Wednesday, October 17, 2012

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

Blood Bond (Dirty Blood, #3)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


Or stalk her here:

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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23 comments:

  1. Great playlist! I love Fix You, Howl and Always :)

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  2. Ha, I LOVE that second quote. :) I actually read the first chapter of Dirty Blood at the end of Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace and it got off to a really great start, but I just never picked up the book. :( Sounds like I really need to! (BTW, I had to do a double-take at this cover to make sure it wasn't Lauren Conrad! :P) Great post, as per usual, Andrea!

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  3. Great interview. I just bought all these books a couple of days ago. I have been dying to read them for a while. Everyone says how good they are.

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  4. I'm also not the hugest were-fan, but since you love this one so much, I'll have to try it out.
    And I also thought that the model looks like Lauren Conrad. LOL!

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  5. Thanks for a fun post! Congrats to Heather on the newest release! That playlist is awesome! :)

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  6. I have Dirty Blood and I'm just kicking myself that I haven't started it yet! Hunters, werewolves, and hybrids? I LOVE ALL OF THESE THINGS! Awesome review and quotes - you've convinced me to bump this series to the top of the list!

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  7. I read the first one, though I never reviewed it, but I have to read the second one still. This sounds awesome!! I will eventually read the rest of the series.

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  8. I'm so glad that you review indies, Andrea! And not just because I am one, but because I love to read and support indie authors. I've found some good reads from your recommendations. I'm definitely going to look this one up. :)Sounds like a great series.

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  9. I own the first book, but haven't started it, yet. Man, you make me want to throw down everything I'm reading and just pick up what you've read... So good!!

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  10. Wow there are some epic songs at that playlist. I didn't read your review because I am a terrible person and haven't read Cold Blood yet! I know, right? *sigh* I really need to get on that. I really enjoyed Dirty Blood and am happy to see that the series is still going strong. Thanks for sharing Andrea & Heather!

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  11. I have had such bad luck with werewolf books, but since you seem to like these so much maybe I will give them a go. They sound pretty great. Awesome review!

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  12. I need to read more books about shifters, because those I did read I loved.

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  13. I have Dirty Blood and hope to get to it by the end of the year. Sounds like a great series!

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  14. I love shifters, especially werewolves! As for the playlist, I like all of the bands but never heard any of the actual songs.

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  15. I haven't read this series. I think I have book 1 but that could be my crazy end of quarter teacher brain not working right. :) Glad you enjoyed.

    Valerie
    StuckInBooks.com

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  16. Always is one of my favorite songs of all times.

    Heather's Dirty Blood series is very interesting and not about your regular warewolf. I've read books 1 and 2 and really liked them :)

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  17. I loved the first two books and I will be reading my copy of Blood Bond VERY soon. Glad you liked it Andrea. I'm not a huge fan of werewolf series either but I make an exception for this one because it's just so good. Cold Blood was phenomenal.

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  18. aawwwwww I just loved reading the comments here-- so many nice things! Thanks for having me Andrea and you know I love your guts through and through for being the first to champion my writing!!! <3 you!!! Thanks to everyone for stopping by!

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  19. Ha! I have to admit that I am a total non when it comes to playlists - I love to listen and sing along, but for the life of me I never remember the name of a song LOL. I am one of those folks that used to walk into the music store for a CD and hum or sing a few bars hoping the sales person could interpret what I was looking for ;) So I will be hopping over later to check these out. I love the world of shifters and all things supernatural. I have so wanted to read this series and am really looking forward to the ride.

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  20. I've only read a few Shifter stories and I did not like them. I read Shiver and some of Twilight. I'm hoping this will help me change my mind. I loved the funny quote.

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  21. This looks so good! It'd be great to win this.

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  22. Oops..I just commented then saw I need to write about something....I do like books about shifters like Sookie Stackhouse and Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series.

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