Giveaway: Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

I loved Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent so much that I decided to gift a copy to one lucky reader!!

Here's the blurb:

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…

Read my review: HERE

Also just a quick question (for my curiosity): To those of you who have read the book already, which Skill would you most like to have? [Traveler, Seer, Jammer, Blinder, Binder, Tracker, Reader, etc...]

Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

Title: Blood Bound (Unbound #1)
Author: Rachel Vincent
Source: Purchased; Ebook 329 pages

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 Rating: 5 stars ★★★★★

My Thoughts: 

-->Yet another fabulous novel by Rachel Vincent, as well as an extremely promising start to a new series! The "Skilled" world Vincent creates in her new series, Unbound, is completely different than anything else I've ever read. In this fresh addition to the urban fantasy genre, some people have the ability to see the future, travel through shadows, track someone based on only a name or blood sample, or always know whether or not someone is lying to them. These are just a few of the dozen or so Skills a person may be lucky (or unlucky) enough to have. In a addition to that, all it takes is an oath and a drop of blood to create a bond so strong that one could die trying to break it – tattoos are no longer just aesthetic, but instead are the grim markings of a person’s pledge to another.
How does Vincent come up with stuff like this? It’s brilliant, and once again I must commend the ever-astonishing creativity of authors. I was instantly wrapped up in the story, which besides being totally unique, was jam packed with twists, turns, action, and suspense (as per usual with Vincent’s adult novels). This was one of those gripping stories that keeps you awake until four or five in the morning until you finish the book because you simply cannot put it down [I’m speaking from experience here, hehe *sly smile*]. I give Blood Bound an A+ for originality and plotline.

I also give Blood Bound an A+ for characters and character development. Liv Warren is a total kick-butt chick (very reminiscent of Faythe Sanders, for those of you who have read Vincent’s other adult series, Shifters), Cam Caballero is an adorably sexy drool-worthy dreamboat, Ruben Cavazos is one of those villains that you just loveee to hate, as well as many other interesting less prominent characters – the list goes on and on.

The only aspect of Blood Bound that wasn’t a home run was the alternating POV narration. While it was definitely necessary to have both Liv and Cam as narrators –many details were contingent upon the fact that one character knew something that the other one didn’t- the writing just didn’t flow seamlessly. I often found myself reading the first paragraph or two of a new chapter, getting confused, and then reading the same paragraphs over again realizing that the POV had switched to the other character. Hopefully this is something that will be smoother in Shadow Bound, the next installment of the series.

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 *Check back tomorrow for a giveaway - 

a chance to win your own copy of Blood Bound!*

Cover Musings: I really like this cover, especially the interlocking rings in the title (which ties into the story). However, I think I prefer the UK Cover

Warnings: adult (not YA); lots of violence & profanity; some sex

Next in Series: Shadow Bound

Books Like This: Stray by Rachel Vincent; Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Also just a quick question (for my curiosity): To those of you who have read the book already, which Skill would you most like to have? [Traveler, Seer, Jammer, Blinder, Binder, Tracker, Reader, etc...]

Teaser Tuesday #10

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦✧✦

Title: The Poison Eaters and Other Stories
Author: Holly Black

"It took eighty-eight days for the venom to sweat out a person's pores. She had only thirty-seven to go. Thirty-seven days to stay so drunk that she could ignore the buzz in her head that made her want to bite, rend, devour."

-from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

In My Mailbox - Sick Edition

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren

Hi guys!! I totally recorded a vlog yesterday this week's IMM, but I'm running a fever and too tired to edit/upload it. So I'm gonna do this the old fashioned way! I got three books this week, all borrowed from the library (since all my TBR books are at home and I'm at my dorm and I haven't had a chance to bring any here yet).

 

• The Poison Eaters and Other Stories by Holly Black
• Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
• Torment by Lauren Kate

Top 100 YA Books

 This list has been floating around (I've seen it on Reading Teen and Novel Thoughts) of the Top 100 YA Books, and I thought it's be fun to go through and see how many I've read. 

Books I've read are in bold; books I own but haven't read yet are italicized

1. Alex Finn – Beastly
2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3. Ally Carter – Callagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. Ally Condie – Matched
5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)
16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3)
18. Christopher Paolini - Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)
31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
38. John Green – Paper Towns
39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44. Lemony Snicket - Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48. M.T. Anderson – Feed
49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)
50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52. Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )
73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85. Scott Westerfeld - Leviathan (1, 2)
86. Scott Westerfeld - Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host
93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped


Which books have you read?

Books Under $5

Here are a few bargains on Amazon you might be interested in:

In My Mailbox (14)

  In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by Kristi of The Story Siren

Books Mentioned:
Purchased

• Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• Wicked: Witch & Curse by Nancy Holder & Debbie Viguie
• Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
• Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
• Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent
  

GRRR... I MISS MY BOOKSHELF!!

%*@#!

I'm going crazy here!! Usually, I have a bookshelf here at my dorm, but the person I gave it to for safekeeping over the summer accidentally broke it and then threw it out.... So now I'm bereft of a bookshelf and it's making me sad! :(

It kills me to have my books sitting in boxes at home (I only brought a handful with me to school since I have nowhere to put them). I also would like to start doing some "Off The Shelf" giveaways to make room for new books, but I can't do that until my currect collection is organized and accessible.  

So I'm asking you guys to help me out if you can by suggesting some sites where I could purchase a reasonably priced bookshelf - if you know of any sites, that is. I've been checking a few places but I haven't been able to find a bookshelf that I really like; I've only encountered cheap-o looking ones that seem overpriced. 

Grazie a tutti per l'aiuta! :)

(& for those of you who don't speak Italian, that means "Thanks for all your help")

Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

Title: Lover Awakened (Black Dagger Brotherhood #3) 
Author: J.R. Ward  
Source: Purchased; eBook 464 pages
Challenges: Vampires

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there's a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There exists a secret band of brothers like no other-six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Even within the vampire brotherhood, Zsadist is feared. Still bearing the scars from a tortured past, he is renowned for his unquenchable fury. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion-until he rescues a beautiful female from the evil Lessening Society. 

My Rating: 5 stars ★★★★★
My Thoughts: I LOVED this book!!! It's funny - I knew I was going to love this - before I even read it! I couldn't even wait to go to the bookstore and buy it; I downloaded it for my NOOK about twenty minutes after finishing Lover Eternal... I also finished the book less than 24hrs after that. What a page-turner!!

Zsadist is by far my favorite Brother of them all; I think that's because he's such a complex, dynamic character. It was heart-warming (and also heart-wrenching) to watch him struggle and transform from the black-eyed, soulless, terrifying warrior into a protective, kind, loving man. I also loved that this novel was much less myopic than Dark Lover was - it has many of sub-plots and deep characterization of all the main characters, as opposed to solely focusing on the protagonist.

The one thing I didn't like that much about this novel was some of the prose when Zsadist has his flashbacks into the past. It tended to get a tad bit too cheesy-typical-romance-novel-y.

Definitely my favorite book in the series so far! <3 I would surely recommend it to fans of adult PR / vampire books.

Warnings: adult (not YA); mature content: sex & violence

Cover Musings: I don't think any of the BDB covers are ah-mazing, but I like the monochromatic color scheme on each cover and the fact that they all go together well as a series

Previous in Series: Lover Eternal
Next in Series: Lover Revealed