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

The story of Nicole and Riker, how their pasts intertwined and where their future was going was totally, absolutely amazing. ~ Kitty, Guilty Pleasures

Description:
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.

 

Review copy provided for an honest review

Well, where do I start with Bound by Night? It was intriguing and dark. A book that had me totally entranced and obsessed until I finished it. I wasn’t sure if I was going to hate or love this book and it totally took me by surprise. I wasn’t sure if I could read such a disturbingly dark book that starts off with an 8 year old girl being attacked by vampires. But, as the story unfolded, it grabbed me and didn’t let me go.

The story of Nicole and Riker, how their pasts intertwined and where their future was going was totally, absolutely amazing. Nicole’s fears and hatred of all things Vampire and Riker’s guilt of the past, mesh perfectly together as their lives and stories are told. They are brought together in a very violent way which only proves to Nicole that Vampires are not to be trusted … that they are not civilized. But, she soon learns that they have their reasons for why they feel the way they do and the part that the company her father founded, Daedalus is mostly to blame. Which also lays the blame on her. She’s confused and scared of her feelings for Riker … what he does to her and how he makes her feel. There is no way that she could want a Vampire. Want the feel of Vampire’s fangs on her throat. Want to never let him go. She will also not play second-fiddle to Terese. Either he lets go of his guilt over not protecting Terese or he lets go of her.

Riker does not trust Nicole, the current CEO of Daedalus. She believes in enslaving Vampires, defanging them, making them suffer, and her father caused the death of his mate Terese. The only thing that she is good for is ransom. He’s holding her to get Neriya back from Daedalus in order to stop a war between MoonBound and ShadowSpawn. What he finds out is that she does have a heart, that Terese meant more to her than he ever knew. She’s smart, she’s funny and she is totally loyal. He also cannot ignore the feelings that she stirs in him. The want to own and posses her. But, he knows that she’s scared of him and what he is. He also cannot let his guilt of losing Terese go. When he gives himself to ShadowSpawn to stop the war between the Clans, he finally confronts his feelings and knows that, if he loses her, he loses himself.

There are so many wonderful, intriguing characters interspersed throughout this story. Myne has me totally baffled. I would love to know his true story. Hunter is one bad-ass Clan leader. What he does to stop the war and save Nicole was totally self-less. Especially since he did not trust or like Nicole or any human, but when he saw what she was capable of and how loyal she was, he knew he had to save her from the hands of ShadowSpawn. And, there are several other supporting characters throughout that bring levity to a otherwise dark and menacing story.

Hunter’s story is next and I cannot wait to see how he handles the promise that he made. What he has to do to save his Clan, his first-born and his own life. The Epilogue was interesting and just piqued my interest and has me breathlessly waiting for the next book in the MoonBound series.