Passion Unleashed: Number 3 in series (Demonica, #2)

by Larissa Ione

WRAITH, a vampire with a tortured past, is wild, strikingly attractive, and the most skilled fighter in both the human and demon realms...and he's dying. Given only weeks to live, he has only two options: seduce a human woman inorder to take possession of her invulnerability charm...or die.

SERENA is a treasure hunter and has lived a charmed life - literally. At the age of six, a fatal disease nearly killed Serena, until her mother passed down her charm to Serena, making her immune to injury and death. But there is a price: she will loose her charm to the one she is intimate with. Worse, with the charm no longer keeping her disease in check, she will die.

But as she starts to fall for the young and dying Wraith, she realizes her own loneliness, and starts to wonder if living forever is worth the price.

• ISBN10: 0446401056
• ISBN13: 9780446401050
• Publish Date: 7 May 2009 (first published 1 January 2009)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 5 November 2012
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Forever
• Format: Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

This was awesome! I love Wraith, and Serena is wonderful as well. I can't wait to continue to learn more about this world, the underworld and UGH. This book tugged at all my emotions, I was so happy in the end when Wraith met his baby, and Serena welcomed him with open arms. That totally teared me up.

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a ChapterSerena Kelley may be the single most important person on the face of the planet. Serena holds in her possession a necklace. When the necklace was transferred to Serena she also received a charm from an angel. No one and nothing can harm her. The charm is in place to make Serena's job of protecting her amulet a feat that can be accomplished by a mere mortal. All Serena has to do is keep her virginity in tact to keep it safe. Serena has done a very good job of that. She has learned to deal with the fact that she can never have a real relationship and to that end no family. She'll never have children.

Wraith is a Seminus who only thinks of himself. Wraith has done whatever he pleases, rules be damned. He's also very recently been poisoned and has a very short amount of time to save himself. Wraith has no problem taking what he needs from whoever has it. He's rarely given it a thought before. Except this time. Wraith must take what he needs from a human female. He has sworn never to get involved with a human female. It reminds him of his horrible past. Something he has moved on from. If Wraith can't win over Serena, he'll loose more than he knows.

What starts out as a simple hook up on Wraith's part turns into a battle that he can't possibly win. Serena endears herself to him by simply being herself. She gives as good as she gets. Serena also doesn't take Wraith's smooth attitude and fake persona that he's crafted over the years. She makes him give real pieces of himself. Wraith must make very difficult decisions that will affect so many more people than when he began his seduction. He must protect Serena from evil forces that only mean her ill. While Wraith is busy fighting for humanity and the world, Serena somehow wriggles her place into his heart and sets up shop.

My Thoughts:
Passion Unleashed is probably my favorite of the series so far. I will shamelessly admit it's because I am a sucker for the bad boy that everyone underestimates or doesn't expect anything good to come from. Ione delivers this amazing and tear jerking story line in the package that is Wraith.

Through the first two books Wraith is presented as a primo asshole who doesn't care about anyone but himself and his needs. He shows a certain regard for his brothers Shade and Eidolon. Anyone outside of that small number of people simply does not matter to Wraith one way or the other. To watch the walls surrounding his heart crumble is a thing of pure beauty. I sat on the edge of my seat wondering if Serena could be woman enough to deal with all of Wraith's baggage and whether or not she would truly get him.

Serena did not disappoint as a heroine. She gets major points for her sheer will. Serena never pretends to be anything that she's not with Wraith. She gives and gives and when Wraith throws up a road block, she adapts and puts the ball back in Wraith's court. I was worried about how she would react to the big deception once it was revealed to her. The big reveal truly showed what Serena was made of. She told Wraith exactly how she felt and didn't crumple up and die like some heroines would have. Serena handled it well, really better than I expected.

The ending was one of the best that I have read in awhile. The last 70 - 100 pages really kept me on the edge. Just when I thought that this was how it was going to end, Ione would change things up. The battle and it's aftermath is the stuff that paranormal and happy endings are made of. I literally felt euphoric at the end. The plot line surrounding Wraith and Serena was wrapped up. The romantic element might have been slightly predictable but really, as romance readers would we have it any other way? Heck no!

[Melanie]

I liked Wraith. I think it is because I have a thing for the bad guys. It is great to see him overcome all of his fears.

[mitabird]

While I liked Passion Unleashed, I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books in the series. It just didn't grip me right away and I wasn't as invested in Wraith and Serena. I liked them together and I was curious to see what Ione would do to give them a HEA, but felt that everything was wrapped up a little too neatly. Wraith didn't surprise me at all with the way he dealt with Serena. He seemed like such a hard ass, but we got glimpses of his kindness before. Serena was likable enough, even though she did stupid things sometimes. I understood though since she was virtually invincible and it I liked how she learned quickly when she needed Wraith.

I think my main problem with this story was the similarities to JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood. In the first two books, I thought the writing style was similar, but not enough to detract from Ione's world. That was not the case in this one, IMO. It really took me away from the story too many times and it is the main reason I didn't like it more.