REVIEW A Touch of Malice (Hades x Persephone #5) by Scarlett St. Clair

A Touch of Malice (Hades x Persephone #5) by Scarlett St. Clair
Rating: 5 Stars
Release Date: August 23, 2021
Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)
Publisher: Bloom Books

“We are all broken, Persephone. It’s what we do with the pieces that matters.”

While previous books in the series have at times had me waffling between ratings, I had no issues deciding on a 5 star rating for Scarlett St. Clair’s A Touch of Malice, the fifth book in the Hades X Persephone series. The stakes have really been raised in this book, as well as the passion and the potential for war. 

Hades and Persephone are (finally) engaged to be married, and one step closer to officially crowning Persephone Queen of the Underworld. All is not well, however, as with the announcement of their engagement Demeter has unleashed a blizzard on New Greece (and has vowed only to dispel it when they separate). There’s also a group going around attacking gods, and Persephone’s reporting inevitably ends up attracting their attention…

In previous books, I had issues with how much Persephone was whining. Specifically, in A Touch of Ruin, I was irritated by how much she used the phrase ‘I messed up’ after she made decisions she was explicitly told not to. After she has to face the consequences of those decisions (and some of them were massive), however, she’s now come into this book bruised emotionally and more willing to put thought into the consequences of her actions. While she is still a young goddess by any measure, she’s no longer powerless and afraid like she once was. Her relationship with Hades is still growing, but I think they are getting to a better place emotionally now that their relationship will be secured through marriage, and they are actually communicating. On a physical level, they are developing that aspect of their relationship as well in this book. They experimented sexually and as a result the steaminess ratcheted up a level, but everything was done in a very safe and consensual manner. 

The worldbuilding and the storyline were another great touch of this book. Of course, like any good Greek mythology retelling, there is a boat load of drama involved with the interactions between each Olympian god. There’s also some references to the original story of Demeter, Persephone and Hades, as well as a revelation of Demeter’s backstory. While it gives light to why Demeter has become the way she has, I don’t think it necessarily excuses how terrible she’s been to her daughter over the years. The other part of the plot, with the group that’s attacking gods, was really interesting and has pulled together threads that have been building over the course of the series. I’m very curious to see how that plays out in the end. 

Overall, this was a fantastic read and left me super excited for the final two books in the series (especially with the cliffhanger this book leaves readers on). I’m invested now, and I really want to see Hades and Persephone get their happily ever after at the end of the series. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy Greek Mythology retellings and mature romances with a bit of spice to them. 

REVIEW Dark Memory (Dark #33) by Christine Feehan

Dark Memory (Dark Series #33) by Christine Feehan
Rating: 5 Stars
Release Date: October 3, 2023
Format: eBook + Audiobook (Borrowed from Library)
Publisher: Berkley 

Dark Memory is the latest installment in Christine Feehan’s Dark series, and I’m really loving the series arc featuring the tarot card users and the ancients of the monastery. I was happy to dive into Petru and Safia’s very unique love story, as this is another action packed book filled with suspense, romance, and great worldbuilding.  

Similar to all of the other books in the series and specifically the other books featuring ancients of the monastery, Petru has been searching for his lifemate for thousands of years. Unlike the other male leads, however, Petru actually found an incarnation of his life mate long ago. When faced with an impossible choice (that I don’t want to spoil) he found himself unable to save her and forced to wait until she was born into a new body to find her again. Once he does find her in Safia, he’s surprised to see that she’s a fierce warrior and protector of her people. I really appreciated seeing how he embraced all of her wholeheartedly and was so determined to give her what he could (i.e. a marriage in the ways of her people, more time with her family) since he could not afford to wait to claim her once they met. The more modern partnerships where each life mate balances each other have been my favorite parts of the recent Dark series books, and I hope that trend continues in the future. 

