"Blood Bound" by Rachel Vincent

From Goodreads: "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..."

Though I have said it countless times since I started reviewing books I will say it once again. I love Rachel Vincent. A lot. I love the way that she isn't afraid to write flawed characters (and as such totally realistic characters), I love the way that she always creates strong-minded and independent female characters, and I love how she always writes of paranormal beings/ elements that no other authors have touched before (seriously, bean sidhes? Werecats? Contracts literally bound in blood? Who else writes about these? NO ONE!).

After having read this book I feel like Rachel took all of Faythe and Marc's (from her "Shifters" series) best characteristics (and then some) and mashed them together creating Olivia and Cam AKA perfection. Where Faythe is hotheaded and often does things without seemingly any thought Olivia is cunning and calculated and where Faythe is stubborn, well, Olivia is stubborn too, but in a more selfless way (ie. "I am only this being stubborn because I am doing everything in my power to ensure your safety").

However, I must admit that when I first started reading this book it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. The first chapter is told from Olivia's point of view and therefore I assumed the second would be as well (as Rachel only stuck with Faythe's POV in her "Shifters" series). But that wasn't the case. When I started reading the second chapter and it appeared that Olivia was talking about herself in first person, I thought, "What in the world is going on. Oh, OH! Different character!" (the chapters switch between Cam and Olivia). While I did enjoy having multiple perspectives, as it showed us parts of the characters we wouldn't have otherwise seen, I think it would have been much less confusing as if each chapter was labelled "Cam" or "Olivia" a la Lisa Desrochers' "Personal Demons" and "Original Sin". 

All in all, despite my criticism, this book is amazing and totally exceeded my expectations (in fact, as much as it pains me to admit this, I might like this book more than the "Shifters" books)- I highly recommend it and I don't think fans of Rachel will be disappointed!

Rating: 10/10

Memorable lines from the book:

"Turning away from his this time hurt no less than the time before" (pg. 78).

"... I have a choice. I choose you" (pg. 225). 

I think that my Tweet perfectly describes my feelings for the following line:

"I realized I'd rather die with you than live with someone else" (pg. 231). 

"You think we'll die if we stay together, but I've been dying slowly for the last six years" (pg. 252).

And you can purchase the book HERE.