Passion Unleashed (The Demonica Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wicked...Decadently Sinful...Prepare to be burned." (Gena Showalter, New York Times Bestselling author of the Lords of the Underworld series )

"Very dark, very sexy, and very creative. Ione's Demonica series will have the most jaded paranormal fans perking up!" (Emma Holly, USA Today bestselling author of DEMON'S FIRE )

"A heroine with attitude and a hot-blooded demon make for a dangerously erotic, wonderfully satisfying read. Ione knows how to make your blood boil and your heart race as you devour each and every page." (Cheyenne McCray, New York Times bestselling author of Dark Magic )

"Ione brings to life a riveting world filled with sizzling sensuality, dark wit, and wicked hot demons." (Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author of the Midnight Breeds series )

"Ignites on the first page and never looks back... [A]ction and danger leap off very page." (4 1/2 stars, Romantic Times BOOKreviews Magazine )

Product Description

FORBIDDEN TEMPTATIONS

Serena Kelley is an archaeologist and treasure hunter-and a woman with a secret. Since she was seven, she's been the keeper of a powerful charm that grants her health and immortality . . . as long as she stays a virgin. But Serena isn't all that innocent. And when a dangerously handsome stranger brings her to the brink of ecstasy, she wonders if she's finally met the one man she cannot resist.

FATAL DESIRES

Wraith is a Seminus demon with a death wish. But when an old enemy poisons him, he must find Serena and persuade her to give him the only known antidote in the universe-her charm. Yet, as she begins to surrender to his seductions and Wraith senses the cure is within his grasp, he realizes a horrible truth: He's falling for the woman whose life he must take in order to save his own.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Forever (March 31, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446401056
• ISBN-13: 978-0446401050
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,853 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 3 in The Demonica Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, Emotional and Thrilling, March 31, 2009

By	Book Fanatic "Lea" (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

I experienced every emotion possible while reading Wraith's story. The writing flows beautifully, the plot and sub-plots are thrilling, heartwarming, frightening and suspenseful, and the dialogue is witty as well as brilliant. With each page I turned and read, I was kept on a razor's edge, not knowing how the intricate storyline was going to be resolved, let alone how Wraith and Serena Kelly were going to achieve their HEA.

Passion Unleashed

Wraith has been poisoned and is dying, slowly. Underworld General is literally crumbling and falling apart bit by bit. Staff is deserting the hospital. And, as war between human and demonkind looms, the apocalypse seems a tangible reality.

Eidolon and Shade try to find an antidote for Wraith and discover the only cure is for him to procure a charm from Serena, a beautiful, sweet archaeologist who has a zest for life. I loved this heroine, while she has lead a "charmed life" as it were, and you will understand my meaning if you read the book, she is independent and curious about all things historical. She goes to almost any lengths to recover a relic, almost like a Lara Croft type of character, except Serena is a virgin and must remain so or lose her health.

There is extraordinary irony in the love story between Wraith and Serena because he, as you know if you have read the series thus far, has always done what he wants, uncaring about the consequences of his actions on others. Wraith is a selfish, hedonist demon with a death wish, however I've always liked him. Why? He is funny, cocky, brutally honest (most of the time - lol), he is an amazing warrior and he does have a certain code that he lives by with respect to satisfying his sexual needs. Wraith never has sex with human or vampire women because of a horrific past that is really fleshed out in this story.

So, the irony you see is that the woman who holds the cure for Wraith's affliction is human and a virgin, and he must seduce her to take the charm that will save his life. Their romance is one of the more bittersweet stories I've read and while rest assured they do have their HEA, I wept for them on more than one occasion. As is the way with the seminus demons in Larissa's novels, Wraith falls hard and for the first time in his life he is forced to come to terms with deep feelings for another. The erotic scenes penned between Serena and Wraith are boiling hot, but also tender and sensuous, ladies, get ready!

The backdrop to their love story, as I mentioned above is complex, but the metamorphosis of Wraith's character is deeply embedded into an absolutely riveting story that will leave readers hyperventilating until the closing pages.

If you thought the antagonist of Shade's story was a malevolent scary creature, wait until you read the one written for Wraith's. This creature is an unequivocal hells spawn whose goal is the total destruction of earth. The graphic imagery and prose written surrounding the final battle between the Aegis army and demons took me right into the thick of the fray.

Gem and Kynan's story continues to be a roller coaster ride. Their angst and heartache also brought me to tears. I will say Kynan's future is tied to a prophecy referenced in the "Daemonica" tome that will surprise you.

Reaver's character is also fully developed and he plays an integral part in the plotline and final battle.

Larissa Ione has cleverly introduced a new and very interesting character to the storyline who is given a pivotal role in one of the subplots of Wraith's book. I'm sure this character will be the hero of the fourth Demonica novel, and we will again have the story of another tortured hero to look forward too.

I've given a great deal of thought to this series over the past couple of days. What makes it so special for me? What keeps me engaged? Why am I literally addicted? As with any series there is not a singular reason, but I think it is that the heroes are so tortured that when they find their HEA it is that much more satisfying. Secondly, these characters are so unique and well developed; you cannot help but become invested in them as a reader. Then there is the humor, OMG, the dialogue that comes out of Wraith's mouth especially had me cackling with laughter! And lastly, from my perspective, the Demonica world becomes more amazing with each story and Ms. Ione is expanding it with just the right amount of momentum. The other issue is that these books, at around 400 pages are good hearty reads, which allows for a wonderful in-depth storyline.