With the last couple of books in the series (starting with Dark Tarot), Ms. Feehan has been building a major storyline with ‘the Beast’, the four gateways and those who guard them. Compared to some of the other storylines (i.e. the mages, the lycans) I have been really engaged with devouring every detail about what’s going on with Justice. There’s another major detail revealed about the importance of tarot cards in this book, so I’m excited to see the eventual climax where Justice makes his play to escape. I really hope it happens soon, and that we get to see cameos from all of the gatekeepers and keepers of the tarot card decks when it does. 

Overall, another great book from Christine Feehan. Jim Frangione did a great job bringing Safia and Petru’s perspectives to life with his performance in the audiobook. I look forward to the next installment featuring the final gate guardian and tarot card user, and getting to see Benedek (and hopefully Nicu’s) lifemate. Any adult readers who are fans of the paranormal romance genre and love great worldbuilding and the fated mate trope would likely enjoy this series. For the best reading experience, I would recommend reading the books of the Dark series in order. However, each book is written such that it largely stands on its own (you do miss some minor context details) and you could start wherever you’d like if one book appeals to you more than others. 

REVIEW To Ravish a Rogue (Dangerous Tides) by CM Nacosta

To Ravish a Rogue (Dangerous Tides) by CM Nacosta
Rating: 5 Stars
Format: eBook (Kickstarter)
Publisher: Bonkers Romance 

Out of all the books in the Peculiar Tastes Kickstarter or the Dangerous Tides Kickstarter, CM Nacosta’s To Ravish a Rogue has been my favorite so far. With some of the most unique supernatural creatures from mythology and lore being included, I absolutely had to finish it in one sitting. 

Lady Charlotte Davenport is willing to do whatever it takes to get home and get to her sister. She could care less that having a woman onboard a ship is usually considered a bad omen, but no captain she approaches (directly or covertly) is willing to take the risk. Her last chance is to pretend to be a serving boy and sneak onto Captain Lin Jurel’s ship, The Malediction. However, the ruse is not as simple to maintain as she might think, given that the captain sees through it immediately and starts messing with her to get her to reveal herself. A hilarious high seas adventure ensues as the two clash, and inevitably give into their feelings. And once they did, boy was it entertaining and worth the wait.  

To Ravish a Rogue shares a world and some side characters with the other books in the Dangerous Tides Kickstarter. There are some Easter eggs present that reference other books. I loved the paranormal aspect of Charlotte and Lin’s characters, and while I don’t want to spoil anything I must say I was super shocked with the reveal of what they are. I’ve never seen Charlotte’s species appear in a romance book before, but the author did a fantastic job with it. I was most certainly not expecting one of the biggest things that happened in their bedroom interactions that involved Charlotte’s ‘downstairs teeth’ (do with that reference what you will) and a prized part of the captain’s anatomy, but it made for one of the most memorable moments of the book. 

Overall, To Ravish a Rogue by CM Nacosta was an incredibly unique, entertaining, and enjoyable read. Now that I’ve been introduced to their writing, I will definitely be going back and checking out their backlist of other monster/paranormal romance titles as soon as possible. If you enjoy mature paranormal romance reads, this would be a great choice. I also think readers who enjoy series that share worldbuilding but are designed to be able to be read as standalone novels should give this book a look-see. 

CONTENT WARNINGS (Courtesy of the Author): Sex work, sex bargain, female main character’s (FMC) reliance on gender binary, light gore and violence, soft vore, somnophilia, non-human anatomy, It’s a good thing he has two of them, and SO MANY teeth.

About the Book

Charlotte Davenport is a woman on a singular mission: get onto a ship bound for Atlantis by any means necessary, and get home to her sister. When she joins the crew of the Malediction, she has no idea she's made herself an unwitting captive of its pirate captain. Lirian Jurel is cocky and secretive and infuriatingly handsome, and she can't shake the feeling that he's laughing at her . . . but Charlotte has a secret of her own, and she'll do anything to keep it. After all, who could possibly understand the life of a monster?

