Hello dear bookworms and welcome to another spicy romantasy post. Are you in a reading slump or swamped by all the unread books in your TBR? Stop the endless search and trust us, Broken Bonds by J. Bree is the next read for you! With the perfect amount of intrigue and tension, the first book of The Bonds that Tie series is short, sweet, and the perfect appetizer to convince you to read the whole series.
From supernatural beings, an interesting plot, unique world-building, and spice to incredibly hot males, this reverse harem paranormal romance has it all. Not convinced yet? Check out our characters’ analysis first and thank us later! If you are into the reverse harem trope, check out our Blood of Hercules summary and character guide. For more traditionally dark romance, here’s our Punk 57 summary and A Touch of Darkness quotes.
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Let’s go to the Broken Bonds summary, and as always, there will be spoilers ahead!
Oleander Fallows has been running since she was sixteen. At nineteen, her bonds—kind of like her fated mates—finally locate her and drag her to Draven. Oli meets four of the bonds she has been running away from, and their animosity is clear. For all they know, Oli is a brat who ran away because she didn’t want to bond. Bonded groups are the foundation of the Gifted Society, and bonding is essential for everyone to reach their full potential. What’s even worse is that Oli pretends she is Giftless, thus a useless central bond to them.
The oldest of her bonds, North Draven, is a member of the Gifted Council on the West Coast and enrolls Oli to Draven University. He offers his protection, but it comes with a bunch of rules, a curfew, and a radius that she cannot go over. He exacts control over her whole life, and even places a GPS tracker in her to make sure she can’t run again.
Oli is assigned a dorm room and a chaperone, Gabriel Ardern—another one of her bonds, and a shifter. Gabe thinks Oli abandoned them all, and Oli is determined to never reveal the truth, which drives a wedge between them. On a positive note, Oli is approached by Sage Benson, who becomes her best friend and plays the peacemaker between Oli and Gabe many a lunch. The next bond to come into play is Nox Draven. North’s younger—and admittedly more damaged— brother, who is a professor at the University and has made it his life’s mission to fail Oli in his class.
To protect her from the Resistance, North also insists that Oli take combat classes. Vivian, the older yet hardcore man who teaches them, is the closest to a father figure Oli will have, and by his side stands the youngest and most talented TacTeam leader, Gryphon Shore, aka another of Oli’s bonds. Unlike Nox and Gabe, who openly fight with Oli, Gryphon is brooding, mysterious, and a super powerful neuro. The last one of her bonds is Atlas Bassinger, who lives on the other side of the coast, and wants to get to know her. They message daily, and he becomes a lifeline for her.
North makes all of them attend dinner once a week. He orders all her favorites and fills up her plate, coaxing to her bond. Their forced proximity and scorn hurts Oli more, especially because her bond longs for them. Oli puts her all into her classes and tries to become better, slowly adjusting to her new life. The first one of her bonds to bury the hatchet is Gabe. When Oli admits that leaving them was torture, Gabe realizes she is suffering as much as he is. They will become friends, and he will defend her publicly and will help her deal with North and his rules, while showing her how much he desires her. Oli, Gabe, Sage and her brother, Sawyer, will become good friends.
When Oli also accompanies North to an important dinner, it hastens things as well. Oli gets her period, but North doesn’t notice and does not provide her with the necessary supplies, letting her suffer and bleed back in her dorms all alone. Luckily, word gets to Gryphon, who comes to her in the middle of the night and not only helps her deal with the pain but sleeps by her side. The next morning, he brings her everything she might need, and they sleep together each night.
Soon after, Atlas leaves his life on the East Coast and officially joins her at Draven. He is openly affectionate with her and ready to kill for her. North allows Oli to get a job at a café on campus, and things are finally looking better for her. Until Nox visits the café and makes a scene to protect her. The Draven brothers are death dealers, and feared by all, and her boss fires her. Gryphon is quick to the rescue and offers her work in his sister’s diner.
