Pleasure Unbound by L. Ione

After hearing so much about Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione, I had to pick it up when I saw it in the store the other day. I am so glad I did. I don’t know what it is about demons, but I have yet to find one that isn’t worth the time to read.

We’re introduced to a Tayla, who is a demon slayer. As a member of the Aegis, she’s consnidered a guardian for humans and goes out to kill the evil demons that prey on the city. After a pretty nasty fight, she ends up at a demon hospital where she meets the studly doctor, Eidolon. Right from the first, sparks are flying even though Eidolon recognizes Tayla as Aegis. At the same time, an interesting patient comes in the ER missing a few vital organs and he’s not the first one the doctors have seen. Now that they have an Aegis, they are determined to find out what Tayla knows about the organ harvesting, but not everything goes as planned.

The story itself is different in my opinion. It may seem like we’ve seen the premise before, but there are different moments that make it stand out on its own. Instead of having two star cross lovers instantly realize they belong to each other, Eidolon and Tayla take the long way around. I actually enjoyed watching them struggle through an attraction instead of jumping straight into the sack with each other. Ione develops Eidolon’s and Talya’s characters superbly and gives us enough background information to give us an understanding of them, but she doesn’t bog the story down with it. We’re also introduced to Eidolon’s brothers, Shade and Wraith, where we’re only given enough information to whet our interest for more. Both of the brothers have their own stories coming out, so we’ll find out all the secrets soon. The plot itself is unique in that the bad guys and good guys are really not defined. Both the demons and Aegis tend to cross into both categories and even by the end, we’re not sure who is who. We know someone is behind the trouble, but we haven’t seen them yet. Just their subversive efforts.

Overall, this new series, the Demonica, starts off really well with Pleasure Unbound. I do have to take a moment and say that I was amused when the Demons referred to the Aegis slayer as a “buffy”. I’ve seen references to Buffy the Vampire Slayer before, but never as an adjective. If the rest of the series is as good as this novel, then I know I’ve found another demon author that I’m going to love. I don’t know what it is about demons, but I’m really enjoying the varying stories coming out about them and this is another one that is not to be missed.

Read Order:
Pleasure Unbound – excerpt
Desire Unchained – excerpt
Passion Unleashed (3/31/2009) – excerpt

Also reviewed by:
Ann Aguirre
Darque Reviews
The Book Smugglers

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.