Reaper

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Synopsis

Azagoth is the Grim Reaper, a fallen angel who created and has presided over the underworld realm of Sheoul-gra for thousands of years. As such, he is the judge of all evil souls who are sent to Hell, and the service he provides maintains a delicate balance between Earth, Heaven, and Hell. But certain denizens of the underworld are upset that Satan has been imprisoned for a thousand years, and Azagoth holds the key to his cell. They want to release Satan and unleash the prophesied End of Days centuries sooner than it should happen. To achieve their goal, their leader, Moloch, kidnaps Azagoth's pregnant mate, Lilliana, hoping to coerce Azagoth into doing their bidding. Azagoth will do almost anything to ensure Lilliana and his unborn child's safe return, but to do so, he'll have to break his oath as keeper of Sheoul-gra and shatter his alliance with Heaven, and even if he's successful, it may have far-reaching consequences that even he couldn't predict.

Review

Reaper is the eighth book in Larissa Ione's Demonica Underworld series, which is a spin-off or sub-series of her greater Demonica world that follows characters who live in the Underworld, and it's the nineteenth book in the larger combined series. Azagoth is at the helm again, happy to have his mate, Lilliana, back home with him in Sheoul-gra and eagerly awaiting the birth of their baby, but their blissful reunion is cut short when Lilliana falls ill and must be rushed to Underworld General Hospital. Eidolon discovers that she's been poisoned, and it's apparent that the mole in Sheoul-gra who murdered some of Azagoth's Memitim children is likely the culprit. Until they can ferret out the traitor, it's safer for Lilliana to stay with Ares and Cara, but when the Harrowgate malfunctions, she never makes it to their island, instead being captured by the evil Moloch. He uses Lilliana as a bargaining chip to try to get Azagoth to release Satan from his prison and jump-start the apocalypse a thousand years too early. This leaves Azagoth in an untenable position. He doesn't want to release Satan, but he also cannot lose his mate and unborn child. Unfortunately his contract with Heaven states that he can't leave Sheoul-gra, which makes him reliant on Ares, Thanatos, and others to do the fighting for him, when all he really wants to do is destroy Moloch himself. However, when their initial efforts fail, Azagoth will literally do anything, including breaking his contract in multiple ways to ensure Lilliana's safe return, but his actions could have wide-reaching consequences that could change the course of everything that's yet to come.

I loved Azagoth and Lillianna in their first book together, Azagoth. He's a tortured soul, an empathic angel who feels emotions deeply and willingly fell in order to run Sheoul-gra in exchange for not having to feel anymore. As part of his contract with Heaven, he also fathered thousands of Memitim (guardian angels) over the centuries. Then he met Lilliana and everything changed. She reawakened his emotions and made him a better person, but now that they're about to have a child of their own, the first one he'll be able to raise hands-on, he's faced with an impossible situation. His mate and unborn child have been kidnapped by his mortal enemy, Moloch, who wants Satan released in exchange for their safe return. Azagoth doesn't want to do it, but he is tempted when there doesn't seem to be another solution. I admired him for sticking to his principles, even though it meant him taking the risk of losing everything and he nearly did. He ends up taking a burn-it-all-down approach, not caring what happens to him, as long as Lilliana and their child are safe, but neither Heaven, nor Hell, will be happy about it. I enjoyed seeing Azagoth so intensely focused on his mission. The way he loses it sometimes, shows just how much he loves Lilliana, and I liked that he doesn't hold back when taking on his enemies. At the same time, seeing him with his baby is utterly heartwarming, demonstrating that he's going to be a great dad. I'm so happy that he finally gets to be a father in every sense of the word. Throughout it all, Lilliana is no slouch either, keeping her wits about her while imprisoned by Moloch, always thinking of her child first and doing whatever she can to keep the baby safe, then fighting with every shred of her being to get out alive. These two are perfect together and I can't wait to see more of them in the books to come.

Reaper basically serves as a wrap-up to the main Demonica/Lords of Deliverance/Demonica Underworld series with events taking place that will have repercussions far into the future, and I was very pleased with the way things ended. The author kept me on the edge of my seat throughout, worrying that someone wasn't going to make it out alive. In fact, she actually dared to kill a main character right out of the gate, which left me freaking out a little. I had to tell myself to stay calm and be patient, trying to have faith that there would be some loophole to reverse it. After all this is Romanceland where HEAs abound. All I'll say is that it went the way I'd hoped, but boy, did she keep me waiting until the very last minute. I loved all the cameos, if not larger roles, for most of the past main characters of the series. Ms. Ione kept me guessing as to who the mole in Sheoul-gra was, and it definitely wasn't anyone I'd even suspected, so that mystery was very well done. My curiosity about the angel, Jim Bob was finally appeased and his identity was a bit of a surprise, too. In fact, everything that Azagoth had to do to win the day was pretty unexpected, which made the entire story a tense, edge-of-your seat thrill ride. Although his actions will have far-reaching consequences, I certainly can't fault him for anything he did. I'm glad that there were characters who stood up for him so that he and Lilliana could get a second HEA ending. And of course, the story isn't over yet. There are two more novellas for long-time side characters before the main Demonica series comes to a full close. Then readers will be catapulted thirty years into the future for the spin-off, next-gen series, Demonica Legacy, that will follow the children of our beloved main characters. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens for Azagoth and Lilliana's child, because they're going to have quite the job ahead of them.

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Larissa Ione

Themes

Amazing Animals
Babies & Children
Light Mystery
Pregnancy Stories
Tortured Heroes