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Blurb
After a difficult childhood and a turbulent stint in the military, Declan Burke finally got his act together. Now he’s a battle-hardened professional bodyguard who takes his job at McKay-Taggart seriously and his playtime – and his playmates – just as seriously. One thing he never does, however, is mix business with pleasure. But when the mysterious, gorgeous Suzanne D’Angelo needs his protection from a stalker, his desire for her burns out of control, tempting him to break all the rules…even as he’s drawn into a dark, dangerous world he didn’t know existed.
Suzanne is an earthbound angel on her critical first mission: protecting Declan from an emerging supernatural threat at all costs. To keep him close, she hires him as her bodyguard. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that she’s in over her head, defenseless against this devastatingly sexy human who makes her crave his forbidden touch.
Together they’ll have to draw on every ounce of their collective training to resist each other as the enemy closes in, but soon it becomes apparent that nothing could have prepared them for the menace to their lives…or their hearts.
Review
4.5 stars!
I loved this book! A crossover between Larissa Ione’s Demonica series and Lexi Blake’s Masters & Mercenaries, this book is a fantastic combination of alpha male, strong heroine, chemistry, banter, dirty flirting, romance, sexy time and paranormal badassery. It’s a fun read with a fantastic set up, and I loved it!
Demonica is my all-time fave PNR series, so of course I was excited to dive back into the Demonica Underworld – a spin off from the original series. Suzanne is a Memitim – an earthbound guardian angel – who, unlike her siblings, dreams of the normal human life she used to have rather than the dream of earning her wings and ascending to heaven. But she is trapped by her destiny, and the duty assigned to her. Her latest primori is a human named Declan Burke, an ex-soldier and mercenary now working for McKay-Taggart, and a male that has her feeling all sorts of things she’s never felt before. She is tasked with protecting him, but when a dangerous threat emerges without the usual pre-warning, she figures that the safest way to keep him safe is to pose as a rich socialite and hire him as her live-in bodyguard so that she can keep watch over him 24/7.
Declan is less than impressed with his latest assignment but he takes the job, even though it means being in the constant presence of the woman he can’t get off his mind. He never mixes business with pleasure, but he is deeply attracted to Suzanne, even though she appears to be a vapid, spoiled princess. But there’s something beneath her polished veneer that intrigues him like no other. And when strange things start to happen, he knows that she holds the answers to his questions, and he’s determined to get to the bottom of it all.
This is such a fun set-up. Usually in PNR books it’s the heroine who is clueless up against her paranormal badass hero. But in this case we have a human badass hero who doesn’t realise that the woman he wants is an equally badass paranormal heroine, and it’s such a great twist! Add to that their insane chemistry, all of the heated stares, the innuendo and the flat out, unhidden attraction, and the anticipation just waiting for something to happen between them was fantastic!
But the demon that is after Declan is particularly nasty, which necessitates Suzanne’s fellow memitim, other beings from the Underworld, and a friendly demon to help keep him safe. All of the cameos are Demonica fangirl heaven, with all of the banter, teasing and smartassery from characters that I love so much.
“Nice to meet ya, human. I’m Wraith.” The demon grinned, flashing vicious-looking fangs. “And I’ll be your guide to the nightmares that live in your brain.”
And as the excitement builds to the inevitable final battle, Declan and Suzanne will be forced to put their feelings to the ultimate test as they are faced with a new reality, and the decision about what they truly want from their lives. It’s a great mix of action and the paranormal, but there is a nice emotional depth as Suzanne and Declan figure everything out, and the love story that develops is just gorgeous.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You…and this world you’ve opened up for me .. I want a life with you, and I want a life in your world.”
The crossover part is done really well. I haven’t read Masters & Mercenaries, but I never felt lost, and as a part of the Demonica series, this book fits in seamlessly. There’s continuation of the storyline started in [book:Hawkyn|36324740], including some pretty significant plot developments for some of the side characters – including Azagoth and Lilliana – and I can’t wait to see how that continues to play out. You could read this one as a standalone, but you could get a bit lost with all of the characters that are mentioned, and be aware of spoilers for the main series.
Overall, I loved this one. It was fun, sexy and romantic with just the right amount of paranormal badassery, and I loved it.
4.5 stars!
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
For more information about the Demonica series – including series reading order – please check out our Demonica / Lords of Deliverance Series page.
This book is part of the Masters & Mercenaries Crossover Collection.
Check out more details here
About Larissa Ione
Larissa Ione is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An Air Force veteran, she traded in a career as a meteorologist to pursue her passion of writing. She now spends her days in pajamas with her computer, strong coffee, and supernatural worlds. She believes in celebrating everything, and would never be caught without a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge…just in case. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her U.S. Coast Guard husband, her teenage son, a rescue cat named Vegas, and her very own hellhound, a King Shepherd named Hexe.
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