There is also a questionable incident involving Nox and him trying to force the bond with Oli to claim his extra power, but thankfully it stops before it becomes a sexual assault, although it still remains a violation and a problematic moment for Nox.
Things change rapidly when the Resistance attacks Draven University. Gabe and Atlas, using their indestructible powers, try to protect Oli, but Sage gets taken. Seeing her best friend dragged away, Oli decides to throw caution to the wind. In her attempt to save Sage, she is forced to reveal the terrible power that has been hiding under her skin. Oli can kill people with just a thought, and has been hunted by the Resistance for years. Her bonds realize that she has been protecting them all along. The book ends in a cliffhanger that will have you reaching for Savage Bonds, the next book in the series, immediately!
The whole universe is based on the existence of bonds and bonded Groups. When a bond is fulfilled the individuals get a power boost ad when the whole bonded group is completed everyone’s power reaches their full potential. But the fact that everything is predetermined by fate can be thoroughly annoying, and even fate is not enough to stop the Resistance from tampering with Bonded groups and experimenting to reproduce certain powers. We’ll see more of that in the last three books of the series, Forced Bonds, Tragic Bonds and Unbroken Bonds.
There is a lot of trauma going around, for everyone in Broken Bonds. Oli’s loneliness and the loss of her parents is constantly in the forefront. And so is the rejection all her bonds felt when she left, which has led them to be cruel to her—but rest assured this is not a bully romance, they all genuinely grow to care for one another. Without a doubt, Nox carries the heaviest and saddest trauma, which will not be revealed till later on. Oli will start healing once she accepts her bonds and their protection, especially in Blood Bonds, the third installment.
Oli clearly struggles with accepting her true powers, and this rejection of her true nature leaves her unable to build emotional connections with her bonds. Once the masks fall and the walls are taken down, bonding becomes much more emotional and deep. Her bond with Atlas especially goes from affection, to betrayal, and then to utter trust and true connection. What they both have in common is their refusal to accept who they are. Nox also faces an identity crisis due to trauma, which will be solved with his soul bonding with Oli’s.
At first, North’s control issues set very oppressive boundaries for Oli, which they slowly fade away as they built a relationship of trust and love. The Resistance’s need for control is not very different from the council’s ruling. Freedom is Oli’s biggest dream and her whole bonded group will help her achieve it, sharing the same values. The males will also develop their own bonds of friendship and family to support Oli and each other.
If you once saw Elena being forced to choose between Stefan and Damon and thought to yourself, why choose when she can have both? then, this new adult fantasy romance is exactly what you need! With badass main characters, a perfectly torturous slow burn and delectable spice, Broken Bonds should not be missing from your Kindle or perhaps the Amazon audiobook would be a better fit for you.
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Broken Bonds, the first book in the series, only has one spicy scene, and it is not entirely consensual. However, the next five books have lots of spice scattered all over, and many interesting combinations in partners—if you know what we mean!
Inside Oli resides the Eternal, an ancient God, a destructive power that should not be in the wrong hands. The Resistance wants Oli for the power she harbors. Oli will run as far away from her bonds as she can to protect them from the Resistance and from herself. She is also terribly afraid of her powers growing out of her control if she bonds.
Always living in her own enchanted little world, Christina discovered the magic that can be hidden within the pages of a book when one dares to take a closer look from a tender age. An avid reader, she is constantly inspired to delve into the secrets woven between the lines and challenges herself to find her own voice amidst the chaos. She is a dedicated fan of the classics, but the supernatural creatures that have tormented readers for years are her kryptonite. The mastery it takes to infuse the author's essence, molded by the era they grew up in to their innermost desires fascinates her. Undoubtedly, putting her passion and knowledge on paper has a mesmerizing allure on her, and following the steps of so many other dreamers before her she wishes to leave her mark in the literary world. Guided by T.S Eliot’s haunting words: “I will show you fear in a handful of dust” she intends to wreak havoc in the minds of her future readers.