Captain Lirian Jurel has only one thing on his mind — the next adventure. Fucking, feasting, and fighting — it's a pirate's life for him, and he loves the watery path he's chosen. He's never been able to stay away from danger, and Charlotte Davenport — the impudent little witch disguising herself as a member of his crew — seems like the most dangerous creature he's ever encountered.

Striking a bargain to bring her home is an easy trade for having her warm in his bed . . . But bringing her home means saying goodbye, which is harder than he anticipated.

When you're a vicious sea monster like him, being alone is the wisest course of action, but once they reach Atlantis, Lirian vows to help Charlotte see her journey through — wherever it leads.

About the Author

C.M. Nascosta is an author and professional procrastinator from Cleveland, Ohio. As a child, she thought that living on Lake Erie meant one was eerie by nature, and her corresponding love of all things strange and unusual started young. She’s always preferred beasts to boys, the macabre to the milquetoast, the unknown darkness in the shadows to the Chad next door. She lives in a crumbling old Victorian with a scaredy-cat dachshund, where she writes nontraditional romances featuring beastly boys with equal parts heart and heat, and is waiting for the Hallmark Channel to get with the program and start a paranormal lovers series.

REVIEW Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) by Katee Robert

Queen Takes Rose (Wicked Villains #6) 

by Katee Robert
Rating: 3 Stars
Release Date: November 10, 2020
Format: Audiobook (Borrowed from Library)
Publisher: Trinkets and Tales LLC (Self Published by Author) 

I’ve been on a recent streak of reading all of Katee Robert’s books, and Queen Takes Rose is the final installment of the Wicked Villains series. Aurora has appeared in all of the previous books, and now it’s finally time for her to take center stage. Once again, it was quite intriguing to see how the author took the skeleton of the original fairytale and twisted it to fit the series. However, for some reason, the female dominant characters that the author writes don’t seem to click for me as much as others. 

Aurora has definitely grown since the first time she was introduced to the series. I was intrigued by the dynamic between her and Malone and some of the references you can recognize from the original fairytale. Like many of her other series, this one has a connection to another set of books - specifically, Malone is connected to the Sabine Valley series (which at this point, I’m going to have to pick up and read out of sheer curiosity). In addition to Malone and Aurora, Katee Robert continues their trend of LGBTQ+ positive characters with a non-binary former Amazon serving as Malone’s head of security. 

Despite liking Malone and Aurora as individual characters, I wasn’t super invested in their relationship. I flipped through their ‘scenes’ together instead of devouring every word. I kind of missed the types of scenes that Aurora participated in with the previous installments of the series (i.e. the Scene with Isabelle, Gaeton, and Beast in book 4). I also thought it was weird that Malone wanted Aurora submissive 24/7 instead of only when they were scening together (like the other dominants in the series such as Jafar or Hook do), but that might just be a lack of exposure to such characters more than anything else.  

Overall, Queen Takes Rose was definitely another entertaining book. It just wasn’t my favorite out of the series or something I’d see the need to reread in the future. Narrators Lacy Laurel and Jenny Nordbak did an excellent job bringing the story to life with their performance in the audiobook narration. The Wicked Villains series would be a great choice for mature readers who aren’t put off by taboo dark romance stories that reimagine classic fairytales. 

CONTENT WARNINGS (Courtesy of Author’s Website): Parental Death (mother, comatose for long period of time and heroine makes choice to end life support), assault, explicit sex

About the Book

Once upon a time I made a deal with the devil. It turns out I like playing in the dark. Over the years, I’ve become someone I’m proud of, someone dangerous.

I’ll never be as dangerous as Malone, though. She’s one of the most feared leaders in Carver City, and her reputation is more than earned. Years ago, we had a single night together and she’s ignored me ever since.

