Blog Tour Review: Hades by Larissa Ione

I was happy to see Hades was going to get a novella.  And let me say, Larissa Ione once again gives us a hero that you can’t help but love.

As we step back into the Demonica world, we get a little insight into how the underworld works.  Hades may be the jailer of the things we don’t like to think about, but we find out he’s not in charge of his own destiny.  Instead, he’s paying for not only the sins that caused him to fall but also for the poor choices that lead to him into the servitude of Arazgoth.  It’s not until Cataclysm (or Cat) that Hades realizes what he wants is what every other male in the Demonica series has wanted…a woman to want him just as he is.

Cat is an angel who got pulled into something she really knew nothing about.  Being sent to the Sheoul-gra was a punishment Cat was going to take until she could redeem herself and return to Heaven.  But Hades and the friends she’d made there helped her realize that she had so much more with these group of people than she did with her heavenly family.  They accepted her inquisitive, sometimes messy, personality and made her feel like she belonged.

I’ll admit, this novella was too short of a Demonica story for me.  I wanted more for both of these characters.  For their romance to build and expand over a couple hundred pages.  That being said, it was a typical Demonica book with wit, sarcasm, trouble brewing and a romance between a hero/heroine that seems unlikely but proves to be absolutely perfect in the end.  If you’ve followed the Demonica series, HADES is an absolute must-read.

The thought of living one more day the way he’d lived the last five thousand years made him want to throw up as he prowled the length of his crypt until he swore the soles of his boots cried out for mercy.

Azagoth had left him hours ago with all kinds of assurances that Cat wouldn’t be harshly punished for what she’d done. But Azagoth’s idea of “harsh” was a lot different from Hades’s. Well, not usually, but for Cat, definitely.

Hades just hoped Azagoth hadn’t suspected that anything had gone on between them. Technically, Hades hadn’t gone against Azagoth’s orders, but the Grim Reaper wasn’t a fan of technicalities. And if he did anything to punish Cat for what Hades had done, Hades would fight that bastard until he was too dead to fix.

Snarling, Hades threw his fist into the wall. Never, not in his entire life, had he felt this way about a female. Hell, he hadn’t felt this way about anything. Oh, he’d always been passionate about meting out justice, but this was a different kind of passion. This was an all-consuming desire to be with someone. To be something better for that someone.

He hadn’t known Cat for long, but in their brief time together, he’d shared things he’d always kept private. He’d given comfort and had been comforted. He’d wanted, and he’d been wanted back.

She wants to go back to Heaven, idiot.

Yeah, then there was that. The chances of going back were extremely slim, given that in all of angelic existence, only a handful of fallen angels had been offered the opportunity. But just the fact that she wanted to go was troubling.

Oh, he understood. Who would choose to live in the grim darkness of the underworld when they could flit around in light and luxury? But dammit, Cat was wanted down here. Could he make her see that?

Closing his eyes, he braced his forehead on the cool stone wall he’d just punched. Pain wracked him and not just because he’d broken bones in his hand and they were knitting together with agonizing speed. That pain was nothing compared to the ache in his heart.

He needed to be with Cat, but how? He supposed he could try reasoning with Azagoth. Sometimes the guy wasn’t completely unbending. Especially now that he had Lilliana. She’d leveled him out, had given him a new perspective on life and relationships.

But would it be enough?

Because one thing was certain. If Hades couldn’t have Cat in his life, then Azagoth had saved it for nothing.