Azagoth (1001 Dark Nights #6) - “Azagoth” is the first book in Larissa Ione’s Demonica Underworld series, which is a spin-off or sub-series of her greater Demonica series that follows characters who live in the Underworld. Nearly all of the books in this series are on the shorter side, roughly long novella or short novel length, so meatier than a short story but not quite as involved as the main novels of the series. In this one we have Azagoth aka the Grim Reaper, who is in charge of Sheoul-gra, the world between the human realm and Sheoul, and a kind of holding tank for the souls of demons and other evil beings. Azagoth has lived a rather lonely existence, trapped in his own realm, and is tired of being alone. He’s decided that he wants a mate and demands that Heaven send him one. Lilliana is the angel who shows up for the job, but given a choice between two unsavory scenarios, she didn’t have a whole lot of say in the matter. However, she’s offered a chance to get out of the deal and earn redemption for her “sins” if she finds and steals a time-traveling device which Azagoth possesses. When she first arrives, Lilliana thinks that Azagoth is a jerk and has every intention of finding the device and getting out as soon as possible, but the longer she stays and the more she gets to know him, the more she sees Azagoth’s gentler side and begins to fall for him. But when he discovers her original intentions, he may not be so forgiving.

Eons ago, after Satan’s fall and his subsequent creation of demonic creatures, the demons who died had nowhere for their souls to go. They were too evil to ascend into Heaven, so their souls roamed the Earth, sowing chaos. Into this conundrum came Azagoth, who volunteered to become a fallen angel in order to create the new realm of Sheoul-gra, where demon souls are held until he deems them worthy of reincarnation. He agreed to do this, in part, because he couldn’t bear to feel anymore and the job would allow him to shut off his emotions. But after centuries of living with virtually no emotion, his existence has become unbearable in a different way. Also as part of the job, he was expected to provide stud services to Heaven. Each year seventy-two female angels are sent to him with the expectation that he will impregnate them to create a special class of angels known as Memitim. As a result, he’s the father of all the numerous Memitim who now walk the Earth. Sick of sleeping with so many different females and tired of being alone, Azagoth demands that Heaven send him an angel that he can keep as his mate. He receives Lilliana, a feisty angel who he admires for being able to hold her own with him. Together, they use his chronoglass to travel outside of Sheoul-gra for the first time since he created the realm, an experience that utterly delights him. As a result of Lilliana’s presence and their little jaunts, he finally begins to feel something again and starts to fall in love with her. But when he learns the truth of her mission, it could lead to a massive heartbreak. Azagoth has earned a spot among my favorite heroes of the series. He has some hard edges, but at the same time, he has goodness in him and a kinder, gentler side. I especially loved his childlike enthusiasm when Lilliana took him outside Sheoul-gra. I also thought that having him so deeply connected to the realm itself was a particularly nice touch.

Lilliana is an angel with the rare ability to time-travel. She’s spent hundreds of years doing just that until a recent event in which she broke out of her shrowd, the magical bubble that keeps humans from seeing her. Even though she did it for a good reason, her pleas for mercy have fallen on deaf ears. The archangel Raphael has given her a choice: she can either undergo a procedure to remove her time-traveling ability, something that will leave her essentially lobotomized, or she can go to Sheoul-gra and become Azagoth’s mate, which comes with the perk of being able to time travel for one hour a day using his chronoglass. Although not thrilled with either of her options, she agrees to go to Sheoul-gra, especially when she’s given the chance to earn redemption by stealing the chronoglass. Once there, Lilliana isn’t initially impressed by Azagoth who seems like a bit of a jerk, but after they go time-traveling together and she learns of his emotionless existence, his plight begins to draw her sympathy. The more time she spends with him, the more she falls for him, until she’s ready to stay permanently. But when he learns the truth of her original intentions, she may not get a second chance with him. Lilliana is a nice mixture of sweet and sassy. She can hold her own when Azagoth is being difficult, but she’s kindhearted toward him when she learns of his past and his reasons for being where he is. I thought she was an excellent match for him and her grand gesture at the end really solidified their HEA for me.

