Pages

Monday, September 22, 2014

ARC Review: Chained by Night

Chained by Night (MoonBound Clan Vampire #2)

by Larissa Ione

Blurb:

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?
Themes: paranormal, vampires, demons
Rating: 4.5 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
The amazing Larissa Ione strikes again with her return to the futuristic and intense world of the clan vampires and the humans that are plaguing them.  While I was surprised just how much I enjoyed this series when I first began it with book 1, but though the story is definitely dark and often scary, the characters, settings and emotional entanglements of the characters are what grab you and move you. My favorite series of Larissa’s continues to be her Demonica series, but the Moonbound Clan has captured my heart and mind as well and I am looking forward to future stories and learning more about the characters we have met in these two stories.  With so rich a setting, a world so similar to ours, but yet so different, this is a world full of bigotry that reminds us how easily the human nature can lapse into the hate we have so recently overcome. Readers cannot overlook the true greatness of this series, which is the characters and how wonderful they are.
The story follows the journey of Moonbound leader, Hunter, as he embarks on a new stage in his life—mating.  Sadly his mating is not one stemming from love, but instead from the duty of a bargain made to keep his clan members safe and his future mate is the epitome of the word “bitch”.  From the moment he agrees, Hunter knows his life will be miserable, though he never imagined it would come out quite this way. Hunter’s new mate arrives, in a hail of bullets, as humans attack and when he stages his rescue he has no idea that he has altered his destiny forever.  Aylin is immediately drawn to Hunter when he rescues her, but as they fall into their passion things quickly get out of control—especially since Hunter thinks she’s really her twin sister, who is actually his mate.  Forced with the ultimate decision of forfeiting her life for her sister’s Aylin joins hunter on his quest to keep his future children safe, but the passion between them grows into something more as they work together to overcome all obstacles.  In the end it comes down to a simple but terrifying choice for Hunter: give up the woman he loves or start a multi-clan war that could decimate the vampire population and leave his clan leaderless?
Aylin is a wonderful character, one with a compassionate heart, a loving nature, and totally born into the wrong clan and family. Born with a physical impairment that has left her an outcast in her own family, Aylin has only ever really loved one person and that is her sister and she is determined to protect her at all costs, even her own life.  The loyalty Aylin shows for her sister —definitely not deserved— is a shining part of her soul that is obviously overlooked by the warring and vicious clan she was born into.  Though I understand her love and loyalty to her sister, to me she didn’t extend her claws soon enough, I felt she should have kicked her sister’s sorry butt long before she finally stood up for herself.  It was obvious her feelings for Hunter developed quickly, and as she fell deeper and deeper I felt so sorry for her since Hunter stood on his duty and decision to give up their love.  Seeing her confidence bloom and her faith in herself grow as she overcame barrier after barrier was like seeing a butterfly emerge, full of life and finally assured of her place in the world and her chances of a future.  In the end I was so thrilled to see Aylin get her man and find herself in a clan that could actually appreciate and understand her.
Hunter, on the other hand, needed his ass kicked quite a bit; and I would have loved to see Aylin put him into his place from the beginning. He is obviously a great leader, one that is willing to sacrifice his own happiness to protect his clan and keep war from their borders. Making the deal with his enemies to bring a mate in from an enemy clan, Hunter knows there will be many challenges, but he never imagined it would make his life this complicated. His strength and leadership are his greatest assets as he deals with the other clan and the members of his own clan as well.  Sadly I felt that his adherence to the rules, and fear of shaking things up too much, left him floundering as he tried to overcome his desire for the woman he’s fallen for and adhere to his duty to his clan.   As he becomes more and more agitated and angry with his obviously difficult choice, Hunter finds his faith in the future and his decision to embrace happiness for himself and for Aylin becomes an easy one. I’m all for clan allegiance, but honestly if I found the love of my life I would NOT give them up for an empty promise made to an enemy and in the end thankfully neither did Hunter. 
Chained by Night is a story of love, overcoming impairments, finding true love, and accepting the love that sometimes comes at an inconvenient time, but is always necessary for life.  The danger that stalks hunter and Aylin as they slowly find victory in their battles heightens their emotions and the desire burning between them becomes truly irresistible.  Aylin is the type of woman that every woman wants to be, and every man wants for his own—at least the decent males, if not the ones from her birth clan.  When she blossoms from the shy, slightly terrified, and mostly lonely young woman she’s always been, into a seasoned warrior, with confidence in her own abilities and the passion she can find with another, Aylin becomes even more irresistible, a true gem in a world of darkness.  Hunter has his head up his butt a good bit of the story—let’s be honestbut shows us in the end he is a male worthy of a woman like Aylin and the future they could have.  He is definitely a male that deserves of all the happiness in the world which is why I don’t understand why he fought so hard to deny his love for Aylin.  Packed with danger, drama, intrigue, betrayal, and ultimately the overpowering victory of true love, Ione’s newest vampire tale takes us through a journey of love and redemption, one that will leave you breathless as the ending arrives and the world is forever changed for this clan, but  the changes will affect the entire world around them. Ione has done it again!
 *eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided. 


No comments:

Post a Comment