Author: Cat Miller
Genre: Fantasy, romance
Published on: September 25, 2011 (first edition), self-published
Girl gone wild…
College is supposed to be a time of discovery, but Danielle Vaughn never imaged it would be like this: heightened senses, supernatural powers, and a sudden craving for human blood. Dani is a demi-vamp, the daughter of a human psychic and a vampire noble, a living secret kept hidden for twenty-one years.
As Dani’s heritage manifests itself, her thirst for blood is matched only by her hunger for Chase Diedrick. But as the son of the Vampire Council’s most powerful ruling family, Chase is already promised to another. Dani saw Council politics destroy her mother’s life; she won’t let the same thing happen to her. Besides, there’s no shortage of men who are eager to satisfy her every need, including the alluring vampire Kayden.
Unfortunately, Dani also has no shortage of enemies. Her heightened powers of telepathy and telekinesis attract the attention of a rogue vamp who preys on gifted vampires, absorbing their skills along with their lifeblood. Now, Dani must seek the Council’s help to quickly master her new vampire life…or risk losing it.
I found this title after searching for good books to read in the vampire genre. Unbound is a vampire romance with mystery elements and a slight superhero feel to it. The protagonist is Danielle Vaughn. She’s a seemingly ordinary girl, smart and attractive. Dani (as others call her) has no idea about what she is, or about her noble lineage. She lives with her mother in a small town and is about to transfer to a college in New York.
As Dani comes of age, she starts experiencing things that she doesn’t understand. After an intimate moment with her boyfriend, Lucas, Dani notices a startling change in herself. Feeling a need to get away to sort things out, Dani hastily moves to New York. She doesn't take long to make friends. One of them is Olivia, her new roommate. She’s a pleasant girl, whom I definitely find best friend material. One night, Olivia and some friends take Dani to a club called Thirst. There, the group receives preferential treatment for some unknown reason. Dani meets Chase Deidrick, the handsome and charming son of the club’s owner. Unbound is told in alternating third-person POV, so you find out that Chase notices something about Dani that she has no idea about.
Dani tries to resist her strong attraction toward Chase, as she’s still with Lucas. What they have may not last long, though. Something happens with Lucas that leaves Dani heartbroken and suspicious. Upon returning to Thirst to drown her sorrows, Dani realizes she's become a vampire. Her first feeding is not a good experience, unfortunately. The incident ends with Dani meeting people who tell her about the Vampire Nation. They live in hiding amongst humans, and under the rule of a three-part council. Chase is from one of the three ruling houses. Dani also learns there's a Rogue out there hunting young vampires with special abilities. As Dani fits the profile, she becomes a prime target.
Kayden Paris, a well-known playboy, joins the vampire warrior class hoping to get assigned as Dani's protection. He is the second of several men who develop serious feelings toward Dani. It felt almost like a running gag to me. Danielle is beautiful, yes, but did every single young guy have to fall in love with her? No less than four vampires and two humans develop serious feelings for Dani throughout the book. Of those, Chase and Kayden are the main ones. This love triangle is one of the more interesting parts of Unbound. Here are two best friends who suddenly become rivals, fighting over the same woman. I found myself wondering if their friendship would survive this fight.
The Vampire Nation was also well done. It's almost in Harry Potter-level of thought-out and structured. I particularly liked their warrior class, which has an elite group called the Wrath. I thought the name was cool. There's also enough world-building and character development that the Rogue had very few scenes. He seems to prefer letting others do the dirty work for him. Another character I hoped to see more of is Olivia. It seemed like she might become a major supporting character. The book went in a different direction from what I was expecting.
Despite the few shortcomings, Unbound was riveting. It's among the best vampire fiction books I've read so far. The characters are very fleshed-out and compelling, and the setting is remarkably well thought-out. I also liked that Unbound has barely any horror elements to it. This isn't a dark book despite being about vampires. The sexual and action scenes are in R-rating territory, though. All in all, Unbound exceeded my expectations. I'm definitely going to read the next books in the series.
My rating: ★★★★ 1/2
4.5 stars - A fantastic page-turner!
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