(ARC Review) Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

BLOOD BOUND
Unbound #1
Author: Rachel Vincent
Source: Author
*I received this ARC free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Mira (August 23, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0778312550
ISBN-13: 978-0778312550

SUMMARY:

By blood, by word, by magic…

Most can't touch the power. But Liv Warren is special— a paranormal tracker who follows the scent of blood.

Liv makes her own rules, and the most important one is trust no one.

But when her friend's daughter goes missing, Liv has no choice but to find the girl. Thanks to a childhood oath, Liv can't rest until the child is home safe. But that means trusting Cam Caballero, the former lover forbidden to her.

Bound by oath and lost in desire for a man she cannot have, Liv is racing to save the child from a dark criminal underworld where secrets, lies, trauma and danger lurk around every corner…every touch…every kiss.

And more blood will be spilled before it's over…

MY THOUGHTS:

I am speechless for my review of Blood Bound.  I did not know what to expect since the only books I have read by this author are her young adult Soul Screamer series.  I knew it would be excellent writing, but I didn't realize how well she could execute an adult themed genre book until now.

I will be honest though in the fact that if you aren't prepared for some puzzle solving, you can easily get lost in the first couple chapters.  I was scratching my head several times trying to figure out what the heck was going on.  Even though I was confused and starting to get frustrated, I kept reading and  I am so happy I did.  Once I got through the initial scene set-up chapters, the book took off.  I found myself sucked into the Skilled world and was secretly wishing I had some of those Skills without the contracts!  Imagine having the powers to track someone with either a name or sample of blood.  Imagine stepping from one place into another by just walking though a shadow.  Imagine seeing into the future and knowing all sorts of possibilities with different decisions. Just sit and imagine what it would be like.

The romance between Cam and Olivia is written perfectly.  It isn't over done with a lot of sex scenes, but you can still feel the chemistry pull between the two and you find yourself looking for the loopholes for them to be together.  I even found myself cheering and hoping that one particular bad guy would turn out not to be so bad.  While I still can't stand his wife, the bad guy does have some redeeming qualities if you look close enough. 

Now don't even get me started on that ending!  I was so frustrated on the last page.  I looked at my book closely to see if it was missing pages and then my frustration only grew when I finally accepted that the author left the ending this way for a reason.  I could have screamed and thrown my book against a wall, but I realized it just makes me more anxious for the next book in the series to arrive.  I now NEED the next book in the series just as much as I need my next breath!  When an author can leave you hanging at the end, but leave you satisfied enough to want to continue the series, you know the author has done a beautiful job in a novel.  Author Rachel Vincent has now been bumped to my always list for adult themed books and I can't wait to get my hands on her other series!

MY RATING:

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading!