Review - Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione

Eternal Rider is the first installment in Larissa Ione's new Lords of Deliverance series.  Immortal Rider, the second novel, is already slated for release in December 2011.

Blurb from back cover:

They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.

Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.

It is no secret that I adore Larissa Ione's Demonica series.  I have a particular fondness for a certain demon named Shade ;p.  Needless to say, I was super excited when I heard she was starting a new venture based on the four horsemen of the apocalypse, Lords of Deliverance.  I snagged it right when pre-orders went up and I was definitely not disappointed.

I LOVED this novel!  The characters are fantastic, she beautifully captured the emotional struggle within each horseman/woman and Cara.  We even get to hang out with some of the characters from the Demonica series that readers already have a bond with.  A special moment occurs for Kynan and Gem; I won't give it away but it made me smile!  Ione does a great job making her characters entertaining by displaying a sharp wit and dark sense of humor.

Lords of Deliverance is set within the same world as the Demonica series.  Much of the same rules apply and many of the same species are involved as well.  Fear not, if you have not read her other series, Ione has set up the Lords as a stand alone so no prior background is necessary.  Honestly though, if you enjoy either series, it is well worth your time to immerse yourself in the other.

Action jumped off each page; I raced through this novel and there was no lag to be found.  Cara is an interesting character and I hope to see more of her, while staving off the apocalypse in future installments to the series.  Limos, the horsewoman known as Famine, is featured in Ione's next novel Immortal Rider.  December can't get here fast enough!

Rating: 5/5

~Helena

Book by Its Cover - Immortal Rider

Larissa Ione's second installment in her Lords of Deliverance series, Immortal Rider, is set to hit shelves in  December of this year.  I know we have a long time to wait, but the cover is just too stunning!  I feel compelled to share it with you guys :)

Blurb:

Sexy, powerful, and immortal, Limos is on a crash course with destiny. She’s been marked as Satan’s bride and her jealous fiancé wants her all to himself. The only way this Horseman can keep herself—and everyone else—safe is to keep her distance. But not even Limos can save herself from the secrets she’s kept . . . or resist the seductive allure of one very brave human.

Arik Wagner knows the saying “love hurts” better than most, yet he never thought stealing a kiss from Limos would land him in Hell. Literally. It takes all his military training to survive the demon torture, but once he’s topside, Arik realizes that the agony has just begun. With the Apocalypse looming and Satan demanding his bride, will Arik and Limos surrender to the desire smoldering between them? Or will giving in to their passion unleash hell on earth?

Helena's Thoughts:

I LOVE this cover!  Wow!  Where to start...lol.  The intense look the female model has on her face is consuming.  Her justice scales tattoo is perfect and the model has a definite Angelina Jolie badass thing going on.  The male model is super yums, digging the dog tag as well.  The lightning behind them and the grey tones sets the scene for a novel full of combat and strong emotional clashes.  Font colors are awesome, they contrast well with the grey scale and helps add a touch of femininity and heat.  Four horsemen symbol is really neat.  I love how the Lords get their own symbol just like the Demonica series did.  Really well done cover!  Visit Ione's blog and join in the ranting and raving :)

Share your thoughts on the cover, the series, future expectations, etc.  We love comments so don't be shy :)

Eternal Rider releases today!

Eternal Rider, the first in Larissa Ione's Lords of Deliverance series graces shelves today!  Make sure to pick up a copy.  If these novels are anything like her Demonica series, they will be amazing!  Check out the excerpt here.

Happy Reading!

~Helena

Chomping at the Bit: 2011 style

Here are just a handful of upcoming releases for the new year!  I can't wait to get my eyes into these!

Flip This Zombie, the second part of Jesse Petersen's Living with the Dead Series is set to release on January 3rd.  Better get those slaying shoes on!








Larissa Ione is coming out with the first installment in her Lords of Deliverance series: Eternal Rider on March 29th.  I adore her Demonica series so I have high hopes for her future novels!

 
Charlaine Harris is at it again!  Her eleventh book of the Southern Vampire Series, Dead Reckoning, is slated to hit shelves on May 3rd.  I am excited to see what mayhem Sookie will be stuck in next.









Karen Marie Moning will be wrapping up her five part Fever Series on January 18th with Shadowfever.  I am currently reading the fourth novel, Dreamfever.  Spectacular is what immediately comes to mind!










And of course, JR Ward is coming out with another Black Dagger Brotherhood novel: Payne's story, Lover Unleashed, on March 29th.






