Review: Pleasure Unbound (Demonica #1) by Larissa Ione

In a place where ecstasy can cost you your life . . .

She's a demon-slayer who hungers for sensual pleasure-but fears it will always be denied her. Until Tayla Mancuso lands in a hospital run by demons in disguise, and the head doctor, Eidolon, makes her body burn with unslakable desire. But to prove her ultimate loyalty to her peers, she must betray the surgeon who saved her life.

Two lovers will dare to risk all.

Eidolon cannot resist this fiery, dangerous woman who fills him with both rage and passion. Not only is she his avowed enemy, but she could very well be the hunter who has been preying upon his people.

Torn between his need for the truth and his quest to find his perfect mate before a horrific transformation claims him forever, Eidolon will dare the unthinkable-and let Tayla possess him, body and soul . . .

Before you read my review, make sure you’ve checked out my intro on this series located here.

My Review:

As you begin to read, Pleasure Unbound, the first book in the Demonica Series by Larissa Ione (LI), you are instantly immersed into the world LI creates. There are no ‘filler scenes’ or unnecessary flashbacks – you are thrust into the fray from the first word! From then on, it is an action packed, sexxy and hott ride until the very end.

The story begins in New York City, at Underworld General (UG) the underground hospital created and run by Eidolon (E) a Seminus Demon who along with his brothers, Shade and Wraith, use their powers to heal demons and other supernatural creatures. As E works on a demon patient who has several injuries, he and his brothers find themselves wondering if the demon’s injuries can be attributed to Ghouls – beings who carve up demon organs and sell them in the underworld black market for illicit uses.

Before they can figure out what’s going on, an unconscious patient arrives – Tayla, a female Aegis (human warriors who think all demons are evil and hunt and kill them without prejudice). Sensing the danger they are all in if the Aegis discovers them, the brothers quickly advise E to kill the unconscious female. 

E convinces his brothers not to kill Tayla as they find evidence she’s a little more than human at her molecular level. Intrigued, E can’t wait for Tayla to heal and see what he can learn from her, thinking he can find ways to better protect his kind from the Aegis – at least that was his plan. Of course, his plan gets shot to hell when his brother, Wraith implants sexual images in Tayla’s mind of her and E. As E checks her vitals, Tayla awakens ready to take on E in every dirty way possible and before they can blink, they are up against a wall, lost in lust. *fans self*

Being expertly trained in sex (as he is an incubus) E is instantly enthralled by Tayla as no matter how turned on and willing she is to be with E, and how good he sexxes her up, Tayla cannot climax. Nothing of the kind has ever happened to E before and Tayla has never been so turned on by a man in her life. Thus begins their obsession with one another.

From that point on, they join forces in not only finding out who is behind killing demons and selling their organs in the black market, but also finding if they can turn their lust into love. Standing in their way is their tortured paths as we discover in Pleasure Unbound why Tayla is so emotionally scarred, unable to find pleasure in any sexual encounter.

For his part, E is battling with his S’genesis – a transformation every Seminus Demon goes through when he reaches 100 years of age. Finding Tayla irresistible, he intends to make her his mate, but first he must battle through Tayla’s emotional and physical barriers. As time runs out for E, he is faced with the prospect of becoming a sex-crazed demon, impregnating any female who crosses his way unless he can find a way to make Tayla his.

As if the couples’ issues weren’t enough to contend with, Tayla also struggles with deciding if she will turn her back on the only family she’s ever had – the Aegis – or try to make things work with E. Of course, poor Tayla doesn’t have to contemplate her choice for long as it turns out she is half demon. The Aegis quickly disavows her and orders her to be put to death.

With E the only person she can now turn to for answers on her past and the changes now happening to her body, she must find a way to heal her wounded heart and soul to find happiness.

