Pleasure Unbound

Demonica, Book 1

By: Larissa Ione

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©2008 Larissa Ione (P)2011 Hachette

I hated Tayla!

The heroine is an ignorant, zealot, genocidal bitch. Her back story was not nearly enough to justify her blind hate or make her a sympathetic character AT ALL. If, in addition to her mom being killed by a demon she was also sold into the demon slave market and tortured for a couple years, I could wrap my head around her stupidity. Even after she was shown mercy and someone saved her life, who by all rights should've and could've slaughtered her, she was still eager to betray him and get hundreds of innocent people killed. Her absolute denial was enraging. Her refusal to believe how shitty her "team" is was even more enraging! I can't even count the number of times I blurted out "this stupid bitch" while listening to this. BUT Ione is so amazing that even after hating the heroine initially I ended up liking her by the end.

With that being said, I still loved the story, world building, and character development. The fact that ione made me feel such strong feelings toward the heroine initially just shows how great she is at sucking you in.

Ultimately, I did end up liking it overall .

Great Narrator

This was my first book by this author..I loved the narrator she really made the book come alive.

Good story line

good story, loved the use of good and bad with a twist on species. some mind games with characters that keep you guessing. some parts where hard to focus and listen to at first but now i look forward to next book.

LOVE IT !

I have read all the paperback books but now having it on audio makes it even better. This is the first book series that I'd ever read It was given to me by a friend while I was in the hospital .I think I went through the first few books in a weeks or less before I wanted to find and read the Four Horsemen that is a trail off of these books .

I started these out of order...

I actually started with azagoth and THOSE were freaking AWESOME! but this one had me skipping chapters and rolling my eyes at times.. man she was just so freaking emotional and resistant the whole time and I get it tragic past, world is turned upside down... but man! sorta annoying

LOVED IT! I didn't want the book to end!

I didn't want the book to end! I can't wait to get the other books in this series.

Overall Good Book in this Genre!

I actually enjoyed this book! I often find that the leading women in these types of books are very emotional weak even though they are presented as strong women, sometimes even warriors or defenders of their people, etc. but this women was refreshing in comparison (clearly traumatized but resilient and strong willed).
The storyline was fairly developed as well and there were even some surprises!
Worth the read! Especially for the Paranormal Romance fans, who are looking for a bit more story and character development than you usually find in these types of reads!
Will be reading the next in the series!

Pleasantly surprised!

I'm a total sucker for paranormal romance, I won't lie, and I've been making the rounds on quite a few authors, looking for the next series I can fall in love with. Sadly, most disappoint. Fortunately, I recently discovered Larissa Ione, and I've been so happy! I got so immersed in her world, and came to care so deeply for her characters. I've now finished what's available, and am happily anticipating more to come! If you're into paranormal romance, definitely give her series a go.

Awesome!!

This was my first time with Larissa Ione and it hooked me for the entire series. Ione does an awesome job weaving the characters together. Two people who should have never come together find they must help each other. This the first book in the series and you get a lot of information about the underworld, the hospital and an introduction to the other characters who will make up the books to come.

I was very impressed with the story and you will not be disappointed by this series and it leads you into a whole new series that is just as good.

If you love a good paranormal romance with steam, Ione delivers. She has become one of my new favorite authors. I can't wait to see what she does next.

Very good story and start to the series :)

4 stars

This was a very good story. I liked Tayla and Eidolon and enjoyed their story and this new world. This is the first story I've read by this author and I liked it well enough that I plan to read more of her work.

Tayla is a demon hunter that works for a group called Aegis. Tayla never knew her father and her mother was a junkie when she was born and had trouble staying sober. Tayla loved her mother regardless and was horrified when her mother was raped and killed by a demon when she was only 16. She ended up in foster care and then out on the streets until Aegis picked her up and gave her a purpose.

Eidolon is a Seminus demon, which is a kind of incubus. He works as a doctor in a demon hospital that's hidden from the human world by spells. Seminus demons go through a change at a certain point and if they get through it alive, it can change them a lot (personality-wise and in other ways). Eidolon's change is coming up and he's doing everything he can to put it off. He thinks that finding a mate will help but no female appeals to him (and mating is until death do they part).

Tayla is out hunting and things go wrong, ending with both her and the demon severely injured. The demon hospital's ambulance ends up picking them both up and taking them both in. This causes a stir because most of the inhabitants of the hospital want to kill Tayla on sight. Thankfully, the hospital has spells in place to prevent violence so no one can take immediate action. Eidolon is serious about his doctoring duties and wont let anyone kill Tayla. He finds that he's extremely attracted to her though and he shouldn't because she's the enemy and would kill him just for being a demon. When Tayla is healed enough to wake up, she's freaked because (since she really knows nothing about demons) she has the idea that all demons are pure evil (and should be slaughtered) just because they're demons. She also feels a strong attraction to Eidolon and since she doesn't normally have much of a libido (and hey...he's a demon!), this bothers her.

Once Tayla is strong enough, Eidolon decides to get her out of the hospital before the other demons decide to take her outside and kill her...or worse, torture her for info on the Aegis. Eidolon hopes he can convince her that all demons aren't bad and maybe help them against the Aegis. There are reasons he thinks this might work (which are reasonable) but I can't tell you because, Spoilers. Tayla and Eidolon have a real "I want you but I also want to kill you" vibe at first but that slowly changes, causing confusion and trouble for them both. There's a lot that goes on but I don't know how to go into it without getting into too much detail...let's just say that there's a lot happening and it's interesting and worth the time. In the end, things are pretty much settled and Eidolon and Tayla get a HEA together.

This was a very enjoyable story. Tayla definitely had some major demon hate going on at first but she had her reasons and she was willing to see the truth, if reluctantly. Eidolon was a good guy, demon or not, and I liked him. The story was very good and kept me engaged through to the end so I'd recommend it. :D