What novels are you aching to sink your teeth into?

~Helena

Book By Its Cover - Sin Undone

Today's book by its cover review is Sin Undone by Larissa Ione.


Synopsis:

HER TOUCH IS DEADLY

As the only female Seminus demon ever born, master assassin Sinead Donnelly is used to being treated like an outcast. She spent decades enslaved, and now vows she'll die before she'll relinquish her freedom again. Then Sin's innate ability to kill her enemies goes awry: She creates a lethal new werewolf virus that sparks a firestorm of panic and violence.

HIS HUNGER CAN'T BE DENIED

Half-werewolf, half-vampire Conall Dearghul is charged with bringing in Sin to face punishment for the plague. And she's no stranger: He's bound to her by blood, and the one sexual encounter they shared has left him hungering for her raw sensuality. Worse, Sin is the underworld's most wanted and Con soon learns he's the only one who can help her . . . and that saving her life might mean sacrificing his own.

Helena's Thoughts:

I love Ione's Demonica series.  As the only known female Seminus demon, Sin's story is bound to pack a punch.  The cover is fairly simple and formula-istic (by now, you know I make up words to suit my thoughts ;p).  Tribal tattoos are bold and of typical placement for this breed of demon.  Black leather is present like every urban fantasy/paranormal romance.  However, the caduceus is completely unique to this series.  Below is a close up...I love the story and ingenuity behind it.  Definitely excited to start reading TODAY! :D

Lily's Thoughts:
 (Hurry back turdface!  I am lonely without you!)

The Lords of Deliverance

Larissa Ione, the author of the wonderful Demonica series, is taking a new spin

From her blog:

"The prophecies were there but no one listened.

Until now.

They are the Lords of Deliverance and they have the power to usher in Doomsday…or prevent it.

Yep, got the official word…the Demonica spinoff series about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will launch in April 2011 with Eternal Rider, book 1!
The series title will be The Lords of Deliverance, and you'll meet the first hero, Ares (War) in Sin Undone. Very excited. The book is due to my editor at the beginning of June, and I don't have NEARLY enough done yet, so I'll be a little quiet until I get Ares wrestled into submission. (As if…the dude is called War for a reason.)"

All of her covers are simply yummy. I can't wait to lay eyes on this one and begin the long wait til next year :)
Already started the countdown for the fifth book in her Demonica series, Sin Undone, set to be out August 24th! In the interim, Ione has a couple free reads available. Be sure to download and indulge yourself with the following:

Bloodlust, with its giggle worthy review:
"I'm sure it's good, but no way am I going to read it." — Larissa's mom.
(It carries the following disclaimer: * * * CONTENT WARNING: This is a VERY graphic erotic horror/fantasy novella. Expect blood, sex, some M/M content, and bad, bad words.)
Synopsis:
Sometimes, you don't need romance…
Sir Brynn of Lochland has a serious problem. He's been captured by an evil vampire queen who wants to use him as her newest blood slave. But Bryann doesn't have a submissive bone in his body, and he intends to fight her every step of the way.
Can Brynn's willpower remain intact when pitted against Sorla's superior vampire strength, seductive skills, and underhanded cruelty, or will she ultimately take possession of both his mind…and body?

Demonica: Overkill
Snippets from our beloved demons, right now a Serena and Wraith scene is available.








Prances off to do some reading :D

~Helena

Review - Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione

"It had been at least two decades since Shade had awakened on a strange floor, hung over and without a clue to his whereabouts.  The heavy weight of a manacle around his wrist and the sound of a rattling chain made him smile.  It had been even longer since he'd been in this situation and chained up.
Cool.
Sure, he preferred the females to be the ones in chains instead of him, but he'd roll with it."

Ahh the glorious beginning to Ione's second installment to her Demonica series perfectly introduces us to a closer look at Shade.  Always the adrenaline junkie, Shade works as a paramedic at the demon hospital with his brothers Eidolon and Wraith.  His personal life is chock full of the same high, case in point see above lol.  Add a healthy dose of sarcasm, predatory instinct, and a bone deep loyalty to those he selectively allows into his inner circle and you have the perfect recipe for my favorite of the brothers! :)  Now on to a review of the actual novel and away from my obsession...



While out on an ambulance run, Shade and his half sister Skulk are captured and held captive by the demon body part traffickers we met in Pleasure Unbound.  Now we find out the mastermind behind the whole operation, a deranged mad"man" whose actions go above and beyond to make the brothers' lives complete sucktown (yes that is my word and no you can't use it ;p).

Now for some background on Shade, he is a victim of Maluncoeur, a curse that states he will slowly turn noncorporeal if he ever falls in love.  This entails a never ending hunger, thirst, and sexual appetite without the means to satisfy any of those problems or have any contact with any corporeal being.  Basically he gets entrapped in the "inbetween" where he can watch, observe, and go mad (nasty lil bugger eh?).  The maniac is well aware of this curse, and uses it as part of his ultimate plan.  He captures one of Shade's ex-lovers, Runa, and puts temptation right under Shade's nose.  Of course, Shade starts falling for Runa and his brothers scramble to find an anti-curse before he disappears completely. In the midst of all this, Mr. Looney Tunes hell raiser rages and pulls a couple more strings ultimately making the three brothers think Sheoul is a vacation spot comparatively.

The action rolls off the pages thicker than the first installment in the series.  There is always some new plot point just around the corner to take you off guard once again.  I found myself laughing out loud, boiling with rage, screaming at Shade, and literally even shedding a few tears as the pages flew by.  The last couple pages are kinda lame, ok I found them really lame, but the fact that Wraith's book is next helped me get over that part pretty fast. :)

Definitely check this novel out, but make sure to read the series in order!

Rating: 5/5

~Helena

Review - Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

"Had Eidolon been anywhere but the hospital, he would have killed the guy pleading for his life before him.  As it was, he'd have to save the bastard.  "Sometimes, being a doctor blows," he muttered..."

So starts the first installment in Larissa Ione's Demonica Series, Pleasure Unbound.  The series is now three books deep, the fourth is set to be released on Jan 26th, and a fifth already set for September of this year as well!  This novel covers the few days before Eidolon's descent into s'genesis, a change that will convert the demon from a functioning 'demon' of society into a crazed reproduction machine.  All Seminus demons will complete this change at 100 years of age.  As a doctor at the only demon appropriate hospital, built from Eidolon's own design, he prays that he will find a mate and effectively thwart the loss of his morality and vocation.

Enter Tayla, an Aegis slayer, 'hell bent' (haha couldn't resist) on destroying all demon kind for the protection of humanity.  Tayla's band of hit-demons are brainwashed to believe all demons completely lack any sense of decency and devour humans at will.  She became involved in the organization shortly after a traumatic experience involving a demon attack on her own mother.  Killing is her business and business is "a-booming", until she begins to have bouts of temporary paralysis.  One particular episode earns her a nasty cut and a trip to the demon hospital that Eidolon runs.

Eidolon's brothers, Wraith and Shade, try to convince Eidolon to kill the slayer.  However, as all romances tend to go, he feels an inexplicable pull towards Tayla.  So starts the rocky romance and nail biting action of the novel.  I am afraid to say much more, the plot turns are something I would hate to ruin, just know they are really good!

Character development is fantastic.  Alpha males that walk the fine line of a sexual predator match well with hard edged intelligent females; add a rocking twisting turning battlefield entrenched in years of conflict (genocide in this case), and it makes this story almost impossible to put down.  The sex scenes are HOT, though I could have done with the removal of a few, I found them a little too numerous and slightly detracting from the plot.  Overall I am well on my way to falling in love with this series.  I started the second a couple days ago, and it started off even better!  Shade is my second Rhage!  The sarcastic humor bleeds off the pages, a particular quality of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series that hooked me.

If you loved the BDB, you will love this series as well.  Yes, they are not the beloved vampires we all adore, but they come in as a very close second!  If you do not enjoy this book, I will personally take the backlash, how is that for a recommendation? ;p

Disclaimer:  Be aware that this novel is more urban fantasy than traditional romance, so be prepared for fictional violence and hospital worthy wounds/scenes.

Rating: 5/5

~Helena

New Series of Awesome!

Well new series to me anyways :)

I started reading Pleasure Unbound (Demonica Series book 1) by Larissa Ione a couple days ago, since then I have completely neglected my small semblance of a social life filling every open moment with this novel.  I am in love with it!

My quest to find a book that almost makes me as happy as the BDB (fear not JR Ward, my heart still belongs to Rhage) has finally fallen before my eyes.  A complete review will be done when I get back from my weekend conference.  Until then, grab a copy of this book and you will not be disappointed.

~Helena