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Unearthly Delights #1
Savage Blooms
Adam has been in love with his best friend Nicola since college, but the closest he can come to admitting his feelings is inviting her to travel with him to Scotland in search of a legendary cave from his grandfather’s bedtime stories. When a storm washes out the road, Adam and Nicola find themselves at the mercy of Eileen, an eccentric aristocrat, and Finley, her brooding groundskeeper. The Americans quickly get more than they bargained for as they become entangled in Eileen and Finley’s world of mind games, kink, and ancient enchantment.
453 pages, Hardcover
First published October 7, 2025
157 people are currently reading
20193 people want to read
About the author
S.T. Gibson
15 books4,944 followersS.T. Gibson is a poet, author, and village wise woman in training.
She holds a Bachelors degree in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and a Masters of Theological Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary.
She holds a Bachelors degree in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and a Masters of Theological Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,022 reviews
October 29, 2025
I feel like the quality of S.T Gibson writing is so unpredictable, one book she’s cooking the next book the stove never even turned on.
October 6, 2025
So far I've had a great (A Dowry of Blood), a mediocre (Evocation) and an underwhelming (An Education in Malice) read from S.T. Gibson, so it was about time that I finally figured out if I actually like the author. And I'm honestly glad that I ended up enjoying her new release, even if I'm not sure what that says about my reading taste. Because this was mostly only smut with some gothic vibes and just a little bit of evil faeries in the woods. But well, it worked for me.
It all starts when Adam and his best friend Nicola come to Scotland to look for the house that Adam's late grandfather always told magical stories about. They meet the lord of the house, a woman named Eileen, and her groundskeeper Finley, and they are a bit odd and act like they are from another time. Due to the bad weather Adam and Nicola are invited to stay and you know how it is when random characters get trapped in huge, isolated mansions. There is a bit of creepy supernatural stuff, but instead of being haunted by the place, everyone is just very horny for everyone all the time. I see why this is called porn without a plot, but it isn't fully true in my opinion, because there is a bit of plot and all the smut and kinky games don't really start until the halfway mark. The book is more about the gothic, horny vibes and that simply was enough for me in this case. I can understand everyone who was expecting more, though. I liked that it was so straightforward and I think that I enjoyed this book more than my previous two reads from the author, because it was more detached from modern, urban life and felt more otherworldly mystical. I wish it had leaned even more into that, because all the fairy stuff was pretty basic. I actually think that a full fantasy novel by S.T. Gibson would be outstanding. It doesn't have to be an epic fantasy series, but just imagine a book by her set in a dark but whimsical land where all the characters are fairies or something. Then the fantasy and the erotic parts wouldn't feel as separated as they did in this book. Because here we had a there-are-evil-beings-in-the-woods-but-everyone-is-in-the-house-making-out type of situation. We get the POVs of all four characters and first I thought that this was unnecessary, but I actually came to like how the characters were explored through their relationships with other people and their reactions to different personalities. It still never felt like the story was leading up to anything (except to the point where everyone has slept with everyone), but then the ending was still very intriguing. I will probably pick up book two and I think chances are good that it will lean more into the fantastical side of this story.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Orbit / Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
It all starts when Adam and his best friend Nicola come to Scotland to look for the house that Adam's late grandfather always told magical stories about. They meet the lord of the house, a woman named Eileen, and her groundskeeper Finley, and they are a bit odd and act like they are from another time. Due to the bad weather Adam and Nicola are invited to stay and you know how it is when random characters get trapped in huge, isolated mansions. There is a bit of creepy supernatural stuff, but instead of being haunted by the place, everyone is just very horny for everyone all the time. I see why this is called porn without a plot, but it isn't fully true in my opinion, because there is a bit of plot and all the smut and kinky games don't really start until the halfway mark. The book is more about the gothic, horny vibes and that simply was enough for me in this case. I can understand everyone who was expecting more, though. I liked that it was so straightforward and I think that I enjoyed this book more than my previous two reads from the author, because it was more detached from modern, urban life and felt more otherworldly mystical. I wish it had leaned even more into that, because all the fairy stuff was pretty basic. I actually think that a full fantasy novel by S.T. Gibson would be outstanding. It doesn't have to be an epic fantasy series, but just imagine a book by her set in a dark but whimsical land where all the characters are fairies or something. Then the fantasy and the erotic parts wouldn't feel as separated as they did in this book. Because here we had a there-are-evil-beings-in-the-woods-but-everyone-is-in-the-house-making-out type of situation. We get the POVs of all four characters and first I thought that this was unnecessary, but I actually came to like how the characters were explored through their relationships with other people and their reactions to different personalities. It still never felt like the story was leading up to anything (except to the point where everyone has slept with everyone), but then the ending was still very intriguing. I will probably pick up book two and I think chances are good that it will lean more into the fantastical side of this story.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and Orbit / Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.
June 24, 2025
I'll keep this short because I honestly don't think it's possible to describe this book and what it does to you.
Savage Blooms is described as gothic erotic romance and yeah, that's about it. The vibes are immaculate, S.T. Gibson outdid themselves with this one. When you read Ascension, the new book in the Summoner's Circle out next month, you think that times a hundred for how sexy and hot this is. I love complicated characters, and this book gave me exactly that, they are not good people but are they fun to read about. The relationship between them is definitely... interesting. By the way, read the trigger warnings before reading it, it explores kink and some parts could be triggering for a lot of people.
It is addictive, and I need more desperately.
Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for the ARC!
Savage Blooms is described as gothic erotic romance and yeah, that's about it. The vibes are immaculate, S.T. Gibson outdid themselves with this one. When you read Ascension, the new book in the Summoner's Circle out next month, you think that times a hundred for how sexy and hot this is. I love complicated characters, and this book gave me exactly that, they are not good people but are they fun to read about. The relationship between them is definitely... interesting. By the way, read the trigger warnings before reading it, it explores kink and some parts could be triggering for a lot of people.
It is addictive, and I need more desperately.
Thank you Netgalley and Orbit Books for the ARC!
October 8, 2025
just impeccable horniness inside a gothic manor 🤌
oh the inherent eroticism of a gothic manor
Bookstagram | Blog
oh the inherent eroticism of a gothic manor
Bookstagram | Blog
October 6, 2025
1.5 ☆
”If they were stuck here, he had told her many times before, then they would simply make a heaven of hell together.”
i don’t even know where to start.. don’t ask me what the plot of this book was cause i wouldn’t be able to tell you. then you add in a bunch of unlikable characters who would rather start/continue toxic relationships, instead of figuring out their own mess separately and you just end up with a story that’s a chore to read. i couldn’t stand Eileen worst of all, but all of them: Adam, Nicola and Finely included, were so irritating. the only romance that i was even slightly invested in was Finley and Adam’s.. ( so, of course their dynamic was the least focused on.) i’ve actually really enjoyed some of this authors other work, but this one completely escaped me. the ending also got on my last nerve and made no sense, can SOMEONE give direct answers FOR ONCE?? it really was just all sex and 1 string of plot hanging on for dear life.. i tried to like this, but absolutely not.
⚠️potential spoilers (idk)⚠️
- this book reminded me so much of the movie “The Watchers”, but if everyone had sex with each other instead. this isn’t a compliment either because i also wasn’t a fan of that movie. not every fantasy needs to involve fae of some kind, can we all just relax please.
➜ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Orbit books for the arc, all opinions are my own.
