Larissa Ione - Bound by Night

Nicole Martin was only eight years old when the vampire slaves rose up in rebellion and killed her family. Now she devotes her life to finding a vaccine against vampirism, hoping to wipe out her memories—along with every bloodsucker on the planet. But there’s one thing she cannot destroy: her searing, undeniable attraction for the one man she should hate and fear the most . . .
A member of the renegade vampire MoonBound Clan, Riker is haunted by demons of his own. When he recognizes Nicole and remembers how her family enslaved his loved ones, his heart burns for vengeance. But when he kidnaps Nicole and holds her in a secret lair, his mortal enemy becomes his soul obsession, his greatest temptation, and, perhaps, his only salvation—a hot-blooded lover who could heal him with her touch . . . or bury him forever. 

Comment: I've bought this book not long after its release but as usual, always got busy with other things and it kind of was left forgotten for a while. I knew some friends liked it so I finally picked it and started reading.

This story is about a different world, where vampires exist and they have been slaves to humans for a long time until several rebellions happened. Nowadays humans and vampires are enemies for the most part, and in particular a company is the vampire's biggest enemy because it uses and kills vampires for science when it hides profitable and inhuman conditions and treatment of vampires.
Nicole Martin is the company's new director but she doesn't agree with the way things are done although she hates vampires for what they did to her family. One day she is kidnapped and that is starting point for her to see how things are in the vampires' side and how that will change her own life.

After years reading this author's successful and funny Demonica series, it was very difficult not to compare the style and the tone of the two worlds. I know it's different, there's no connection between them, but when one has so many pages read it's very hard not to compare, especially after finishing reading.
Of course, taste is personal and so is the way we see each story and how things happen in it, but after years of reading Demonica it was rather obvious this new world is darker, more serious and it has a certain vibe that leaves you in a different mood and creates another feeling after reading. I wouldn't say this is bad or good or whatever when comparing to Demonica, because what we can compare is the writing style and the success of the reading experience as the most obvious things. But in a way, by saying what we think about one or the other and making that relationship, is another way to talk about what we intend. So, in this case, for those who read Demonica, this new world takes more time to take us in and although still sexy, I don't think it had the same level of intensity about the intimacy the other series has, or at least it didn't look like it. I had the feeling things are more seriously done here or maybe is the way the characters were that gave that idea, there isn't much play or easy living in the story and that tone shapes things too.

The main characters seemed ok together, but obviously they had many obstacles to overcome, namely the way their pasts made them who and how they were. Their story was interesting enough because neither was silly or too much of a cliché. Of course there were things about them I'd have liked to change or to have been done differently, but overall, I liked the pace of their romance and how what they feared, how their experiences made them act like that but weren't a stop to happiness or for them to simply understand what they thought were weaknesses and tragedies could be tools to give them strength to be together eventually. The personal side of things was good, I think.

There are several secondary elements to give interest to this story. I felt everything was thought, structured even if cliché at some points. I'm curious to see what happens next to some characters although I must confess I'm not crazy with eagerness to read...with time it will be enough. 
I felt the goal was different here and the author wanted to show the same genre written by her could be understood differently by her readers and in that, she did it. Of course, one can say it's not fair to compare books or series, but despite being so, it's too easy to let it happen so...

As for this series I liked it, didn't loved it to pieces but will read more...eventually.
Grade: 6/10