“Azagoth” may be a shorter book but it still has several cross-over characters in supporting roles. Since Azagoth is Idess’s (Ecstasy Unveiled) father, we get to see her when she comes for a visit with an important purpose. We briefly see Conall (Sin Undone) when Lilliana goes to Underworld General in search of Idess. Harvester (Reaver) shows up at the end to repay a debt she owes to Azagoth, and although her mate Reaver isn’t actually seen in the story, his presence is felt in a big way. Hades comes up from the Inner Sanctum once to get Azagoth’s help with a pressing matter, and we’re introduced to Cataclysm or Cat for short, an Unfallen angel Azagoth hires to be Lilliana’s assistant. These two are paired together as the hero and heroine of the next Demonica Underworld story, Hades. Then lastly we see a fair bit of Zhubaal, Azagoth’s assistant, who will become the hero of the book, Z.

Overall, “Azagoth” was an excellent start to this new spin-off series and a great addition to the overarching Demonica world. I loved Azagoth and Lilliana as a couple and think they were perfect for each other. Their relationship has a Beauty and the Beast kind of vibe that I adored, while also being extremely steamy. I admit I had a few doubts about how I would like reading a series set entirely in the Underworld, but so far, so good. Larissa Ione is a masterful writer who is excellent at pulling off the seemingly impossible. Sheoul-gra isn’t nearly as scary a place as I was expecting, especially after certain “changes” begin to take place. It’s also interesting how she seems to be starting to build a new story arc. Unfallen angels are being hunted by demons and many are trying to find places to hide out, a turn of events that I have a feeling is leading to something big, and I look forward to seeing where it all goes. But for now, this was a perfect read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, including a scene involving light bondage and a bit of spanking, that could be objectionable to sensitive readers. Star Rating: *****

Hades (1001 Dark Nights #19) - "Hades" is the second book in Larissa Ione’s Demonica Underworld series, which is a spin-off or sub-series of her greater Demonica series that follows characters who live in the Underworld, and it’s the thirteenth book in the larger combined series. Nearly all of the books in this series are on the shorter side, roughly long novella or short novel length, so not quite as involved as the main novels of the series. In this one we have Hades, who runs the Inner Sanctum of Sheoul-gra where the evil souls are tortured before being reincarnated. He’s paired with Cataclysm, a fallen angel who now works for Azagoth in Sheoul-gra. The two have been admiring each other from afar, but Azagoth has told Hades that Cat is forbidden to him. Then one day, Cat accidentally lets souls pass through Azagoth’s tunnel between the other realms and the Inner Sanctum. In doing so, she inadvertently sent a good human soul to the wrong place, where he’s about to be used in some dark magic that could allow the evil demons to escape. Wanting to fix the trouble she caused, Cat enters the Inner Sanctum, thinking she can find the human soul and return him to Heaven, but in doing so, she accidentally sets herself up to be used by the demons as well. Hades comes to her rescue, but because of all the events that have been set in motion, the portals between the Inner Sanctum and the rest of Sheoul-gra are now jammed shut, leaving them stranded. As Hades and Cat try to figure a way out of their predicament and stop an apocalyptic level catastrophe from happening, they grow much closer. But even if they make it out alive, neither of them is quite sure how they’ll ever convince Azagoth to allow them be together.

Hades has presided over the Inner Sanctum of Sheoul-gra for millennia. He was once an angel and knew that he wasn’t supposed to meddle in human affairs, but he was so disturbed by the atrocities that humans often commit against each other that he eventually started trying to prevent evil people from harming their fellow humans. This morphed into him sometimes killing people, and one of those humans happened to be protected by a Memitim (one of Azagoth’s children), whom he also killed. Ever since, Azagoth has been punishing him for it. Hades has been charged with torturing evil souls until Azagoth deems them worthy of being reincarnated, something he has no problem doing, but he lives a pretty spartan existence in the Inner Sanctum. He’s also rarely allowed outside of Sheoul-gra, and even then, only for extremely short periods of time. As a result, he’s been celibate for a long time and has never felt any strong connection with a female. When Cat comes to work for Azagoth, Hades is immediately attracted to her. When he discovers her in the Inner Sanctum, he fights tooth and nail against a horde of the vilest demons around to save her life. Hades knows he wants Cat, but Azagoth has forbidden him to touch her. However, he finds himself in a major battle with his own feelings, trying to follow Azagoth’s edict while deeply desiring something more. I really liked Hades. Even though he’s been living a rather stark life with few pleasures, he doesn’t come off as particularly tortured as one might expect. Although the activities that led to him losing his wings and becoming a Fallen Angel got out of hand, he did them for the best of reasons. Despite being Sheoul’s jailor and resident torturer, he has a gentle side when it comes to Cat. He also risks everything, including his own life, to first save Cat and then to be with her, so I couldn’t help but admire him.