”If they were stuck here, he had told her many times before, then they would simply make a heaven of hell together.”
i don’t even know where to start.. don’t ask me what the plot of this book was cause i wouldn’t be able to tell you. then you add in a bunch of unlikable characters who would rather start/continue toxic relationships, instead of figuring out their own mess separately and you just end up with a story that’s a chore to read. i couldn’t stand Eileen worst of all, but all of them: Adam, Nicola and Finely included, were so irritating. the only romance that i was even slightly invested in was Finley and Adam’s.. ( so, of course their dynamic was the least focused on.) i’ve actually really enjoyed some of this authors other work, but this one completely escaped me. the ending also got on my last nerve and made no sense, can SOMEONE give direct answers FOR ONCE?? it really was just all sex and 1 string of plot hanging on for dear life.. i tried to like this, but absolutely not.
⚠️potential spoilers (idk)⚠️
- this book reminded me so much of the movie “The Watchers”, but if everyone had sex with each other instead. this isn’t a compliment either because i also wasn’t a fan of that movie. not every fantasy needs to involve fae of some kind, can we all just relax please.
➜ many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Orbit books for the arc, all opinions are my own.
July 16, 2025
gowns! and then some!
Mixed feelings here, which has become something of a trend with ST Gibson's books. After the passing of his grandfather, Adam and his best friend Nicola journey to Craigmar, a feature of his grandfather's stories and the only place he believes will give him closure on his death. He meets the house's eccentric and reclusive owner, Eileen, as well as her groundskeeper Finley. As Adam and Nicola are drawn into their complicated sexual dynamics, they begin to suspect Craigmar is also home to a mysterious, older, STRANGER kind of resident...
Savage Blooms starts bad. I went in expecting purple prose, but it doesn't even really do lush descriptions of the Scottish countryside or indulgent framing of Eileen's delicate pale hands, etc . Instead, Gibson plops in awkward, stilted phrases while constantly signposting the personalities of our main characters (you'll instantly learn which characters are intended to be dominant and which are submissive - pay attention to who "commanded" instead of "said".) I can't honestly call it campy, because Savage Blooms isn't *initially* quite having enough fun with its premise.
BUT. Things really picked up about a third of the way through, after we've established the set dressing and can actually dig into the plot. This is signified by a genuinely tense trip to Craigmar's cave system. From there, it's like Savage Blooms settles into a successful rhythm.
There is less sex in this book than I think some of the reviews of this book would lead you to believe, but Gibson's sexual dynamics are both well-written and actually DOING something to build interesting character arcs and relationships. Finley, Nicola, and Eileen are particularly good and strange; Adam is a bit of a nothingburger but I'm crossing my fingers that will change. I love how complex these characters are, and how (after the first third) Gibson is unapologetic about their faults. They're violent and jealous and crude because people can be, and Savage Blooms is most interesting when it's honestly exploring that. Eileen is The Woman Ever. If I had read this book growing up, I would've been obsessed with her. All that to say, I'm very curious to see where the rest of this trilogy goes.
ST Gibson talks about craft and research and her work with such loving earnestness that I'm nearly always a little let down by the final product. But this is also the most excited I've been about her writing in a long time.
Thank you to Orbit for the Netgalley ARC. Opinions are my own.
Mixed feelings here, which has become something of a trend with ST Gibson's books. After the passing of his grandfather, Adam and his best friend Nicola journey to Craigmar, a feature of his grandfather's stories and the only place he believes will give him closure on his death. He meets the house's eccentric and reclusive owner, Eileen, as well as her groundskeeper Finley. As Adam and Nicola are drawn into their complicated sexual dynamics, they begin to suspect Craigmar is also home to a mysterious, older, STRANGER kind of resident...
Savage Blooms starts bad. I went in expecting purple prose, but it doesn't even really do lush descriptions of the Scottish countryside or indulgent framing of Eileen's delicate pale hands, etc . Instead, Gibson plops in awkward, stilted phrases while constantly signposting the personalities of our main characters (you'll instantly learn which characters are intended to be dominant and which are submissive - pay attention to who "commanded" instead of "said".) I can't honestly call it campy, because Savage Blooms isn't *initially* quite having enough fun with its premise.
BUT. Things really picked up about a third of the way through, after we've established the set dressing and can actually dig into the plot. This is signified by a genuinely tense trip to Craigmar's cave system. From there, it's like Savage Blooms settles into a successful rhythm.
There is less sex in this book than I think some of the reviews of this book would lead you to believe, but Gibson's sexual dynamics are both well-written and actually DOING something to build interesting character arcs and relationships. Finley, Nicola, and Eileen are particularly good and strange; Adam is a bit of a nothingburger but I'm crossing my fingers that will change. I love how complex these characters are, and how (after the first third) Gibson is unapologetic about their faults. They're violent and jealous and crude because people can be, and Savage Blooms is most interesting when it's honestly exploring that. Eileen is The Woman Ever. If I had read this book growing up, I would've been obsessed with her. All that to say, I'm very curious to see where the rest of this trilogy goes.
ST Gibson talks about craft and research and her work with such loving earnestness that I'm nearly always a little let down by the final product. But this is also the most excited I've been about her writing in a long time.
Thank you to Orbit for the Netgalley ARC. Opinions are my own.
December 22, 2025
Thank you Netgalley and Hachette Audio for an advanced ALC copy of this book!
I was first drawn to this book by the absolutely gorgeous cover! I mean look at her! She's stunning! I really enjoyed this read. The atmosphere is absolutely beautiful! I really loved the deep exploration of longing and lust. It really blended well with the lush and rich setting of the story. I loved the complexity of the characters. I did wish there was a little more of an explosion to a couple of things but I see that this is only book #1 so I'm definitely interested to see what book #2 has to offer.
Just make sure you read your Tags & Trigger warnings. This is tagged under erotica, so it many not be for everyone. But if that's an alley you tend to frequent I think you're going to love it over here!
Until next time,
Hades
🩵
I was first drawn to this book by the absolutely gorgeous cover! I mean look at her! She's stunning! I really enjoyed this read. The atmosphere is absolutely beautiful! I really loved the deep exploration of longing and lust. It really blended well with the lush and rich setting of the story. I loved the complexity of the characters. I did wish there was a little more of an explosion to a couple of things but I see that this is only book #1 so I'm definitely interested to see what book #2 has to offer.
Just make sure you read your Tags & Trigger warnings. This is tagged under erotica, so it many not be for everyone. But if that's an alley you tend to frequent I think you're going to love it over here!
Until next time,
Hades
🩵
July 9, 2025
I'm not sure how I feel about this book.
The vibes and the writing are great, it's gothic, its Scottish, it's erotic, everyone is bi, it has intergenerational drama, dark fairies and scary magic.
It worked and I devoured it.
But I think it's lacking in terms of story. Not much happens and in the end, there is no real resolution.
So no plot but it's still good, I would rate 3.5 overall.
Thank you Orbit Books for this ARC!
The vibes and the writing are great, it's gothic, its Scottish, it's erotic, everyone is bi, it has intergenerational drama, dark fairies and scary magic.
It worked and I devoured it.
But I think it's lacking in terms of story. Not much happens and in the end, there is no real resolution.
So no plot but it's still good, I would rate 3.5 overall.
Thank you Orbit Books for this ARC!
October 16, 2025
This to me was a Scottish, gothic, heavily erotic version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show 😭 with just a tiny pinch of fantasy ✨ and a light sprinkle of plot 🌙 Sprinkle in some old family drama and mystery 🕯️ and you’ve got this chaotic little mix. But honestly… they were all doing one thing in this book 😭 and it got old quick. The relationships progressed way too fast 💋 nothing really felt earned and everyone was just throwing themselves at each other. 😮💨
S.T. Gibson never misses when it comes to gothic vibes 🕸️🏰 but the prose wasn’t hitting like her usual books. It didn’t feel like her voice this time, something was missing 🖤 Maybe that’s just on me because I always expect her books to be filled with that haunting, lyrical beauty like A Dowry of Blood or An Education in Malice, both of which I consider masterpieces 💔 So this one just didn’t carry the same magic I was hoping for, especially since it’s being compared to Wuthering Heights 📚 I haven’t read that yet, but I know it’s a gothic classic full of lush prose…and this just didn’t have that.
