Review of Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione - I love me some demon action!

So this weekend I purchased book 2 & 3 from the Demonica series (I have book 4 and have reviewed book 1 here) and then proceeded to tune out the rest of the world for about 2 days while I read book 2-4 (I apparently have to eat and sleep or I definitely would have devoured the books in a day). Now a day later, I have dark circles under my eyes, the inability to focus on people's conversations without daydreaming about sexy demon brothers, and a slightly worried hubby. So I thought I would share the delicious reasons for my sleepless nights with my lovely readers and review the lovely Sem brothers books for you guys. Along the way I plan to share some pics of how I picture these brothers and will hopefully leave you a little hot under the collar and panting like I was through the books. Enjoy!

GoodReads blurb: Pleasure is their ultimate weapon . . .

Runa Wagner never meant to fall in love with the sexy stranger who seemed to know her every deepest desire. But she couldn’t resist the unbelievable passion that burned between them, a passion that died when she discovered his betrayal and found herself forever changed. Now, determined to make Shade pay for the transformation that haunts her, Runa searches for him, only to be taken prisoner by his darkest enemy.

A Seminus Demon with a love-curse that threatens him with eternal torment, Shade hoped he’d seen the last of Runa and her irresistible charm. But when he wakes up in a dank dungeon chained next to an enraged and mysteriously powerful Runa, he realizes that her effect on him is more dangerous than ever. As their captor casts a spell that bonds them as lifemates, Shade and Runa must fight for their lives and their hearts—or succumb to a madman’s evil plans.
 
Runa never planned to be kidnapped and chained up to the arrogant ass who broke her heart a year before - but apparently fate isn't done playing with her. Shade never expected to see Runa again after she ran out his door after catching him in bed with two females, he broke her heart like he did with so many females before - he's an incubus and knows better than to get attached. So when Shade wakes up in a dungeon chained to a wall the last person he expects to see next to him is Runa. But one thing he notices right away is that Runa isn't the same sweet girl that ran away from him after his betrayal. She is tougher - both physically and mentally- due to being attacked by a werewolf the night she caught him cheating and she is itching to make him pay for what he did to her. Unfortunately they are both at the mercy of a sadistic killer who is hell bent on making Shade and his brothers pay for a tragic event in the killer's past that left him scared and broken. This black robed killer also has intimate knowledge of the Sem brothers and uses that knowledge against Shade by binding him to a woman that he must never love or he will suffer a fate worse than death.

I love this opening scene - you can check out the rest of Chapter 1 excerpt here at Larissa's website:
It had been at least two decades since Shade had awakened on a strange floor, hungover and without a clue as to his whereabouts. The heavy weight of a manacle around his wrist and the sound of a rattling chain made him smile. It had been even longer since he’d been in this situation and chained up.
Cool.
Sure, he preferred the females to be the ones in chains instead of him, but he'd roll with it.
“Shade.”
The female voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it through the ringing in his ears. He couldn't open his eyes, either.
"Shade. Wake up." A hand shook his shoulder, not gently, like he'd expect a female to do after a spending a night with him. Hell, she should be waking him with her mouth on his– "Shade, damn you, wake up!"
Groaning, he rolled onto his back, wincing at the dull ache pounding against the back of his skull. "I'm awake, baby. I'm awake. Climb on. I'll catch up."
"Thanks, I'll pass. But call me baby again and I'll rip your lips off."

The antagonistic banter between Shade and Runa is great from page one, and as the banter continues so does the increase in sexual tension between the two. Though they are thrown together by unfortunate circumstances they begin to care for each other as well, which could not be worse for Shade since he was cursed long ago with maluncoeur, if he falls in love, he will suffer a shadow existence of thirst, loneliness, and unslaked sexual desire. The closer the two of them get the more Shade tries to push Runa away and convince himself he doesn't care for her. Runa is constantly being thrown mixed signals and despairs that she is forever bound to someone who will never care for her. 

To distract them from their terrible situation is their kidnapper who is still focused on making the Sem brothers pay and does not go easy on them. The action in this book is one of the things that impresses me about Larissa Ione's novels, the action doesn't suffer for the sake of romance, the heroines in these books are just as tough as the men, and she isn't afraid to put her characters through hell. What the characters get in the end does not come easy and there is usually a high price to pay for any hope of happiness. Besides the heart-pumping fight scenes is also a sharp sense of humor - another favorite line in this book is the re-naming of PMS to be Pre-Moon Syndrome which describes the on-edge mood were's are in a few days before the full moon. Though I would be remiss if I didn't mention another favorite part of Larissa Ione's books - the love scenes. Shade is a bad boy so it is a given that when he makes love to a woman, it isn't going to be sweet - it's going to be hard and leave the woman panting for more. And wow does he deliver. 

Overall this was a 4.5 out of 5 stars for me, an excellent ill-fated romance, bloody battles, and a bad boy hero that loves to wear leather and is covered in tattoos!

Now onto the pictures of how I see Shade. For this one I picked Joe Manganiello - he's the actor for Alcide in the new 3rd season of True Blood though with a few glyphs on his arm and the long hair I could totally see him as Shade.

 So what do you think?