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jillsbooknook 's review for:
Desire Unchained
by Larissa Ione
5 -⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"I will bear this pain for you...if one of us has to bleed, it will be me. It'll always be me."
Desire Unchained is the second novel in the adult paranormal romance series, Demonica. Each novel follows a standalone couple but this is part of a larger (now completed series) so you do need to read them in order. In this novel we follow Runa and Shade as they are bound together by a nefarious figure bent on destroying the Seminus brothers.
Shade and Runa were a really fun group of characters to dive into and I loved their relationship. Previously they were together but Shade's curse (if he falls in love he we fade in invisibility) means he is often seeking to keep people at arm's length, which is hard when he is an incubus who requires regular sex. He cheated on Runa when she was human to push her away...except through a series of unfortunately events this led Runa further into the paranormal world where she was turned into a werewolf by accident (thanks to the events of book 1). I found their dynamic to be hilarious as Shade is assuming Runa is the same person he remembers and she is not. Their connection is still present but they have a lot of baggage to world through and I was there for it.
The spice in this series in 4 spicy peppers out of 5 spicy peppers - mainly because sexual elements exists on a regular basis outside of our main characters because of the nature of demons in this world. Runa and Shade's relationship is fast burn in terms of spice but they were in a prior relationship. The romance still takes times as they fight the connection and I really enjoyed that. I did not like the dominant spice aspect that Shade had as baggage but thankfully it only happens once because he, too, does not like it.
"I love him."
"Son of a - He's a demon, Runa!"
"And I'm a werewolf. No one's perfect."
Again I want to give the trigger warning notice if you missed my previous review. This books are not dark romance but do contain dark elements around dubious consent, SA (of MMC for torture), death of loved ones, torture, murder, gore, graphic violence, etc. So please be kind to yourself while reading. I think, for me, the only time it really got to me was reading the reactions of characters loved ones because I will sob when it comes to death.
The world continues to grow in this series and I enjoy how it continues the efforts of book 1. We have an interesting twist thanks to family issues but also we can see the seeds being planted on the domino affect this is bringing. I enjoyed learning more about Aegis and the new organization R-XR and the balance they are trying to find with demon slaying. I loved being able to engage with characters from the last book and continue some of the sub plots there - I want to strangle Kynan though.
The story here follows the similar vibes of the previous with chaos and cheese that I cannot get enough of. The main characters are fighting their love because of outside forces while also trying to uncover who is out to get them and why. Family secrets and baggage are front and centre here and oh, boy is there a lot. I enjoyed exploring this alongside the characters with its twists and turns and we also get a good amount of action. I found I really enjoyed Shade and Runa as a couple and how they navigate their relationship - I am a sucker for pining and angst. The ending is the cherry of top with another HFN.
I mean is it a surprise I liked this? It's got the same formula as book 1 but the character dynamic is different. I immediately jumped into book 3.
"I will bear this pain for you...if one of us has to bleed, it will be me. It'll always be me."
Desire Unchained is the second novel in the adult paranormal romance series, Demonica. Each novel follows a standalone couple but this is part of a larger (now completed series) so you do need to read them in order. In this novel we follow Runa and Shade as they are bound together by a nefarious figure bent on destroying the Seminus brothers.
Shade and Runa were a really fun group of characters to dive into and I loved their relationship. Previously they were together but Shade's curse (if he falls in love he we fade in invisibility) means he is often seeking to keep people at arm's length, which is hard when he is an incubus who requires regular sex. He cheated on Runa when she was human to push her away...except through a series of unfortunately events this led Runa further into the paranormal world where she was turned into a werewolf by accident (thanks to the events of book 1). I found their dynamic to be hilarious as Shade is assuming Runa is the same person he remembers and she is not. Their connection is still present but they have a lot of baggage to world through and I was there for it.
The spice in this series in 4 spicy peppers out of 5 spicy peppers - mainly because sexual elements exists on a regular basis outside of our main characters because of the nature of demons in this world. Runa and Shade's relationship is fast burn in terms of spice but they were in a prior relationship. The romance still takes times as they fight the connection and I really enjoyed that. I did not like the dominant spice aspect that Shade had as baggage but thankfully it only happens once because he, too, does not like it.
"I love him."
"Son of a - He's a demon, Runa!"
"And I'm a werewolf. No one's perfect."
Again I want to give the trigger warning notice if you missed my previous review. This books are not dark romance but do contain dark elements around dubious consent, SA (of MMC for torture), death of loved ones, torture, murder, gore, graphic violence, etc. So please be kind to yourself while reading. I think, for me, the only time it really got to me was reading the reactions of characters loved ones because I will sob when it comes to death.
The world continues to grow in this series and I enjoy how it continues the efforts of book 1. We have an interesting twist thanks to family issues but also we can see the seeds being planted on the domino affect this is bringing. I enjoyed learning more about Aegis and the new organization R-XR and the balance they are trying to find with demon slaying. I loved being able to engage with characters from the last book and continue some of the sub plots there - I want to strangle Kynan though.
The story here follows the similar vibes of the previous with chaos and cheese that I cannot get enough of. The main characters are fighting their love because of outside forces while also trying to uncover who is out to get them and why. Family secrets and baggage are front and centre here and oh, boy is there a lot. I enjoyed exploring this alongside the characters with its twists and turns and we also get a good amount of action. I found I really enjoyed Shade and Runa as a couple and how they navigate their relationship - I am a sucker for pining and angst. The ending is the cherry of top with another HFN.
I mean is it a surprise I liked this? It's got the same formula as book 1 but the character dynamic is different. I immediately jumped into book 3.