That said, it finally picked up in the last chapter and epilogue 🌹 so naturally, I’ll be reading book 2 👀 It feels like the story is just now getting started, so I’m holding out hope for that signature Gibson magic to bloom in the next one 🖤✨
S.T. Gibson never misses when it comes to gothic vibes 🕸️🏰 but the prose wasn’t hitting like her usual books. It didn’t feel like her voice this time, something was missing 🖤 Maybe that’s just on me because I always expect her books to be filled with that haunting, lyrical beauty like A Dowry of Blood or An Education in Malice, both of which I consider masterpieces 💔 So this one just didn’t carry the same magic I was hoping for, especially since it’s being compared to Wuthering Heights 📚 I haven’t read that yet, but I know it’s a gothic classic full of lush prose…and this just didn’t have that.
That said, it finally picked up in the last chapter and epilogue 🌹 so naturally, I’ll be reading book 2 👀 It feels like the story is just now getting started, so I’m holding out hope for that signature Gibson magic to bloom in the next one 🖤✨
September 1, 2025
⭐️ 2.5 ⭐️ Well, with a wet peach/plum on the cover…pretty much sums up what the book is about.
This is marketed as a dark, gothic, erotic fantasy set in the countryside of Scotland where evil lurks in a mansion. Two modern college kids (Adam and Nicola) set off to uncover the mystery surrounding Adam’s’ grandfathers’ childhood stories. They travel to outskirts of Scotland, where they meet Craigmors’ landlady and her groundskeeper. There is something sinister about this manor. All four characters enter a very complicated sexual dynamic while trying to get to the root of a mysteriously looming presence.
Something was amiss about this book. I just did not feel that pull. The gothic vibes/aesthetic was there but not strong enough for me to call it gothic. I think the author tried to build a suspenseful atmosphere with looming presence of faeries but it wasn’t expanded on & that’s where I think the downfall to the gothic aesthetic was.
The characters were not well developed—we learn about their kinks more than we learn about their backgrounds. However plot and character driven this book tried to be, this ended up too insta-lusty, too cliche and completely missed in the fantasy/magic department.
I get it, it’s erotic. The erotic horror was queer and kinky but it was more cringe than anything pleasing. It was a messy, weird, polycule of toxic bisexual encounters. I don’t think the characters cared enough about each other at all. If taboo is your type of thing, then you will devour this book.
**Listening to “Tainted Love” by Marilyn Manson**
Thank you to NetGalley & Orbit Books Publisher and the author, S.T. Gibson for this eARC!
Publication date: October 7, 2025
This is marketed as a dark, gothic, erotic fantasy set in the countryside of Scotland where evil lurks in a mansion. Two modern college kids (Adam and Nicola) set off to uncover the mystery surrounding Adam’s’ grandfathers’ childhood stories. They travel to outskirts of Scotland, where they meet Craigmors’ landlady and her groundskeeper. There is something sinister about this manor. All four characters enter a very complicated sexual dynamic while trying to get to the root of a mysteriously looming presence.
Something was amiss about this book. I just did not feel that pull. The gothic vibes/aesthetic was there but not strong enough for me to call it gothic. I think the author tried to build a suspenseful atmosphere with looming presence of faeries but it wasn’t expanded on & that’s where I think the downfall to the gothic aesthetic was.
The characters were not well developed—we learn about their kinks more than we learn about their backgrounds. However plot and character driven this book tried to be, this ended up too insta-lusty, too cliche and completely missed in the fantasy/magic department.
I get it, it’s erotic. The erotic horror was queer and kinky but it was more cringe than anything pleasing. It was a messy, weird, polycule of toxic bisexual encounters. I don’t think the characters cared enough about each other at all. If taboo is your type of thing, then you will devour this book.
**Listening to “Tainted Love” by Marilyn Manson**
Thank you to NetGalley & Orbit Books Publisher and the author, S.T. Gibson for this eARC!
Publication date: October 7, 2025
December 21, 2025
a favorite read of 2025🩵
firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!
4.5 stars — after reading a dowry of blood, i never thought i would enjoy another poly romance, but s t gibson has surprised me.
while the plot and world-building intrigued me, i feel as if gibson strung readers along for much too long with the minimal crumbs of information and revelations — of course, after that epilogue i find myself anticipating a sequel, and i’m not entirely mad about it.
as for the poly romance, i did enjoy the multiple different pairings between the characters, but i still feel all of their relationships with one another, especially finley and eileen, and adam and nicola, would have benefited from more background and depth.
the narrators were phenomenal — i love a good accent and the narrators for finley and eileen had beautiful scottish accents.
overall: i’m very pleasantly surprised!! not to mention, i’m beyond excited to see my fairyloot edition!
——
please don’t disappoint me s t gibson 🤞🏼
firstly, thank you to the publisher for an arc and an alc!
4.5 stars — after reading a dowry of blood, i never thought i would enjoy another poly romance, but s t gibson has surprised me.
while the plot and world-building intrigued me, i feel as if gibson strung readers along for much too long with the minimal crumbs of information and revelations — of course, after that epilogue i find myself anticipating a sequel, and i’m not entirely mad about it.
as for the poly romance, i did enjoy the multiple different pairings between the characters, but i still feel all of their relationships with one another, especially finley and eileen, and adam and nicola, would have benefited from more background and depth.
the narrators were phenomenal — i love a good accent and the narrators for finley and eileen had beautiful scottish accents.
overall: i’m very pleasantly surprised!! not to mention, i’m beyond excited to see my fairyloot edition!
——
please don’t disappoint me s t gibson 🤞🏼
Want to read
March 27, 2024s.t gibson single handedly saving literature one book at a time
dnf
December 15, 2025TIME OF DEATH: 12:26 28/11/25
Boring as fuck, though being plotless is not the worst thing about this; a word to the wise for anyone out there considering writing an "erotic" book is to please practice writing sex scenes first, not only for the sake of their quality, because a man going in dry and jackrabbiting a woman against a desk is erotic in the way that a smear test is*, but also to develop both the vulnerability and frankness that is necessary to write sex scenes well, i.e. not in the way they are written here. This book purports to be "porn with plot" but we are nearly halfway gone and there is one sex scene, only the one I have described already. Not only that, but the sexual interactions are written in this shaky, self-conscious, hesitant manner, the prose halting and uncertain of itself, wanting to be seen as erotic but too afraid to be perceived as dirty. Having read Evocation and Ascension by the same author, I recognise this as a hold-over. This, and the perception of same-sex sexual interactions as inherently dirtier, more clandestine, more kinky; the characters, who are all made of cardboard, and therefore have absolutely zero chemistry, will share vague "heated glances" with characters of the same sex, while loudly confessing their urgent sexual feelings for characters of the opposite sex, pursuing them, "I've never felt this way about anyone", etc. Across this body of work, it seems to be a trend that heterosexual sex is normal, the foundation of the real relationships, whereas anything gay is an add-on, never held up with the same import, to be dabbled in as a salacious side quest before we return to the proper pairings, which are the m/f ones. Put simply, it is an afterthought.
