Review: Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione

*This is not YA.

I've looked at the Lords of Deliverance series several times in the past couple years, thought, "Gee, I should read that.", and then went "Nope, not until Sealer's Promise is written." Well the good news, for you and me, is that I caved.

The first book in the series, Eternal Rider, isn't the one I really want to get my hands on. But I'm very much a "start at the beginning" kinda girl when it comes to series. Yes, I realize there are book prior to this from the Demonica series, and now that I'm done this I'm tempted to go back. But still... Starting here was smarter than starting with Lethal Rider or Rogue Rider, right?

Curious what I thought of Eternal Rider? Read on and find out. :)

(Summary from GoodReads)

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.

When I sat down to read Eternal Rider, I did so with two questions in mind. (1) How long will it take me to get to the book that made me want to read this series? and (2) Can this author write? That may sound really cold, but I've read a LOT of PNR, and it is my "home" genre. It's what *I* write. So yeah, I won't lie: I'm tough on books I read here, just as I (hope) I am on my own work. 

The good news? Eternal Rider totally rocked. Of the four books I've read by this author, I actually liked Cara the most out of the heroines I met. And while Ares was not my favorite hero, he was up there and I did enjoy him. Plus, the way that the rest of the horsemen, and a wide variety of other characters, were intermixed into the story added a level of richness and 'life' / 'world' / 'lore' that really kept my interest. 

Oh, and I loved the Hellhounds! They play a really cool role in this book and I found it refreshing and interesting. It goes very well with the concept that this series seems to spin around, which is pretty much the idea that any creature--angels, demons, humans, etc--can be good or evil. I won't tell you what our furry, slobbery friends actually do here, but I will say that if you love stories where animals--mythological or otherwise--play a great role, this is a book you'll want to read. 

On the other hand, if you're not a fan of scorching hot sex scenes, this is probably best avoided. It's a crying shame since the book was both really thrilling and really fun, but the truth is the truth. Further, this is one of those books where the sex was, in many cases, there for sex's sake. It wasn't *too* bad, but it was noticeable. 

Original, sexy, and fun, Eternal Rider was a book that I could not put down. If you are a paranormal romance fan and haven't read this yet, I'd highly recommend that you check it out. Please be aware that the Lords of Deliverance series is a spin-off of the Demonica series. I jumped in and did okay, but I'm pretty sure certain things would have been even better if I had read from the very beginning. 

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