Cataclysm is something of a walking disaster. She accidentally got caught up in Gethel’s plan to murder Thanatos’s baby and bring about the apocalypse. I can’t recall if she was seen in that book or not, but either way, I couldn’t help wishing that Ms. Ione had given a little more detailed recap of how Cat got involved in Gethel’s plot. In any case, she lost her wings for it and now resides in Sheoul-gra as a Fallen Angel. However, she really wants to find redemption and earn her way back into Heaven. Azagoth hired her to do housework and to be Lilliana’s assistant. Cat tries her best, but she’s caused a lot of accidents, breaking things and such. But none was quite so egregious as her inadvertently pressing the button that opens the tunnel to admit souls into Sheoul-gra while cleaning. Azagoth always monitors these souls as they’re passing through, but several make it to the other side before Cat figures out how to close the door again. She’s too afraid of Azagoth to tell him the truth, so she hopes it will simply go unnoticed. Then Reaver shows up, telling Azagoth that he has the soul of a good human that needs to be returned. When Cat hears about this, she decides to enter the Inner Sanctum to make it right, but in the process, she ends up making things worse, trapping herself and Hades inside. Despite their dire circumstances, the two romantically connect with each other and share a few tender and lusty moments, so when Hades saves Cat’s life, she knows she must screw up her courage to go to bat for Hades with Azagoth. Cat is a rather humorous character. She has a big heart that’s always in the right place, but her attempts to do the right thing often turn into disaster. I liked her because she made me laugh a few times, and because she bravely goes toe-to-toe with Azagoth to protect Hades and fight for their relationship.

Overall, "Hades" was another respectable entry into this series. I liked both Hades and Cat, but a part of me wished the story was a little longer to flesh out their characterizations and their relationship a bit more deeply. I didn’t feel a strong connection between them until late in the story. They share a few misadventures of the typical type for this series, which draw them closer together and make the story interesting. The ending is a combination of steamy and sweet, but maybe a little more simplistic than we usually see from this author. I can’t fault it too much, though, because it did draw emotion out of me. I enjoyed all the little touches of humor, too. There aren’t as many cross-over characters seen in this installment. Azagoth and Lilliana (Azagoth) are the main supporting players, with Reaver (Reaver) showing up in one scene. Then Zhubaal, Azagoth’s assistant, shares a scene with Cat in which they reveal how a misperception about them sleeping together came about. During the course of this scene, we learn some interesting information about Zhubaal that makes me very much look forward to his book Z, which is the next in the Demonica Underworld group of stories. But before that, there’s another story in the greater series story arc that I’m eager to check out. Star Rating: ****

Z - "Z" is the third book in Larissa Ione’s Demonica Underworld series, which is a spin-off or sub-series of her greater Demonica world that follows characters who live in the Underworld, and it’s the fourteenth book in the larger combined series. In this one, we have Zhubaal, who used to be a special class of angel known as an Ipsylum. He was madly in love with Laura, a fellow Ipsylum, and they were planning to be married. But before that could happen, Laura was cast from Heaven, and by the time Z found her, she’d been killed. He then willingly became a fallen angel and started working for Azagoth (aka the Grim Reaper) in hopes of finding Laura’s soul again. He knows that she was reincarnated thirty years ago, but he hasn’t had much luck locating her until a daemani shows up in Sheoul-gra, asking for Azagoth’s help offloading some souls she’s picked up. When Z touches her, he senses Laura’s spirit and hopes that they’ll finally be reunited. Vex is an emim, the offspring of two fallen angels. She grew up in the human realm and loves her life, except that being a daemani means that she often picks up hitch-hiking souls. Until lately, she’d been able to sell them to soul-collectors, but the market has dried up. She knows that one of the souls currently inside her is a powerful one that could have the potential to possess her. Desperate to get rid of them, she goes to Azagoth for help. There she meets Z and discovers a strong connection with him, but thinks it’s just Laura’s soul influencing her. When Z figures out that Vex is the reincarnation of Laura, he’s over the moon, but even Azagoth is having trouble ridding her of the SuperEvil inside her. If she can be saved, will Z be able to accept that she’s not really the same person he’s been waiting for all these years?

Z was devastated when he lost Laura, who was the love of his life. Although they hadn’t yet been able to marry when she was taken from him, he had made a vow of undying love to her that he refuses to break. He’s remained a virgin all these years, determined to someday find Laura again and share the life they were always meant to have. Although Azagoth approved the reincarnation of Laura’s soul thirty years ago, he had no knowledge or control over where her soul went, so Z has been searching tirelessly to try to locate her again. When Vex shows up and a simple touch tells Z that Laura is a part of her, he thinks his lost love is one of Vex’s hitch-hikers. But once all but the SuperEvil soul has been expelled, he realizes that Vex herself is the woman he’s been looking for all these years. He’s thrilled to have finally found her, but although he sees occasional glimmers of the angel he once knew, Vex is a very different person. Their souls connect and the love is still there, but Z struggles between wanting back the woman he knew and fully accepting the woman who has returned to him, while Vex’s life still hangs in the balance. For a Fallen Angel, Z is a real sweetheart and probably as close to a beta hero that Larissa Ione writes. I love that he loves Laura so deeply that he never gave up on finding her and never broke his vow to her. He may be a virgin but he has good love-making instincts that made their first time together magical.

Vex adored her parents and has enjoyed her life thus far, although finding out she’s a daemani, basically a magnet for lost souls, has been kind of difficult. She has no real control over her powers, so if she’s close to a demon when they die, their soul gets sucked inside her. She had made a business out of selling these souls, but lately the market has dried up and no one will take the five souls currently residing inside her, one of which is extremely evil and extremely strong. Concerned that SuperEvil, as she’s dubbed that soul, may try to possess her, she goes to Azagoth, hoping he will exorcise all the souls and perhaps hire her to collect more for him. When she meets Z, she feels an instant connection, but when he tells her that he thinks Laura is inside her, she believes the feelings she’s experiencing for him are just Laura’s influence on her. It soon becomes apparent that Vex is the reincarnation of Laura but she’s really nothing like the woman Z remembers. As they search for a way to rid Vex of SuperEvil, she and Z connect more deeply, but if Z can’t get past the differences between her and Laura, they might not have a future together. Vex is a pretty tough, no-nonsense type of heroine. She’s had a good life and is well-adjusted, and she’s also very body and sex positive. She often tends to lead with that when interacting with Z, but once their souls connect, she remembers the love she feels for him, even though she’s not really the same person anymore. I love how sweet she is when she finds out he’s still a virgin, never poking fun at him for waiting so long, and instead helping build his confidence by giving him the lead.

"Z" is a mid-length novella, and at 150 pages, it’s about three quarters the size of the other Demonica Underwold stories I’ve read so far. As such, the plot isn’t quite as involved. However, I still very much enjoyed it. Even though Vex isn’t exactly Laura anymore, her soul does recognize Z, so it has a reunion romance vibe. Z and Vex having this prior connection made the rapid development of their relationship much more believable. It was also very sweet because Z had been waiting so long to be reunited with his lost love. Their scenes together are a nice mixture of romantic and passionate, as are the love scenes that are superbly done. There’s a touch of suspense as they try to rid Vex of the SuperEvil before it possesses her, and the identity of that soul is a bit of a surprise. Probably due to its shorter length, there aren’t a lot of supporting characters, but there are a few key players. Azagoth and Lillana (Azagoth) are seen the most, but Revenant (Revenant) puts in an appearance at the end where we learn that changes Rev has made since taking over Sheoul might not be working out and could lead to trouble down the road. We’re also introduced to Razr, Z’s assistant, who becomes the hero of the next book Razr. Overall, "Z" was a fun, sweet, and sexy short that was a nice addition to this series and the greater Demonica world. Star Rating: ****1/2 ( )