*I suppose this might be my lesbianism talking, but even if I imagine Finley as a woman with a strap, I'm left 🤷🏻♀️. No self-respecting lesbian would ever fuck her girl this way. Or be such a useless dom. I understand that Eileen and Finley are stuck on this estate and can't go to a munch or anything but surely there is internet here, and so surely they could have gone on fetlife and asked the community for some tips on how to develop their D/s dynamic instead of muddling through cluelessly the way they are now. "My safe word is geranium," Eileen says, because that's what a person who knows absolutely nothing about kink thinks a safe word should be. It's like in movies how they show blind people touching people's faces, even though blind people never do that and mostly think it's weird. To be fair, this book was already on thin ice anyway with m/f kink, male dom female sub, which I do not like ([Miranda Priestly voice] a man in a dominant role over a woman in a submissive role?? groundbreaking 🙄), but lost me completely during a scene where Adam and Nicola are watching Finley do some non-sexual D/s touching with Eileen; the description in this scene is focused on Eileen, making her the focal point. Adam says, with no additional context, "I'd like to try that out," and Finley says okay, let's go, and without prompting, Adam just gets up and starts acting in a dominant role towards Eileen. This seemed insane to me. Because of the way the scene was framed, it seemed obvious to me like he was asking to be in Eileen's position; what he wanted to try out was being a submissive. But no. He just jumps up, has a quick personality transplant, and sticks his fingers in her mouth. No self-reflection, no inner monologue about what role he would like to play, not even a cursory glance. It is just assumed he is dominant, despite his personality up to this point, what little of it there is, leaning much more towards the receptive and desiring approval, because this book thinks man = dominant and woman = submissive. Which is funny, really, because this book is sold as "queer". Queer does not mean "non-straight". It is a political identity. That's another thing you should probably learn about before you write a book like this.
Oh, and I was going to mention how these "Scottish" characters talk like Americans, because I can promise you that not a single soul in Scotland knows what the fuck a "Midwestern accent" is, but I don't have time. Just assume, as always, that the Scottish elements of this were handled horrendously.
FIN
Boring as fuck, though being plotless is not the worst thing about this; a word to the wise for anyone out there considering writing an "erotic" book is to please practice writing sex scenes first, not only for the sake of their quality, because a man going in dry and jackrabbiting a woman against a desk is erotic in the way that a smear test is*, but also to develop both the vulnerability and frankness that is necessary to write sex scenes well, i.e. not in the way they are written here. This book purports to be "porn with plot" but we are nearly halfway gone and there is one sex scene, only the one I have described already. Not only that, but the sexual interactions are written in this shaky, self-conscious, hesitant manner, the prose halting and uncertain of itself, wanting to be seen as erotic but too afraid to be perceived as dirty. Having read Evocation and Ascension by the same author, I recognise this as a hold-over. This, and the perception of same-sex sexual interactions as inherently dirtier, more clandestine, more kinky; the characters, who are all made of cardboard, and therefore have absolutely zero chemistry, will share vague "heated glances" with characters of the same sex, while loudly confessing their urgent sexual feelings for characters of the opposite sex, pursuing them, "I've never felt this way about anyone", etc. Across this body of work, it seems to be a trend that heterosexual sex is normal, the foundation of the real relationships, whereas anything gay is an add-on, never held up with the same import, to be dabbled in as a salacious side quest before we return to the proper pairings, which are the m/f ones. Put simply, it is an afterthought.
*I suppose this might be my lesbianism talking, but even if I imagine Finley as a woman with a strap, I'm left 🤷🏻♀️. No self-respecting lesbian would ever fuck her girl this way. Or be such a useless dom. I understand that Eileen and Finley are stuck on this estate and can't go to a munch or anything but surely there is internet here, and so surely they could have gone on fetlife and asked the community for some tips on how to develop their D/s dynamic instead of muddling through cluelessly the way they are now. "My safe word is geranium," Eileen says, because that's what a person who knows absolutely nothing about kink thinks a safe word should be. It's like in movies how they show blind people touching people's faces, even though blind people never do that and mostly think it's weird. To be fair, this book was already on thin ice anyway with m/f kink, male dom female sub, which I do not like ([Miranda Priestly voice] a man in a dominant role over a woman in a submissive role?? groundbreaking 🙄), but lost me completely during a scene where Adam and Nicola are watching Finley do some non-sexual D/s touching with Eileen; the description in this scene is focused on Eileen, making her the focal point. Adam says, with no additional context, "I'd like to try that out," and Finley says okay, let's go, and without prompting, Adam just gets up and starts acting in a dominant role towards Eileen. This seemed insane to me. Because of the way the scene was framed, it seemed obvious to me like he was asking to be in Eileen's position; what he wanted to try out was being a submissive. But no. He just jumps up, has a quick personality transplant, and sticks his fingers in her mouth. No self-reflection, no inner monologue about what role he would like to play, not even a cursory glance. It is just assumed he is dominant, despite his personality up to this point, what little of it there is, leaning much more towards the receptive and desiring approval, because this book thinks man = dominant and woman = submissive. Which is funny, really, because this book is sold as "queer". Queer does not mean "non-straight". It is a political identity. That's another thing you should probably learn about before you write a book like this.
Oh, and I was going to mention how these "Scottish" characters talk like Americans, because I can promise you that not a single soul in Scotland knows what the fuck a "Midwestern accent" is, but I don't have time. Just assume, as always, that the Scottish elements of this were handled horrendously.
FIN
August 10, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the arc!
🌟🌟✨️/5
S. T. Gibson calls this book p*rn with plot and for better or for worse, that's exactly what this is. Despite erotica totally not being my thing, I was eager to read this not only because:
A. It's S. T. Gibson, duh
B. I was lured in with the promise of exquisite prose, delicious gothic atmosphere, and multiple toxic romantic relationships.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be my second disappointing Gibson book of the year.
Some things to know before digging in:
● This has a loooooong list of content warnings which you can check out on the author's instagram. I hope they get inculded in the final copies. Don't overlook CWs for any of Gibson's works, especially this one.
● This is primarily a character-driven gothic romance (I wouldn't call this romantasy) and the fantasy aspect is not quite prominent in the first book, but will definitely get expanded upon in upcoming installments.
● This features insta lust, but not insta love. The characters are horny allll the time and desire occupies centre stage in their minds very often.
Here's what I liked about the book:
● Despite being a pretty short read, Gibson balanced the four POVs well. The story is mostly told through Adam and Nicola's POVs. Eileen and Finley's chapters are less as they hold a lot of secrets. I found the personalities of all protagonists well- established.
● The smut isn't all bad. Since this is an erotic romance, these scenes are meant to contribute towards character development. Many of them did just that. Themes of power dynamics were well written.
● I appreciate how the characters explicitly acknowledge consent.This is especially important when things get...intense.
● Barring the romantasy ones, the fae are such compelling creatures to read about. I love reading books about creepy faeries, unlike the sexy ones.
Things that didn't work for me:
● S. T. Gibson promised a return to the gorgeous and decadent prose 'A Dowry of Blood' had, and she...did not deliver, unfortunately. Except for the prologue and epilogue, the prose was quite bland, with neither the lushness of 'A Dowry of Blood' nor the autumnal crispness of 'An Education in Malice'.
● I can see why many readers are raving about the atmosphere, but it too fell flat for me. I'd have gobbled this up if it had been my first gothic novel but at this point I've read several books with absolutely magnificent atmosphere and aesthetics because of which my standards are very high. I understand that the setting is modern, but books like 'The Last Tale of the Flower Bride' balance a modern setting and dialogue with the dreaminess of a gothic manor so well.
