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Bond of Passion
by
Larissa Ione
paranormal romance in a Kindle edition that was published by 1001 Dark Nights Press on November 1, 2022 and has 258 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Desire Unchained, Pleasure Unbound, Passion Unleashed, Ecstasy Unveiled, Sin Undone, Eternal Rider, Immortal Rider, Lethal Rider, Supernatural, Rogue Rider, Bound by Night, Reaver, Revenant, Snowbound, "Bond of Destiny", "Z", "Azagoth", "Revenant's Epilogue", "Hades", "Razr", "Hawkyn", "Cipher", Reaper, Legacy of Temptation
A novella and twenty-first in the Demonica paranormal romance series revolving around demons. The focus is on Tavin, a former assassin, and his victim.
My Take
There’s a boatload of angst in Bond of Passion with an action-packed plot heavily fueled by its characters. Who would’ve thought a pack of demons could be good as well as the expected evil?
It’s a range of character-types so similar to humans that, unfortunately, can be as tedious in its angers and regrets.
On the plus side, Ione captures that sense of a festival right off, although the food being promoted doesn’t promote my appetite.
Hee-hee, hellhounds as babysitters! Free medical schooling!
I’m not sure why Ione keeps popping in the info on Tavin’s personal glyph. Sure, it’s useful information, of a sort, but it feels more like a filler.
Ione uses third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Gristlen/Deja’s and Tavin’s perspectives, so we learn a lot from their thoughts and feel their emotions and regrets, their realizations.
Ione has an interesting truth behind Gristlen’s nature, and lord knows she keeps referring to her nature! Since the story is half about her, we do get a lot of her back history, her family, and her upbringing. It’s a sad one, especially when we learn of her parents’ side of her childhood. Of course, Gristlen is lucky enough for a reincarnation, and it looks like karma may be on her side this time. Those remembrances certainly worked well for me to be on her side.
The demon club would appeal to those readers who like the idea of a free-for-all sex club. Of course, there are probably a number of us who’d enjoy the attentions of a Seminus, er, a sex demon. Hubba-hubba, lol.
It’s revenge Deja is craving, but that Bond of Passion is interfering as is her perception of Tavin’s seeming turnaround. All she thought she knew of him is turned about and the people at UGH are not at all what she had expected.
I do love Underworld General. A place of healing with the help of a huge range of demons, who help other demons, no matter their species. Eidolon has his standards — including the anti-violence spells on the hospital walls and the loosey-goosey acceptance of staff sexcapades. He’s not too worried about the FDA or OSHA, lol.
Oh, boy. It has always ticked me off that criminals can dish it out but can’t take it. That they don’t understand that whole tit-for-tat concept unless it favors them. And Bond of Passion is full of bad guys coming for revenge. A really nasty, nasty revenge when one’s body can be rejuvenated.
Oh, lol, Azagoth and Lilliana’s new place sounds too funny.
Who wouldn’t want revenge? Of course, that desire could change if one were to learn the truth of the past. Of their childhood. Of their love.
The Story
If he wants to live, Tavin must slay. If he wants to save his love, he must slay her.
All it takes is for Sheoul-gra to fall for Gristlen to take her revenge.
The Characters
Tavin, a Seminus demon with a gift for healing, has turned from the assassin business and now works as a paramedic at UGH. He lives on the Irish shore in a cottage. Grim is Tavin’s brother and a physician assistant. Noir is a third brother.Their mothers are the three Furies: Viscus; Vishis, who is the most serious; and, Vale, who all live in the Carnage region of Sheoul.
Underworld General Hospital (UGH) is . . .
. . . a demon-run hospital for demons. Three brothers, Seminus demons, founded the hospital: Eidolon (mated to Tayla in Pleasure Unbound, 1), Shade (mated to Runa in Desire Unchained, 2), and Wraith, who’s also half-vampire and mated to Serena (Passion Unleashed, 3).
Lore, a half Seminus demon and half-human whose touch kills people — and half-brother to Eidolon, Shade, and Wraith — is married to Idess (Ecstasy Unveiled, 4), whose father is the Grim Reaper, and they have a son, Mace. Lore is UGH’s medical examiner; Max is Lore’s assistant. Sin, also a former assassin, is Lore’s twin sister and half-sister to the three with Con as her werewolf mate, who is a senior paramedic (Sin Undone, 5). She creates cures and identifies new diseases. Dr Gem Morgan, half Soulshredder demon, is Tayla’s twin sister and married to Dr Kynan Morgan (Ecstasy Unveiled). Evi is a curvy brunette lion shifter; Churla is a succubus; and, Luc, a warg, is another senior paramedic mated to Kar (Sin Undone).
