Reviewed by Marieke
TITLE: Blood Tied
SERIES: The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge, # 2
AUTHOR: Jacob Z. Flores
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 pages
BLURB:
Thad Blackmoor’s heart is as cold as his icy magical abilities. He considers emotions a waste of his time and prefers to study the arcane, using the sacred books of his coven to grow in his craft. He aspires to supersede his father and elder brother Pierce in power, and now that his younger brother, Mason, has tapped into the rare warlock power of darkness, he needs to work harder than ever.
But Thad’s ambitions are halted when he saves Aiden Teine, a fire fairy, from a banshee. Thad’s immediate attraction to Aiden catches him off guard and thaws his cold heart for the first time. As Thad, Aiden, and his brothers investigate the connection between the banshee attack and the vampyre and shadow weaver who almost killed them, Thad tries to dodge Ben, a sexy warlock who won’t let him be after a one-night stand.
Their search for answers leads them to the Otherworld, where something even more insidious is at work—something Thad will need more than logic to stand against.
REVIEW:
Thad has been a bit of a coldhearted prick for most of his life, except with his mother. But since his mother died, he has had no one to thaw his heart and make him smile. But then he meets Ben in the coffee shop near his dorm room. They hook up but it leaves a bad taste in his mouth and his mind. Something was off about the encounter, which had left him unconscious for about twenty-four hours.
Driving home he stumbles into a fight between a fairy and a banshee. Thad vanquishes the banshee and saved the fairy, who he finds out is Aiden–– a fire fairy. When Thad arrives home, Ben is there. And even if Thad immediately feels aroused again around Ben, something just doesn’t add up.
When Aiden shows up unexpectedly with banshees following him, the shadow weaver turns up, and the Conclave makes their appearance, Thad knows the situation is bad. The Conclave sends them to the fairy world fully expecting them all to die.
I’m not going to tell you any more about what happens there, but I can tell you Jacob Flores has a vivid imagination. So much happens, so many strange beings, and so much world building goes on in this book. It’s amazing.
Then why give it half a star less than the first one in this series, you ask? Well, that’s because the relationship between Thad and Aiden is less intense in my opinion. To me it read just a tiny bit less ‘romantic’ or however you want to call it. (yes I’m such a girl right now.)
Thad makes a journey, not only through another dimension but also a very personal one. He learns a whole lot about himself and his reasons for being the aloof person that he is. He learns how to open up and feel, especially how to love again.
We see Mason and Pierce, Drake and all the others from the previous book. I can’t wait to see more of Pierce and I hope Jacob also writes stories about Adam and Elliot. I love Elliot.
But still this book will steal your heart away. The moment Aiden gets taken by Ben, I wanted to cry. When he turns out to be… Oh yeah, I wasn’t supposed to spoil the rest of the book any more than I already did, right? Hmmm, let’s just say that one minute I was all like: NOOOOOOOO and the next it was, Yes yes yes yes.
The ending is not perfect, but it is heart warming and tear inducing. The only thing I didn’t like is that it ended before Aiden was completely secure in his new life, and we never got to see how he adjusted after he ‘mated’ with Thad. We do read that he has adjusted enough to be safe and welcome. But I would’ve like more, like I always want more when a book is good.
So yes, a must read. So much yes. This series is promising to become one of my favorites.
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