Book review: Bound by Night (The MoonBound Clan Vampires #1) by Larissa Ione

Bound by Night (MoonBound Clan Vampire #1) by Larissa Ione

Paranormal romance

Paperback/ebook, US, 400 pages

Expected publication: September 24th 2013 by Pocket Books

The first installment in a sexy new paranormal romance series by Larissa Ione, author of the bestselling Demonica series!

A WOMAN OUT FOR BLOOD

Nicole Martin was only eight years old when the vampire slaves rose up in rebellion and killed her family. Now she devotes her life to finding a vaccine against vampirism, hoping to wipe out her memories—along with every bloodsucker on the planet. But there’s one thing she cannot destroy: her searing, undeniable attraction for the one man she should hate and fear the most . . .

A VAMPIRE OUT FOR REVENGE

A member of the renegade vampire MoonBound Clan, Riker is haunted by demons of his own. When he recognizes Nicole and remembers how her family enslaved his loved ones, his heart burns for vengeance. But when he kidnaps Nicole and holds her in a secret lair, his mortal enemy becomes his soul obsession, his greatest temptation, and, perhaps, his only salvation—a hot-blooded lover who could heal him with her touch . . . or bury him forever.

This was my first time reading a book by Larissa Ione and she quickly escalated up on my list of favorite paranormal authors. Bound by Night is the first book in her new series, MoonBound Clan Vampires and I'm hooked. The MoonBound vampires were an interesting bunch, especially their leader. As for the lead characters, Nicole and Riker, they had an apparent instant chemistry but it took awhile for me to connect with or feel for them. The cave scene made me sit up and take notice of these two. The sparks, dialogue, actions, combined together well to create a poignancy which then resonated throughout the rest of the story and surrounded these two like a halo. 

What intrigued me the most was the idea of the Martin family company profiting from experimenting on vampires and selling their blood for human consumption and sport. Then there was the whole social structure where vampires were kept by humans as slaves and defanged. Having the vamps split into covens like witches made this otherworld unique and interesting. I also liked the darkness and the despair created by living this way, isolated and set apart from others, which added to the tension and then increased when vampires did travel outside. Human hunters with weapons searching out vamps while other groups of vamps did the same thing gave the story a chilling feel. Add in a human brother wheedling his way into the family business with no apparent feeling for his sibling also gave the tale dimension. Both groups could be cruel and cold hearted to the other and it took one from each side to shed some light on the fighting and hatred.

Riker is the typical tough guy found in PNR today but I soon found him endearing, when he wasn't being a complete jerk. His dedication to his late mate was admirable, but his mourning period went on for too long. Nicole was an intelligent woman, a scientist, a bit clueless with the family business, but ultimately, she had a good heart. Both characters changed over the course of the story and helped each other see their jaded viewpoints were wrong. The romance was hot, the story kept me rooted in my seat. There was plenty of action and an engaging cast of characters. The scenes outside in the woods were tense and I devoured them. 

I grew to really like Riker and Nicole and enjoyed Bound By Night immensely. I love paranormal and look forward to reading more of this alluring vampire series. Serious topical issues, a dash of humor, loads of action, dark characters, this paranormal tale held my interest and made me a fan. Like PNR? Here's a series to sink your teeth into.

Rating: 4

Cover comment:

Nice dark cover, very cool, but I didn't picture Riker looking like this. I expected someone slightly wilder looking, not so clean cut.

Book source:

I received a promotional copy from Simon and Schuster. Thank you.