KLB Virtual Events Blog Tour - Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione - Day 8 - Review + Giveaway

Title – Eternal Rider

Author – Larissa Ione

Series – Lords of Deliverance Book 1 (related to the Demonica series)

Pages – 412 (includes a 10 page excerpt of Immortal Rider, the next book in the series)

They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
His name is Ares, and the fate of mankind rests on his powerful shoulders. If he falls to the forces of evil, the world falls too. As one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he is far stronger than any mortal, but even he cannot fight his destiny forever. Not when his own brother plots against him.
Yet there is one last hope. Gifted in a way other humans can't-or won't-understand, Cara Thornhart is the key to both this Horseman's safety and his doom. But involving Cara will prove treacherous, even beyond the maddening, dangerous desire that seizes them the moment they meet. For staving off eternal darkness could have a staggering cost: Cara's life.

Hello and welcome to Day 8 of the KLB Virtual Events Blog Tour of Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione.  I thank the wonderful ladies of KLB for including me in this blog tour! 
Have you read Larissa Ione before?  I’m a fairly new reader to her books but I can tell you that her books include great world building, rich characters and snappy dialogue.  Oh yeah…and BLISTERINGLY HOT SMUTTINESS!!  Oh my gracious!!  And this book was no exception!  Ok…sorry…didn’t mean to yell..and maybe I should discuss the storyline before I get into the hotness.  I guess.

I have not yet finished the Demonica series but I wanted to be a part of this blog tour and figured any information I needed from the Demonica series would be included in this book and I was correct.  Usually, I prefer to read all books in order, even if they aren’t all required to be read, as such; I’m just a stickler like that.  If you have an issue with spoilers, you may want to read the entire Demonica series first since this book does give away some events from the Demonica series.  Also, there is a BUNCH of information and a fairly large number of characters introduced in the beginning of this book, if you are not already familiar with the myth and lore of the Demonica series.  It’s needed for readers, such as myself, who did not read the entire Demonica series but may feel like a bit of a re-tread for those that have read it.  Don’t let that put you off, though; the story moves right along and you need the information in order to understand the events.

Events that occur in Sin Undone, the last book of the Demonica series, set the action of this book into motion.  Reseph, one of the siblings who would become the Four Horsemen of the Apocalpyse, has his Seal broken which changes him into Pestilence.  Just so you know…Pestilence is NOT a nice guy!  He bares no resemblance to the man he used to be.  Larissa is very good at writing characters that are very bad!  I was actually taken aback by a few of the things Pestilence does and says in this book (in particular, a line about ripping someone a new orifice and then..ahem…enjoying the new hole….gave me pause!) but that’s a good thing; it’s a mark of good writing that I was so disturbed by his evil deeds!  Now that his Seal has been broken, next up is Ares who will become War.  Pestilence is determined to find a way to break his Seal, Ares is determined not to let it happen and Cara unwittingly becomes a major player in their conflict.  That’s about as much as I can give you without giving away too much; after all, I DO want you to read it for yourself!

Now…back to the hotness! I’m not necessarily a big fan of war in general…but WAR in the guise of Ares….COULD GET IT!  Violence and aggression and conflict turn him on.  And a turned on Ares, quite frankly,  makes your panties sweat.  Phew!  Two words folks; Shower. Sex.  I’m a big fan and Larissa does NOT disappoint.

As far as the romance is concerned, I believed the relationship.  They started as a emotionally scarred timid woman and an emotionally unavailable, unyielding man but they had believable growth and grew to be what they needed to be for their partner.  I liked Ares a bit more than I liked Cara, especially in the beginning, but I usually like the guy more; go figure! 

If you’re read the Demonica series, you’ll be happy to know that there are several cameos from familiar characters and some scenes set in Underworld General Hospital.  I smiled each time a character I knew showed up; I always like to know what’s going on with characters after the events of their specific books.

A host of new characters (for me, at least) were developed in this book and there are two I’m extremely interested in knowing more about.  Limos, the female sibling of the four, is one bad ass chick and I can’t wait to hear more about her!  And Thanatos, who will be Death if his Seal is broken, is the big blonde one of the bunch.  And, if you read this blog regularly, you know I like the big blonde ones!  J  I’m glad to have had an opportunity to read and review this book and look forward to the rest of the series.  I give Eternal Rider a strong 4 out of 5 stars. 

Leave a comment below for your chance to win either a $15 gift certificate from Borders or an equivalent book purchase from The Book Depository.  Please be sure to include your email address so I can contact you if you win.  The contest ends 4/20/11 at 11:59pm so get your comments in quickly!  The contest is open to all who care to enter.  Thanks again to the ladies of KLB for including me on the book tour and thanks to you for stopping by!