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| Rob, Tom Darby, Isabella |
Last year when I (Rob) was at the Baltimore Book Festival I had the great fortune to set up my table right next to Isabella and Darby. Isabella is an Adult Fantasy novelist, who has one trilogy out called the "Bound Trilogy," (it's not about people over 50 having regularity issues- it's about Demons bonded to humans, with vampires in the mix, and how they all function in society. It takes place in the Philippines... making for an exotic setting. I'll get to the book in a moment.
First, I want to point out how fate brings people together that are meant to be together. Isabella, Darby and I had so much fun last year at the festival, that we stayed in touch and a friendship bloomed. You could say that we immediately were "Bound" in friendship. This year, she and her husband Darby stayed with us for the weekend of the festival. We had a great time, filled with a lot of laughs and great conversation. He's got a PhD. in Biology and other aspects of the science, and she has a masters in International conflict resolution (among other things). Dolly, Franklin and Tyler fell in love with them immediately, too.
I read Isabella's trilogy (and had not read the genre before) and loved it. If you haven't, here's the summary for Book 1 called "Bound" and she goes by the pen name "I.R. Harris." (http://www.irharrisbooks.com/the-bound-trilogy.html)
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| Dolly, Darby, Tyler, Isabella, Franklin |
To Ana, the Bonding ritual is a dangerous part of being
human. She herself hasn't been chosen--yet. However, her dear friend Kai
has, and on the surface he seems happy. However, Ana knows that Kai was
lucky; his Bonder didn't make the choice to kill him. When it is her
time, she might not be so fortunate. As it so happens, the choice to
take Ana as a Bond was made years ago and her time is now. When Ana's
peaceful life in Indonesia is suddenly intersected by a Bonder Demon
named Nathanial, she is thrown into a roaring tempest of choices, of
love, of ever changing loyalties, and of lies. She quickly realizes that
loving someone is not the same as knowing them, and that having either
of those things offers no guarantee that her heart will be protected or
her life will be spared. For Ana, does being Bound mean to live in the
absence of love, of autonomy, of trust or does it mean she will have to
make the ultimate sacrifice in order to reclaim who she is and to save
not only herself, but also the lives of those to which she is forever
tied?
NEXT: THE BALTIMORE BOOK FESTIVAL
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