Book Review: Base Instincts by Larissa Ione

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Base instincts
Author: Larissa Ione
Series: Demonica #11.7
Heroes: Raze/Slake
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 150 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: September 14, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  As a Seminus demon, Raze’s life literally depends on having sex with females. The problem is that he doesn’t desire females, and it’s physically impossible for him to be with males. Thankfully, he and his best friend, Fayle, have an arrangement that keeps him alive . . . if lonely. He finds some solace in his work as a medic at Thirst, a vampire club known for its rough clientele. But his carefully structured world turns upside down when he meets a mysterious male who makes him want what he can never have.

Slake is an assassin used to getting what he wants, and what he wants is Raze. But he also wants to earn back the soul he sold when he was a much different demon. All he has to do is capture a runaway succubus named Fayle and hand her over to her family. What he doesn’t count on is being caught himself by a web of lies—and his attraction to Raze.

Raze and Slake must navigate a dangerous world to be together. But as Fayle’s jealousy of their relationship turns deadly, they find themselves embroiled in a battle not only for their love, but their lives and souls.

Review: If you’re a fan of the Demonica series, you will surely enjoy this addition. It contains all of the wonderfully detailed elements of that world with the added exciting twist of m/m. While this could be read as a stand alone, I highly recommend reading the rest of the series to really get a feel for this wonderfully detailed world. There is a handy dictionary of terms at the beginning which will help the newbies better understand things or remind those who haven’t read this series in a while.

Just as many of the other demon characters we have read about previously, Raze is a Seminus (sex) demon. He is running out of time as his next maturation approaches. Up until this point, he has solved this issue with the help of his female friend, a demon who feeds off of sexual energy. The dilemma here is that Raze is gay making it quite difficult for him to deal with having to fulfill his Seminus needs. Needing sex to survive but being unable to climax with a male makes things pretty dire for Raze, and I loved the different aspect of his struggles.

Slake is the assassin on assignment to capture Raze’s female friend who essentially keeps him alive. He tracks her through Raze, but his and Raze’s mutual attraction get in the way of Slake initially completing his task. Unfortunately, he is running out of time as well. Slake is hiding a pretty big secret from Raze about his demon species/background, but it is a big factor that ends up working in their favor.

I really liked how that all played out, and seeing some of the previous characters and goings on at Underworld General was a nice addition. It was easy to jump back onto this world, and I was reminded about all of the things I loved about it.

Unfortunately, the relationship with these two fell a little flat for me. It felt as though Ms. Ione wasn’t quite fully committed to it, perhaps intending to ease the current readers into the idea of it. For me, it was missing the intensity and realness that I’ve found and enjoyed in the m/m genre. It didn’t have the pages of hot, heavy and emotional sex that I was expecting/hoping for, as much of that was sort of glossed over.

Setting that aside, I really loved being back in this world again, and while the relationship itself didn’t wow me, I found myself enjoying the overall Demonica story once again, and I’m sure other fans of this series will agree.

Overall Impression: I really liked it

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*