Dante & Erin’s Story Is A Paranormal Romance Set In New Orleans. It Is A Quick Read That Will Pull You Into The Mystery Of Who Took Dante Captive & Why. After Escaping Ten Years As A Blood Slave To The Mysterious Queen, He Needs Answers.
Unchained: Blood Bond Volume 1 includes the Blood Bond Saga, Parts 1-3. Each part is a quick read; they are not standalones. The saga is a paranormal romance. It is Dante Gabriel and Erin Hamilton’s story
FROM BLOOD BOND SAGA, PART 1:
Dante Gabriel and his cousin River were like normal teens when they decided to disobey and sneak out to Bourbon Street to attend the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans ten years ago. The problem was that they weren’t normal teens, and they weren’t mature enough to handle the supernatural activity that pervaded such an event. There is a lot of cosmic energy in the air in New Orleans in general thanks to all the voodoo practitioners, and Mardi Gras really tapped into all that concentrated energy. The boys had been warned by their fathers, identical vampire twins, not to go. But eighteen year old Dante and his seventeen year old cousin chose to go anyway. Dante doesn’t remember what happened that night. He doesn’t know what happened to River. He doesn’t even know how much time has passed. All he knows is that he woke up bound. He has been treated horribly in his captivity, and his inability to fight off his captor shames him. He eventually gave up the fight, accepted his fate. He was kept to serve the Queen as a blood slave. But drinking vampire blood is morally distasteful. That along with the unthinkable abuse he has suffered makes him want to tune it out and forget it all. The problem is that he cannot get the Queen’s voice out of his head.
When Dante one day escapes his bonds, suddenly finding himself unchained and free, he just hopes to be able to find his family. But first, he needs blood. He follows the scent to a blood bank, which is where he first sees Erin.
Erin Hamilton, roughly twenty-seven, had followed her boyfriend Cory to New Orleans, but she decided to stay even after their breakup two years ago. She has made a life for herself there, buying her own home. She works at University Hospital just north of the French Quarter, along with Lucy Cyrus, her best friend. Her brother Jay works at the New Orleans Police Department and was just promoted to detective. Erin had always dreamed of becoming a doctor, but her parents never made much money, and the idea of so much debt had her readjust and choose nursing instead. She has worked as an ER nurse for five years now. The ER can be challenging work that is often a matter of life or death. She donates her own blood regularly for the cause. When she needs to grab some blood from the blood bank for a gunshot wound victim late one night, she isn’t prepared for the bloody mess she finds – nor the blood-covered strange man she finds in the middle of it. What surprises her most is her instinctive need to protect him.
As Dante reconnects with his family, he must come to terms with the decade that he lost in his captivity. His father and uncle have been missing since they went in search of him. He feels guilty for all his family went through because of his foolishness. His grandfather, Bill, is the pillar of their family. At 102, he is the oldest living pure vampire and a source of much-needed answers. But Dante isn’t ready to face his grandfather and to come to terms with his time in captivity. He would rather forget it all for now. And thoughts of Erin don’t help matters much. He cannot seem to forget her, even though he should. He isn’t safe until he makes up for lost time and learns more about vampirism, his ancestry, and how to blend into the human world.
Dante and Erin have instant chemistry in this paranormal romance. Dante must hold back despite how much he wants Erin, and Erin gets conflicting messages from the handsome and mysterious stranger. She begins to have doubts as her self-esteem takes a hit. There are a few surprise entanglements that liven things up and keep you on your toes as you read; it looks like there might be more unveiled in the next book. As Dante tries to work through his feelings and reconnect with family, he must battle the Queen’s voice in his head and pray that he doesn’t fall prey to her again.
IN BLOOD BOND SAGE, BOOK 2:
Book one had left off with a cliffhanger just after Dante had finally given into his desire for Erin. Something had stopped him, though. Here we learn that Erin had a mysterious bite mark on her inner thigh, something she was completely unaware of. Still, Dante immediately recognizes it for what it is and is consumed with a myriad of feelings. He wants to protect Erin, to claim her, but is also repulsed by the mark. He knows she had certainly been glamoured, an unsuspecting victim. Dante flees from Erin and his uncontrollable desire for her once again, determined to find out who had bitten her and ensure her safety.
But Dante’s life is still too unsettled for him to do much good at this point. He had disappeared from home at age eighteen, but life had gone on for everyone else. His family had evolved since then. River and Emilia had gone to college. They had careers. River’s father had sat down with him and told him all the secrets that Dante’s grandfather Bill still refuses to share. Bill claims Dante isn’t ready to hear it, that it might add to his trauma. Bill seems changed, too. He spends his time researching, and the compassion that Dante so desperately needs doesn’t come from Bill. The world has changed in ten years, too.
Dante is drowning as he desperately tries to take back his life, but in many ways he is still that eighteen year old late bloomer who disappeared from Bourbon Street. One thing is very certain though. He wants Erin. He feels compelled to be with her. Yet he knows it is wrong to have her when she doesn’t know the truth about him. His Grandpa Bill wants Dante to open up about his years in captivity, but Dante only wants to forget. He wants the knowledge owed him, thinking that is the missing key that will give him perspective and help him move forward. Dante struggles with this and with his attraction to Erin. He is convinced they are somehow destined for one another, and frustrated that River and Bill insist that is impossible.
Meanwhile, Erin begins to piece together some odd bits of information she comes across at the hospital. Cynthia North, a gunshot victim who was brought to the ER the same night that Dante raided the blood bank, had disappeared before suddenly being discovered at the hospital a week later. Erin’s brother Jay and his new partner River investigate. Mrs. Moore, a ninety year old patient, swears that Dr. Bonneville must be the daughter of a physician that had helped with her son’s blood disorder decades ago. Erin feels certain that Cynthia North and Mrs. Moore hold critical information, the nature of which eludes her as of yet. Her curiosity gets the better of her as she begins to investigate.
FROM BLOOD BOND SAGA, BOOK 3:
As book two closed, Grandpa Bill’s research had brought him to something that had not been documented in over a thousand years. He thinks that what Dante has been describing as an uncontrollable urge to be with Erin is perhaps a blood bond, a trait that scholars had presumed had long since died out amongst their kind. It is believed to have developed as a defense mechanism by humans, who initiate the bond. The human and vampire bond not just emotionally, but physically as well. They cannot survive without one another. This supposedly was another hit on vampire fertility. Because the human and vampire mated, no pure vampires would result from the match.
Dante has some misgivings with Bill, though. Questions arise as he comes to realize that Bill isn’t quite the same person he was when Dante disappeared at age eighteen. He isn’t convinced he can trust Bill. Above all, he wants to ensure Erin’s safety. Bill insists that the pull Dante feels is coming Erin, but he has a difficult time accepting that notion. The pull Dante feels is internal. He needs Erin. Although Bill’s findings do help explain a lot, Dante isn’t convinced that the explanation is completely accurate.
The theme of vampire fertility continues as Dante and River worry over Emilie’s unplanned pregnancy. She refuses to share information, but River is convinced that the father is Jay Hamilton, his new partner and Erin’s brother.
Erin’s curiosity continues in this book, but she becomes increasingly confused about various little things. Her relationship with Dante continues to be hot and cold, but things begin to turn the corner when he invites her into his home and introduces her to his grandfather.
As Dante finally recognizes his need to get control over his emotions, he opens up to Bill about his time in captivity. Though painful, it is probably a little cathartic, too. Talking about it seems to help him focus a little better. Dante comes to some realizations before the book comes to an end. He eventually asks River for his help in finding out who took him. Things begin to heat up with him and Erin, but his concern for her only increases. He hopes to complete the blood bond with her before shifting his attention to capturing his captor.
Dante and Erin’s story is a paranormal romance set in New Orleans. It is a quick read that will pull you into the mystery of who took Dante captive and why. The short books in the saga read like a serial drama. After escaping ten years as a blood slave to the mysterious Queen, Dante needs answers. We learn that the vampire population is endangered thanks to a fertility issue and the shortage of female vampires. Despite their many genetic advantages, vampires in this drama don’t live forever and have difficulty reproducing. They are a dying breed. The story is well-written and plot-driven. The plot is fairly simple thus far. The characters are still being introduced here, so much remains to be learned. Dante’s constant hot and cold does start to grate – it seems every time he and Erin almost get together, he must leave for one reason or another. The story is told in first person. The POV alternates between Dante and Erin, with the epilogue in the Queen’s POV. I rate this book four stars.
I received an advance copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.