Review ~ Ruined by Jus Accardo

Title: Ruined

Author: Jus Accardo

Series: The Eternal Balance #1

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Published: December 30th 2013

Hell is looking for a way to break loose…

Jax lost the genetic lottery. Descended from Cain, the world's first murderer, he's plagued by a curse that demands violence in exchange for his happiness. He left everything behind, including the girl he loved, but thriving on the pain of others is lonely… And it's killing him.

After a series of heartbreaking losses, Samantha put rubber to pavement and headed for college as fast as her clunker could carry her. But she can't outrun her problems. When an attack at school drives her back home, she's thrown into the path of a past—and a guy—she's been trying to forget.

Sam strains Jax's control over his darkness, but running isn't an option this time. Someone—or, something—followed her home from school: a ruthless monster with a twisted plan centuries in the making. Forced together to survive, and fighting an attraction that could destroy them both, Jax and Sam must stop a killer bent on revenge.

It has been a while since I have read a good demon story and I must say I really enjoyed this one. As you can see in the blurb, the original feud began as far back as Cain and Abel and although the main character is a bit naive at first about his heritage, the plot is so intense and exciting that I couldn't help but find out about it.

Jax has carried a Demon inside of him for as long as he can remember. It wasn't until he was standing over his sleeping brother, about to kill him that it was time to flee his hometown before he did something he regretted. Jax was a character I really liked. He is a badboy who has genuine feelings and although he has to do some bad things, (most of the time he regrets those decisions) they are things he must do in order to survive. Even though he has been gone from home for a few years, he doesn't know a lot about being a demon, so throughout this book we learn a lot about it with him and there are lots of twists thrown in along the way.

Samantha returned home after a series of unfortunate incidents, however that bad luck seems to have followed her home. When Jax returns she can't deny the feelings that she has for him, even after all the years apart and soon she realises that although he was gone, he was never that far away. Sammy rarely holds back on anything, she quite often says what she means and when she finds out about Jax she processes it remarkably well. She delves into the demon world with her eyes wide open because she literally needs to save her ass. She is a passionate character, always wanting to save those that she loves and always looks for the good in people. She hasn't always had a pleasant life, but most of her good memories involved having Jax around.

Ruined is told from alternating perspectives between Jax and Sam. Seeing both sides of the story gave great depth to the story and you could see what both characters were struggling with. I enjoyed the twists in the plot along the way; however, one major twist dawned on me early on. There is a little bit of romance in this story, but there is mostly action and suspense as the characters dive deeper into the demon world. I enjoyed Jus' writing style and was excited to see this was the beginning of something bigger. We are in for one hell of a ride and from what I've read, we do not want the gates of Hell opened!!

I received a copy of this book from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.