Imagine my surprise to discover she’s scheduled me for the final two weeks of my contract. Maybe I should be afraid. Everyone else fears Malone. Instead, all I feel is anticipation. It’s time to balance the scales, once and for all.

The villains aren’t the only ones in Carver City a person should be wary of crossing.

Sometimes the prettiest flower hides the deadliest poison…

About the Author

Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.

 

Katee is represented by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

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REVIEW To Kidnap a Princess (Dangerous Tides) by Katee Robert

To Kidnap a Princess (Dangerous Tides) 

by Katee Robert

Rating: 3 Stars

Format: eBook (Dangerous Tides Kickstarter)

Publisher: Bonkers Romance

Katee Robert’s To Kidnap A Princess, part of the Dangerous Tides series produced by Bonkers Romance, promises a sexy swashbuckling sapphic romance tale. While the swashbuckling was definitely there, the romance between Juliette and Maura fell a little flat for me. 

As opposed to some of the other sapphic romances that I’ve read (including the one in Queen Takes Rose also written by Katee Robert), I never really connected to Maura and Juliette’s story. So much of their problems seemed kinda childish, and it was weird that with all the power that Maura accumulated in her rise to captain of the Kelpie, she never thought of smuggling a letter to Juliette so Juliette didn’t have to resort to kidnapping herself to escape her father. I liked the two of them as characters, and I liked all the side characters we met on the ship and on the island; their relationship just wasn’t compelling enough for me. I did want to note that for those who appreciate books with LGBTQ characters that Maura and Juliette are not the only ones present in the book; the author includes others such as a new non-binary character who uses ze/zeir pronouns. 

Like the books from the Peculiar Tastes Kickstarter, the books from the Dangerous Tides series exist in the same universe and share worldbuilding. Compared to some of the other books, To Kidnap a Princess spends a lot of time in Atlantis, and I loved it! Exploring Atlantis was definitely the highlight of the book for me. It was fun getting to meet all the different characters, like Eloise and Seiko. It was also fun getting to visit locations that have been teased like The Bawdy Banquet, and see some of the dangers that lurk in Atlantis’ waters (multiple different species of mermaids, including cannibalistic ones)

Overall, To Kidnap a Princess was an entertaining book but it definitely wasn’t Katee Robert’s best. Despite my reservations with the romance in the book, I was excited to learn more about Atlantis and be introduced to the character Bowen, who will be part of her series Crimson Sails (the first book Hunt on Dark Waters releases in November 2023). If you enjoy series that share worldbuilding but are designed to be able to read as standalone, this would be a a great choice. 

Content Warnings (Courtesy of the Author): Explicit Sex, Blood, Violence, Murder, Threat of Sexual Assault (Non-Explicit, Briefly Referenced), Near-Drowning

About the Book

It’s been ten years since the love of Juliette’s life sailed away and never looked back. The date they agreed to meet again has long since passed, and Juliette isn’t interested in waiting around any longer. So she kidnaps herself! Unfortunately, things start to go wrong immediately… Maura might have fallen in love with a princess as a teenager, but as an adult she’s all too aware of the obstacles between them. She’s the most-wanted pirate captain in the kingdom Juliette is princess of. It will never work. But when she receives a distress call from her princess, she doesn’t hesitate to ride to the rescue… But it’s not the reunion Juliette wanted. After saving her, Maura is determined to stick her on a ship home. Juliette is having none of it. She’s got a secret key to Atlantis…she just doesn’t realize the portal will take Maura and her entire ship, too. Whoops.

About the Author

Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.

 

Katee is represented by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

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REVIEW To Seduce a Siren (Dangerous Tides) by Jenny Nordbak

To Seduce a Siren (Dangerous Tides) 

by Jenny Nordbak
Rating: 4 Stars
Format: eBook (Kickstarter) 
Publisher: Bonkers Romance

“You need to know you can do it yourself. It’s yours to give before it’s ever mine to take.”

