The Blood that Binds Us

By: Erin Mainord

Narrated by: Jacci Prior, James Cavenaugh

She is the wielder of blood magic, and she may end them all.

“Monster…”

Wren has never stolen a life, but that doesn’t stop her from believing her darkness makes her a walking nightmare. Harboring a power so lethal, unpredictable, and entirely forbidden by kingdom law, Wren’s spent her whole life hiding what she is—who she is. A bloodwitch.

Meanwhile, a war is looming, and Wren’s feral magic may be the only thing that can stop the uprising from destroying the kingdom, her home, and everyone that stands in their way. After her sister is captured by the rebellion, Wren must seek help from the kingdom’s ruler who would sooner imprison her than offer aid. Except… Singard needs her, and when she volunteers the use of her power in exchange for his help finding her sister, an unlikely alliance is born.

Forced into a reluctant compromise with the “white-haired witch,” Sin finds himself protecting Wren for his kingdom’s survival, but their star-crossed relationship quickly spirals into one straddling the precipice of hate and passion. As secrets are unveiled and loyalties are tested, neither are sure who they can trust.

When hostilities deepen and war draws near, Wren is determined to rein in her wild magic and bind it to her will. With the lives of everyone she loves at stake, Wren must look within and decide if she is the monster she fears, or if there is light to be found in the darkest parts of herself.

©2023 Erin Mainord (P)2024 Erin Mainord

On the edge of my seat.

The voices were perfect. Great story line. InsANE spice. I’m so tempted to read the second but I know the audible version will be worth the wait.😫 10/10

Sin… 😍

Absolutely love this book. I’ve read it twice now and it gets better each time! The audio is done perfectly and I absolutely adore the relationships between the characters.

Sexy and Fun Fantasy Romance

This won't be my last Erin Mainord book! I loved how quickly I became invested in this world she built -- a world in the middle of a war, on the brink of changing tides.

Erin's world is dark, dangerous, and full of shifting alliances that leave everyone out for themselves first and foremost. The plot, which starts as a simple escape from enemies, woman on the run, quickly turns into a darker exploration of war and political intrigue that had me racing toward the end and right over the cliff.

Wren is such a fun character to follow -- as a blood witch she grapples with some pretty deep emotions. It was fun to watch her find her place between the drive to give into the blood witch power and remain a bit of her soul in the process. She is such an emotionally raw character who has been through so much that it is easy to root for her to find her power and her balance.

Singard -- Wren's captor and ruler -- plays a dangerous game through the whole book. He's secretive, morally grey, and just a touch of reckless. All the while you can't help but support him as he works to help Wren find her balance in life.

--
I cannot leave out my applause for this duo. Anytime I see Jacci Prior as a narrator, I know I am in good hands. She does smoky and sexy so well and she just adds so much depth to the FMCs story and words. Truly, having her voice Wren was a fantastic pairing. Her range was inspired and helped the reader tap into both Wren's rage and sadness.

Also -- Jacci's narration paired with James Cavanaugh's male voices. This first my first time hearing James do a fantasy romance (he's voiced some of my fave rom-coms). I need him to do more FANTASY. The deep of the male characters' voice! Spot on and so different from the voices he uses in rom-coms. Sin's voice -- A plus.

Together, this duo did a fantastic job of drawing the reader into Erin's world and bringing life to the Wren, Sin, and the rest of the characters. I'm hooked!

Great story, TERRIBLE narration. Read, do not listen.

I switched between reading this on my kindle and listening to it on here like I do many books. I started it on here. My first critic is how fast the female narrator is. It sounds sped up. But if you slow it down, the males voice is too slow. It was very frustrating. It’s like she is rushing through the book. Also, the males voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. For this character at least. I love a good deep voice. But, imo this voice did not do the character well. The voice gives me more of a James Earl Jones narrating a nature documentary vibe more than a sexy MMC. I enjoyed this book much more while reading than listening. It does not do the story justice.

Needs work, but intriguing

Definitely needs new narrators. The FMC sounds like AI, and the MMC sounds like a 70 year old man. His voice is so deep it sounds like he should be recording movie trailers, not audiobooks. Not to mention the narrator does the same voice for all of the other male voices in the story so its really hard to differentiate between the characters. The story itself is a good concept but it needs work. It just seemed like amateur writing and some things could have been written with more taste. There were also some things that didn't make a ton of sense but seemed like they were just added for filler. With that said, I do have to admit that it did get better towards the end and I am intrigued enough to continue on to the next book.