The Blood of Maria

by Lydia Harbinger

Henry is a young hotel worker, whose days are spent in unrequited lust. The object of his desires is Maria, the hotel owner’s wife. When Henry is offered a view into her most private moments, what begins as a voyeuristic exploration soon spirals into violence, blackmail, and murder.

Henry will soon realize that the woman who has occupied every one of his daydreams is more dangerous than he could ever have imagined, and he must decide how much he is willing to risk to realize his fantasy.

This book contains material which may be triggering. Readers are invited to visit the author's website for trigger warnings (not included here as the list contains spoilers for the book).

Reader discretion is advised.

118 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2024

Reviews

[JWo1855 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far too often, us men listen to our “below-the-belt brain,” which usually ends up resulting in making bad choices. The Blood of Maria’s main character (Henry) listens to the wrong brain & has to deal with the consequences.

The Blood of Maria was a fun mixture of suspense, intrigue, murder & a little spice that had me guessing til the end.

At times it felt like the story was spinning its wheels when Henry (main character) struggled to make a move on the object of his desires, Maria.

I found myself wondering how I would have reacted to the offer made by Maria’s husband. Who am I kidding, I’d have taken him up on it.

Maria took advantage of Henry’s thinking & used that to her advantage.

There were a few unanswered questions that frustrated me, as did some of Henry’s decisions, even after he found himself trapped due to Maria’s manipulations.

Not the best thing I’ve read, but definitely not the worst.

***
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Michelle T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've already read Fallen Under from Lydia Harbinger which I really liked and sucked me in, so The Blood of Maria was not my first novella of her.

It's not as spicy as I thought, which could be the case because the pace is quite fast. Because of that the erotic scenes were not that long sadly (because they had potential to be really good).

I didn't feel the horror aspect. Honestly I didn't get the blood thing and it didn't thrill me at all.

There is not much story building, which didn't bother me too much. I liked the first 70%, after that it felt rushed which is quite sad.

The characters are too bland for my taste, the only one who is really interesting is Maria herself, she surprised me.

All in all the book had potential, but it didn't met my expectations which I had after the first few chapters. To me this is, because it had it's good moments a 2.5-3 🌟 book.

~ I received an advance review copy and chose to leave my honest, voluntary review ~

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a novella I found The Blood of Maria to be engaging and fun to follow.

I found the plot was delivered well as the MC's story's unfolded and their true needs, desires and personalities opened before me. There was plenty of spice delivered at a good level. It was not overdone which many people fall foul of.

The storyline did not all pan out the way I thought that it would, and it was interesting and a good suprise how the twist at the end was delivered.

It is a good read and will hold you as you take sides with the MC's and read a bit of real life into the story and the way the characters think and act.

I would like to read more of Lydia's work and wonder how she would attack a full blown novel with multiple story lines and a greater depth.

[Chelsea Thirion · Rating 3 out of 5]

***ARC Review***
This little novella had all of the things. I thought the book was well written, there were some high vocabulary words that I had to look up but other than that really good! I rated the book a 3 Star because it’s listed as Erotica but I don’t think it was that at all. I would say it is more a Dark Romance. Just not enough detail of the encounters. I enjoyed this little read, I was a little confused by things happening in the book to be honest still am which is why I give it a 3.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[booka_holicme · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a fast reading novella and was well written but I soon lost interest in the book and thought of marking it as DNF but kept on reading.

I am sorry to say that I didn't like the book at all. Having watched by someone while being intimate with my husband is really a big 'NO' for me and secondly she wasn't even aware of the fact that she was being watched.

Those who are looking for a dark erotica novella, can give it a try, but this novel was definitely not for me.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Puisan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rather short and quick read. It was intriguing at first but then things went off tangent. I would say Maria was a very complex person who was suppressed and only viewed as a possession for too long. However I didn’t quite understand the ending or the meaning of it. I attributed the ending to Maria being not quite right in the frontal lobes. Still, an interesting read despite the ending.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[SpiderMam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am really sorry but I was unable to get on board with this book. For me it was not voyeurism but it is sexual assault. The wife was unaware of being watched which was set up by her husband. I’m not ok with this and I can’t supply a rating that may for the actual writing because I just can’t get past the content. Voyeurism is not the issue, voyeurism is a kink I can get behind fully but without the consent of the watched, I’m not down with this.

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lydia Harbinger does a fantastic job in writing a horror erotic novel, it had that gothic romance element that I was looking for and enjoyed the element of this book. The characters were everything that I was hoping for and worked with the horror element.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ladnamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is quite dark and rather spicy with a few kinks mentioned. There isn't the typical HEA of a traditional romance so keep this in mind before diving in.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lola Jansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oehhhh damn! 🥵
This was a very good, quick steamy read!
Loved the combination of horror and erotica, and the writing style was great!
Very much recommend!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Totally crazy good book. Story was detailed and full of details. kept my attention throughout. This is a must read!!!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Smutty Demi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more of a dark romance, there is no real happy ending. Still, I thought the story was funny and I enjoyed reading it. 3.5 stars for me

[Genoveva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please check all CW and TW before diving into this one. Normally I love dark and twisted stories but struggled a life with this one. I might need to revisit it and it might click better for me. I will say though the concept of this story was interesting.

[Sydnie Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and thrilling dar erotic suspense novella by a new to me author. I quite liked it and will be sure to check out their back catalog.

[Brittany Willaert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written novella!! I enjoyed reading it and wished there were more details. I did have to reread a few chapters to keep things in line but overall it was very enjoyable!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.