Tag Archives: erotica

Book Review: A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor, by Kathryn Moon

I’d seen Kathryn Moon‘s A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor recommended several times. So, when I saw it as an Amazon freebie, I snagged a copy.

On the brink of losing her position as a maid and with no prospects to go on, the offer of a place at Rooksgrave Manor—a house of ill and unusual repute—sounds like a perfect fit for a young woman with Esther’s inclinations. Even better, the invitation comes by the hand of the handsome Dr. Underwood, a delicate gentleman with a ferocious alter ego who knows exactly what he wants from Esther.

Upon arrival, the men and the daily decadence of the manor feel too good to be true for a girl of Esther’s station. There are rules to be followed, expectations to meet, and Esther is afraid she might be too wicked even for a place like Rooksgrave.

Temptations lurk around every shadowy corner and Esther has never been a girl able to resist. But the risk of disappointing her new gentlemen isn’t all that’s threatening Esther’s new position. Rooksgrave Manor’s protections for its unusual patrons are failing, the wards are crumbling, and Esther’s new and exquisitely pleasurable life may all come tumbling down.

I have no general problem with Porn Without Plot…or without much plot. It can be a lot of fun, and I knew what kind of book I picked up. But I think I can officially now say that almost 400 pages of it is just too much. As much as I liked Ester and her men, I got booooored. Especially once everyone had made nice and become a happy family. After that, what little tension of interest there was evaporated.

I did appreciate that Esther was a woman who gleefully enjoyed sex. I mean, sure, if you want to be critical, it plays into the women can’t control their urges and are slaves to their desires narrative that has been so bad for women throughout so much of history. But I also think Moon was trying to subvert it a little bit. And honestly, I’m just not interested in delving into it. Mostly, this was a sweet kinkfest worth taking at face value.

I liked the characters. What little world there is, is interesting. The writing is perfectly readable. All in all, I enjoyed it. 400ish pages was just too much to keep me interested in it, with as little plot as there is.

Other Reviews:

Review of A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor by Kathryn Moon

Reading After Dark: A Lady of Rooksgrave Manor [Tempting Monsters Series #1]

Book Review: Cruel Shadows, by Harper A. Brooks

I picked up a freebie copy of Harper A. Brooks‘ Cruel Shadows through Amazon.

I’m caught in the shadows…
…and the shadows want to play.

I thought I’d dreamed up the shadow realm and the place I called Dark Castle.

But it’s very real. And he’s still here.

My prince, my savior, my captor…

The monster in my bed.

But this time, he’s not alone.

I must escape, but first, my prince and his shadow men want me to fulfill their demands.

All of them.

The longer I stay, the harder it is to resist their dark promises, their insatiable hunger. Because, while these monsters’ smiles are cruel, their touches are the most delicious torture.

But they aren’t the only threat in this world. The darkness that wanted me before has found me again, and like my Shadow Prince, it’s ready to claim me as its own…forever.

This was a pretty big “meh” for me. It held my attention for about half the book, and then it lost me to boredom. I only finished it to finish it. The writing is fine. There’s a little inconsistency to it, but it’s perfectly readable. The characters could be interesting if they weren’t just cardboard cut-outs. The world could be intriguing if it were actually developed. The plot might have been fun if it actually materialized before the ~85% mark.

Let me be clear here that I’m not actually complaining about the lack of plot. I know what kind of book I picked up. But, for a book this length, I needed something to make me care about the characters and all the sex they were having. I don’t even necessarily need to like them, but I need to care. And that’s where Cruel Shadows fails. I didn’t care. No one grabbed my attention. Nothing kept me interested. All in all, like I said, “Meh.” It’s a thing I read and will quickly forget.

Other Reviews:

Book Review: The Yaga’s Riders, by C. Rochelle

Before I get to the review, a quick housekeeping note. I’ve returned to university and am now working on a Ph.D. As such, the time I can give to reading fiction (my favorite thing) is sadly constricted. It will likely take me a little while to find my feet and my new normal. But at the moment, I’m experimenting with reading and reviewing series instead of individual books. (I even made a whole post asking for omnibus recommendations.) This makes for longer posts a lot of the time but also allows for more time between postings. But I also acknowledge that I don’t usually tend to be quite as detailed when I’m reviewing several books together. So, I may not stick with it. But for now, expect series reviews more often than individual book reviews.

OK, on to the review.

I picked up a copy of C. Rochelle‘s Rise of the Witch as an Amazon freebie and then went back and purchased a copy of the omnibus to finish the series.

Blurb:

As with most beginnings, it started with death.

When I had nothing left to lose, I traveled to the hut in the woods; the one no one dared approach. The witch who lived there recognized the darkness in my soul and took me under her wing—to witness her reign of terror firsthand and eventually, to inherit her legacy as my own.

Now I’m the monster they fear; the one humans avoid at all costs. In this welcome isolation, I’ve attempted to forget my past and the future that was taken from me.

Until three men appear, somehow able to break through my protective wards and see me in my true form. While resistant to their intrusion, I recognize they may be the ones I’ve been waiting for—the ones I need to ascend to my full power.

Too bad I would rather grind their bones than invite them in.

But something is mysteriously devouring the forest, and I suspect the threat may be the same one I barely escaped many moons ago. If it is, he will find me a more worthy opponent than the last time we met.

I am the Yaga and I may be broken, but my edges are sharp.

I enjoyed the heck out of this series. Though more the first two books than the third, which I thought got too sappy and too deus ex machina-like. Characters suddenly developed and utilized powers too easily and conveniently. But outside of that, I loved the characters and thought the world was interesting. The writing is well-edited and easy to read. And there were just a lot of aspects of the romance and sexual relationships that I appreciated—things you don’t see often enough, IMO.

The heroine is curvy and doesn’t conform to a lot of today’s beauty standards. She’s not clean-shaven, for example. And the men make it very clear that they like this about her. One’s kink is even loving the smell of a woman a day or so outside of bathing. (This is notable since women are often taught they shouldn’t smell of anything at all—just one more way to plasticize us, IMO). So, I very much appreciated that the men loved aspects of her body that make her human in the most natural of ways.

Conversely, I did take issue with the gay character becoming bisexual for Vasi. It’s not written as if he was always bi but just finally found a woman to express it with. He was gay but confusingly found himself sexually attracted to Vasi. I found that a little ick if I’m honest. Though I adored the absolute chaos that was his relationship with Tan as well as Nox’s protectiveness of it.

All in all, this series was a winner for me, and I’ll be looking for more of Rochelle’s books.

Other Reviews:

@author.tbwiese @C. Rochelle RH Author I read this in two days. Couldn’t put it down. RAN to my bookcase to start book 2. #bookthoughts #spicybooks #babayaga ♬ original sound – T.B. Wiese – Fantasy Author