I enjoyed the books from the Peculiar Tastes Kickstarter (created by the Bonkers Romance podcast team), so it was super exciting to hear about their latest Kickstarter, Dangerous Tides. Jenny Nordbak’s The Death God’s Sacrifice was one of my favorites in the first set, and her newest book To Seduce a Siren did not disappoint. 

Talon and Astrid’s relationship suffers from a boatload of miscommunications. From the first night they are set to be married, to the night circumstances tear them apart, and finally to their inevitable reunion years later, it’s one miscommunication setback after another. Usually, this would be annoying for me as a reader. However, it worked for the story and it made the eventual resolution so much sweeter. Specifically, if you know anything about Jenny Nordbak’s books, you can rest assured that the reunion between the berserker and his siren is capital H-O-T.  

Like the books from the Peculiar Tastes Kickstarter, the books from the Dangerous Tides Kickstarter exist in the same universe and share worldbuilding. With both Talon and Astrid having their own pirate commands, a lot of the book takes place on the open water and readers don’t get to actually visit the much anticipated Atlantis until towards the end of the book. That was a little disappointing to me since I wanted to get more on-page time for the pre-introduced characters like Eloise and Seiko. Thankfully, the time we did get was a nice little snippet (especially with the Kickstarter bonus epilogue) and I’m excited to see their appearances in the other books. 

Overall, To Seduce a Siren was another entertaining and steamy read from Jenny Nordbak. I recommend this book to those who enjoy mature romance books with elements of fantasy thrown in. I’m excited to read about the stories of Talon’s siblings, Thorin and Sigrid when the author releases them in the future. I believe Sigrid’s story, To Wed a Warrior Queen, is projected to come out later this year. 

CONTENT WARNINGS (Courtesy of the Author): Explicit sex, violence, murder, the threat of sexual assault (non-explicit, briefly mentioned), threats of torture, aphrodisiac sex magic (doesn’t compel anyone to do anything they don’t want to do), kidnapping

About the Book

Astrid is a lowly tavern wench on an island ruled by pirates. If anyone discovers what she really is, she’ll be executed. Her world is turned upside down when her father bargains her to pay a debt, and she's forced to marry Talon the Destroyer, a ruthless pirate captain known for his brutality.

Talon Thorvald is an exiled prince of Daneland, a berserker who’s near-invincible in a fight. But he’s powerless to fight what he feels for his treacherous wife. She ran from him seven years ago, and now she’s a feared pirate captain in her own right.

Now he's hunting his wife...

About the Author

Jenny Nordbak earned a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Archaeology from the University of Southern California. After graduating, she spent two years leading a double life, working in healthcare construction by day, while secretly working as a dominatrix at a dungeon in LA by night. Her memoir, The Scarlett Letters: My Secret Year of Men in an LA Dungeon (St. Martin’s Press, 2017) is a candid look at that time in her life. 

Jenny is an advocate for sex positivity and intersectional feminism. She writes the Stocks and Bondage column for Penthouse magazine, cohosts the Bonkers Romance podcast, and delights in narrating the steamiest of audiobooks.

She lives in Southern California with her handsome Viking husband and two adorably feral children.

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REVIEW Radiant Sin (Dark Olympus #4) by Katee Robert

Radiant Sin (Dark Olympus Book 4) by Katee Robert
Rating: 4 Stars
Release Date: February 7, 2023
Format: Audiobook (Personal Library, Bought from Libro.fm0
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Katee Robert’s Radiant Sin, the fourth book in the Dark Olympus series, picks up after the events of Wicked Beauty with the power dynamics in Olympus once again shifting. New arrivals to the city have disrupted the usual ebb and flow, and a failing boundary system has left all of the members of the Thirteen desperate to shore up their power base and not show weakness to those outside of the city looking to strike.  

