Blade is used to hearing the excuses he gets from the prostitutes he picks up on his missions. This one seems to be a little more believable than most, but in the end it doesn't matter. She was only picked up because she was scheduled to die that day anyway, and if she was still there she would be dead. Blade and his group time travel to find women for a colony of miners that doesn't have any. He can sample the merchandise, and for the first time, he really wants to, with Thea.

Bonds of Justice: Blades Decree has an exciting storyline that kept me captivated. I thought Thea had a great personality that makes you cheer for her, although she ends up being a little less forceful than I like in the end. Blade starts out as a guy that you really like, despite his mistakes. I found myself in the unusual position of caring for a character when the story started, and then halfway through the book not liking him much at all. I thought he ended up being a little bit of a jerk in the way he treated her, and I was amazed she put up with it and forgave him. I won't go into a whole lot of detail, because it would spoil the story. Somehow, Elayne Venton manages to make me care about the characters and what happened to them, even though I didn't like the way Blade treated Thea. Bonds of Justice: Blades Decree is well written and flows smoothly, with lots of sex and romance. The story is part of a series, and the teaser for the next book at the end definitely caught my attention and makes me anxious for more. Elayne Venton is a talented author that I can't wait to hear from again.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Julia
December 2, 2004