A richly imagined, lurid love story that’s not for the faint of heart.
Love is brutal, bloody, and ecstatic in this passionate romance.
This first installment of Drake’s trilogy follows a nameless narrator (she’s often called Ancilla, a Latin word for a female slave) who’s a nerdy, fantasy-gaming, bisexual, red-headed college dropout, disowned by her Catholic parents for her sexual adventurousness and now living in an unnamed rustbelt city. She meets a distinguished librarian twice her age with a taste for occult literature and a BDSM fetish; she dubs him Magister and begs him to make her his submissive. A whirlwind of kink ensues—with informed consent and safe-words carefully established—in which Magister whips Ancilla with a riding crop, pierces her with needles, cuts her with knives, and performs a traumatic magic ceremony that causes her to black out and dream of the underworld. Ancilla loves the abuse, and the megaton-scale orgasms that follow (“We explode as one, we cry out as one, we burn together and are One”). Fortunately, Magister isn’t cruel: he’s extravagantly respectful of Ancilla’s desires and insists that she return to college and build an independent life. Unfortunately, her budding dominant side threatens to undo the relationship when he can’t take the kind of pain he’s been dishing out. Drake’s erotic saga is full of graphic sex, detailed BDSM scenarios, and intricate tutorials on occult sex lore (“A lot of it is Thelemic sex magick, with an eye to gnosis through ecstasy and self-perfection, but a good part of the practicum comes from Siberian and Finnish shamanism”). The prose sounds rather academic at times, but at its best it conveys the charged thrill of BDSM and the sense of intimacy and release that flows from Ancilla’s voluntary surrender to sexual torment: “‘I love you,’ I cry, when the third blow lands, burning like fire….Eventually, the blows stop, and he’s behind me, leaning into me, kissing tears off my cheeks and sweat off my neck.” BDSM afficionados will love it, but normies may find it too much.
A richly imagined, lurid love story that’s not for the faint of heart.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9798889404323
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Staten House
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This captivating, deeply emotional, and incredibly sexy romance is a balm for the soul.
A blossoming romance infringes on a successful businesswoman's professional aspirations, making her reevaluate her priorities.
At an exclusive party, talent manager Hendrix Barry has an instant connection with billionaire tech mogul Maverick Bell. When he learns that she’s navigating her mother’s Alzheimer's diagnosis, he relates to what she’s going through, having had similar experiences with his grandfather. Maverick makes Hendrix feel seen and understood like no one else, but he’s the recent ex-boyfriend of a woman Hendrix is going into business with as she works toward her goal of executive producing a television show. She tries to set boundaries that would keep him as a friend despite their obvious mutual attraction, but when he expresses interest in her venture capital fund focusing on Black women–led businesses, it leads to spending more time together, and the lines of friendship, business, and pleasure become tangled and blurred. Ryan excels at crafting thoughtful, mature characters who have to manage complicated situations with care and grace. Maverick’s dogged pursuit of Hendrix and the delicious ways he woos her using his wealth and persistence frame him as a determined, headstrong hero. Paired with a weaker heroine, he could have been overbearing, but Hendrix is his perfect match, equally as strong-willed and tenacious. They bring out each other’s softer, more vulnerable sides as well, and both have compassionate hearts. The spicy romance is the core of this satisfying story, but the novel doesn’t shy away from—and is made richer for the inclusion of—hardships like caring for an aging parent and confronting racism in the world of business. The tale also highlights the importance of community and the value of supportive, platonic love through the wonderful cast of side characters.
This captivating, deeply emotional, and incredibly sexy romance is a balm for the soul.Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781538706855
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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