Raging Shadows

by Cassandre Dayne

Savannah Lily was bored with her everyday life and hungered to spice it up. Her job as a fashion consultant left her little time for a social life. So, when her three best friends suggested a game using the Ouija Board and a naughty dare she initially scoffed...until she heard about the prize.She’d dabbled with the occult since her childhood, curious about all things that went bump in the night, and Halloween was fast approaching. Savannah was hungry for the one man who filled her every night dreams with sinful visions, and winning the offered prize just might help her achieve the ultimate fantasy – immortality.Constantine Avion was considered by many to be a warlock, specializing in the extreme torture of men and women. Some said he held the key of life and death in his hands, and he was rumored to have a male lover. Constantine's secret club catered to the darker side of sex, infused with magic. Entrance to Raging Shadows had always been by invitation only, and very few were selected to go behind the hallowed doors. For the first time ever, Raging Shadows was having a Halloween party open to the public, but only in groups of four or more. The one member of each party would be required to perform an act of seduction or kink, if requested, with no questions asked, and only Constantine determined the rules of how the game was played. As the night of the party fast approached, Savannah was determined to entice the man some called a monster. Unfortunately, she didn’t understand his level of power until one's night tempting dreams reminded her she was still very much alive. Would Savannah decide to succumb to the man of her dreams and give up her very soul, or was there a darker power working against the tortured lovers?

77 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 28, 2011

About the author

Cassandre Dayne is the award winning, bestselling author of over 200 novels and stories in several genres including BDSM, spanking stories, LGBT, D/s, dark pararnormal and romance. Her pieces are called edgy and terrifying as well as thought provoking and sensual. She’s also the radio host of The Edge, a blog talk radio show highlighting artists who take their work to the “edge”.

You can find her works on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and iTunes. Her upcoming series – Texas Oil will be released from Blushing Books later this year. She resides somewhere in Virginia with her husband and two special golden retrievers, MacGyver and Indiana Jones. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her enjoying a glass of wine, listening to metal music and enjoying the outdoors.

You can find her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cassandre-Da...
Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/cassandredayne
Bookbub: https://bookbub.com/authors/cassandre...
Blog: www.cassandredayne.wordpress.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/cassandredayne
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/cassandredayne

Reviews

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 1 out of 5]

The sex obsessed Sex in the City gals made an appearance in Raging
Shadows. Savannah, a self proclaimed black arts occult dabbler, along
with her three friends dare each other to attend an exclusive BDSM
club on Halloween. Constantine is the rich vampire owner of this
invites only BDSM club, along with his lover, Alexander. This story
could have been a hot erotic submissive journey for Savannah under
the sexy tutelage of two dominant men. Instead, the story left me dry
and befuddled.

First, I was hard pressed to find the BDSM elements. A slap and a
tickle do not qualify as BDSM, regardless of the accompanying writing
sound effect. Even though there is a BDSM club where whips flog and
flogger whip, this did not even make it to GlitterKink for me. I
recommend Ms. Dayne to research more about the BDSM lifestyle and
learn the differences between a whip and flogger.

Second, this story befuddled me because it was trying to add elements
of BDSM while incorporating paranormal romance. This can be done, but
rarely have I seen it done where BDSM is negatively associated with a
vampire considered to be a monster. Since Savannah loved everything
about the occult and studied black arts for years, I would have
expected her to believe in vampires and not classify them as monsters.
If she studied them as a Wiccan, I could understand her fears. Since
the story leads us to believe she is amicable to dark arts which
generally revolves around blood sacrifice, her abhorrence for a
vampire seems contradictory. This contradiction pulled me out of the
story.

Third, the writing voice for this story seemed to be from the
perspective of an angry woman. Why do I say she's angry? It's
because the words – always, everything and never occur frequently
throughout the short story. I'm not the most grammar conscious. For
me to pick it up and distract from the story indicates excessive
usage.

Lastly, I recommend Ms. Dayne spend more time with her world building.
The vampire mythology she's introducing is different than the normal.
This requires better explanations and transitions. The concept of a
vampire fading into a spirit and then possibly condemned into a hell
dimension requires a bit more framework. I'd like to know the whys
and hows. Being told an event happens with little backgrounds leaves
me dissatisfied.

I suggest this book for those who enjoy paranormal romances. I
further recommend Ms. Dayne remove the BDSM elements and focus on
paranormal. BDSM is not her element.

[Sugarcunt · Rating 2 out of 5]

It needed help. The dialogue between the four women felt forced, and honestly, you could have slaughtered two of Savannah's friends and come out with the same story, sans some unfortunately-written girl talk. The entire story needed more commas, and to feel a bit less flimsy, because it was an idea that might have been an enjoyable read, were it better-executed. The sex scenes were decent - not much hard bondage, not delving too much into D/s, but passable... however, I was tired of the euphemism "molten core" after it was used in place of vagina the first time. My vagina is neither a volcano, nor a raid instance in World of Warcraft. If you're going to use purple prose, please just do it once, rather than repeatedly.

Somewhere along the line I missed what EXACTLY Savannah had to do of her own free will to break Constantine's curse. Submit to him? Perform sex acts in front of an audience? Become his vampire bride? I don't know. I just don't know.

And finally, I just wasn't delighted with the ending. The turn it took was fine, but I disliked the wording. I know that seems like nitpicking.