● I wanted to see more of the faeries and their magic. Their lore was somewhat lacking in 'Savage Blooms', but we'll definitely get to see more of them in books 2 and 3. This is just a personal preference and I was disappointed only because I went in with the wrong expectations. (I was here mostly for the fantasy, not the romance).
● A short book like this would've been a very quick read but the pacing was slow. The characters would talk about faeries or escape from danger only to jump right into sex.
This is my least favorite S. T. Gibson novel yet. However, I loved the epilogue and the part of me that loves Gibson's previous works wants me to continue the series. I hope to see more magic in book 2.
🌟🌟✨️/5
S. T. Gibson calls this book p*rn with plot and for better or for worse, that's exactly what this is. Despite erotica totally not being my thing, I was eager to read this not only because:
A. It's S. T. Gibson, duh
B. I was lured in with the promise of exquisite prose, delicious gothic atmosphere, and multiple toxic romantic relationships.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be my second disappointing Gibson book of the year.
Some things to know before digging in:
● This has a loooooong list of content warnings which you can check out on the author's instagram. I hope they get inculded in the final copies. Don't overlook CWs for any of Gibson's works, especially this one.
● This is primarily a character-driven gothic romance (I wouldn't call this romantasy) and the fantasy aspect is not quite prominent in the first book, but will definitely get expanded upon in upcoming installments.
● This features insta lust, but not insta love. The characters are horny allll the time and desire occupies centre stage in their minds very often.
Here's what I liked about the book:
● Despite being a pretty short read, Gibson balanced the four POVs well. The story is mostly told through Adam and Nicola's POVs. Eileen and Finley's chapters are less as they hold a lot of secrets. I found the personalities of all protagonists well- established.
● The smut isn't all bad. Since this is an erotic romance, these scenes are meant to contribute towards character development. Many of them did just that. Themes of power dynamics were well written.
● I appreciate how the characters explicitly acknowledge consent.This is especially important when things get...intense.
● Barring the romantasy ones, the fae are such compelling creatures to read about. I love reading books about creepy faeries, unlike the sexy ones.
Things that didn't work for me:
● S. T. Gibson promised a return to the gorgeous and decadent prose 'A Dowry of Blood' had, and she...did not deliver, unfortunately. Except for the prologue and epilogue, the prose was quite bland, with neither the lushness of 'A Dowry of Blood' nor the autumnal crispness of 'An Education in Malice'.
● I can see why many readers are raving about the atmosphere, but it too fell flat for me. I'd have gobbled this up if it had been my first gothic novel but at this point I've read several books with absolutely magnificent atmosphere and aesthetics because of which my standards are very high. I understand that the setting is modern, but books like 'The Last Tale of the Flower Bride' balance a modern setting and dialogue with the dreaminess of a gothic manor so well.
● I wanted to see more of the faeries and their magic. Their lore was somewhat lacking in 'Savage Blooms', but we'll definitely get to see more of them in books 2 and 3. This is just a personal preference and I was disappointed only because I went in with the wrong expectations. (I was here mostly for the fantasy, not the romance).
● A short book like this would've been a very quick read but the pacing was slow. The characters would talk about faeries or escape from danger only to jump right into sex.
This is my least favorite S. T. Gibson novel yet. However, I loved the epilogue and the part of me that loves Gibson's previous works wants me to continue the series. I hope to see more magic in book 2.
August 18, 2025
so it’s a Cruel Prince v Wuthering Heights queer gothic romance featuring
- inter generational trauma
- hot, evil, kinky faeries
- all the pairings, all spicy
- ominous crumbling buildings
thank you mother, we are fed
- inter generational trauma
- hot, evil, kinky faeries
- all the pairings, all spicy
- ominous crumbling buildings
thank you mother, we are fed
July 9, 2025
I got the ARC??? screaming, crying, losing my mind
post read:
I have no words, RTC
post read:
I have no words, RTC
October 30, 2025
╭ ✦ •
│ ⊹ 𝟹.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 ⊹
╰ ✦ •
I loved S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood so I had high expectations going into this, but it did not deliver what I had anticipated from the description.
I'm not sure where to begin with my review. I have mixed feelings.
Savage Blooms has a lot going for it. I loved the atmosphere, which was wonderfully gothic, with a creepy Scottish mansion, moors, caves, and yes, malevolent faeries lurking in the background. But that's it, everything I thought this book would read like was 'in the background.'
I enjoyed the beginning and the bit of mystery surrounding Adam's grandpa. I thought this would be a setup that would take me into the faerie world, and I was hoping to see the magic of the world explored; unfortunately, this was not the case until the EPILOGUE...
And let me tell you, getting to the epilogue, was a chaotic cesspool, where the main plot was heavily overshadowed by the seemingly forced group sex dynamic (MM, FF, MFM), the tangled sex lives of the four main characters and how Eileen has a bit of a jealous streak even though she's technically not in a relationship with Finely, not to mention Eileen's lack of sharing secrets to get the actual plot going, which was beyond annoying.
The overall book felt very chaotic; it felt uneven, with moments of beautiful prose clashing with more awkward situations. I think the third-person POV is what made it feel extra chaotic; the characters' thoughts felt like they blended into each other, even when the chapter was in a specific character's POV.
I also got tired of the smut and skimmed a lot of it after 80% since it didn't add to the plot in any way.
With all that being said, I am curious where this story will go; the epilogue had the most plot development... I don't want to spoil, but Adam gets transported somewhere and there's a KING!! I'm very interested in what Adam will get to find out in the next book.
I feel like I have a lot more to say, but.. I need a break from this one
────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────
⊹ 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 ⊹
❥intergenerational trauma
❥evil/kinky faeries
❥spicy
❥why chose
❥MM, FF, MFM
❥lqbtq+
❥gothic vibes
❥dark fantasy romance
❥3rd person pov
❥celtic-inspired / set in Scotland
❥folkoric tragiromnace
Thank you for the ARC, Orbit + S.T. Gibson!
_________________________________
Blog ಇ StoryGraph ಇ Instagram ಇ Twitter ಇ Facebook
│ ⊹ 𝟹.𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 ⊹
╰ ✦ •
I loved S.T. Gibson's A Dowry of Blood so I had high expectations going into this, but it did not deliver what I had anticipated from the description.
I'm not sure where to begin with my review. I have mixed feelings.
Savage Blooms has a lot going for it. I loved the atmosphere, which was wonderfully gothic, with a creepy Scottish mansion, moors, caves, and yes, malevolent faeries lurking in the background. But that's it, everything I thought this book would read like was 'in the background.'
I enjoyed the beginning and the bit of mystery surrounding Adam's grandpa. I thought this would be a setup that would take me into the faerie world, and I was hoping to see the magic of the world explored; unfortunately, this was not the case until the EPILOGUE...
And let me tell you, getting to the epilogue, was a chaotic cesspool, where the main plot was heavily overshadowed by the seemingly forced group sex dynamic (MM, FF, MFM), the tangled sex lives of the four main characters and how Eileen has a bit of a jealous streak even though she's technically not in a relationship with Finely, not to mention Eileen's lack of sharing secrets to get the actual plot going, which was beyond annoying.
The overall book felt very chaotic; it felt uneven, with moments of beautiful prose clashing with more awkward situations. I think the third-person POV is what made it feel extra chaotic; the characters' thoughts felt like they blended into each other, even when the chapter was in a specific character's POV.
I also got tired of the smut and skimmed a lot of it after 80% since it didn't add to the plot in any way.
With all that being said, I am curious where this story will go; the epilogue had the most plot development... I don't want to spoil, but Adam gets transported somewhere and there's a KING!! I'm very interested in what Adam will get to find out in the next book.
