A while ago, I read Desire Unchained, the second in the series, and was not particularly impressed. But because I’ve continually heard so many great things about this series, I decided to try again and read Ecstasy Unveiled. I’m so glad I did, because this book was awesome.

It would take a lot of time to describe every plotline in the book, so I’m going to stick to the main plot in the simplest terms possible.

Lore is a Seminus demon who has contracted himself as an assassin under a demon named Detharu in order to save his sister’s life. In a previous book, Lore used his resurrection gift to bring back a man named Kynan Morgan. Because Lore is bonded to his master, Detharu was the one who experienced the agonizing aftereffects. Now, instead of executing him for failing a job, Detharu is giving Lore the chance to complete his hundredth kill and thus gain his freedom. Strangely enough, his assignment is to kill the very man he saved, Kynan. Lore is suspicious, but he has no choice; if he fails this assignment, Detharu will kill his sister.

Kynan Morgan is a Marked Sentinel, a human chosen to guard an important amulet with powers of mass destruction. He is protected by Idess, an angel trying to earn her wings. She is very anxious to complete her duties and Ascend to Heaven, because her brother Rami Ascended a long time ago and she is tired of being alone.

When Lore arrives to kill Kynan, Idess appears. After a brief fight, she manages to wound Lore but is also injured herself. Some time later, after a lot of tussling, Idess finally chains Lore up in her home. After a lot of interesting developments, they admit their strange attraction for one another, but these forbidden feelings are the least of their concerns; larger evil forces are at work, forces from both their pasts, and they will have to work together to fight the destruction of the world.

Lore’s capacity for love is enormous, and I don’t think I’ve ever come across a hero with such a crappy history who still has an incredibly loving heart. The bonds of family run deep in him, and even though his new-found brothers are less than happy to know of his existence, he still holds on to the hopes of family and acceptance. When he realizes his feelings for Idess are more than friendship, he immediately puts her safety and happiness before his own. This guy is a keeper.

For such a good character, Idess manages to break the Boring Angel stereotype, and throughout her troubles and frustrations she remains spirited but still centered. She deserves a gigantic A for all her effort, because things just never go her way. Her caring nature and inability to dissemble catches at Lore’s heart – I really enjoyed watching their initial distrust for each other slowly turn into a partnership and ultimately love.

The story is also surprisingly humorous, and reading about a group of macho brothers wrestle with each other while trying to ignore their softer feelings is always a fun thing.

The sex in the story works much, much better than in the previous books; there is a lot of it, but it seemed less gratuitous and more involved with the plot.

My only issue with the story is that the whole villain/ending seemed a little easy. The buildup was enormous, and I felt the final scenes didn’t have a corresponding urgency to them. There were also a couple of continuity errors that an editor should have caught.

I was surprised at how compulsively readable Ecstasy Unveiled is. There are so many elements, so many characters involved, but all of them intensely interesting. I will definitely keep a look out for the next in the Demonica series.