Radiant Sin gives readers a different viewpoint on the world of Olympus. Instead of most of the story taking place in the main city, Apollo and Cassandra journey to Minos’ country estate to attend a house party and try to determine his ulterior motives. The action that happens there is reminiscent of the board game Clue or the movie Knives Out, as the duo is thrust into an evolving mystery that they must solve before the ‘villains’ can make their move. The house guests add an extra element of fun to the story, as you have the ever-mischievous Hermes, the laid back party loving Dionysus, and the chaos-inducing Aphrodite (formerly known as Eris) as just a few of those present at the event. 

I’ve constantly been left amazed by the author’s creative ways of reimagining the Greek myths. Apollo and Cassandra’s roles in Olympus take very loose inspiration from the original tales. For example, there are never any references to poetry, healing, or music with Apollo’s role in the Thirteen. Apollo is also not a package deal with Artemis in this book (they’re cordial at best). There’s also no reference to Cassandra’s role in the Greek myths as the ‘mad prophetess’. However, despite the inspirations being loose, I do think Ms. Robert managed to maintain the spirit of those figures as well as their recognizability. 

Overall, Radiant Sin was an excellent read. Zara Hampton Brown and Alex Moorcock did an excellent job bringing Cassandra and Apollo’s perspectives to life in alternating chapters within the book (I really love all of the books they’ve narrated for Katee Robert). As with the other books in the Dark Olympus series, I would recommend Radiant Sin for mature fans of steamy, romance-filled mythology retellings. While Cassandra and Apollo’s story stands alone, a lot of the happenings in this book take up the story threads from Wicked Beauty and really set up the foundation for what should be happening in the next book, Cruel Seduction. I’m really excited to see Ms. Robert’s take on the story of Aphrodite and Hephaestus, and how she will incorporate Pandora and Adonis into that relationship.  

CONTENT WARNINGS (Courtesy of the Author): Body Shaming (referenced briefly, historical), murder, blood, guns, boss/employee relationship

About the Book

There's nowhere more dangerous than Olympus...and no one more captivating than its golden god: Apollo. Keeper of secrets, master of his shining realm...and the only man I am powerless to deny.

*A scorchingly hot modern retelling of Apollo and Cassandra that's as sinful as it is sweet.*

As a disgraced member of a fallen house, Cassandra Gataki has seen firsthand what comes from trusting the venomous Thirteen. But when the maddeningly gorgeous and kind Apollo asks her to go undercover as his plus-one at a week-long party hosted by a dangerous new power player...Cassandra reluctantly agrees to have his back.

On one condition: when it's all over, and Apollo has the ammunition he needs to protect Olympus, she and her sister will be allowed to leave. For good.

Apollo may be the city's official spymaster, but it's his ability to inspire others that keeps him at the top. Despite what the rest of Olympus says, there's no one he trusts more than Cassandra. Yet even as their fake relationship takes a wicked turn for the scaldingly hot, a very real danger surfaces... threatening not only Cassandra and Apollo, but the very heart of Olympus itself.

About the Author

Katee Robert is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. Entertainment Weekly calls her writing “unspeakably hot.” Her books have sold over a million copies. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs.

 

Katee is represented by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

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REVIEW The Fae Queen's Captive (Peculiar Tastes #6) by Sierra Simone

The Fae Queen's Captive (Peculiar Tastes #6) by Sierra Simone
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Release Date: October 4, 2022
Format: eBook (Kickstarter)
Publisher: Bonkers Romance 

Sierra Simone’s The Fae Queen’s Captive, the sixth and final book in the Peculiar Tastes series, was another stellar installment to the Shadow Market universe. If you enjoy paranormal romances with heavy fae influences, a sapphic love story, and unique worldbuilding then I think you should check this book out. 

By day, Janneth Carter is an archaeologist working on another dig site in Scotland and finishing her graduate degree. However, despite her seemingly fulfilling job and life, she’s always wanted more. On Samhain, after investigating mysterious strangers at their dig site, she finds out she may have bitten off more than she can chew as she’s whisked away to the Faerie realm and to the court of the illustrious Stag Queen.

