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.
As 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.
Please note this is a dark romantic fantasy intended for audiences 18+. A complete list of content warnings is available on author’s website.
“I am a bloodwitch—no, a blood queen. And a queen bows for no one.”
Mainord, Erin . The Blood That Binds Us (p. 112). Lake Country Press & Review. Kindle Edition.
Give me a second while I pick my jaw up off the floor, because that ending wrecked me a little. The Blood That Binds Us is nothing short of a dark delight of thrilling debut perfection. Once I hit about 30%, I could not put it down for anything.
With our MC, Wren, I love her strength and wittiness. Though she is unsure of her power, she is never unsure herself and I adored her constant snark and humor. Also, the love she has for her chosen family was also a gem.
On the other side… Singard. Oh Sin. Our brooding, all dark, morally grey, captor of pure strength and sexiness. At first, Sin is every bit the ruthless Black Art (king essentially) that he needs to be and I honestly I loved to hate him. However, as more pieces of Sin are uncovered I grew to love him and feel for him. My heart definitely went up and down for him in this story and I’ll be anxiously awaiting TBTBU2.
Alright, so let me touch on the romance here, because Erin executes a perfect enemies to lovers. In the beginning there’s not even an inkling of romance, just gorgeous, dark world building. When you think enemies to lovers, you usually still feel that initial attraction, where they are supposed to hate each other yet they don’t quite. In TBTBU, Sin and Wren truly start out as enemies. They do not like each other, they do not stand on the same side, and they do not care for each other in the slightest. When the tipping point hits though… phew is it spicccyyy and I loved it. However, there is also a realness to the “relationship”. How they hate each other, to understanding each other, to caring and then acting on it. It’s also a slow-burn at its finest.
Even more so, I love the world building too. The magics, the shifters, and everything in between. And then, the ending… my god the ending. The ending is gut-wrenching. It’s not necessarily a cliffhanger per se, but at the same time you NEED to know what happens next. Erin throws a couple amazing twists in the story that I also did not see coming. I love when an author can make my draw drop not just from the spice but from the twists.
Overall, such a dark delight of a story and I will be anxiously awaiting The Bonds That Break Us.
Jotted by Jena 