I feel like I have a lot more to say, but.. I need a break from this one
────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────
⊹ 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 ⊹
❥intergenerational trauma
❥evil/kinky faeries
❥spicy
❥why chose
❥MM, FF, MFM
❥lqbtq+
❥gothic vibes
❥dark fantasy romance
❥3rd person pov
❥celtic-inspired / set in Scotland
❥folkoric tragiromnace
Thank you for the ARC, Orbit + S.T. Gibson!
_________________________________
Blog ಇ StoryGraph ಇ Instagram ಇ Twitter ಇ Facebook
October 13, 2025
when i hear “erotic gothic queer kinky polyamorous folkloric romance” i don’t expect to come out of it absolutely shattered after a massive cliffhanger yet here we are!!
thank you to netgalley and orbit for the arc
thank you to netgalley and orbit for the arc
October 14, 2025
I absolutely loved the "Dowry of Blood" so when I got accepted for the arc of this one, I was beyond excited. I did enjoy the dark setting in this story, however, was this really gothic?? I really struggled with this one. I went into this thinking this was going to be a gothic fantasy with a romance subplot, but this was more erotica with fantasy sprinkled in it. The pacing was everywhere and 80% of this book was sex and toxic relationships. I love spice in my books, but I need there to at least be a plot to look forward to because if not I get bored and annoyed with the same thing over and over again.
If you are wanting a story with a lot of spice, chemistry, some tension, and a whole lot of kink then this story might be for you. However, if you are going in expecting gothic mansion and gothic vibes, dark fantasy with world-building, and a well thought out plot and premise then unfortunately this is not the one. I believe this book is going to have so many mixed reviews because people are going to either love or hate it.
What to Expect
🖤Gothic Setting
🖤Slow Burn
🖤Morally Grey Characters
🖤Why Choose
🖤Intergenerational trauma
🖤Found Family
Thank you to Netgalley for access to this arc in exchange for an honest reveiew.
If you are wanting a story with a lot of spice, chemistry, some tension, and a whole lot of kink then this story might be for you. However, if you are going in expecting gothic mansion and gothic vibes, dark fantasy with world-building, and a well thought out plot and premise then unfortunately this is not the one. I believe this book is going to have so many mixed reviews because people are going to either love or hate it.
What to Expect
🖤Gothic Setting
🖤Slow Burn
🖤Morally Grey Characters
🖤Why Choose
🖤Intergenerational trauma
🖤Found Family
Thank you to Netgalley for access to this arc in exchange for an honest reveiew.
July 21, 2025
Creepy house, horny adults.
Think The Starling House meets Fifty Shades of Grey.
Adam and his best friend Nicola travel to Scotland to find the secrets behind an old house that his grandfather told him fairytales about.
There, they find Eileen, a sickly, eccentric aristocrat, and Finley, her broody groundskeeper.
I went into this expecting a horror mystery.
This was more Fifty Shades with creepy shadows.
This was a lot spicier than I was expecting, but as someone who usually steers clear of that or skips scenes, I can tell you these were hot and steamy and also educational… That’s all I’m saying.
Power play kinks, dom and sub rep, good emphasis on consent. And oh so queer.
I wish we got more plot because the focus on characters and their self-discovery was about 80% of the book.
In this sense, ST Gibson does remind me of Olive Blake in the way they both focus on characters and relationships.
Those last two chapters gave me whiplash. Check me into a hospital. I felt quite annoyed by how that played out considering my comments about the slowness of the rest.
Arc gifted by Orbit.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
Think The Starling House meets Fifty Shades of Grey.
Adam and his best friend Nicola travel to Scotland to find the secrets behind an old house that his grandfather told him fairytales about.
There, they find Eileen, a sickly, eccentric aristocrat, and Finley, her broody groundskeeper.
I went into this expecting a horror mystery.
This was more Fifty Shades with creepy shadows.
This was a lot spicier than I was expecting, but as someone who usually steers clear of that or skips scenes, I can tell you these were hot and steamy and also educational… That’s all I’m saying.
Power play kinks, dom and sub rep, good emphasis on consent. And oh so queer.
I wish we got more plot because the focus on characters and their self-discovery was about 80% of the book.
In this sense, ST Gibson does remind me of Olive Blake in the way they both focus on characters and relationships.
Those last two chapters gave me whiplash. Check me into a hospital. I felt quite annoyed by how that played out considering my comments about the slowness of the rest.
Arc gifted by Orbit.
Bookstagram
Tiktok
December 1, 2025
I wish I enjoyed this story more than I did. in the simplest explanation, the parts I was most invested in were barely explored while others that I couldn’t care less about were center stage.
this book had one of my favorites types of fantasy - gothic and eerie folklore about faeries - and yet it was so much in the background of the story that sometimes I forgot that this was the main conflict. instead, all the focus was on exploring the polyamorous relationships forming. and don’t get me wrong, I love a good poly moment, but I just wasn’t a big fan of these characters. they were extremely toxic, immature, and naive to the point where it wasn’t enjoyable to read about them. I was more invested in the 1920s flashback relationship than this bunch 😅
despite not being the biggest fan of the characters (specifically eileen 😵💫), I really was interested in the faerie plot that I think I’ll continue on with the series to see where it goes, especially after that cliffhanger! hopefully we spend more time resolving the plot in future books 😅
thank you to NetGalley, Orbit Books, and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
this book had one of my favorites types of fantasy - gothic and eerie folklore about faeries - and yet it was so much in the background of the story that sometimes I forgot that this was the main conflict. instead, all the focus was on exploring the polyamorous relationships forming. and don’t get me wrong, I love a good poly moment, but I just wasn’t a big fan of these characters. they were extremely toxic, immature, and naive to the point where it wasn’t enjoyable to read about them. I was more invested in the 1920s flashback relationship than this bunch 😅
despite not being the biggest fan of the characters (specifically eileen 😵💫), I really was interested in the faerie plot that I think I’ll continue on with the series to see where it goes, especially after that cliffhanger! hopefully we spend more time resolving the plot in future books 😅
thank you to NetGalley, Orbit Books, and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
October 4, 2025
3.5⭐️
Book Stats:
📖: 464 pages
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Redhook
Format: Ebook from NetGalley
Series: 1/3 The Unearthly Delights Trilogy
Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 11 hours
🎤:
Publisher: Redhook
Format: Multi Narrator/Single Timeline
I really liked the narration of this novel. The multiple narrators really added depth and richness to the storytelling. I really enjoyed the narrators used and their voices and the associated people they narrated. They already worked well for me and I was able to listen with zero issues, including, never having to change my speed.
Representation:
🪽: Chronic illness, endometriosis, migraines
🪽: Androgynous main character
🪽: LGBTQIA+ characters
🪽: Set in Scottish Highlands
Tropes:
💗:
🥵: Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Potential Triggers: **check authors page/socials for full list.
General Thoughts:
This book is feeling like a slow start, even though when I think about it in detail, it really hasn't been. I don't feel like it really is hitting the mark of "erotic". In my opinion, the spice level has been pretty mellow with little detail for what I think fits the bill of erotic.
The synopsis teases that the two best friends are hot for each other and are on the verge of giving in. But I feel a little to no chemistry between the two friends. The building tension mostly relies on the other people in the story rather than with each other.
There's definitely lots of tension and mystery surrounding the main plot line. This is mostly what's kept me interested as I read. I'm definitely interested in the ferry aspect and how it affects all. The mysteries surrounding the past is pretty compelling and that is kept me going forward within the novel.