I was expecting this book to be much more like the others in the series; a paranormal romance full of explicit sex scenes with action that progresses very quickly from the first page to the last. However, despite there being no shortage of sexual counters (faeries in the Stag Court love their orgies), I was surprised to see that there’s also a sense of explored vulnerability. Janneth has always been told that her wants were wrong or made to feel lesser by those she’s been intimate with. The Stag Queen Morgana has taken up the heavy burden of being queen after the recent passing of her mother, and if you’ve seen the artwork released for the Kickstarter you’ll know that she has a very obvious physical vulnerability. Janneth and Morgana’s relationship delves into these issues, with it overall being very body positive and emotionally tender. The ending of the book was fairly predictable after reading the other stories in the series (especially The Death God’s Sacrifice), but I appreciated it nonetheless (and wasn’t too bothered by the predictability)

Ms. Simone went for it with all of the faerie references in building the world within her book, and I was practically giddy while reading because of it. I liked seeing hints of the different courts within the Faerie realms and the references to the Faerie tradition of stealing mortals and keeping them as playthings; both children and adults. I was also quite impressed to see the references to mortal interpretations of faerie stories that she included (which helped tie in Janneth’s profession to the story). 

There is shared worldbuilding between the different Peculiar Tastes/Shadow Market books, but there is little to no crossover between characters. I did enjoy the tiny Easter Egg-esque nods to the other books. For example, the druid who raises the veil every year so the Shadow Market can happen is a common reference in the book (a nod to The Death God’s Sacrifice). There are also some moments in the book that seem to reference characters from The Captive Merman’s Promise and The Demon’s Bargain. 

Overall, The Fae Queen’s Captive was another short enjoyable paranormal romance/fantasy tale. It didn’t quite have the plot twists that some of the other books had, and I’m still saddened by the fact that all the books in the series are so short, but it was an entertaining read nonetheless. I’m so excited that the Shadow Market books have introduced me to some new authors I’ve never heard of before (I was previously only familiar with Katee Robert), and it makes me excited to check out Sierra Simone’s back-list as well as the upcoming Dangerous Tides kickstart in the near future. 

CONTENT WARNINGS (Courtesy of Author): Violence, Murder (of Baddies), Blood, Explicit Sex, Hunting, Intoxication, Uneven Power Dynamics

About the Book

Save some of your screams for the queen, there’s a good girl…

Janneth Carter has given up on magic these days. She’s done being curious, insatiable, dreamy; she just wants to finish her graduate degree and spend the rest of her life as a sensible archeologist. So the last thing she expects when she goes to her dig site on Halloween night is three mysterious strangers standing outside an ancient Scottish grave.

Okay, well the actual last thing she expects is for those strangers to kidnap her and drag her into fairyland.

Once in the vivid, carnal world of Faerie, Janneth is at the mercy of the coldly lovely and incredibly cruel Stag Queen. Desperate to get home to her own world, she offers the Queen a bargain: she’ll be a willing captive, the queen’s pet, so long as the Queen promises to keep her safe until Janneth leaves Faerie.

But fae promises are complicated things, and nothing in Faerie, even pleasure—even love—comes without a price…

About the Author

Sierra is a voracious reader of all things including the smuttiest smut, young adult, piles of non-fiction for research, and everything Bill Bryson (especially on audio).

She loves writing the dirtiest things that she can think of, King Arthur, sparkling water, Tarot, coffee, leggings, and learning new words daily. 

Her previous jobs have included firing ceramics, teaching living history lessons in one-room school house in full, 1904-approved school marm attire, and working as a librarian for several years—not in that order

She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, two children, and two giant dogs. (And two cats, but they're so naughty we don't talk about them.) 

Her novels have been published in Czech, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, and Romanian. She's been featured in Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Marie Claire, and Library Journal with a starred review.