I have to comment that I think reading these stories in order is a must, because the plots do interconnect, each book builds on the previous.

Thankfully Larissa Ione has been contracted to write two more novels but it is going to be another long wait because they are due out in 2010.

The Demonica novels I'm sure will be my favorite series of 2009.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5+ stars. Best of the demon brothers, passion sneaks its way past Wraith's wrath, April 24, 2009

By	melindeeloo (sb,ca) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I've mentally called half vampire/half demon brother Wraith 'Wrath' in the past two Demonica books, because that just seemed to fit with his aura of darkness, anger and death, but amazingly that all changes here. Oh *fans self* when bad boys go good, yum!

On a mission to gain a reprieve from his impending death from a deadly poison for which there is no antedote, Wrath starts out pretending to be human and decent in order to facillitate the seduction that will save his life. But in acting that role - and for the first time in his life letting someone get close to him - Wraith is blindsided by the discovery that he actually does have a heart and a conscience. And by making Wraith's mate Serena the one woman he can't have without killing, Ione builds the tension between the pair to an incredible level. The result is smoking hot and poignant both.

The the Demonica series starter, Pleasure Unbound (Demonica, Book 1), was my favorite new series release of last year and Passion Unleashed book 3 in the series is even better. I loved incubus demon Wraith's transition, from the bad boy of the first books who used sex and violence to help him hide from the torture of his past. In fact unlike his brother Eiodolan who feared the final incubus maturation, Wraith not only embraced it hoping for the mindlessness of the incubus extreme sexual need, but actually hastened it. And I loved the way that author Ione takes Wraith through his transition.

Along with Wraith's story, Passion Unleashed finishes up the thread between former leader of the demon-hunter's, the 'heavenly' Kynan, and demoness Gem which has run through all the books in the series. I have to admit that after the first book I was really looking forward to this pairing, after the second book I was not too happy - Kynan's treatment of Gem didn't fit with his character in the first book and it was not pretty - and I was perhaps even a bit more disappointed with their story here when I read the book the first time. On the second read though it didn't strike me the same, their reunion was rough but they end up in the right place at the end with a painfully earned happily ever after.

And on to the future... Ione introduces an intriguing new character, assassin Lore who able to kill with a touch - which is death to his bed partners. Lore will be the star of Demonica book 4 (not 'til 2010 though) and there is also a 5th book planned, possibly Gem and Kynan's spawn? Can't wait. If you don't mind a touch of darkness in your PNR I highly recommend Ione's Demonica series - Pleasure Unbound (#1) and Passion Unleashed are 5 star reads and Desire Unchained(#2) a respectable 4 stars.

Oh, as P.S. - don't miss the bonus the short story The Reckoning - where Eiodolan and Shade find and save Wraith- it's hidden behind the Demonica Compendium at the end of the book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passion Unleashed by Larissa Ione, April 6, 2009

By	jjmachshev "jj" (Grovetown, GA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

YES! YES! YES! Excuse me, I'm having a private moment ;) I finished "Passion Unleashed" by Larissa Ione and I must say that this is one series I'm so very glad I'm hooked on. Her Demonica novels take place in an intricately built world, with enough differences from the raft of paranormals available to distinguish themselves. The characters are NOT one-dimensional caricatures of one creature or another...oh no, Ione has a vast selection of characters with multi-layered personalities on top of the traits attributable to their species and these differences from the average urban fantasy or paranormal romance today are just a couple of the things that make her novels stand-outs, IMHO :)

In "Passion Unleashed" we finally get the story of Wraith, a sex demon who's 'gotta have it'! So 'have it' he does...often and with vigor. He's the 'bad boy' of the three brothers we've read about so far and Ione certainly puts him to the test in his love story. Wraith has been infected with a poison that has no antidote. He's only got one chance to save his life...find the 'Chosen' virgin and 'deflower' her. Hey! He's a sex demon--no problem.

Serena is one of the 'Chosen'--she holds a relic that would be pivotal in the event of Armageddon. This same relic is all that protects her from an incurable disease she contracted at a young age. So holding on to her virginity isn't really a choice...it's the only thing keeping her alive. Good thing Armageddon isn't on the calendar, huh? Ummm, hold that thought. There's a fallen Angel turned renegade and he's after Serena's relic. So the chase...I mean race, is on. Oh, just one more thing. The fallen Angel can TAKE the relic from Serena, but Wraith will have to seduce it from her. But really, sex demon, no problem, right?

I don't mean to make this book sound like a light-heated paranormal romance, because it's not. Although there is much more humor in this story than the previous two, it's still a nail-biter of a suspense/action novel. And Ione doesn't let the action/suspense overcome the love aspect either. Both Wraith and Serena face life and death decisions that will affect not just themselves, but their friends, loved ones, and heck...the whole world! No pressure.

Others have reviewed "Passion Unleashed" and gone into more detail so I won't take up your time with more words. What I will say is that if you like urban fantasy, spicy paranormal romance, action and suspense, drama, and hot supernatural creatures...RUN, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore and pick up this whole series.