I do think the reveal at the end was a little lackluster. It wasn't the big huge climatic ending that I was hoping for with the mystery thrower plot line. But the cliffhanger was really interesting and that hooked me into probably continue the next book.
Disclaimer: I read this book as a gifted physical ARC/eARC from the publisher and a gifted audiobook from the Hachette audiobook program. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.
Book Stats:
📖: 464 pages
Genre: Erotic Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Redhook
Format: Ebook from NetGalley
Series: 1/3 The Unearthly Delights Trilogy
Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 11 hours
🎤:
Publisher: Redhook
Format: Multi Narrator/Single Timeline
I really liked the narration of this novel. The multiple narrators really added depth and richness to the storytelling. I really enjoyed the narrators used and their voices and the associated people they narrated. They already worked well for me and I was able to listen with zero issues, including, never having to change my speed.
Representation:
🪽: Chronic illness, endometriosis, migraines
🪽: Androgynous main character
🪽: LGBTQIA+ characters
🪽: Set in Scottish Highlands
Tropes:
💗:
🥵: Spice: 🌶️🌶️
Potential Triggers: **check authors page/socials for full list.
General Thoughts:
This book is feeling like a slow start, even though when I think about it in detail, it really hasn't been. I don't feel like it really is hitting the mark of "erotic". In my opinion, the spice level has been pretty mellow with little detail for what I think fits the bill of erotic.
The synopsis teases that the two best friends are hot for each other and are on the verge of giving in. But I feel a little to no chemistry between the two friends. The building tension mostly relies on the other people in the story rather than with each other.
There's definitely lots of tension and mystery surrounding the main plot line. This is mostly what's kept me interested as I read. I'm definitely interested in the ferry aspect and how it affects all. The mysteries surrounding the past is pretty compelling and that is kept me going forward within the novel.
I do think the reveal at the end was a little lackluster. It wasn't the big huge climatic ending that I was hoping for with the mystery thrower plot line. But the cliffhanger was really interesting and that hooked me into probably continue the next book.
Disclaimer: I read this book as a gifted physical ARC/eARC from the publisher and a gifted audiobook from the Hachette audiobook program. All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.
July 5, 2025
{Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!}
This book could’ve been so good if it had lived up to its advertising, but it just didn’t. The concepts, aesthetics, and themes that Gibson posted about online sounded SO good and so interesting, but the follow through was non-existent. It was also sadly nowhere near as queer as I’d hoped (also based on the advertising)—it ended up being mostly F/M sex scenes until 40 pages from the end where we got one quick M/M scene and then 20 pages before the end where we got one extremely short and interrupted F/F scene. It felt like the queer aspect was an afterthought, and nowhere near being on the characters radars (they only thought about opposite sex characters through most of the book besides a couple passing thoughts that weren’t acted on) and to have it be one of the central themes of the marketing for this book was really disappointing.
Additionally, the characters were barely described and it felt like we were supposed to rely on the character art that was posted on her instagram for figuring out what they look like (AMAZING art by the way, so pretty!). We can’t keep using social media as a crutch to make the book readable, it’s a growing issue and I’m tired of it.
There was also the usual issue I tend to have with Gibson’s books, which is the almost forced inclusion of a single racially diverse character (if the art is to be believed) with no thought about what stereotypes are being placed upon that character. Finley is the only brown character and he’s also poor, works for this rich white family because his dad worked for them before, and is subservient as well as sexually aggesssive. I’m so tired man.
The advertising also promised Arthurian themes, of which there were sadly none. I think this is also just an issue with romance in general: promising all these interesting themes and concepts but having everything take the backseat to smut scenes.
This is just a picky one also but a gothic book shouldn’t use the word gothic so much, it needs to be felt by the audience and not told to them, that’s just poor writing, and having so much modern technology, slang, and culture thrown in (why are you talking about weed gummies in this gothic manor? There’s nothing gothic about the that and it wasn’t even relevant, it was just a “this is what I’d usually be doing”. some thoughts need to be edited out), it just ruins the vibe.
This book felt very boring overall, despite the high stakes that were repeatedly told to the reader. It was as if there was just little bits of filler between sex scenes, so that was disappointing. The character relationships were just insta-lust as well, which makes them annoying. Please consider thinking more about the fae trying to kill you and the family mystery you came here for. Please, I’m begging.
My issue is probably that I wanted to read this book for its plot, but its plot is nonexistent and thrown to the wayside in favor of smut, which I’m sure will appeal to some people.
All this being said, I know for a fact that Gibson is capable of writing good books with impressive prose and interesting relationships, this just wasn’t one of them. I’m hoping book 2 in the series is an improvement and fulfills some of the marketing promises!
TLDR: This book’s main issue is promising to be something it’s not capable of being. Bad writing, bad plotting, bad follow-through. Insta-lust and telling rather than showing :(
This book could’ve been so good if it had lived up to its advertising, but it just didn’t. The concepts, aesthetics, and themes that Gibson posted about online sounded SO good and so interesting, but the follow through was non-existent. It was also sadly nowhere near as queer as I’d hoped (also based on the advertising)—it ended up being mostly F/M sex scenes until 40 pages from the end where we got one quick M/M scene and then 20 pages before the end where we got one extremely short and interrupted F/F scene. It felt like the queer aspect was an afterthought, and nowhere near being on the characters radars (they only thought about opposite sex characters through most of the book besides a couple passing thoughts that weren’t acted on) and to have it be one of the central themes of the marketing for this book was really disappointing.
Additionally, the characters were barely described and it felt like we were supposed to rely on the character art that was posted on her instagram for figuring out what they look like (AMAZING art by the way, so pretty!). We can’t keep using social media as a crutch to make the book readable, it’s a growing issue and I’m tired of it.
There was also the usual issue I tend to have with Gibson’s books, which is the almost forced inclusion of a single racially diverse character (if the art is to be believed) with no thought about what stereotypes are being placed upon that character. Finley is the only brown character and he’s also poor, works for this rich white family because his dad worked for them before, and is subservient as well as sexually aggesssive. I’m so tired man.
The advertising also promised Arthurian themes, of which there were sadly none. I think this is also just an issue with romance in general: promising all these interesting themes and concepts but having everything take the backseat to smut scenes.
This is just a picky one also but a gothic book shouldn’t use the word gothic so much, it needs to be felt by the audience and not told to them, that’s just poor writing, and having so much modern technology, slang, and culture thrown in (why are you talking about weed gummies in this gothic manor? There’s nothing gothic about the that and it wasn’t even relevant, it was just a “this is what I’d usually be doing”. some thoughts need to be edited out), it just ruins the vibe.
This book felt very boring overall, despite the high stakes that were repeatedly told to the reader. It was as if there was just little bits of filler between sex scenes, so that was disappointing. The character relationships were just insta-lust as well, which makes them annoying. Please consider thinking more about the fae trying to kill you and the family mystery you came here for. Please, I’m begging.
My issue is probably that I wanted to read this book for its plot, but its plot is nonexistent and thrown to the wayside in favor of smut, which I’m sure will appeal to some people.
All this being said, I know for a fact that Gibson is capable of writing good books with impressive prose and interesting relationships, this just wasn’t one of them. I’m hoping book 2 in the series is an improvement and fulfills some of the marketing promises!
