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Plucked
Struggling with the loss of a loved one, devastated Cara Pierce is determined to move on and piece her life back together. When finances force her to reluctantly barter employment to fulfill her sister's last wishes, Cara soon discovers she's not the only one being compelled to work under suspicious circumstances. Can the strong, silent cemetery landscaper help her grief bloom into something more?
Plucked is an MF paranormal romance short story that unfolds between Jax, a grief demon (luctus) and Cara Pierce, a grieving human woman who has just lost her sister. This story is the first step into the Moriverse, a new series full of death-centric myths, creatures, and plots, continuing with an upcoming 'Why Choose' novel, Styx and Stones, in late 2023.
This story originally appeared in the (now out of print / unavailable) Monsters in Love: Volume 2 Lost in the Dark monster romance anthology, published in 2022.
Please Note: Plucked opens at the funeral of the main character’s sibling (passed on from an unnamed terminal disease.) Death, end-of-life care, and grief / mourning are discussed throughout. This story incorporates bedroom proclivities that rhyme with "ink" including praise and percussive (flogging) play. This story also contains attempted SA, murder - both previously alluded as well as on-page - unsanctioned corpse disposal, choking, implied servitude, implied financial fraud, and general skeeviness from a bad guy. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about story content, you’re more than welcome to contact the author on social media for clarification.
Plucked is an MF paranormal romance short story that unfolds between Jax, a grief demon (luctus) and Cara Pierce, a grieving human woman who has just lost her sister. This story is the first step into the Moriverse, a new series full of death-centric myths, creatures, and plots, continuing with an upcoming 'Why Choose' novel, Styx and Stones, in late 2023.
This story originally appeared in the (now out of print / unavailable) Monsters in Love: Volume 2 Lost in the Dark monster romance anthology, published in 2022.
Please Note: Plucked opens at the funeral of the main character’s sibling (passed on from an unnamed terminal disease.) Death, end-of-life care, and grief / mourning are discussed throughout. This story incorporates bedroom proclivities that rhyme with "ink" including praise and percussive (flogging) play. This story also contains attempted SA, murder - both previously alluded as well as on-page - unsanctioned corpse disposal, choking, implied servitude, implied financial fraud, and general skeeviness from a bad guy. As always, if you have any questions or concerns about story content, you’re more than welcome to contact the author on social media for clarification.
79 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 14, 2023
17 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 27, 2025
Grief has claws. But sometimes… it also has gentle hands that know exactly how to hold you together when you’re falling apart.
Plucked may be short, but it’s razor-sharp, tender, and surprisingly deep. Cara Pierce is raw and real—navigating the jagged edges of loss, guilt, and reluctant survival. Enter Jax, a grief demon with silence in his eyes and steel in his spine, and suddenly the graveyard feels like sacred ground.
This isn’t your average monster romance—it’s death-centric, myth-soaked, and laced with cathartic heat. The emotional charge between Cara and Jax is heavy, but never hopeless. He doesn’t save her grief. He honors it. And yes, he also does things that rhyme with “ink”—very, very well. 🥵
What makes Plucked sing is how it treats grief as messy, nonlinear, and deeply intimate. There’s pain, but there’s also play, healing, and the kind of monstrous tenderness that wraps around your soul and says, “You’re still here. Let’s begin again.”
The Moriverse starts here—and if this is step one? I’m ready to walk through fire for what’s next.
Plucked may be short, but it’s razor-sharp, tender, and surprisingly deep. Cara Pierce is raw and real—navigating the jagged edges of loss, guilt, and reluctant survival. Enter Jax, a grief demon with silence in his eyes and steel in his spine, and suddenly the graveyard feels like sacred ground.
This isn’t your average monster romance—it’s death-centric, myth-soaked, and laced with cathartic heat. The emotional charge between Cara and Jax is heavy, but never hopeless. He doesn’t save her grief. He honors it. And yes, he also does things that rhyme with “ink”—very, very well. 🥵
What makes Plucked sing is how it treats grief as messy, nonlinear, and deeply intimate. There’s pain, but there’s also play, healing, and the kind of monstrous tenderness that wraps around your soul and says, “You’re still here. Let’s begin again.”
The Moriverse starts here—and if this is step one? I’m ready to walk through fire for what’s next.
October 21, 2023
Loved the creative world
Jax and Cara were great partners. Cara had such a tragic experience and Jax was the perfect grief demon in the perfect place and the right time. I would have liked more time to get to know them as a couple, but it was still a satisfying ending.
Spice: 3/5
Triggers: choking, attempted/semi-successful murder, attempted SA, grief
Jax and Cara were great partners. Cara had such a tragic experience and Jax was the perfect grief demon in the perfect place and the right time. I would have liked more time to get to know them as a couple, but it was still a satisfying ending.
Spice: 3/5
Triggers: choking, attempted/semi-successful murder, attempted SA, grief
June 11, 2023
A short, sweet & spicy tale
My first read by Vera Valentine and I loved it!
The story follows Cara, fresh in her grief at the loss of her sister. An unexpected turn of events at the graveside and a brief encounter with a compassionate stranger who becomes infatuated with her, eventually leads her on a path into the world of demons and goddesses.
This was a quick read that hooked me with detailed descriptions and lots of lovely steamy scenes!
My first read by Vera Valentine and I loved it!
The story follows Cara, fresh in her grief at the loss of her sister. An unexpected turn of events at the graveside and a brief encounter with a compassionate stranger who becomes infatuated with her, eventually leads her on a path into the world of demons and goddesses.
This was a quick read that hooked me with detailed descriptions and lots of lovely steamy scenes!
May 28, 2023
Cara is grieving her sister’s death when she meets Jax, a grief demon. Her grief calls to him and he becomes invested in her.
Cute monster story. I come to Vera for the weird shit but the rose stems as a flogger didn’t really work out for me. As a masochist I wasn’t buying that logistically.
Slow burn but relative to short story.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV: Dual 1st
Cute monster story. I come to Vera for the weird shit but the rose stems as a flogger didn’t really work out for me. As a masochist I wasn’t buying that logistically.
Slow burn but relative to short story.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
POV: Dual 1st
March 19, 2024
This was a quick read, but I am invested in more of the story. A demon who uses grief as a life/power source falls in love with a grieving women at the cemetery. The story is quick but just like all from Vera there is always enough plot to makes you wonder, MAN, why am I rooting for this demon so quickly…well thankfully there is a series that this ties into…so I will be finding out more
July 1, 2023
This was actually so cute! I think I'm still moderately traumatized by balloons, so I was worried where this would end up, but I loved it so much. I loved the characters and the representation of the complexity of grief was really nice.
January 4, 2024
I went in not knowing anything of the book and I absolutely love the idea of grief demons and this whole universe.
It was a fast read and a lot information to take in, but I'm excited to learn more the world and grief demons in later books!
It was a fast read and a lot information to take in, but I'm excited to learn more the world and grief demons in later books!
January 29, 2024
loved this!
What a beautifully different look at grief. I worked at a cemetery for years and it was one of my favorite jobs. To be able to offer the even the smallest comfort to family and friends at the end of things was a gift. I really really enjoyed this story.
What a beautifully different look at grief. I worked at a cemetery for years and it was one of my favorite jobs. To be able to offer the even the smallest comfort to family and friends at the end of things was a gift. I really really enjoyed this story.
June 24, 2025
So different and so good
This was very very different from anything I normally read and I was all in!!! It was amazing!!! Loved it!!! Very creative! Very spicy… and well… refreshing!!! I really loved it!!!!
This was very very different from anything I normally read and I was all in!!! It was amazing!!! Loved it!!! Very creative! Very spicy… and well… refreshing!!! I really loved it!!!!
March 17, 2023
This book was SO GOOD! Jax and Cara were so electric, the vulnerability and rawness between them was beautiful. I fell hard and fast for them both and I loved every single second of their story!
February 25, 2024
Deliciously written. I wish this book was longer and more smutty scenes. While this is a short novella, i couldn’t stop reading it. Jax and his pull to Cara and the flow through the book was 👌🏻
March 4, 2025
should’ve stayed curious
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews