BOUND BY NIGHT is an intriguing look into a world where vampires are captured and kept as slaves to humans. Being the daughter of the CEO of the company that sells these vampires to humans and performs horrific experiments on them makes Nicole Martin and her family public enemy #1 for vampires. When Nicole was a child, a vampire rebellion killed most of her family. After being severely wounded, Nicole spent most of her formative years in Europe. She has recently come home to take the reins of the Daedelus Corporation from her stepbrother Chuck, who is forced to step down as CEO in favor of Nicole.

After being away for so many years, Nicole is clueless as to the shocking horrors that her family's company has inflicted on the vampire population. She has spent her time away from home wisely, however; and has become an expert on vampire physiology. Once home, she has become the face of Daedelus, and is kidnapped by the BloodBound Vampire clan. She is to be held for ransom for the return of Nehiya, a vampire midwife from the ShadowSpawn clan. Nehiya had been lent to the BloodBound clan to oversee a difficult vampire pregnancy; and if she is not returned to them, they have vowed to attack and wipe out the entire BloodBound clan.

Once with the clan and the enigmatic vampire known as Riker, Nicole begins to see and understand the atrocities that have been inflicted on the vampires in the name of science and to keep them as slaves. She begins to work with the BloodBound scientist to find answers to some of the problems plaguing the vampires. Nicole grows more attracted to Riker, a vampire who is unwilling to let go of the memory of his long-dead mate. Between the looming threat of battle with the ShadowSpawn clan and the efforts to force changes in the evils being perpetuated by Daedelus, Nicole and Riker have some difficult times ahead of them.

This is quite the interesting beginning to what looks to be a bit of a different take on vampire lore. It's not without problems; the foundation of this vampire world is still a bit shaky. Also the question as to how the vampires became slaves and why they are so hated by humans is not delved into with any depth. The reader is left hanging on these issues, as the vampires in this world are not really all that different from humans. As advanced as the human world is, the vampire world seems a bit backwards in comparison. Still, the plotline is sound, as is the wordbuilding; and the series shows great promise to come into its own in future books. The threat of the Daedelus Corporation is ever present, and the truce with the ShadowSpawn clan is tenuous at best. BOUND BY NIGHT is a fascinating read, and the series looks to be another winner for Larissa Ione.

Book Summary

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…