Review + Giveaway - Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione

TITLE:    Eternal Rider
AUTHOR:    Larissa Ione
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 402 pages
PUBLISHED:   Grand Central Publishing, 2011

SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for review and Blog Tour

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.

MY TAKE:    I have to admit that I have been waiting anxiously for this book to hurry up and get here.  When I reviewed Larissa Ione's "Sin Undone" last year, I was hooked BIG TIME.  While I was bummed that Sin Undone was the final Demonica book, I was jazzed to hear about her upcoming Lords of Deliverance series starring War, Famine, Pestilence and Death.  You know..The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!  I have always been fascinated by The Four Horsemen and when I read an excerpt for Ms. Ione's then upcoming Lords of Deliverance series, I was impatient. Let me tell you, the wait was WELL worth it. 

There are many surprises and fun twists in this first book about Ares/War.  Larissa Ione is a genius when it comes to creating fascinating characters that you are drawn to.  Ares is no exception:  he's hunky, funny, smart and loves his horse!  (Sorry, that's a huge requirement for any man for me.)  It's fun to watch his character grow from a rather oblivious immortal that has little use for humans to a fierce protector of the race ~ one lady in particular.  Especially since her death could bring the end of life as he knows it.

Cara is a great match for Ares.  Her growth and journey are a perfect foil for that of Ares.  She's an animal lover which comes to play in various important places of the story.   It's fun to have such a strong woman who is also soft and caring.  The contrasts and bond between her and Ares make for an exciting story that is full of steam and adventure.  Lots of steam :)

I don't want to give anything away as this is one of those stories that you will savor and not want to put down ~ even after it's over. There are surprises aplenty and a great foundation has been laid for the rest of the Horsemen's stories.  This is one of those that I will re-read; especially when the second book "Immortal Rider" comes out in December.  It tells the tale of Limos/Famine and it's going to be another can't-put-downable.  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

WHERE TO BUY IT:    Amazon and The Book Depository

About the Author ~ Larissa Ione:

I began writing the way so many writers do—the moment I learned to wield a pencil. But even as a child, I didn't write "kid" stories. I preferred something more dramatic. Something that didn't include Dick, Jane, and a dog named Spot. I wanted my characters to be named Dracula and my dogs to have names like White Fang or Cujo. I'll always have my parents to thank for that. They never censored my reading material (though I suspect that if they had truly known what was between the covers of some of the books, they'd have been a little more careful,) so when other girls my age were reading Laura Ingalls Wilder and Judy Blume, I was immersing myself in Stephen King and Dean Koontz.

Later, after I'd joined the Air Force and was in dire need of something to read between shifts at the weather station, I continued to read horror, but I'd branched out into fantasy, and then, finally, romance (though I admit I went kicking and screaming to the latter.)

Turned out that I loved romance! So I started writing it, but again, my style and voice leaned toward the dark, paranormal side. Fortunately for me, paranormal romance, as a sub-genre, was booming. I let my imagination fly, and soon I'd sold a series of dark, sexy paranormal romances to Grand Central Publishing.

I still read a lot of horror, science fiction, and fantasy, and in fact, one of my all time favorite books about writing is On Writing, by my favorite childhood horror author, Stephen King. If you're an author or a reader, I highly recommend this book for an insight into an author's mind—which can sometimes be a very scary place.

Go ahead; Seduce your dark side.

  

  

Five Fun Facts from Larissa Ione

1. Like the Demonica series, the new Lords of Deliverance series sports a defining symbol on the front of the book. As I always say, publishing a book is a team effort, and with this new series, my husband was part of the team—he designed the symbol!

2. Cara, the heroine in Eternal Rider, loves flannel pajamas. I gave her blue penguin pajamas after seeing a set I liked in a catalog...and then I sent the same pair to my editor for Christmas, so my heroine and editor have the same PJs!

3. The Bed and Breakfast in York, where Cara stays while in England, is the same one I stayed in during my last trip to the U.K. Ares lives on an island based on a small Greek island I once visited, and Limos lives on a remote Hawaiian beach area I've been to. Clearly, I like to write settings I know!

4. It seems like I can never write a book while in a single state, and Eternal Rider was no different. The first Lords of Deliverance book was written in Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin.

5. The Lords of Deliverance series has been in the works since before the first book in the Demonica series was even written—I've been fascinated by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse since I was young, but although I had the characters in my head for years, it took Sin from Sin Undone to bring their stories to life.

For more about Larissa:  Website, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook

The lovely Larissa and her publisher, Grand Central have generously offered to provide a copy of Eternal Rider for THREE of you lucky readers!  How cool is that?  So...

• Have you read Sin Undone or any of the Demonica series?  Or are you familiar with The Four Horsemen?  Leave a comment WITH your email.
• Must be 13 years old or older.
• Open to US and Canadian residents
• NO PO Boxes
• Drawing closes 4/18/11.
• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to email notification

Good luck everyone!

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.