Review for "The Binding"

"The Binding" is the first book in author L. Filloon's "The Velesi Trilogy".
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The cover is filled with rich jewel tones. A slight young woman sits on a rock, her irridescent emerald gown cascades over her hips and pools at her feet. Long tulmutous dark curls fall down over her shoulders and back. She is turned away from the reader looking either into the distance or with her face tilted into the sun. A large bluish black panther lays crouched beside her keeping watch in the opposite distance. In the background thin twisted trees curl into the green misty air making the scene even more mysterious and thought evoking.
Lily Michaels is just an ordinary girl out for a run to celebrate her birthday. A foolish ill timed late night run through a deserted park. When a stranger tackles her to the ground, saving her from an incoming deadly arrow, her life is turned upside down and inside out. The bow the arrow was shot from is in the hands of her older brother, Lucas, who has been missing for the past four years. The stranger saves her but Lily isn't sure if he's the hero or the villian. Before the night is over Lily will be informed of her true self, her true destiny in a world that shouldn't even exist. She is an elvish princess heir to throne of the Willow Clan, one of the thirteen clans of the Velesi lands and the dark stranger, Tharin, who can't seem to stand the sight of her, is her betrothed. Tharin and his twin brother Tolan rip her from almost everything she's ever known in a wild flight to the lands of Velesi trying to desperately stay one step ahead of the bounty hunters, demons, and other fae folk looking to claim the estranged princess for themselves or destroy her in the process.

What I liked:

• Lily and Julia are both strong feminine characters with enough will and moral character to go around. Their unswerving loyalty to each other is beautiful and real. Lily's refusal to be the 'other woman' or to give up on the only brother she's ever known makes her very likeable.
• All of the elvish guards have unique and interesting personalities. I find myself particularly fond of Mellis.
• Cessa is a beautiful if slightly underused addition to the group.
• The imagery especially during the oak dryad scene is actually very beautiful.
• The poignancy of the binding and Tharin's vision of what the future could hold is riveting. 

What I disliked:

• I didn't like the way the point of view switched continuously from Lily and Tharin. Every once in a while their voices were so similar that I almost missed the switch til something sounded off. 
• The writing style itself is a little lacking and juvenile in nature, but maybe its the characters themselves who are actually juvenile.
• The sudden intense love between Julia and Tolan, and the slightly hidden love of Lily and Tharin blooms too suddenly too intensely to be taken seriously or for it to feel real.
• Tharin abandons his previous love so readily, its hard to take his new feelings for Lily seriously either. 
• Why wouldn't Lily have noticed at least some indication of her elvish powers during her years among the humans?
• I hate when a story cuts off leaving you with a massive cliff hanger, a least give it a little bit of a wrap-up.
• Spoilers: There aren't alot of real surprises in the story, the old couple at the gas station and the wolves in the snow are easy to decipher as what they are even before Lily realizes it - old powerful fey, the stranger in the snow is also easily recognized as a relative of the Lunar princes, and I'm just betting the hidden danger in the oak tower is Kalis.

I have to admit that I almost gave this one two stars but about half way through it started to win me over. I found myself unable to put it down and finished the whole book in about two nights or a total of about 5 or 6 hours. I was even a little disappointed when it ended. So this one squeaks by with three stars. "The Binding" is currently available on Amazon for $.99 . The second book in the trilogy, "The Drifting" is available for $2.99. The author is expecting the last book in the series to be out summer of this year. You can read more about the author and her other works at http://lfilloon.blogspot.com/.
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Three out of Five smilies
Recommended for youth/young adults who are mature enough to handle some of the sexual undertones and adults looking for a quick light romantic read.

Synopsis: "Two nights after her eighteenth birthday, Lily is attacked while out jogging, but is saved by Tharin Lunar, a Sidhe prince. When she discovers that her attacker is her own brother, Lucas, who disappeared four years ago, Lily refuses to believe that her brother would truly hurt her and becomes determined to find Lucas and bring him home. Lily finds that Lucas’ disappearance is somehow tied to Tharin; so when he informs her that she is his betrothed and must return with him to Velesi, fulfill a treaty between their families and unite the two strongest clans through their marriage, Lily agrees. However, she’s not going to Velesi for a wedding, but to bring home her only family, Lucas.
On their journey to the borders of Velesi, the realm of the Thirteen Clans, they’re pursued by a Sidhe assassin group call the Ange, meet with an ogre crime lord that ends badly, deal with a sleazy troll motel manager, and when they discover that there’s a bounty on their heads, they must keep one step ahead of every assassin, bounty hunter and low-life criminal in Velesi.
Protecting Lily has become the biggest challenge of Tharin’s life. Lucky for him he has help in the form of his twin brother, Tolan, Lily’s best friend Julia and his three bodyguard cousin."