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In Cold Embrace #2
Prey For The Devil: In Cold Embrace
Welcome back to Herzkirch – a city on top of a hollowed-out mountain, that is in the firm grip of the Reinblut Kirche. They passionately spread the word of the vileness of Blendlings – the offspring of a Biest and a human – and fuel prejudice against them.
No wonder, the parents who turn up on the doorstep of Freyja’s agency are beyond worried that their son has disappeared. Freyja, who is a Blendling incognito herself, doubts that this was an abduction, but decides to investigate anyway.
Only when all leads start to point to Lady Hagen’s, her suspicion starts to rise. After all, this woman not only happens to be the pimp of a bunch of half-concubusses, but also is Freya's ex-girlfriend. Goddess knows what she could do to someone as naive as her crush Emilia …?
“Prey For The Devil” is the second book in the “In Cold Embrace” series and follows the powerful trans woman Freyja deeper into the heart of Herzkirch. Thereby not only putting a strain on the relationships with her lesbian companions, but also bringing more light to her own past.
No wonder, the parents who turn up on the doorstep of Freyja’s agency are beyond worried that their son has disappeared. Freyja, who is a Blendling incognito herself, doubts that this was an abduction, but decides to investigate anyway.
Only when all leads start to point to Lady Hagen’s, her suspicion starts to rise. After all, this woman not only happens to be the pimp of a bunch of half-concubusses, but also is Freya's ex-girlfriend. Goddess knows what she could do to someone as naive as her crush Emilia …?
“Prey For The Devil” is the second book in the “In Cold Embrace” series and follows the powerful trans woman Freyja deeper into the heart of Herzkirch. Thereby not only putting a strain on the relationships with her lesbian companions, but also bringing more light to her own past.
- GenresFantasy
194 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2024
2 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Gwen Leonhard
4 booksMy name is Gwen, and I like to call myself a sapphiction author. I’m a trans woman living in Germany who loves writing about sapphic relationships - more often than not with a trans-POV character.
These stories can range from sugary sweet to dastardly evil. I try to be a good bean and have plenty of anxieties.
When I’m not writing my stories, I’m usually floating around in the TTRPG Space and on Twitter - uhm - X.
These stories can range from sugary sweet to dastardly evil. I try to be a good bean and have plenty of anxieties.
When I’m not writing my stories, I’m usually floating around in the TTRPG Space and on Twitter - uhm - X.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 15, 2025
Prey for the Devil is the second book in what seems to be an erotic urban fantasy series about trans lesbian paranormal detective Freyja. The romance and erotica elements -- Freyja's developing polyamorous romance with her two assistants and explicit descriptions of the sex she's having with other people in the meantime -- are front and center, while the fantasy setting and mystery plot are more set dressing.
I haven't read the first book, and that may make me a poor reviewer of this one; it definitely tries to catch new readers up, but for me it wasn't successful. The first few pages throw a panoply of proper nouns at the reader, which is a lot to get to grips with, but at the same time, other details of the setting remain vague. Between Freyja's childhood in a Dickensian orphanage and the existence of an all-powerful pseudo-Catholic church that has no shortage of sexy young nuns, I had the impression that this was a historical-ish fantasy setting, and nothing really contradicted me in this until the point about 75% of the way through the book when Freyja pulls out her smartphone and starts texting.
It's also got what felt like a lot of major characters for a fairly short book, and while I got a strong sense of Freyja, her ex Emanuela, and the aforementioned sexy nun Emilia (and of Freyja's relationships with both of these women), I never really got a handle on Freyja's other love interest, Veerle. But neither of these are necessarily failings of the book; I'm assuming if I'd read book 1, I'd have an easier time following everything and wouldn't have gotten a totally wrong mental image of the setting.
I also struggled because the prose is often awkward, sometimes to the point of being hard to parse -- I had to read sentences like "They'd be dead if anyone else tried this" (i.e. "If anyone else tried this, they'd be dead," if one were to reword it to avoid having a pronoun with no antecedent) twice to grasp what they were saying. I understand that this is an indie author writing in her second language, and if I were to try writing a novel in my own second language I'm sure I would do worse, but I do feel like it would have hugely improved my reading experience if the writer had hired an editor.
That said, it is nice to see a trans lesbian occupying the "messy PI making bad life choices" archetype, and I suspect that for some people, this series is going to be so exactly what they've always wanted out of sexy urban fantasy that a few infelicitous sentences won't detract from their experience too much.
I haven't read the first book, and that may make me a poor reviewer of this one; it definitely tries to catch new readers up, but for me it wasn't successful. The first few pages throw a panoply of proper nouns at the reader, which is a lot to get to grips with, but at the same time, other details of the setting remain vague. Between Freyja's childhood in a Dickensian orphanage and the existence of an all-powerful pseudo-Catholic church that has no shortage of sexy young nuns, I had the impression that this was a historical-ish fantasy setting, and nothing really contradicted me in this until the point about 75% of the way through the book when Freyja pulls out her smartphone and starts texting.
It's also got what felt like a lot of major characters for a fairly short book, and while I got a strong sense of Freyja, her ex Emanuela, and the aforementioned sexy nun Emilia (and of Freyja's relationships with both of these women), I never really got a handle on Freyja's other love interest, Veerle. But neither of these are necessarily failings of the book; I'm assuming if I'd read book 1, I'd have an easier time following everything and wouldn't have gotten a totally wrong mental image of the setting.
I also struggled because the prose is often awkward, sometimes to the point of being hard to parse -- I had to read sentences like "They'd be dead if anyone else tried this" (i.e. "If anyone else tried this, they'd be dead," if one were to reword it to avoid having a pronoun with no antecedent) twice to grasp what they were saying. I understand that this is an indie author writing in her second language, and if I were to try writing a novel in my own second language I'm sure I would do worse, but I do feel like it would have hugely improved my reading experience if the writer had hired an editor.
That said, it is nice to see a trans lesbian occupying the "messy PI making bad life choices" archetype, and I suspect that for some people, this series is going to be so exactly what they've always wanted out of sexy urban fantasy that a few infelicitous sentences won't detract from their experience too much.
April 7, 2024
A short quick read filled with erotic moments featuring a trans protagonist named Freyja who is a blendling (known as half human and half biest) with unique powers who took on a case to investigate a missing person.
I recommend this book for those who are interested in a quick read with a lot of erotica and minimal plot. I look forward to the next book!
I recommend this book for those who are interested in a quick read with a lot of erotica and minimal plot. I look forward to the next book!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews