Bound by Night (MoonBound Clan Vampire, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Sep 15, 2013 Lisarenee rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, nbrc-tower-team-challenge-ii

My synopsis:
Eighty years ago humans found out that vampires existed. It took them twenty years to enslave them. Even though they are powerful, their numbers were so small that they could not compete against so many humans. While some escaped capture, they were far and few between. Treated no better than animals, it was no great surprise they would rebel. Twenty years ago, there was a great uprising for which many vampires escaped and gained their freedom and many humans were slain. Nicole Martin My synopsis:
Eighty years ago humans found out that vampires existed. It took them twenty years to enslave them. Even though they are powerful, their numbers were so small that they could not compete against so many humans. While some escaped capture, they were far and few between. Treated no better than animals, it was no great surprise they would rebel. Twenty years ago, there was a great uprising for which many vampires escaped and gained their freedom and many humans were slain. Nicole Martin was eight years old at the time and her family was among the victims. She too had been left for dead. Feasted upon and left to die on the ground like an animal, but by some means she survived. The scar on her neck where the family cook had torn her neck to drink is a constant reminder of that day, as are the medical issues which arose from her coming in contact with the vampiridae virus which caused vampirism. While she'd been immunized against the virus which kept her from becoming a vampire, it hadn't stopped the virus from attacking her body. Eventually the illness will kill her causing her organs to shut down.

Now, twenty years later she's inherited her father's company, Daedalus. She's the newly inducted CEO with barely a clue as to what she's doing or what the company does, as she's still learning the ropes. When a important female vampire is kidnapped, everything points to Daedalus as being responsible. Nicole is now the target of vampires once again and is kidnapped from the company's headquarters. Will she be as lucky this time around or will she finally meet her final fate?

My Review:
I truly enjoyed this twist on an old genre. Now it seems pretty incredible that vampires could be slaves to humans, but a little bit of how it may have been accomplished was explained or at least hinted at. There is talk of vampires' canines, the teeth they feed through, being extracted. Likewise, there is talk that the company responsible for revolutionizing the slavery was involved in vampire testing. That suggests some sort of drug might have been involved. I'd love for Ms. Ione to go a little more in depth into how the enslavement was accomplished. I certainly can't imagine sleeping well at night if my household had several vampires drifting about.*shudder* Hopefully we'll learn more about their enslavement in future books.

What I liked about the romance aspect of the book was that Nicole and Ricker did not have an instant love connection. If anything the two despised each other. Nicole believing Ricker had killed her nanny, Terese (who had been his mate), years ago, and Ricker believing Nicole was just another human who hated vampires and mistreated them. Each started out with preconceived notions about the other that they needed to work through and sort out.

Additionally, I enjoyed the mystery as to what truly was going on at Nicole's family company. Ricker insisted they illegally kidnapped a vampire, and Nicole insisting the company wouldn't do that despite it being known to do testing on vampires. Being as she's only taken the reigns of her family business two months ago, the question becomes how well does she truly know the ins and outs of what goes on? If she's wrong, is there any chance of her coming out of this one alive? If she's right, is there any chance they'll let her go?

Overall, I gave this one 4 out of 5 roses. I was instantly hooked and remained that way throughout the book. I liked the folklore Ms. Ione created about the creation of vampires and look forward to seeing where the next book will lead. I was left with a lot of questions about how Nicole will be effected by all that happened as we still don't have a good grasp on how everything works in this new world. As this is the first book in the series, however, I'm not overly concerned. On the Lisarenee Romance Rating Scale, this one gets a STEAM rating (bordering on SHOWER)--too hot for a fan, but you still have a handle on things. You should use extreme caution when reading a book with this rating in public. People may inquire as to why you looked flustered and flushed.
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Oct 15, 2014 Tanagra rated it really liked it

Well, that was just wonderful!

This was my first foray into the worlds of Larissa Ione, and I was not disappointed. I acquired this book for free at a signing during NYCC. The Simon & Schuster rep gave me the book when I got in line. I started reading it because book. Ten minutes later, when I reached the front of the line, I was already cheesing at Ms. Ione and gushing about her book.

I truly enjoy the adult supernatural genre, but any reader can easily get tired of the troupes that plague it: sh ...more

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Nov 05, 2012 Steph rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: author-웃, series-ongoing, series-book1, arc-netgalley, year-read-2013

Bound by Night, the first in Larissa Ione's new PNR series MoonBound Clan Vampire, is a unique mixture of Native American and supernatural lore.

Eighty years ago, humans became aware of the existence of vampires. Twenty years later, humans enslaved vampires - defanging them, torturing them, and making them house slaves. Twenty years ago, there was a vampire uprising and many escaped from and killed their human slavers.

Vampires are animals that must always be harnessed.

Nicole Martin and her br ...more

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Jul 22, 2013 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-reviews

Larissa Ione has been my on must read list for entirely too long, but I was unwilling to get entangled in an existing series so when Bound by Night became available I didn't want to miss out.

Larissa Ione's new MoonBound Clan series doesn't seem to stray far from familiar ground for the author, it is a steamy paranormal romance featuring pairs of star crossed lovers. In Bound by Night Nicole Martin, has recently inherited the role of CEO of her family's corporation, a global company built on the
Larissa Ione has been my on must read list for entirely too long, but I was unwilling to get entangled in an existing series so when Bound by Night became available I didn't want to miss out.

Larissa Ione's new MoonBound Clan series doesn't seem to stray far from familiar ground for the author, it is a steamy paranormal romance featuring pairs of star crossed lovers. In Bound by Night Nicole Martin, has recently inherited the role of CEO of her family's corporation, a global company built on the exploitation of vampires, to be used as, amongst other things, house servants and medical test subjects. When her company captures a female vampire with a highly prized talent, the members of the MoonBound Clan are desperate to retrieve her and kidnap Nicole intending to torture her to reveal the location of their missing vamp. Nicole is terrified, recognising MoonBound Clan warrior Riker as one of the vampires that was involved in the slave rebellion that slaughtered her entire family as a child. Riker has been dreaming of revenge on the Martin family for years but Nicole is not what he expected and neither, Nicole learns, is Riker the monster she has feared for years.

I liked the world building by Ione, here vampires have been known to the world for around sixty years and have been enslaved by humans. Largely vampires are viewed by society as murderous animals and afforded very few rights. There are small clans of rebellious vampires doing their best to avoid capture, forced to compete with each for scant resources, it is to one of these - the MoonBound Clan - that Riker belongs. Ione's vampires are not mindless killers though they are more than capable of it. They can be born, or turned - a process not all survive, and have enhanced abilities such as speed and strength and may have a special power. And in an original twist on Vampire myth, they are said to descend from a Native American legend but their true origins, which very few know, can be traced to a curse laid by a demon.

The plot itself is fairly predictable for any romance, distrust and anger slowly give way to mutual understanding and cooperation, with the hum of irresistible attraction ever present. In terms of story this means Nicole and Riker find common ground when they learn more about each other and their prejudices are challenged. There is plenty of action in addition to the romance, kidnappings, battles between vampires and hunters and between vampires from rival clans, putting Nicole and Riker alternately in jeopardy and the tension leads to a fast paced read.

I enjoyed Bound By Night, it is pretty much what I expected from my reading within the genre but also offers its own small unique touches. It's likely I will pick up the next installment to see how Hunter escapes the predicament he finds himself and how Nicole and Riker are faring with their HEA. ...more

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