Of Silk and Bondage: Blood & Lust is a Sensual Fantasy of Blood and Bone

 

 

Blood & Lust: Silken Chains and Splintered Bones

Annabelle Craven

Dark Desires Press, 2024

Ebook, 84 ppg.

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After the silk is tied to Alina's wrist, it tightens, sending a sensual tingle to her chest. The host of the sex club, the Priestess, comments, "It will unlock everything you’ve been too afraid to feel." Up until that moment, Alina was timid and hesitant as she tentatively explored the sex club which her lover, Dorian, brought her to. Even after the ribbon's power courses through her very being, Alina still hesitates to act on her impulses and seek the pleasure which she truly desires. Her lover, meanwhile, is enraptured by the ribbon’s power, submitting to its seductive allure and ignoring Alina’s cries for them to leave.

 

Alina seems to be the kind of person who is guarded. As though she’s afraid to give in to her desires. I wondered if this is why Dorian wanted them to visit this club. He seems to have no problems giving in to his desires and his insistence to Alina to “let go” makes me also wonder if underneath his layers is a sense of frustration in their sex life.

 

Reading this story, one would assume that the ribbon offered at the beginning is just that: A simple ribbon. Some kind of marker to identify someone as belonging to another. But it would seem that what the person wearing a ribbon belongs to is not so much a person, but something more sinister and terrifying.

 

This novella is a lot like the club that Alina walks into: It offers pleasure and comfort, but ultimately delivers terror and alarm. It is written so well, with the seductive moments holding me captive while the horrifying scenes made me squirm. The author holds nothing back, unraveling the mysteries of the ribbon with an electric and terrifying intensity. Blood & Lust is a titillating story that held me in its grip, leaving me to struggle to stay on the very edge of my seat as I was suffocated by this tapestry of horror. It is an engaging mix of erotica and horror that I will not soon forget.

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  

 

The Source of Pure Evil: Toxic Maternal: The Beginning is the gut-wrenching and horrifying prequel we didn’t know we needed

 

 

Toxic Maternal: The Beginning

C.A. Baynam & Chisto Healy

Unveiling Nightmares Press, 2024

ISBN-13: 979-8332004902

Ebook, 165 ppg.

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They say that a sequel should be better than the first book. Maybe this applies to prequels as well. The prequel to Toxic Maternal, Toxic Maternal: The Beginning by C.A. Baynam and Chisto Healy, is an eye-popping, jaw-dropping and spinetingling read! I would not say it is better than TM, but it definitely gets awful close to it!

 

In Toxic Maternal by C.A. Baynam, readers got to meet the mother from Hell, one who sexually, psychologically, verbally and physically abused her children, Sarah and Andrew. In this book, the prequel, we learn just what it was that made Mother, whose name is Caroline, into the kind of monster that we see in the book. Toxic Maternal: The Beginning shows the kind of horrible life Caroline endured in a home with an alcoholic and abusive father, along with a likewise abusive mother. However, her mother’s anger and hatred come from her dissatisfaction with her marriage and her life in general. Readers get to find out the shocking secret behind what it is that turns her into something else entirely, and just how it affects the young Caroline!

 

Just as with the other book, there is a lot of extreme gore, violence and sex in this story. However, some of the sex acts in this book are otherworldly, having a lot to do with the driving force that turns Caroline’s mother, Elena, as well as Caroline herself, into dark, evil and sinister forces. It happens a lot faster for Elena than it does for Caroline, and for this, Caroline ends up suffering through this horrifying transformation.

 

If you feel the need for some good blood and gore, you’ll find it in this story as well. There was one scene in particular where a character was murdered and it was so gory with lots of detailed slaughter, I loved it! I enjoyed reading this part of this story, and not just because that particular character deserved what he got but because it was written so well. It’s not “one and done” but a slow killing, with the character suffering from each blow.

 

And I must add that the character, Johnson, is so resourceful. I mean, he just suddenly appears with a machete. LOL He’s definitely a keeper!

 

So, is reading this prequel to Toxic Maternal recommended? I would not force it on anyone, but reading this story helped me to understand why what happened in Toxic Maternal happened. As I read through one scene that explained it all, I was like, “Oh. Well, now it makes sense.” What kind of mother would do such things to her own children in Toxic Maternal? If you ever wanted to know, you will find out by reading Toxic Maternal: The Beginning! Read this book to get a better understanding of why those chilling events unfolded, and in doing so, read about even more chilling events that sets everything in motion for a family of pure evil!

 

 

Five stars

 

 

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.