{REVIEW, GUEST POST and SERIES GIVEAWAY} BLOOD BOND (DIRTY BLOOD #3) by HEATHER HILDENBRAND

Series: Dirty Blood #3
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Heather Hildenbrand
Publication Date: 8/31/12
Format: eARC
Pages:
Source: Received from author for review.

Hybrids.

If I had to choose one word to sum up all of my problems, this would be it.
Without hybrids, I wouldn’t have to watch my best friend slowly becoming a monster. Without hybrids, I could let go of the mentality “hunt or be hunted.” CHAS wouldn’t be scouring the Earth, intent on slaughtering and using Alex to do it. Without hybrids, I wouldn’t have to be on guard that losing my temper meant losing my shape. There would be no monster inside me, struggling to get out.

Then again, without hybrids, I wouldn’t have Wesley St. John.

 

Why I Read Blood Bond: Heather Hildenbrand is the first indie author whose work I read and loved. I've enjoyed the first two books in the series (Dirty Blood review/Cold Blood review) and was excited to take on book three.

Poor Tara Godfrey. It's hard being a teenage girl, but it's even harder when your world is consumed by Hunters, Werewolves and Hybrids. Tara has worked hard to keep her "normal" life back home away from her supernatural world, but that's now impossible. Oh, and there's this little issue of Tara's heart. It belongs to her boyfriend Wes, but Alex, her former trainer and friend, is always there at the edge of her thoughts. And we can't forget George, Tara's former boyfriend, now friend, who needs her more than ever. With the tension within the organization strengthening, and the threat of Hybrids looming, Tara and her friends are in more danger than ever. Not all of them will survive. All of them will be forever changed.

The Dirty Blood series is honestly one of my favorite Paranormal YA series. Honestly, I'm not the biggest fan of Were-centric stories, so when I say that I really enjoy this series, I truly mean it. I could say that I enjoy it because I love the world Hildenbrand has built: her version of Shifters, the Hunters and Hybrids; or the characters, Tara, Wes, Alex, Cambria...they are all very well-developed and cool people that I've come to care about; and the action-filled plot, there is very little down-time in Blood Bond, the momentum is swift and gripping.

All of those reasons can fully justify my love for the series. But as much as anything else, I thoroughly enjoy Heather Hildenbrand's writing. Plain and simple. Blood Bond is the fifth of Hildenbrand's books that I've read, and at this point, I can say that her style suits me. Her stories are very well-developed, her writing is always flawless and easy to read.

Blood Bond is another great addition to the Dirty Blood series. Tara and the other characters continue to grow and become even more engaging. The story was crazy intense, and will have you swooning one moment, then holding your breath, and wondering what will happen next. And that ending? O.M.G.

Intense, engaging, and fun, Blood Bond is a book that is a book that will leaving you begging for more!


Favorite Quotes: Two favorites. One swoony, one funny!

  "I love you, Tara Godfrey. I love you so much that I walk around breathless from the exertion." (eARC, 2%)

  " 'I'm a Hunter,' he explained. 'It's my job to kill Werewolves, to protect humans like you. A butter knife isn't enough to stop me.'
   'Are you sure, because you screamed really loud when it went in,' she said."  (eARC, 80%)


You can purchase Blood Bond at:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

I don’t listen to music often during the actual writing process but I do during editing. Music helps me then because during editing I’m checking to see if I captured the overall feeling in a scene that I was going for, and I am making sure it will translate to the reader the way I intended. The music helps me define the feeling each scene needs to have.

My playlist for Blood Bond was eclectic--as all of mine are. Here’s the list, along with an explanation about how/what that song inspired:

Always by Bon Jovi – if you’ve been with the series since the beginning, you know this is George’s and Tara’s song. He writes it in a love letter of sorts in Cold Blood and then in Blood Bond, it’s explained how it came to be special for them. They even sing it to each other. So cute!

Fix You & Spies by Coldplay – Fix You is a message from Tara to George. She will do anything to help him in Blood Bond. She knows there’s no way to stop him from turning, but she’s determined to keep him from becoming a monster in the process. I can’t tell you who Spies is for. You’ll just have to read the book and find out!

There are a couple of road trip songs: Postcards from Far Away by Coldplay and Roads Untravelled by Linkin Park. And yes, there is a road trip in Blood Bond.

Castle of Glass by Linkin Park – I love the line that says: “Wash the sorrow from off my skin and show me how to be whole again.” Yes, there is sorrow in Blood Bond. And grief. I can’t tell you why except to say we lose someone. It will rock the entire group and you see the mark of it in all of them.

You’ve Got The Love, Rabbit Heart, & Howl by Florence + The Machine – because I love their sound. And their lyrics are awesome. From Howl, I love the lines that say: “If you could only see the beast you’ve made of me. I held it in but now it seems you’ve set it running free.”

Hmmm, now who could it be talking about? *wink*

It goes on to talk about fingers on your skin, etc. and it makes me think of Tara and Wes. Then the song becomes kind of hot. *wink* which also makes me think of them. Just in a different way. *fans self* You’ll want to read those parts, trust me!

Train: Drive By & Meet Virginia made the list because I love their sound and how they made me feel. Meet Virginia describes a girl that’s stubborn and doesn’t care what others think of her. Sound like anyone from the series? Also great road trip music!

Howlin’ For You by The Black Keys – listen to it. It’s self-explanatory and perfect for my series. It was my favorite from this playlist. “Baby, I’m howlin’ for you.”

3 songs by Plain White T’s made the list: Rhythm of Love, Last Breath, and Killer. My favorite was Killer because it sums up how Tara felt throughout the book about what she was becoming. It also makes me think of Wes and Alex and how they wonder if/how Tara can love them or care for them despite who they are or what they’ve done. Rhythm of Love is great because it talks about only having a short time to express your feelings for the other (“we may only have tonight…”) and throughout the book, Wes and Tara only had short spurts to really be alone and “together.” Last Breath is about what a guy would do (pretty much anything, including die) to get away from a crazy girlfriend. It’s fun and doesn’t necessarily go with the storyline here but it’s about desperation and I liked the feeling for this book. At the end, he says: “what am I fighting for, if it ain’t you?” and I love that line.

That’s it for my playlist. If you’re wondering what I use to stream music while working, I used to use my MP3 (I still do for plotting with my white board) but for this book (at the computer), I used Spotify because I could look up songs and build the list quicker while still being in front of my computer screen. Plus, I can share my playlist with everyone via Facebook and you can see when I’m listening to which playlist. It was a way to show everyone that I was working on Blood Bond, because they saw that playlist streaming. Now, I love Spotify. I’ve already started using it to build my playlist for book 4.

I’m curious--what songs do you think work well for Blood Bond?

 

Heather Hildenbrand was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. She now lives in coastal VA, a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, with her husband and two adorable children. She works from home, part time, as a property manager and when she's not furiously pounding at the keyboard, or staring off into space whilst plotting a new story, she's helping her husband with DIY projects in their home (he woodworks - she paints) or she's lying on the beach, soaking in those delicious, pre-cancerous rays.

Heather loves Mexican food, hates socks with sandals, and if her house was on fire, the one thing she'd grab is her DVR player.

You can find out more about her and her books at www.heatherhildenbrand.blogspot.com

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Heather is a co-founder of Accendo Press, a publishing group she operates with fellow authors: Angeline Kace and Jennifer Sommersby. Accendo (a-CH-endo), A Latin word, means “to kindle, illuminate, inflame, or set fire.” This is something Accendo strives to do inside a reader’s imagination with every title released. For a complete list of titles and author bios, visit www.accendopress.com.

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