Series: MoonBound Clan Vampires

Guest Review: Chained by Night by Larissa Ione

Posted March 23, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Chained by Night by Larissa IoneReviewer: Tracy
Chained by Night by Larissa Ione
Series: Moonbound Clan Vampires #2
Also in this series: Bound by Night

Publication Date: September 30th 2014
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

THE FUTURE OF HIS TRIBE
Leader of the vampire clan MoonBound, Hunter will do what he must to save his people from extinction—or worse, a torturous eternity as vampire slaves and subjects of human experimentation. To keep his enemies at bay, he has agreed to mate a rival clan leader’s daughter in return for peace between the clans and an ally in the looming war with the humans.

THE LOVER OF HIS SOUL
But survival comes at a price. First, Hunter must break an ancient curse by successfully negotiating three deadly tests. Then he must resist the searing passions of the gorgeous vampire warrior he despises but is bound to mate. Will Hunter stay true to his word? Or will he risk everything for the woman he really loves: the vampire seductress’s identical twin sister?

Tracy’s review of Chained by Night (Moonbound Clan Vampires #2) by Larissa Ione

In book one of this series we learned that a midwife had been taken by a company by the name of Daedalus. The midwife was in the care of the Moonbound Clan at the time but she actually belonged to the ShadowSpawn Clan. ShadowSpawn vampires are evil, nasty people and when they kidnapped Nicole, Riker and another vamp named Lucy, the only way to stop a war from occurring was for the leader of the Moonbound Clan, Hunter, to agree to marry the ShadowSpawn leaders oldest daughter, Rasha.

Rasha is a warrior but a complete bitch of a woman. She makes Hunter’s skin crawl and the thought of mating with her makes him sick to his stomach. Her twin sister Aylin, however, makes his blood sing and the more he gets to know her the more he likes her.

When Hunter tells Rasha that they need to go on a quest so that a demon won’t take their firstborn child Rasha refuses. Luckily for Hunter Aylin agrees to take her place and they head off on the quest. Aylin proves to be an incredibly strong woman despite a handicap she has and Hunter starts to fall in love. He wants nothing more than to be with Aylin but as he made an agreement to marry Rasha, he can’t go back on that. It tortures both of them but they find there is no solution to the problem.

Another great book in the Moonbound Clan series. This book was SO very different from the first book in the series but still oh, so good. I loved the expansion of the world that Ione created to include a different dimension. The situation that Hunter and Aylin find themselves in puts them together and has them growing closer in a life or death situation. It may have been extreme circumstances that put them together but they ended up seeing the real people behind the outer skin.

Once they were back in the clan my heart broke for them. Ione did a great job of showing us how tortured they were to be apart and to know that Rasha was coming between them was horrible. Rasha was such shrew I just didn’t like her at all. She really tried to protect Aylin at times but treated her like crap at the same time. When certain information came to light about the twins I disliked her even more.

I have to say that I was a little confused as to why the demon would take Hunter’s firstborn with Rasha when he had had a child previously. It did state that the baby had died but it didn’t say how old the child was. Wouldn’t that have been Hunter’s first born? Wouldn’t the demon have taken that one? I was confused.

Despite that issue I really liked the book. It was exciting in so many ways and I couldn’t put it down until I was done. I can’t wait for the next book in the series and I’m looking forward to getting to know the Moonbound Clan a little better.

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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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
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
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: Bound by Night by Larissa Ione

Posted November 7, 2014 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Bound by Night by Larissa IoneReviewer: Holly
Bound by Night by Larissa Ione
Series: MoonBound Clan Vampires #1

Publication Date: September 24th 2013
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 400
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

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

Let me preface this review by stating I dislike vampires. I think I burned out on them in the early mid 2000’s when they were super popular and I’ve never really gone back. I have kind of a mental wall up about them, to be honest. I see “Vampire” and I turn away. I’m sure I’ve missed out on some greats reads because of this, but that’s a post for another day. I’m glad I read this one. It turned out to be an excellent read.

In this world, vampires were discovered by humans and turned into slaves. They were defanged, collared and sold to the highest bidder. One of the companies responsible for the inhumane treatment of them is Daedalus. Nicole Martin’s family has owned Daedalus for generations. When her parents were slaughtered in a vampire rebellion when she was a child, the company came to her. Twenty years later, she’s a respected Vampire Physiologist. Per the terms of her parent’s will, she’s just taken over as CEO. She wants to sell off many of the branches of the company and focus strictly on the scientific aspects of their research, but the board and her half-brother are against the idea. She’s facing more resistance than she expected, which makes an incident at one of their training labs even harder to deal with. Her signature is on a kill order for more than a dozen vampires, but she knows she didn’t sign it.

Vampires have a hard time conceiving, which means their numbers are very low. When the MoonBound clan is told a midwife they borrowed from another clan – who can help with conceiving –  has been captured by Daedalus, they’re desperate to get her back. The neighboring clan, ShadowSpawn, is a ruthless, savage clan who outnumbers them greatly. To avoid a war, and probable annihilation, they must get the midwife back. They plan to force the CEO to reveal the location of the midwife and order her release, but the plan goes awry when security shows up once they breach her home. They end up kidnapping her and taking her with plans to ransom her.

For Riker, second in command at MoonBound,this is the best case scenario. Since his mate was taken as slave to the Martin’s and murdered by them twenty years ago, he’s been dying for revenge. Now he has his chance. Nicole Martin stands for everything he despises and he can’t wait to kill her. But from the beginning she surprises him. She isn’t the monster he thought she’d be, and her connection to his dead mate is the most surprising of all.

Nicole is terrified of vampires since they attacked her when she was a child. Her nanny, Therese, was the only one she ever loved…and Nicole saw Riker kill her. Except he isn’t the monster she’d always thought him to be. Sure, he’s a scary vampire, but he’s surprisingly gentle with her. In fact, everything she thought she knew about vampires is challenged as she spends time with MoonBound. They aren’t the wild animals she’d always been told they were.

When things come to a head with her company, she’ll have to make a choice: Go back to the life she’s always known or put her faith in the monsters who stole her childhood.

This was such an interesting concept. The world-building is fantastic. I was fully immersed in the story from the beginning. The struggles both Nicole and Riker faced were real ones. Both grew in character as they realized their narrow view of the other’s race wasn’t fair or reliable.

The tale is emotionally engaging and contains a surprising amount of depth. It took me on an action-packed, thrilling ride.

4 out of 5

four-stars

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