the rest of us have known all along.

©2024 A. K. Caggiano (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Oh Xander

Although Xander’s broken mind is occasionally uncomfortable to traverse, his journey of healing and self discovery feels necessary.
As I once again say goodbye to this delightful series, I retain a little hope that we get to visit these hero’s again someday.

Still good.

I wasn’t quite as invested in Xander’s story as Amma & Damien’s, probably because we didn’t have the shop books of yearning. But it was also cute, way more heartfelt than I expected. I still really enjoyed it. Read this before Bound to Fall, the MMC in it is introduced in this book. I read them backwards which was okay too.

Very Good!

Such a fun quick read! Nice little adventure with wit and laughter plus a few onion cutting moments. Also this spin off definitely had more spice than the other books before it!

A must read if you’re not ready to say goodbye

A lot was packed into this little book. The author gets to the point fairly quickly but with heartfelt humor which is expertly delivered by the narrators. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to this universe so this was the perfect listen.

Solid addition but not quite as good

I was looking forward to more of both this world and Xander, but somehow this installment didn’t grab me the same way the original trilogy did…perhaps because it didn’t feel like there was much new? I can’t quite put my finger on it. It was still solid and I might even listen to it again to see if I can figure out why I wasn’t swept up into the world and humor and romance, and will amend this if I figure it out.