Dr Shipp, a female werewolf, is a dentist. Ewww, Ione’s description of one demon’s cavities is enough to make you brush your teeth seven times a day! Nevex, a young x-ray tech, died in the blast. Dr Sleeva, a.k.a. the Vagilante, is a succubus with powerful gifts of healing and normally works at the London UGH clinic. Helga is a teacher at the nursing school.
Deja Ven is a new nursing graduate. Ronnie is Deja’s Sora demon classmate and friend. Deja and Ronnie are roommates with two others, Eileen and Rowen, in a Sydney apartment — because most of the Resurrected demons chose to live in Australia. Only, those demons who chose Sydney are trying to fit in with humans. Melbourne is said to be inhabited by the worst demons. Other classmates include Tonya and Chelanne, a Gnarll demon.
Revenant, a fallen angel, is the king of Hell until Satan is released from his prison (Revenant, 6 (LoD) and 11 (Dem)). Reaver, a Radiant angel, has his story in Reaver).
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Ares, a.k.a. War, lives on a Greek island. Cara is his wife (Eternal Rider, 1 (LoD), 6 (Dem)). Aleka is their daughter (Reaper, 9 (DIU), 20 (Dem)). Limo, a.k.a. Famine, is mated to Arik Wagner (Aegis; Immortal Rider, 2 (LoD), 7 (Dem)). Thanatos, a.k.a. Death, is mated to Regan (Lethal Rider, 3 (LoD), 8 (Dem)). Reseph, a.k.a. Pestilence, is married to Jillian, and they live in the mountains (Rogue Rider, 4 (LoD), 9 (Dem)).
Demons come . . .
. . . in tiers on the Ufelskala scale, One through Five. The Neethul are at Five and amongst the worst and the most beautiful, so beautiful that the description of the elves is based on the Neethul. The Neethul rely heavily on the slave trade. The Neebless are rumored to be long-lost relatives of the Neethul.
Gristlen the Unseen of the Draghoul Clan ( and Princess of House Arcane) had been Tavin’s target, a high-ranking Neethul royal. Venge had been Gristlen’s only friend as a child. Grue and Pyre are Gristlen’s parents. Malifik is Gristlen’s brother.
Detharu, a.k.a. Deth, had been Tavin’s master (Ecstasy Unveiled, 4). Mako, a Ter-taceo demon, had been a psychotic assassin. Zeph loves to use bone bombs. Ream, a vampire, had been a fellow assassin and a friend.
Sheoul is Hell and currently ruled by Revenant. Azagoth, a.k.a. the Grim Reaper or the Keeper of Souls, had ruled in Sheoul-gra, an underworld realm serving as a holding tank for the souls of dead demons and evil humans, until his anger released all its souls, as the Resurrected. Lilliana is an angel married to Azagoth (“Azagoth“, 1 (DU), 11 (Dem)). Raika is their child. Hades (Hades, 2 (DU), 13 (Dem), 6.5 (LoD)) is the new Guardian of the Dead.
Tavin’s “victims” include Roland; Gorm, who is a Draegor demon; and, Muscov, among so many others. Anius, a fallen angel, is partnered with Denis, a vampire, in the revenge business.
The dermoire is a tattoo that tells the paternal history of every Seminus demon. S’genesis is a Seminus demon’s final transition. Meeries are not on the accepted-to-love list. Dar’grut is a revenge ritual with the family of those killed required to take revenge. Ashleech is a special blend alcohol created by Lore and Wraith that enables Sems and other species to get drunk. Bracken Cuffs, invented by the Neethul, cut off access to any of one’s powers. The Aegis is an organization that hunts demons. Harrowgates are a way for demons to travel great distances and planes of existence. Carceris are the jailers of the underworld. The Nether is a plane of existence where human souls reside when they aren’t in Heaven.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a black background with metallic trefoils and stars that gradate from gold and yellow to bronze and green. At the top is a gradated gold-to-black and back to gold of the publisher’s name with the title beneath it in an embossed pale gold with the series info beneath in the same pale gold. At the bottom is the author’s name in a gradated neon green to black and back again. A silver and green caduceus is thrust through the “i” in the author’s first name. Both zeroes in the publisher’s name have emerging images: a green viper uncoiling in the first and a bust of Tavin peering down.
The title is truly about the Bond of Passion shared between Tavin and Gristlen.
