Journal Entry 1 by Kyrissaean from Littleton, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, July 07, 2007

This is my legally burned copy of my audible download, unabridged, 10 hours and 2 minutes on 8 CDs.


From Publishers Weekly
Armintrout's bold debut, the first book in a violent vampire series, bares its fangs early, unafraid to spill blood and vital organs from its very first pages. ER resident Dr. Carrie Ames tells the story of how, after being attacked and left for dead, she eventually realizes she's been "turned." Fellow vampire Nathan Grant saves Carrie from her sire's jealous lover, only to give Carrie a life-or-death ultimatum: either pledge allegiance to the Movement, a group of humanitarian vampires dedicated to the eradication of their own race, or perish for their cause. Feisty, independent Carrie would like to make up her own mind, but an invisible "blood tie" to Cyrus Kerrick, her evil sire, leaves her in his thrall—she can't help lusting after his body and power. A deadly game of wits develops between Carrie and Cyrus, whose desire for companionship masks his plot for world domination. Carrie, Cyrus and Nathan are all well drawn, as is the love triangle that develops among them. The book's level of gory detail—the narrator is, after all, a newly minted emergency room doctor—may put off all but the most stalwart of readers, but if you've got the stomach for it, this fast, furious novel is a squirm-inducing treat.


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I enjoyed this -- good debut novel. Nothing deep or anything, but just right for a vampire fix. It's published through Harlequin but it's not a sweetsy "I've been waiting for my soulmate to complete me" sort of novel. There's romantic interest involved in the story, but this is definitely on the horror side of romance, complete with blood, gore, and bad guys galore.

The narrator is fine, although she's not a strong dialogue reader -- some of the voices are kinda kooky. It didn't cause me any problems though, so no real complaints. 

Journal Entry 2 by Kyrissaean from Littleton, New Hampshire USA on Wednesday, November 14, 2007

This is off to Amberkatze by way of the M-bag CheriePie is putting together! She took it out of the audio VBB at BookObsessed. Happy listening! :) 

Journal Entry 3 by CheriePie from Campbell, California USA on Saturday, November 17, 2007

Received today for Amber's m-bag. Will journal again when sent. ($3 enclosed) 

Journal Entry 4 by CheriePie from Campbell, California USA on Tuesday, January 22, 2008

m-bag sent 1/22/08 

Journal Entry 5 by Amberkatze from Wien Bezirk 10 - Favoriten, Wien Austria on Friday, February 01, 2008

Thank you Kyrissean for this audiobook and thank you Cherie for the wonderful Mbag!

I think this will be going on my ipod for the future early shifts I have coming up over the next 5 weeks! At 5am in the morning I can't manage a book but listening to one is relaxing! 

Journal Entry 6 by Amberkatze from Wien Bezirk 10 - Favoriten, Wien Austria on Friday, February 22, 2008

This is the first book in the 'Blood Ties' series and of course I read it way back when it was released. I totally enjoyed it then and have also enjoyed the next 2 books in the series as well. So of course when the chance of listening to the audio book came up I took it!

I loved listening to this and enjoyed the story just as much as the first time around. I didn't really care so much for the narrators voice at the start but I did get used to it after a while. However I did find some of her character voices a little strange...like Ziggy's and Dahlia's.

I would really like to hear the other audiobooks in this series but I doubt I will come across them for a long time. So anyone reading this who hasn't tried this series should do. Either the book version or the audio because this is one of the best! 

Journal Entry 7 by KathyB25 from Arlington, Texas USA on Saturday, March 29, 2008

I love audiobooks! Thanks Amberkatze. This one goes straight to the top of the TBLT stack! 

Journal Entry 8 by KathyB25 from Arlington, Texas USA on Monday, May 05, 2008

Reserved for AudiobookVBB on Bookobsessed 

Journal Entry 9 by KathyB25 from Arlington, Texas USA on Sunday, May 11, 2008

On it's way to mellion108 - enjoy!
 

Journal Entry 10 by mellion108 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA on Saturday, May 24, 2008

Thanks for sending this my way, KathyB25! I think I'll start this one after I finish my current audiobook. Can't wait to sink my fangs into it! ;-) 

Journal Entry 11 by mellion108 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA on Saturday, June 21, 2008

Ok, I like the humor and some of the characters in this story, but the vampire angle never really took off for me. Actually, I felt like the fact that there were vampires involved was an afterthought rather than the focus.

And Elenna Stauffer's narration? I can live with the little girl voice for the main character, but her take on Ziggy drove me up the wall. Why, oh why, did she have to make him sound like a 7-year-old girl on crack??? I thought Dahlia was perhaps one of the more interesting characters, and I would potentially consider listening to another book in this series if I knew that she popped back up again as a primary character.

Anyway, this fell short of being my cup o' tea. I've long been curious about the paranormal romance genre, and this was my first foray into it. I was far less bothered by the romance aspect of the novel than I thought I would be. I thought the erotica was ok (but I had to turn down the volume at red lights out of concern for the delicate natures of the drivers around me!). I'm just such a vampire freak that I kept waiting for big vamp battles with fangs and blood and gore. If the author can make the stories more about the vampire struggles (and obviously keep in the romance because that's an important part of this genre) and less about the zany misunderstandings between the various love interests, I think I would be a fan.

Hmmmm...re-reading my journal entry, it seems like I didn't like the book. Not true. There were aspects of it that I liked. Again, I thought the author used humor pretty well, and there were characters that I really liked (Ziggy, Dahlia). The overall writing, however, is just so-so. I can see this being a great book to pick up to read at the beach.

Ok, there's my less-than-two-cents' worth. Thanks again for sharing this. I will either send it out as a RABCK or make it available on the next Audio BookBox VBB. Thanks! 

Journal Entry 12 by lizziwhizz from Skowhegan, Maine USA on Wednesday, September 17, 2008

received safe in the mail today, thanks! 

Journal Entry 13 by lizziwhizz from Skowhegan, Maine USA on Sunday, September 28, 2008

I was expecting something a little edgier than what I got. My familiarity with the modern vampire canon is from the very light (MJDavidson's Undead series) and the slightly heavier (Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series). I thought this novel would be heavier than all, but I found the whole thing rather silly. The root of the conflict in the story is meant to be the narrator's inability to reconcile her moral human self with the immoral pull pulsing through her veins caused by becoming a vampire. I just, quite honestly, can't conceive of intellectually knowing what is causing your desire, knowing it is wrong, and still giving in to it. Since that's something I can't imagine, it should have been the author's job to make me understand it, and she just didn't. Throughout the story, I kept wanting to smack the narrator in the head for the thoughts she had and things she did. I couldn't understand her motivation, and sometimes couldn't understand the motivations of the other characters either. The "romantic" aspects of the story were so random! And it's difficult to "enjoy" reading a "steamy" scene involving a man who rapes and murders children. Somehow I kept listening, despite (as previously mentioned) some of the ridiculous voices. Despite disliking ALL of the characters. Despite not caring what the heck was going on. WHY!? I'll play the "I thought it would get better" card, but I think I was just too lazy to start something new.
I guess I might recommend this to hardcore vampire genre fans, which I am not. I would choose the Sookie Stackhouse books over this one any day.