My Review: Blood Bonds (The Bonds That Tie #3): by J. Bree

***Warning!! This review may contain spoilers from the previous books in the series, so continue reading at your own risk! You’ve officially been warned…***

To see my review of book 1 – Broken Bonds – Click HERE

To see my review of book 2 – Savage Bonds – Click HERE

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

The road to hell for me is paved with everything I would do for you, and that list never fucking ends.”

– J. Bree, “Blood Bonds”

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

After three years on the run, I’m back in a Resistance camp, chained to a chair as the resident monster.
Everything I ran from, all of the villains of my past, they’re all here to take another bite out of me. But this time, I’m not alone.
With my Bonds desperately trying to reach me and new friendships I never expected, I start to believe that maybe I won’t become the weapon they want me to be. Maybe I’ll be a monster of my own creation.
When loyalties are questioned and Bonds are tested, everything I thought I knew gets turned upside down. Who are my friends, and who are my enemies?
Are Bond ties stronger than blood?

*Blood Bonds is a full length reverse harem PNR novel with material that may be difficult for some readers. This book will end on a cliffhanger. It’s recommended for 18+ due to language and sexual situations.

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Well suddenly North Draven completely flips my perception of him with this book! Its incredible to see how from one part of the series I can’t stand the guy, then BOOM suddenly I’m obsessed with him like so many other fans of these books…

This book once again continues exactly right off the cliffhanger ending that the previous books gave us, and it definitely starts off with a darker tone as Oli is actually once again a prisoner in an enemies’ war camp. To make things even worse, she has to come face-to-face with a evil face from her past whom she’d hoped to never see again…

She’s also trying to once again keep her bonds safe by blocking them out from her mind the whole time she’s there, so they can’t be discovered and hunted down. Anything past this point with describing the plot would just be spoilery, so I’ll try to just stop there!

There are some major highlights from this book and this series seriously gets better and better with each addition! Like I’ll admit I wasn’t crazy about book 1 while reading, but now I’m totally seeing it and am gabbing away with my fellow book lovers over which of the guys I like the most and how badass Oli is!

What I Liked:

1. Oli’s “Other Side!” Oli’s bonded side is a dark, stone cold BITCH and I love her…like actually though I’m totally straight for her. I love the contrast between Oli and her because they’re polar opposites and I love a monster/dark character who sneaks out like that and takes over, kind of like a Jekyll/Hyde sort of thing. It was an interesting concept to learn about the bonds this book is that they have another being when they flip over to their bonded side (aka their eyes go demon black or pitch white). I didn’t know there was a second person in there with them.
2. North Draven! North totally flipped my perception of him this book and he’s now a total book boyfriend addition I’d be happy to include in my extensive harem. Sure, he’s way overprotective and it gets annoying after awhile, but how his relationship with Oli develops in this book was just so chefs kiss with how he helped her and kept her safe
3. That Cliffhanger Ending! J Bree is getting better and better with these killer cliffhangers she tosses out at us, and this one seriously had my jaw drop! Like I seriously didn’t see it coming and I’m so curious to see how she explains it in the next book!
4. The Spice! This series gets better and better with each book and a huge reason for that is because the spice rating is going up up UP as well! Like DAYUMMMM especially goes to Gryphon and North!
5. Kieran and Oli’s Event! I like that these two kind of bonded (not in that way) at the beginning chunk of this book and grew a mutual respect for each other and even though there’s still some tension, there’s a reluctant understanding there now that I can really appreciate.

What I Didn’t Like:

1. Nox Continues To Be A D-Bag…I’m still failing to see what others see in him, he’s kind of a POS still in my opinion…I’m (im)patiently waiting to see why he’s some of my book friends’ favorite, cuz gurrrllllllll……we need to talk about your preferences.
2. A Lot Of Side Characters Get Short Shafted…What happened to Sage and everyone else who isn’t Oli or her bonded? It felt like they just disappeared in this book which then makes me question their importance to the overall series? I could just be being extra judgey about it, but I also give side-eye when there’s a plethora of side characters and they only show up for a scene or two and in all honesty, the book would be fine if they got edited out.
3. The Pacing Continues To Have a Slow Midpoint…Please refer to my previous reviews for this one because it’s essentially the same. BUT, and its a pretty nice butt, the spicy scenes make it a lot better too!

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Mine. You’re mine. No one will hurt you again. Not me, not the others, not anyone. The shadows cannot harm you, they belong to you, as I do. We all do.”

– J. Bree, “Blood Bonds”

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Conclusion:

Overall, book three is the best of the bunch so far! We meet the big bad villain, the spice picks up, and characters and relationships are developing very nicely in my opinion. Sure, the pacing isn’t perfect still and this will be consistent with the rest of the books, but I’m so invested in the characters and what might happen that I can overlook it for the most part.

Like I said above, I’m defs going to be reading on and seeing what else can possibly happen, plus the other boys need some lovin too and I want to be there when it happens….yeah I said it, and I don’t care how weird that sounds! I am HERE for the spice….Spice is LIFE!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell