In Reaver (Lords of Deliverance #5) by Larissa Ione, Reaver is a battle angel who may have lived for five thousand years but is still learning how to play the game and do right by his loved ones. He’s always had a knack for doing what he feels is right and then making amends later. When Reaver takes the initiative to rescue Fallen angel Harvester from Satan, he must do so with the help of demons he’s not quite sure 
he can trust, all while keeping his crusade a secret from the archangels. His biggest problem? Reaver is not so sure Harvester actually wants to be saved. Especially from someone like himself who seems to make her furious at every turn.
‘Sure, she’d attacked him for no reason and he’d hated her instantly, but hatred hadn’t put a damper on the insane desire he felt whenever she was near.’
Harvester was an angel who decided to have herself banished to Sheoul so she could watch out over the Four Horsemen as they were growing up. Being a spy in hell is a tricky process, one where she could be tortured for eternity if her secrets were found out. Centuries of being surrounded by evil and having to commit acts herself that she could barely fathom have changed Harvester. She holds out hope when Reaver tries to rescue her, that she will be able to find the good inside her soul again without harming Reaver or anyone else more than she already has.
‘All she’d ever wanted was to be good, so it was ironic that in order to do good, she’d had to become bad. She’d had to make everyone she cared about hate her.’
Reaver is the complex but captivating fifth book in Larissa Ione’s Lords of Deliverance series. We follow angel Reaver and Fallen angel Harvester to learn how their history has led to the choices they made, and has brought them to their current status in Heaven and Sheoul.
This paranormal romance isn’t your normal easygoing, happy-go-lucky tale. Instead, it is a battle over good vs evil where you aren’t really sure who can be trusted…if anyone at all is who they really seem to be. I found the idea that not only those who reside in Sheoul (hell) can deceive, but also angels and archangels, to be a fascinating plotline. It adds an element of mystery to the story so that as I read along, I was trying to pin down who was being deceitful and who was actually doing things for the greater good.
There are of course a multitude of characters included so we meet every type of angel imaginable, Satan himself, the Four Horsemen, as well as other fantastical creatures like werewolves, demons, and vampires. This makes Reaver a story where reading previous books in this series would be quite beneficial. However, if you want to start with this one, be forewarned that there will be spoilers if you decide to go back and read previous installments.
Harvester and Reaver’s story is one that is about five thousand years in the making, and with that amount of history, you can imagine how intense their feelings for one another can be. The sacrifices that they both had to make over the years to protect loved ones (and each other) were immense and, honestly, mind-boggling. I enjoyed the give-and-take in their dialogue and even though the humor in this story tends to be a little dark, it works perfectly for them and their fellow angels. It seemed a little weird at first to think of romance between “heavenly beings” for some reason, but the passion that ignites between Harvester and Reaver was just as strong as any other romance I’ve read, and was insanely hot.
I’m quickly becoming a big fan of Larissa Ione and would suggest checking out Reaver if you love intense paranormal romances as much as I do. If you’re looking for more of her books, I also enjoyed Bound by Night, which is the first novel in her MoonBound Clan Vampire series.
Book Info:
HJ Recommends
Published December 17th 2013 by Forever
WARRIOR OF HEAVEN
Reaver is an angel with a past, a record, and a less-than-heavenly attitude. Powerful enough to fight alongside the fiercest battle angels-and crazy enough to risk his wings on a one-way mission to hell-he’s agreed to go where no angel has ever gone before…to steal the most seductive and dangerous prize of Satan himself.
ANGEL OF HELL
Harvester is one of the Fallen, a once-heroic angel who sacrificed her wings to work as an undercover agent in hell. But now her cover has been blown, and she’s been doomed to an eternity of agonizing torture. Even if Reaver can snatch her away from Satan’s lair, even if they can fight their way out of the underworld’s darkest depths, there is one thing Harvester can never escape-her newfound thirst for an angel’s blood…