Day: March 19, 2015

Guest Review: Bound by Night by Larissa Ione

Posted March 19, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Bound by Night by Larissa IoneReviewer: Tracy
Bound by Night by Larissa Ione

Publication Date: September 24th 2013
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four-stars

Nicole Martin was only eight years old when she narrowly survived a massacre: her family’s vampire slaves rebelled and killed everyone in her household. Twenty years later, Nicole now dedicates herself to finding a vaccine against vampirism…and eradicating the gruesome memories that give her nightmares.

Riker, a member of the wild vampire Moon Clan, is haunted by his own demons—his wife Lorraine had been captured and enslaved by the Martin family. It was during a botched escape attempt that she was killed, along with their unborn child. Still wracked with grief and anger, Riker is now fueled solely by the desire to rescue vampire slaves…and slaughter their owners.

When Riker stumbles upon Nicole in a chance meeting, he immediately recognizes her as a member of the Martin family that once enslaved his wife—and she recognizes him as the wild vampire she saw kissing a pregnant slave in the moments before her violent death—an image that has haunted her dreams for years.

When Riker kidnaps Nicole and they spend a night together in a cave on the way back to his clan, suddenly they begin to realize that they aren’t as different from one another as they may have thought—and they’re finding themselves drawn to one another…

Tracy’s review of Bound by Night (Moonbound Clan Vampires #1) by Larissa Ione

When Nicole was eight years old there was a vampire uprising (vampires are slaves/servants in her world) and she was attacked. Her parents were killed but she survived and was then sent to live with a relative in Paris. She became a scientist and is an expert on vampire physiology. When she hit age 28 she was forced back to Seattle and into the CEO position for her family business called Daedalus. The company is legitimate but there’s a darker side to it that Nicole and the general public has no knowledge of.

Riker is a made vampire and part of the Moonbound Clan. When a midwife is taken and held at a Daedalus facility Riker kidnaps Nicole so that he can force her to free the woman. Riker is incredibly attracted to Nicole even though he believes he hates her. Nicole hates Riker as she believes that he killed her vampire nanny – Riker’s mate – 20 years earlier.

While Nicole is held at the Moonbound Clan lair she starts to see vampires in a completely new light and one she actually likes. She beats her fear of vampires and ends up helping them try to get the midwife back. Unfortunately there are people that Nicole though she could trust that betray her and soon she becoming everything she thought she hated.

I haven’t read a vampire novel in a good long time that I liked as much as I did this book. I loved the world that Ione created here as it’s so different from anything I’ve read before. The vampires as the oppressed people, working as servants and slaves – defanged and “trained” to be calm and non-threatening – it all made for some good reading.

Nicole was a great heroine. I completely understood her fear of vampires after what she went through as a child. I liked how the author didn’t make her immediately feel comfortable or safe within the lair. She was still scared throughout most of the book and for me it was more realistic that way.

Riker was a man who had issues but they were understandable. He was a good guy with a good heart but was a bit belligerent about quite a few things. He fought himself when it came to Nicole but eventually caved to the attraction and that ended up working in his favor as she became his mate.

The story, the world-building, the secondary characters (who played a big role in the story) and the romance were all so good. When I finished this book I immediately picked up book two as it was that good. Even if you’re not normally a fan of, or have been burned out on, vampires I recommend you pick this one up.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from Pocket Books. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This title was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

four-stars


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Review: Thane’s Redemption by Nina Crespo

Posted March 19, 2015 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Thane’s Redemption by Nina CrespoReviewer: Holly
Thane's Redemption by Nina Crespo
Series: The Song #1
Publisher: Kensington
Publication Date: March 3rd 2015
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 70
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

The one night she'll want to remember, she'll be forced to forget. It's been almost a year since Celine's fiancé's death and she's still struggling to move on. But when she meets Thane, the super hot lead singer of Thane’s Redemption, she finds her desire reawakening, and her heart opening. Soon one kiss leads them straight into a night of heated passion…   Thane’s unexpected connection with Celine only leaves him wanting more of her—but his life makes it impossible. For Thane's Redemption is just a cover for a deeper secret: A former Army Ranger presumed dead, Thane is really a time-traveling, covert operative charged with saving the world from disaster. Each jump through time forces those around him to forget he ever existed—and Celine would be no exception. But can time work in their favor to give them a second chance at love? Or will a choice Thane makes in the future put Celine in mortal danger?...
25,000 Words

When Army Ranger Thane’s helicopter starts going down, he knows he and his whole team are going to die. He isn’t wrong. But it turns out death is just the beginning. The entire team is offered a deal they can’t refuse; Die now or live forever as immortal time-jumpers who are sent out on missions to stop bad guys. They won’t be able to make lasting connections, but they’ll be saving the world. None of them thought very hard before accepting.

5 years later Thane meets Celine at a show they’re playing. He’s immediately drawn to her and decides he has to have her. But Celine isn’t the usual groupie. She’s been hurt, badly, by the death of her fiance a year before and still isn’t recovered. He wants her, but he also wants to heal her. They end up spending a night together and connect deeper than Thane ever expected…but the side effect of his time-jumping is that no one remembers him as soon as he moves forward in time. When he gets called out on a new mission the next morning, Celine’s memories of him disappear.

I’m not going to lie, the premise intrigued me and scared me at the same time. With a time – jumping rock star solider it could have been terrible, but the author made it work. I bought into the premise behind it and got caught up in the story. Unfortunately it felt half-formed. There was a lot going on and too much wasn’t explained. This may be the introduction to a series, but at 80 pages it frustrated more than intrigued.

Thane’s background – including a fiance that may? have broken up with him – was eluded to, but not explored. The plot they have to foil to stop a chemical bioagent from being released onto the world – which was the mission he got called away from her for – could have been interesting, but it was just kind of brushed aside in favor of a resolution between Celine and Thane. Which really wasn’t much of a resolution at all.

I would be interested in reading a full-length story about the same couple, but I’m on the fence about starting a book set in the same world featuring a new couple. I liked the author’s voice, but there were too many threads left unraveled for this to truly satisfy. I couldn’t find any information about future releases, so I have no idea what the author has in mind. I’m reserving judgement until I see what comes next.

3 out of 5

three-stars


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