Genre: Adult Gothic Horror Romance
Release Date: February 14, 2023
Buy Links: Amazon | Etsy
I had the immense privilege of reading this book early. It’s about a haunted house, a broken relationship, mysticism, and genuine scares. It’s also incredibly hot, and the healing but horrifying journey these characters go through made my heart swoon.
I’m incredibly excited to be part of today’s cover drop. You are completely unprepared.
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December is a strange month for me because of traveling to get home and other plans, and having to recon with my own success at completing my own goals (not going to touch on that whatsoever here). It was a month where I read a bunch of things in translation and a singular ARC which feels more in the direction of how I want to be reading into 2023.
December’s only blog interview:
Genre: Fantasy Shoujo
Year Release in English: 2022
Source: Kinokuniya
Content warnings: Blood, attempted murder
Stella is on her way to start a new job after a freak accident takes out her carriage driver, and she wakes up in a Gothic mansion that’s more a thorned cage than a residence occupied by four men who are definitely vampires. They eat crystals, have strange mannequins, and barely leave the building. There’s a sense of dread but the boys and the art are swoony.
This first volume is horny in ways that are very befitting of vampire lore. There’s a fixation on taste and devouring, with sensual wound care, and one of the vampires gets put in a muzzle during one of the chapters. As far as the boys go, the work leans into tropes and archetypes in ways that are swoony and delightful. I had fun during this first read, and I’m definitely looking forward to more.
November might have been the month that took me out. Though I did not do NaNoWriMo, I wrote a lot and, more importantly for a post coming later this week, I read a lot. So much. So many things. I also wound up watching a lot of Japanese horror films (classics like Ringu and Ju-On, so if you have recommendations, I’d love them).
November’s blog interviews were:
Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance
Year Release: 2022
Buy Link: NineStar Press
Read a NetGalley eARC
Content warnings: blood used in a ritual, necromancy, depiction of anxiety pertaining to pregnancy, conversation surrounding fertility
Ethan and Peter live a pretty idyllic life in the village of Casper as a lighthouse keeper and fishing captain, respectively. One day, a selkie gets tangled in Peter’s net and Ethan uses necromantic ritual to bring another person back to life. Full of healing, intimacy, and interpersonal devotion, this autumnal read is perfect for people looking for some magic and tenderness a la a Miyazaki film that also fucks.
I love the exploration of family here. Ethan and Peter are very devoted husbands at a kind of crossroads in their lives. The selkie does not help in the immediate situation, but opens up the opportunity for something else. There is a mishap with some marrow that leads to heat, but the relationships among the three develop long before ignition. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the husbands, but especially their interactions with others in town. It feels slice-of-life even though there’s definitely an inciting event, a middle, and an end.
The worldbuilding is also rad. The rules of the magic are fairly hand-wavey, but there’s a nice folkloric aspect to Ethan’s rituals that add a layer of dreaminess to the entire narrative. Overall, this quick read is atmospheric, magical, and romantic.
Genre: Adult Paranormal Romance
Year Release: 2022
Source: Physical Copy
Content Warnings: explicit sexual content, off-page transphobia, mention of drug use, off-page police brutality
Diego is a trans man who takes on what’s supposed to be a low-key construction job to help get him back on track. The job is managed by the enigmatic Ariel, who definitely has a secret of angelic proportions. Their relationship evolves into something equally queer, intense, and divine.
This book is cozy in a way reminiscent of post-coitus. Diego carries a lot of baggage and a lot of emotional turmoil with regards to both faith and his experience as someone worthy of care and attention. The way the differences between faith, devotion, and religion mingle in the conversations between Ariel and Diego, especially when it comes to drawing lines between what is faith and what is the result of centuries of iterative interpretations. I found these explorations cathartic and affirming as a queer person raised in a religious household.
A theme that permeates Moon’s work is the respect given towards working class individuals, and this is also extends towards sex workers. There are mentions in the novella that Diego has engaged in cam work before and both the text and Ariel treat it as the job it is, with no virtue or vice attached to it. It’s a refreshing detail that also highlights the thoughtfulness in Moon’s work as a canon.
If erotica where a young man falls into lust with a literal and Biblically accurate angel is something of interest, definitely give this one a read. The paperback edition has a bonus scene that takes place a year later, and it is swoony—I cannot recommend it enough.
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.
Buy Links: Amazon | Signed Paperback
Continue readingGenre: Adult Dark Paranormal Romance
Year Release: 2022
Source: Barnes & Noble
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.
Continue readingGenre: Adult Fantasy
Year Release: 2021
Source: Kindle
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.
Oh, and the sex is very hot.
Genre: Adult Romance
Year Release: 2022
Source: Library Audiobook
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.
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Jo Writes Fantasy 