Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione

Book 1 in the Demonica series

www.larissaione.com

Eidolon is a demon doctor, and a succubus about to reach his Change. If he doesn’t find a mate soon (and one that won’t kill him twenty years down the road) he’ll go ‘crazy’ and try to impregnate every female in sight. When a human female is brought to his clinic, he has reservations about helping her – especially when he discovers she’s Aegis or a ‘Guardian’ who slays demons to protect the human race. Following his own moral code, Eidolon saves her anyway – but as he does he detects unusual demon energies in her body. The woman is none-to-happy to wake up in a demon hospital, but Eidolon piques her interest and her libido. However, Tayla (our lady-patient) knows she can’t let Eidolon live – after all, he’s evil and a danger to society. But when the lines between good and evil blur, her own side tries to kill her, and her own body betrays her to the demon side will her priorities change?

This book reminds me of how ridiculously, outrageously fun paranormal can be. The hero literally has a magic cock. Yes, out of all 400 pages of this book, that was the thing that jumped out (jumped out?) at me to start this review. Reviewers and readers love to joke about the ‘magic cocks’ we discover in the romance genre, simply because it’s so ridiculous, but usually the magi-cocks are just incredibly large or responsible for boinking the heroine to blissdom with its goodliness. This, my friends, was a truly magic wang because, and I kid you not, the sperm it ejaculates is a super-powerful, fuck-me-now aphrodisiac. Yes. Can you order up men like that? - because if so I’ll take one. Seriously, though, one has to give Ione credit for writing a real magic cock. That takes guts.

Holy hell, this book was sexy. And hilarious. And fun. It reminded me a lot of Working for the Devil by Lilith Saintcrow (love, love, love) in style and voice. There was some sarcasm, but it wasn’t overwhelming. The book was pretty serious in its tone. I liked the premise of Ione’s book, with Eidolon working as a doctor in a hospital yet being an 'evil' demon. Her world-building was very well-done and I really enjoyed reading about different kinds of demons, the Aegis, and the mating/bonding habits of succubus demons once they hit their Change. Eidolon was a great hero, patient, strong, understanding, and supremely loyal. He was endearing in that tortured-hero I-need-help-but-I’m-too-damned-stubborn-to-ask way.  What he suffers for his brother, Wraith, is incredible, but part of me wonders why he doesn’t confront Wraith instead of simply martyring himself. I mean, I can appreciate a good martyr, don’t get me wrong. But I appreciate a good, necessary martyr – when the martyring is unnecessary it just makes said martyr seem stupid even as I was endeared to him for his loyalty.

Tayla was your usual strong, kick-ass heroine but she had some vulnerabilities that made her special. I enjoyed how naturally she came around to the idea that demons, just like humans, weren’t all black or white, good or evil. She was a surprisingly sensitive for a kick-ass demon-slayer and I enjoyed that she didn’t lose her kick-ass-ishness even after she fell in love. Secondary characters, including the Aegis, Gem, Shade, and Wraith were all really well done with depth, humor, and intrigue. The action was smooth, the prose well written, and the dialogue flowed. The only problem I had with the book was the length – I skimmed/skipped about fifty pages in the middle of the book because, honestly, I really wanted to know what happened (the suspense was excellently written) and Ione was taking WAY too long to get there. I was definitely hooked, but Ione might’ve lost me with all those extra pages. Unnecessary.

All in all, it was a great book, and I’m definitely looking forward to reading Shade and Wraith’s books, then take it from there.

Favorite Quotes:

“I'll bet you could make a woman throw out all her toys.” (Tayla)

"You're at Underworld General Hospital. As you can probably guess, we specialize in nonhuman medical care. Our location is secret, so don't ask." (Eidolon)
"UGH ? Your hospital is called 'ugh' ? Oh, that's precious." (Tayla)

“Sexy”ness rating: Wowza – Zing!

Overall Rating: B+

Bottom Line: A fabulous, compassionate hero, a kick-ass, sexy heroine, and all the world to keep them apart. A great book, I would definitely recommend it to any super-natural paranormal lover or anyone who was just trying on the genre. The world building was great and easy to understand even if you’re not a regular wanderer into the paranormal genre.

Pages: 389

Published: June 20, 2010

Genre: Paranormal Romance