Mix in together all the couples’ issues, plus the Aegis and the Ghouls hot on everyone's heels, along with scorching hott sexxy scenes that will melt your lips off – and you’ll agree that Pleasure Unbound  is an AMAZING, action packed read sure to win a spot as your favorite paranormal series! There is never a dull moment or a character you feel the need to skip over or jump ahead to the action; it is all expertly put together in the most enjoyable read I’ve had this year! LI has shattered all my expectations and has set the bar extremely high for anything I read from now on. 

Put down whatever you’re reading and get Pleasure Unbound today! I guarantee you won’t regret it.

Things To Keep In Mind In This Series:
Don’t get attached to the secondary characters. LI loves to kill them off.  

 

 

 

Awareness came slowly, in a haze of black blotches punctuated by points of light. Warm, elastic darkness tugged at Tayla, luring her toward slumber, but pain prodded her into consciousness. Every inch of her body ached, and her head felt heavy, too large for her neck to support.

Groaning, she opened her eyes.

Fuzzy, shadowy images swirled and pulsed in front of her. Gradually, her vision came into focus, and whoa . . .she must be in another realm, because the dark-haired man staring down at her was a god. His lips, glistening sensuously as if he’d just licked them, were moving, but the buzz in her ears drowned out his words.

She narrowed her eyes and concentrated on his mouth.

Name. He wanted her name. She had to think about it for a second before she remembered. Great. She must have hit her head. Which, duh, explained the headache.

“Tayla,” she croaked, and wondered why her throat hurt so much. “Tayla Mancuso. I think. Does that sound right to you?”

He smiled, and if she weren’t dying on some type of table, she’d have appreciated the sexy curve of his mouth and the flash of very white teeth. The guy must have a fab dentist.

“Tayla? Can you hear me?”

She could, but the buzzing lingered. “Uh-huh.”

“Good.” He put a hand on her forehead, allowing her a glimpse of one muscular arm adorned by intricate, swirling tribal tattoos. “You’re at a hospital. Is there anything I need to know? Allergies? Medical conditions? Parentage?”

She blinked. Had he said “parentage”? And could eyelashes hurt? Because hers did.

“This is a waste of time.” The new speaker, an exotic-looking man, Middle Eastern, maybe, glared down at her.

“Go handle your own patients, Yuri.” The hot doctor with the espresso eyes shoved Yuri aside. “Can you answer my question, Tayla?”

Right. Allergies, parentage, medical conditions. “Um, no. No allergies.” No parents, either. And her medical condition wasn’t something she could share.

“Okay then. I’m going to give you something to help you sleep, and if it doesn’t kill you, when you wake up you’ll feel better.”

Better would be good. Because if she felt a little less like she’d been run over by a truck, she could jump on Dr. Hottie.

The very fact that she wanted to jump Dr. Hottie told her more about the state of her head trauma than anything else, but what the hell . The pretty nurse had just injected her with something that totally rocked, and if she wanted to think about boinking a bronzed, tattooed, impossibly handsome doctor who was so far out of her league she needed a telescope to see him, then screw it.

Screw him. Over and over.

“I’ll bet you could make a woman throw out all her toys.”

Had she said that out loud? The cocky grin on his face told her that yes, she’d verbalized her runaway thoughts. “Drugs talking. Don’t get excited.”

“Paige, push another milligram,” he said, in his rich, smooth doctor voice. A warm, burning sensation washed through her veins from the IV line in the back of her hand. “Mmm, trying to get rid of me, huh?”

“That’s already been discussed.”

Damn, this guy was saying some weird shit. Not that it mattered. Her eyes wouldn’t open anymore, and her body wouldn’t work. Only her ears still seemed to function, and as she drifted off, she heard one last thing.

“Wraith, I already told you. You can’t kill her.”

Aww. Her hot doctor was protecting her. She’d have smiled if her face hadn’t frozen. And clearly, her hearing had gone, too, because he couldn’t have tacked on what she thought he tacked on.

“Yet.”

 

Rating:

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