Review posted: Happily Ever After - Reads
Blog rating: B-

Revenant is reeling from having his memory restored after thousands of years. He goes from being all alone, causing havoc in hell, where he grew up and now lives, to having a family, a twin brother and a history that includes him being an angel, and not with the “fallen” before the title. His twin brother Reaver and he don’t exactly get along, there’s a ton of bad blood and misconceptions between them so while Revenant is now living with the full impact of his entire history, he’s still seen as the enemy by his family. He comes off as a snarky, sarcastic asshole but the rejection he’s still getting from Reaver, Heaven and the Horsemen cuts him deeper than he lets on. And then he meets Blaspheme and wants her. In bed. Against a wall. Doesn’t matter, he wants this female and sets out to get her.

Blas is hiding her own huge secret. She’s believed to be a false angel, but really she’s one of the most hunted people by both heaven and hell. The daughter of an angel and fallen angel, her kind is killed, no questions asked. She’s been living under a masking spell for years but it’s wearing off and she doesn’t know what do to. It’s during this time she meets Revenant and doesn’t give him the time of day at first, but he’s a pest and keeps showing up making it impossible for her to ignore him. Once she starts to learn more about Revenant, what’s he’s been through and what he’s currently going through, she starts to open her heart to him because fighting it was getting her nowhere.

This book confused me. Not in the story sense, I always love getting back into the Demonica world and seeing past characters come back to life on page. Story wise with the fight between heaven and hell and Revenant being right smack dab in the middle of it was interesting and the final battle is bloody, and an ultimate fight to end the threat to everyone we’ve come to know and love over the course of this series. Revenant, this guy had me cracking up. Some of the things he said and did, he’s ruthless but really only because he doesn’t trust easy and he’s never had anyone for thousands and thousands of years actually care about him. Blas does, she cares and she worries and it knocks Revenant for a loop and I liked seeing some good come into Revenant’s life. He starts and ends the book with snippy sarcasm, which I got a kick out of, but he’s actually living by books end, even though the final battle with Satan takes him right to edge and even over it.

Where I was a little let down was with Blas. I can’t put my finger on what it was about her that I didn’t connect with, but there was just something missing. I didn’t fall in love with her like I have other heroines in this series and I often found myself frustrated by either her actions or the things she’d say, especially to Revenant. Their relationship was good, but it felt almost like they fell into it. I needed more relationship between them and that might be where my disconnect with Blas came in.

While Revenant had both hit and misses for me, I would recommend this book if for no other reason than to get to know Revenant. His life has been miserably hard and seeing him start to have some good come into it was a fun, satisfying journey. I especially loved the scenes between Revenant and Reaver – brothers who needed to work through a lot to get to a better place. I’m not sure if this is a stand out in the series for me, but Ione always brings the humor which I enjoy and if you love a snarky tortured hero, look no further than Revenant.