Bound By Night (MoonBound Vampire Clan, #1) by Larissa Ione
Paranormal Romance
September 24, 2013
Pocket Books

Reviewed By Tori

Favorite Quote: “I should have been a relationship therapist or some shit.“

In a world where vampires are enslaved to humans, one woman and one man seek to right a terrible wrong and find a love worth dying for.

Nicole Martin hates vampires. As a child, she watched her family’s vampire slaves revolt and decimate her entire family right before her eyes. Taken out of the US as a child, Nicole is back and ready to take up the reins of her family’s company, Daedelus, as CEO. She plans to continue her work finding a cure for vampirism in hopes she can not only obliterate her memories of her past but also the entire bloodsucking vampire race.

Riker, a member of the renegade vampire clan, MoonBound, has waited years to exact revenge against the Martin for the deaths of his mate and friends. When Nicole Martin comes back to the states to take over her parents’ company as CEO,  Riker sees the perfect opportunity to take his revenge and kidnaps Nicole in order to use her as a bargaining chip against a rival clan. Determined to make her pay for her family’s crime, he finds himself becoming obsessed with her instead.

Nicole led a fairly sheltered life overseas and had no idea of the atrocities her parents’ company committed against the vampires. Life with the MoonBound clan quickly disabuses Nicole of her prejudices and forces her to take a long hard look at her own crimes against them. Her disgust and shame forces her to use her in depth knowledge of vampire biology to help find cures to problems that plague the vampires. She also finds her attraction to Riker growing though Riker’s own prejudice against her and her family leaves her little doubt he does not return her feelings.

Caught between a rival vampire clan’s need for revenge and a human company who doesn’t want to give up their experiments, Nicole and Riker find themselves falling deeper for one another as their respective species begin taking steps towards war.

I am a huge fan of Larissa Ione’s Demonica and Lords Of Deliverance series. Both are dark, sensual, action packed, wickedly humorous paranormal romance series that offer a healthy balance of humor and angst in a supernatural setting. Her newest paranormal romance series, MoonBound Clan Vampire, introduces us to a brand new world filled with slave owning humans and their chattel-vampires. Steady pacing, engaging characters and bold plotlines slowly builds Bound By Night into an entertaining read. Ione’s use Native American legend on which to base her vampire lore is a unique and interesting aspect of the story. Quite a bit of time is spent on background information and building the arc, explaining the slavery issues and how each of our protagonists play into it. Though is makes for a somewhat slow beginning, once our heroine and hero get together, the action and pacing picks up considerably.

Our protagonists, Nicole and Riker, are both strong intelligent loyal individuals whose similarities in personality adds to the strong chemistry that exists between them from their first meeting. I liked that Nicole wasn’t a subdued female; scared and quiet when faced with possible death. Upon being kidnapped by Riker, she demands a dagger, stating that when she dies, it will be by her hand, not his. She takes command of her own destiny, isn’t afraid to fight for what she wants, and apologises when it is due. My only qualms with her was the fact she kept telling Riker to get over his guilt over his mates death. Yes, it’s been years but still…it’s hard to look into the face of the one you blame and admit to a romantic interest.

Riker is quite the sexy melodramatic alpha male. He’s a classic Ione hero. Strong, seductive, sarcastic, and a wee bit angsty. His guilt over failing to save his mate and friends during the Martin uprising eats at him constantly. He hates that he is attracted to Nicole and goes out of his way to be an arse to her at times, blaming her for everything. I found his loyalty to his clan and species admirable but he constant mixed signals towards Nicole tiring.

The romance is a classic enemies to lovers trope that develops well though the pace is slow and fraught with emotional angst. The attraction and chemistry strong but it takes time for our lovers to see past their own prejudices to the heart of the person before them. As always, Ione writes some incredibly hot sexy love scenes.

“You wondered why sex with a vampire was such a big deal. I’m going to show you.”
Riker moved toward her, slowly, like a cat sneaking up on a bird.
“Stamina.”
He stepped closer.
“Multiple orgasms.”
Closer, and her mouth went dry.
“Flexibility.”
Closer. Her skin flushed hot.
“Strength”
Closer. Her stomach did a flip-flop.
“The ability to sense heat so we know what parts of the body are the most sensitive at the right time.”
Closer. A throbbing ache started low in her pelvis.
“The ability to hear the slightest change in the tempo of your pulse so we know exactly how every stroke, kiss, and lick affects you.”
Oh. Dear. Lord.

Some borrowing from the Demonica series in regards to the love making, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment.

The secondary cast of characters are a personable lot whose individuality and actions throughout the book guarantees that their stories will be worth reading. I fell in love with Hunter, the leader of Clan MoonBound and Myne, Riker’s best friend. Both are alphas to the core whose diverse actions and witty commentary keep me laughing.

“I was born awesome.”

The ending is an intense, emotional mash up of action, deception, and betrayal as Ms. Ione resolves the main conflict but leaves enough open to promise we haven’t seen the last of Daedelus or the inter clan fighting. Bound By Night was a treat to read and looks to be the beginning of another winning series by Larissa Ione. Book two, Chained By Night, releases August 4, 2014.

Rating: B

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