Review: Rogue Rider

Reviewed by Jen
 

Before I started this book, I had some serious concerns about how I was ever going to be able to get behind Reseph as a hero.  After all, we just spent the last three books with him as a really, really evil villain.  He raped. He killed. He tortured. He has questionable interactions with his mother.  This guy was as horrible as they come. Granted, he wasn't really himself. He was taken over by the evil Pestilence. But frankly, he wasn't great hero material before he turned evil. He was a flighty man-whore.  Somehow, though, Larissa Ione managed to do something incredible with this character. After everything, she has made him likable.

As the book begins, Reseph has been cast back into the human world with no memory of who he is.  Reaver has bottled up Pestilence deep inside him and freed him from hell.  He lands, naked, in a snowy Colorado town, where Jillian finds him unconscious.  Fearing for his life, she gets him back to her cabin and nurses him back to health.

From the moment he regains consciousness, Reseph starts flirting.  As sexy and gorgeous as he is, though, part of what really gets to her is the vulnerability underneath.  Jillian knows better than anyone what it means to be vulnerable. She is still getting over a terrible attack from a demon that nearly killed her and she has plenty of fear inside of her.  Of course, she has no reason to believe Reseph is anything other than human, but she is just as worried about the pain that a regular man could inflict on her battered heart.  So as much as she grows to want him --and as much as he wants her-- both are afraid to let real feelings begin to grow.  Jillian, because she is afraid of abandonment and heartbreak; Reseph, because he fears what he'll uncover about himself if he ever gets his memory back.

Most of the first half of the book sets the foundation for the romance, but in the second half, the pace picks up in a big way.  There is a lot Reseph must face from his actions as Pestilence. The other Horsemen feature prominently, as do Reaver and Harvester.  And lest you think there is no danger, the demons of Sheol are after Reseph --as are the Aegis.  There's action. There's bloodshed. There is sex.  --Goodness-- I haven't talked about the sex!!  It is so, so hot. Ione is incredibly creative with her love scenes.  You could practically feel the heat in the air.

As always with these books, the world-building is fantastic. The continuity is outstanding. And the b-plot is strong. I am positively counting the minutes until I can get my hands on Reaver's book.  The mystery of his past is already starting to unfold!!!

Rating: B+

*ARC Provided by Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley

Click to purchase: Amazon

Rogue Rider

by Larissa Ione

Release Date: November 20, 2012

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing