Desire Unchained: A Demonica Novel (The Demonica Series) (edition 2009)

These books are excellent! They remind me a little of BDB, even if they are very different. It's similar in the ways that the demons find their mates. However, their enemies are not at all the same, and the suspense is excellent. The descriptions of the characters and the places are wonderful, I feel like I know them all very well, and would definitely recognize them if I met them ;) ( )

I'm not a big fan of "I want to love you but I can't" tropes, so this one was a bit of a miss for me, too. The plot and world building are still awesome, though, and I'm on to the next book! ( )

Originally posted at Once Upon a Chapter

This is a book that left me breathless. I was constantly being surprised and Ione holds back no punches. The characters are so vivid you would almost believe that they're real. A mystery from the first book is resolved and the bad guy is so dirty and vile he made my skin crawl. Ione grabbed my attention from the beginning and did not let up . If you enjoyed the first in the series, be sure to follow up with the second. It is not to be missed! ( )

Desire Unchained
3.5 Stars

Synopsis
Cursed to suffer eternal torment if he falls in love, Shade has made every effort to avoid the one woman who may make him succumb, Runa Wagner. Runa has sworn revenge against the demon who betrayed her but now she and Shade must work together to escape the dangerous enemy who would destroy them both.

Review
Good story despite the cringe worthy elements (cheating heroes and BDSM are not my thing).

Runa is likeable enough although it is a shame that her Warg abilities are not shown to their best advantage (she always seems incapacitated in some way). Moreover, she starts out enraged with Shade for his past behavior and holds him responsible for the attack that turned her into a Warg. The problem lies in the fact that she is far to forgiving of the first and misguided about the second.

Shade is a jerk and it is difficult to work up much affection for a man who is a) willing to kill someone close to him to save his own ass and b) feels compelled to hurt women ostensibly "for their own good".

Nevertheless, the world building and the secondary plots are well worth the effort. The moral ambiguity of the demonarchy, the conflict with Roag and his minions together with Gem and Kynan's romance and Wraith's intriguing emotional struggles all make this an entertaining read overall. ( )

I enjoyed it, but I think I like the first book better. It was a good story, but not good enough to rate 5 stars. ( )