I’m so thrilled to have Freydís Moon on my blog today to talk about their debut novel, With a Vengeance. Kye is a human who has a lot on their shoulder: grief, a family estate, a demonic haunting, and a rogue ICE agent sniffing around. This dark paranormal erotic romance is as affirming and as it is hot, while featuring a nuanced exploration of culture, family, grief, healing, and the things people do to keep their community safe.
Today, Freydís chats with me about the origins of this novel, the myriad projects coming down the pipeline, and the works they’re looking forward to most.
Genre: Adult Dark Paranormal Romance Year Release: 2022 Source: Barnes & Noble
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Content Warnings: Dominant/submissive roleplay, rape fantasy, consensual explicit content, dubious consent, deadnaming, misgendering, body horror, dysphoria, reference to off-page sexual assault, murder, violence and gore, spanking, belt play, religious eroticism, religious trauma, familial death, saliva play, blood play, size difference, primal play, breeding kink, psychosis, mention of depression, depressive episodes, suicide ideation, racism, police brutality
Kye Lovato (they/them) returns to their haunted childhood home to settle their recently-deceased mother’s affairs. A demon prince, Eligos, hears Kye’s desperation and possesses them, starting a relationship that’s drenched in the supernatural, complete with powers. As if that isn’t complicated enough, an ICE agent starts sniffing around their mother’s alebrijes business and threatens the community she’s taken care of.
This romance between a nonbinary human and a demon is affirming and hot in its sexual content, while, also having a nuanced exploration of culture, family, grief, healing, and the things people do to keep their community safe from shady law enforcement. An incredible blend of recovering from trauma, a mystery, and getting split open by a saucy demon.
An interview with the author will be going up on September 1st.
Genre: Adult Fantasy Year Release: 2021 Source: Kindle
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Content warning: snakes
Evelyn Horne is an escort met with an enigmatic new client proposition in the form of Lady Demetria Balaskas, whose presence is powerful and enigmatic, accompanied by hissing and rattling. Evelyn is invited to live on the Balaskas estate and dalliances plus feelings ensue.
What I particularly love about this novella is how much respect there is for every working person. From the maids to the secretary to Evelyn’s work as an escort itself, there is an attention and care there that I haven’t personally seen in erotic works so far. In Lady Demetria’s house, all women are women, sex work is work, and all workers are deserving of their dignity. I particularly loved the secondary relationship between Lucy and Evelyn for many of these reasons and, honestly, wouldn’t mind a spinoff that’s just their friendship.
The novella has rad slice-of-life elements taking shape as wish fulfillment for being financially and personally taken care of by a monster dommy mommy.
Genre: Adult Romance Year Release: 2022 Source: Library Audiobook
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Listened to the audiobook Content warnings: sexual harassment (challenged), homophobia (challenged), anxiety, car accident, vomiting
Some of my recent reads flattened me emotionally, so I sought some lighter fare. Thankfully, my hold from the library lifted, and I got to read a romance novel. This one is about Hudson and Kian, who are exes. As the title suggests, Kian thinks he’s healed from the heartbreak, but then Hudson invites him as his plus one to a wedding at his family’s estate. Wedding hijinks, pop culture references, and second chances ensue.
A steamy romance between two gay men of color as they overcome their own insecurities to find support in each other, regardless their past.
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy Year Release: 2022 Source: Book2Read
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Content warning: discussion of blood play
Vampire Dorian Villeneuve and cowboy Cassius “Cash” Leroy are hunters who are best friends in love. In this short, they talk about Dorian’s pole dancing past which merges with their committed relationship present.
The characterization continues to be top notch. Both Dorian and Cash have such distinct on-page personalities, and their contrasts make for incredible chemistry and charming tension. This vignette from their home life in which Dorian gives Cash a lap dance is as erotic as it is tender. These two are so in love and it’s absolutely swoony.
One of the things the author mentioned on their Twitter is the presence of drinking in the lives of these hunters as it relates to their profession. It feels natural and cleverly works as a vehicle to portray character development. I myself used to have a drinks with coworkers, and we weren’t doing anything nearly as life-threatening as hunting monsters.
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance Year Release: 2020 Source: Kindle
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Amanda Ellis is an heiress who wants to break free of her family’s expectations and painful heteronormativity. Wren Rebello designs lingerie and seeks to be taken more seriously as a romantic partner. The two are best internet friends and, on a whim, decide to do a friends vacation at a cottage for New Year’s Eve.
Much like the book itself, this review will be short and sweet. The emotional journey these characters go on together is so swoon-worthy, but this is no way a slow-burn when it comes to the erotic. It starts real quick, and it does not abate. If anything, it escalates to some highly horny sequences of self-discovery featuring sexy consent and sex toys galore.
Vampire Dorian Villeneuve and cowboy Cassius “Cash” Leroy are hunters going against all sorts of cryptids, from vampires to mothman to the pair of weredeer hunting others for their hearts. Partners in crime, but it seems they both want to be partners in much more.
This book is a goddamn delight with a compelling friendship-turned-romance that’s as easy to invest in as the mystery behind the grisly murders.
Read a NetGalley eARC Content warning: Vomiting, panic attack
Noah Ramirez runs a blog called Meet Cute Diary, a collection of short stories about trans people meeting the love of their lives in increasingly adorable ways. He writes most of the stories and an online troll calls it out in online-public ways. Noah’s also spending the summer in Denver with his brother as his parents move from Florida to California. To save the blog, he strikes up a fake relationship with a local while trying to balance the blog situation and a new job at a summer camp.
This book is adorable and refreshingly young as far as young adult protagonists go. Meet Cute Diary is a delightful light-hearted summer romp.
A Dowry of Blood emotionally retells the story of Dracula’s brides. In first bride Constanta’s perspective, this epistolary, second person narrative spans centuries, depicting the bloody revelry and intimacy among the brides in stark contrast to their relationship with terrible husband Dracula. In this interview, author S.T. Gibson talks about how she crafted this deeply character-driven exploration of love and devotion among vampires.
Genre: Horror Romance Year Release: January 2021 Buy Links: NYX Publishing
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Read an ARC courtesy of the author Content warning: emotional and domestic abuse, blood, violence, mental illness, gaslighting
If you’ve ever been interested in reading a story of Dracula told from the perspective of one of his brides, look no further. Told from Constanta’s POV, we experience her tumultuous relationship with the ubervamp and her relationship with her fellow spouses, spanning literal centuries. It’s romantic, but it also heart-wrenching with all the gothic delights one expects from a vampire story.
Author S.T. Gibson will also be my first author interview of the year so look out for that.
Jo Writes Fantasy 