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Review
Book 2 of the Demonica series took me straight back into Ione’s vivid and intricate underworld full of demons, werewolves, vampires, humans, and everything in between, and I was instantly sucked in. Again! This time around, the story focusses on Shade, the middle brother of the Eidolon-Shade-Wraith trio of hot, sexy demons.
Chapter 1.
It had been at least two decades since Shade had awaked 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.
Instantly into the mind of the kinky brother, and instantly hooked! But when Shade really wakes, he discovers that he is actually chained in a dungeon with ex-lover, Runa chained up beside him. While imprisoned, Shade is tortured and tormented, and they have multiple run ins with the ultimate evil villain who makes it clear that he is after Shade and his brothers. And before Shade and Runa make their daring and action-packed escape, the two of them are forced, without their knowledge, into being bonded as lifemates.
Due to their bonding, Shade is protective, possessive and irresistibly drawn to his mate, and they need to stay together in order for him to survive (due to his nature as a sexual demon, he must have hot, frequent sex with her, otherwise he could die – bummer!). He does care for Runa, in fact his feelings for her are the reason he left her a year ago, as he is under a curse which will be triggered if he ever falls in love. So he has kept himself distant from anything remotely resembling a relationship in order to avoid an eternity of unimaginable suffering. So although he is now bonded to Runa, he tries his best to keep his emotions separate… and we all know how that little storyline is going to play out!!!
I really loved Runa. Having changed significantly since her ‘relationship’ with Shade a year ago, she is no longer a doormat, and is now a strong, independent woman who takes what she is given in life, and just deals. She has loved Shade all of this time, so although the circumstances are not ideal, she is pretty pleased with the outcome. Although she isn’t aware of Shade’s curse, and resents the fact that he is holding back from her, she feels enough for him to stick with him, convinced that he cares for her, and she’s determined to get her man.
And, of course, I freaking love Shade! A paramedic at Underworld Hospital, and the smutty playboy of the trio of brothers, he has always been drawn to women with darker tastes, and has a bit of a BDSM thing going on. With Runa, there are elements of it there, but it doesn’t really form a part of their relationship. But the sex is freaking HOT! And even though Shade tries his best to stay cold, I love that he can’t truly hold back his feelings for Runa. And with other, unexpected paranormal elements playing into their relationship, I loved watching things develop between these two.
With the paranormal world already well established, there is a bit more focus on the romance this time around, however there are still so many other stories all woven in throughout the book, all told in multiple POVs. Parts of the storyline continue from the first book, Pleasure Unbound, and are really obvious, however there are also some very subtle plotlines that started in book 1 that carry over – I picked up on some of them, but totally missed others, so there were a few surprises in there that took the story in a completely unexpected direction.
There is lots of time with Eidolon and Wraith, both of them are a big part of the story, as the boys work together to try and find the bad guy. But the two of them are also fiercely protective of their brother, and are terrified of the curse being triggered now that Shade has mated, and that fear brings potential conflict, and a whole new level of intensity to everything.
There is also a side story featuring Gem and Kynan which I really loved. It took me by surprises how ‘into’ their story I was, and I loved that they were featured so heavily. I really like the direction that they are both headed, and I’m seriously hoping they both get a HEA at some point in the series!
The bad guy in this book is psychotically evil. Again, tying in from the first book, the amount of killing, torture and diabolical plotting that goes on is pretty epic. This guy is absolutely unbelievable! But it’s all worth it for the huge showdown where everybody comes together to save the day. Pure awesome!
I am loving this series, and being drawn into the world that Ione has created. I can’t wait to continue on with tortured, man-whoring, bad-boy, Wraith’s book.
4.5 stars.
For more information about the Demonica series – including series reading order – please check out our Demonica / Lords of Deliverance Series page.