Review – Immortal Rider by Larissa Ione

Publisher: Grand Central
Publish Date: Out Now
How I got this book: NetGalley

The signs are everywhere…disastrous world events. Evil rising up, unleashed upon the innocent. The prophecies were there…but no one listened. Until now. The time has come for those who can either usher in Doomsday…or prevent it. They are here. They ride. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Arik Wagner, a soldier with the U.S. Army’s paranormal unit, the R-XR, kissed a girl and liked it. And then he went to hell as punishment. Where he’s spent weeks being tortured…and plotting revenge.

Limos, Horsewoman of the Apocalypse, isn’t your average girl. She’s immortal, dangerous, and her fiancé is Satan himself. In a moment of weakness, she gave in to her desire and kissed Arik, triggering her fiancé’s wrath – and his claim on her. In order to save Arik, and the world, Limos must make a dangerous pact with her recently turned evil brother, Pestilence. A deal that might just cost her her soul…and her heart.
*Blurb from Goodreads*

I’m a huge fan of Ione, and when she announced her Horsemen series I was so psyched. After reading the first book in the series, I was so excited to see what Ione had in store for us for Limos. I absolutely fell in love with her in the first book, and couldn’t wait to see where her story would lead.

Limos is the only woman of the Horsemen, and unlike her brothers, she was raised in hell by demons. As a girl she was betrothed to the one and only Satan. Her engagement came with stipulations though, and any man she gives her affections to will be pulled into hell and tortured. When Limos kisses Arik in a moment of weakness, he is pulled into hell  and potentially lost to her forever.

Arik has always wanted Limos, but he didn’t know that kissing her would send him straight into hell. When he finally gets out, he and Limos will have to put aside their feelings to save not only Arik’s soul, but  they also need to find a way to stop Limos’ seal from breaking and stop Pestilence from claiming the world in the name of Sheoul.

While I did really enjoy this book, I didn’t connect to it the way I usually do with Ione’s books, and I’m not completely sure why. I loved both Limos and Arik, and I thought that their romance was genuine. I’m not sure if it’s just that there are now so many different characters in both the Horsemen and Daemonica series that I have a harder time keeping track of everyone, or if the plot just seemed to drag in places…

One of the things that I loved the most about Limos was that despite the fact that she was raised by demons and is the only female of the horsemen, she is still a woman first and foremost. Every time she talked about what color to paint her nails and how strongly she feels everything, it brought out just how much she’s had to endure. At one point she is thinking about how her brothers have been building walls against their feelings, while all of her walls have been breaking down, allowing her to feel and live. That simple revelation was the single moment that I knew Limos would be a heroine I could root for and cry with and re-read over and over again.

Poor Arik, I felt so bad for him. All he wanted was to be sweet on Limos and instead he gets dragged into hell, tortured in ways that were just horrible and then even once he’s rescued, his mind is stuck in the hell hole. When he finally came out of it, I just wanted to wrap my arms around him. Although I understand why Arik had an easier time dealing with the emotional fall out of his captivity, I kind of wish that he had struggled with it a bit more. Instead, he seemed to fall back into the fold of demons and the supernatural a little too easily for me.

I’m very anxious to see where the next book leads, especially since all the build up for it at the end of this book. There was one scene with Than that broke my heart a little, and isn’t for the faint of heart, but didn’t bother me as much as I expected. I also can’t wait to see what happens with Reseph. I loved that we got the chance to see a little bit more of him, and I can’t wait to see if his seal can be restored, and how he will deal with his actions.

All in all this continues to be an amazing series with in-dept world building and a wonderful cast of characters (even though I have a difficult time keeping them straight). Limos and Arik were so perfect together, and I really enjoyed their romance and build up to the sexy times. I’m excited to see where the series is headed, because it felt as if Ione left a lot open after this book.
I give Immortal Rider a B-