Her whole life, it had just been the two of them. Before her mother’s last breath, she gave Camille the information she had craved her entire life: the identity of her father. Daring to contact him, Camille was welcomed by an entire family she never knew existed. But nothing comes without a price, as she discovers when her family claims a legendary heritage tracing back to a centaur touched by Zeus.
As she learns the secrets of her Centaur bloodline, she is drawn into a forbidden love with Drake. Her life may be the blood debt required to pay for her mother’s transgressions. The same person who once held her mother captive, and forced her into decades of hiding, now controls Camille. Her only chance is to seek a piece of her mother’s past that will win her freedom and the life she desperately wants.
(Excerpt from GoodRead)
Amazon
I finished this book in three days. It would have been sooner, much sooner, like the same day, if real life would have just backed off.
Now usually I don’t start a review off by stating the flaws of a book because that’s just not nice, but since the author, Nancy Straight, forgot –intentionally I’m sure– to warn us poor readers just how addictive her book would be, I feel it’s up to me to do the warning. Granted, being an enormous fan of Ms. Straight since her Destiny series (Meeting Destiny (Destiny Series – Book 1) is FREE right now on Amazon!), I probably should have clued in faster. Nevertheless, there is your warning. Beware.
On to the review!
What do you get when you put a highly talented author in the same room as a book of Greek Mythologies? Blood Debt! That’s what.
“All those wagers I’d tried to make with God, to find out who he was – I’d told God I would trade anything – I never meant my mom.” (1% Kindle)
I keep a lot of notes while I read a book, just so I don’t forget to add anything in the review when I write it. Pathetically enough, when I went back to read said notes, I found a lot of: ‘OMG!’ and ‘Seriously creepy family… RUN!!!’ and ‘YES! Voice of reason!’ I think my favorite was: ‘Run, dude! RUN!’ Now, I can promise you that I don’t normally write such weird notes, but I found note-taking took up reading time and that was unacceptable.
The explanation of my cryptic note-taking to come. But first…
The plot.
Blood Debt is about twenty-two-year-old Camille (Cami) who learns about her missing father after her mother breathes his name for the first time right before her death. Camille, desperate not to be alone, tracks down this elusive father of hers and learns all too quickly that she was probably better off not knowing him. Here’s why.
Her father already has a family, a generous wife and five fully grown sons. He’s ridiculously rich, kind hearted and wants Camille even though, up until she’d phoned him, he’d had no knowledge of her existence. He brings her down to South Carolina from California and I was right there with Camille on the whole creepy factor! These people were rating a full ten on my back-away-slowly radar. They were all too nice, too generous, too open about accepting Camille into their lives as their daughter/sister. There were no questions asked, no suspicions or hatred that this person was created through adultery (I am assuming adultery, because Will –Cami’s new father– was married to his wife and had children when he met and created Cami with her mother. There is a reasoning behind it, but I think this will be explained more in the next book).
The person I really liked was Daniel, Cami’s best friend in the whole world. HE is was voice of reason, always cautioning Cami not to just board a fancy yacht with five strange men only hours after meeting them. He’s the handsome, loyal BFF that every girl needs. When Cami gets herself in some seriously messed up trouble (will get to this) later in the book, Daniel is the one that storms off to the rescue, and it is awesome! (I also have a theory about who Daniel is exactly, but I won’t say).
Then there is Drake. I don’t even know where to start. He’s gorgeous, fast, kind and completely and hopelessly in love with Cami, even though he’s engaged to Bianca (Cami’s new BFF down in South Carolina). The plot gets all twisty from there. I won’t say anything else on that front because it’s something that needs to be read to fully appreciate. But I will say, the yacht scene… WOW! Me loved a lot! Another thing I will say, I will NEVER stop to help an elderly couple switch a tire. EVER! Thank you, Ms. Straight, for that life lesson.
So, what didn’t I like about the story? Hands down the POV head-hopping. I LOVED reading Camis POV and Drakes (especially Drakes). But there was a point when we were in Biancas head, then Zandras (Cami’s grandmother) then Daniels. I understood what the author was trying to do. I liked that we got the story from different angles, but I just wasn’t a fan. Nevertheless, I was too hooked to notice or care.
The story was fast-paced. The plot unique. I loved the romance between Cami and Drake (and there was a second there that I thought Ms. Straight was going to do something awful, just terrible and then make us wait for book two… thankfully she didn’t. But we still have to wait for book two). I loved Drake’s fast and passionate love for Cami. And I loved how Ms. Straight made me want to grab Cami and smack her a few times for being so pigheaded. All in all, the book was amazing. I will be the first in line Dec 2012 for Blood Ties
Also, a final note before we wrap up this review. Fans of Charlotte Abel will LOVE the surprise Ms. Straight has at the end of this novel. A sneak peek into Ms. Abel’s upcoming novel, River’s Recruit.
So, in conclusion:
Will I read the next book? Yes.
Will I tell my friends about this book? Yes.
Did I enjoy it? Yes.
About The Author
Nancy was born in Sioux City Iowa, left the cold of the Midwest in 1991 and only returns to see family in the summer time. She spent ten years traveling the world as a US Marine and settled in rural SC with her husband and two children.
She enjoys reading all types of Paranormal and Young Adult literature.
Author Sites
Website
Twitter (@NancyStraight)
Facebook
GoodRead
Fun Fact:
Read my interview with Ms. Straight over at her blog. Click Here!