TLDR: This book’s main issue is promising to be something it’s not capable of being. Bad writing, bad plotting, bad follow-through. Insta-lust and telling rather than showing :(
September 26, 2025
huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC 💞
"it gets its claws in you, this place"
🥀 soundtrack 🥀
hozier - talk
deftones - rx queen
the cure - prayers for rain
the last dinner party - my lady of mercy
haley heynderickx - untitled god song
digital daggers - head over heels
iron and wine - boy with a coin
agnes obel - the curse
cocteau twins - alice
chromatics - cherry
new order - ceremony
the last dinner party - nothing matters
chelsea wolfe - feral love
sharon van etten - serpents
fiona apple - hot knife
angel olsen - some things cosmic
radiohead - everything in its right place
arctic monkeys - do i wanna know?
chris isaak - wicked game
🥀 my thoughts 🥀
i have a lot of mixed feelings on this one, so we're going to go through my likes and dislikes, bullet-points style.
WHAT I LIKED
• the vibes really were immaculate !! a gothic mansion !!! scottish moors !!! caves !!! lakes !!! evil fairies !!!! the atmosphere surrounding craigmar and the scottish countryside was exactly what i wanted from this. i would move in immediately, creepy fairies be damned
• i liked the characters (most of them anyway, adam occasionally annoyed me a bit lol), and very much enjoyed reading about their messy bisexual dynamics. especially eileen and finley intrigued me a lot - i understand that we didn't get all that many chapters from their POV because of all the mystery surrounding them, but I would've loved to spend more time in their heads (and the spicy scenes between them were also very hot if i may say so).
• this wasn't quite as spicy as the marketing makes it out to be - don't get me wrong, it's certainly still spicy but there's also a lot of focus on character-building that goes beyond mere steamy scenes (i.e. lots of moments of our characters just hanging out at the house and talking or cooking together), which i didn't expect and was very pleasantly surprised by! whenever i decide to read spicy books (which admittedly isn't that often), i'm never all that invested in the characters because they always feel severely underdeveloped to me, and this book was a big exception.
• quite possibly my favourite thing about this book: the focus on consent. there's always such a strong emphasis on how important it is that everyone is on the same page and that no one has to do anything they're not comfortable with or don't feel safe with. whenever there's a sexual scene, there's also clear communication between the characters, and i feel like especially with books that include kink this is so so important because kink is often so grossly misrepresented. consent = sexy !!!
• there's not much plot, but the plot that does exist did intrigue me (i wish there was more actual fairy content tho). also the ending was, albeit a bit rushed, such an interesting set-up for a sequel that i'm genuinely mad this first book isn't even released yet and i'll probably have to wait forever until the next one comes out :')
• some of the writing was really really beautiful. the rest.. we'll get to that
WHAT I DISLIKED (i'm getting into spoilers here so be warned)
• ok so the first thing isn't really a dislike, but more of an observation: i know this is an ARC, so typos/inconsistencies can happen. but there were SO many of them, especially in the beginning, that i genuinely had a hard time making sense of some sentences. there's also lots of minor inconsistencies like last names that randomly change or characters leaving things (i.e. a laptop) in one place and then suddenly it's somewhere completely different. i hope this gets some additional editing before it gets published, because stuff like this can easily be fixed.
• alright. the writing. i have read s.t. gibson before, and i know she can write lush, beautiful, mesmerising prose. and like i said, some of the writing here is gorgeous, exactly what i expected from her! but then there's times where characters would say or think something so incredibly corny it would completely throw me out of the story and i'd just sit there quietly laughing to myself for a few seconds. example: "the way finley and adam looked at her, like she was a holy apparition of the patron saint of horny" ???? there's other examples but that one especially took me OUT lmao. it also just clashed with the otherwise descriptive and flowery writing, almost as if this was written by 2 different people, and yeah,, let's just say i could've done without it
• another thing that i could've done without: the random inc*st thrown in at the end. i have read the content warnings (and you should too!), and they do mention that inc*st/pseudoinc*st is discussed, but i thought this referred to adam and eileen, since they're kinda sorta very very distant cousins but didn't grow up together/didn't know the other even existed/aren't related by blood at all, and that i can handle. but yeah turns out it's not just that. i know the 2 people involved also aren't related by blood but they're adopted siblings, so for all intents and purposes they did grow up as siblings and refer to each other as such. and yeah, there's one scene between them that made me SO uncomfortable :') also the whole thing just felt so unnecessarily added in for the sake of being shocking/scandalous - it wouldn't have changed anything for the plot if these 2 were just, you know, normal siblings that had a falling out. it absolutely didn't have to be sexual. idk man, maybe it's the cassandra clare/game of thrones trauma, but i just really don't fw this type of thing.
• last but not least: i really really wish this would've been queerer. it's advertised as bisexual poly romance, and yes all of the characters ARE queer and talk about it very openly, and i loved that !! but most of the tension and steamy moments between individual characters are m/f, and i kind of expected it to be more balanced in that way. there's one m/m scene and one very very brief f/f scene right at the end, but that's all, and overall there wasn't nearly as much focus on establishing the queer dynamics of this polycule as there was on the straight ones. i do feel this will change in the sequels and i'm excited for that, but i still wanted more in that regard.
all in all i'm still a bit confused on how to feel about this one, but i'm still pleasantly surprised for the most part and will absolutely be picking up the sequel !! (i really didn't expect to be so hooked on this series, but what can i say the ending just was so so cool). i probably would've given this a higher rating if it wasn't for the inc*st thing tho, but like i said, this is a personal ick for me and it's not all that present in the book as a whole. so if this doesn't bother you and if kinky bisexual gothic romance with evil fairies lurking in the background sounds like a good time to you, i'd definitely recommend this !!
"i wonder if i'll ever dream of anywhere else"
"it gets its claws in you, this place"
🥀 soundtrack 🥀
hozier - talk
deftones - rx queen
the cure - prayers for rain
the last dinner party - my lady of mercy
haley heynderickx - untitled god song
digital daggers - head over heels
iron and wine - boy with a coin
agnes obel - the curse
cocteau twins - alice
chromatics - cherry
new order - ceremony
the last dinner party - nothing matters
chelsea wolfe - feral love
sharon van etten - serpents
fiona apple - hot knife
angel olsen - some things cosmic
radiohead - everything in its right place
arctic monkeys - do i wanna know?
chris isaak - wicked game
🥀 my thoughts 🥀
i have a lot of mixed feelings on this one, so we're going to go through my likes and dislikes, bullet-points style.
WHAT I LIKED
• the vibes really were immaculate !! a gothic mansion !!! scottish moors !!! caves !!! lakes !!! evil fairies !!!! the atmosphere surrounding craigmar and the scottish countryside was exactly what i wanted from this. i would move in immediately, creepy fairies be damned
• i liked the characters (most of them anyway, adam occasionally annoyed me a bit lol), and very much enjoyed reading about their messy bisexual dynamics. especially eileen and finley intrigued me a lot - i understand that we didn't get all that many chapters from their POV because of all the mystery surrounding them, but I would've loved to spend more time in their heads (and the spicy scenes between them were also very hot if i may say so).
• this wasn't quite as spicy as the marketing makes it out to be - don't get me wrong, it's certainly still spicy but there's also a lot of focus on character-building that goes beyond mere steamy scenes (i.e. lots of moments of our characters just hanging out at the house and talking or cooking together), which i didn't expect and was very pleasantly surprised by! whenever i decide to read spicy books (which admittedly isn't that often), i'm never all that invested in the characters because they always feel severely underdeveloped to me, and this book was a big exception.
• quite possibly my favourite thing about this book: the focus on consent. there's always such a strong emphasis on how important it is that everyone is on the same page and that no one has to do anything they're not comfortable with or don't feel safe with. whenever there's a sexual scene, there's also clear communication between the characters, and i feel like especially with books that include kink this is so so important because kink is often so grossly misrepresented. consent = sexy !!!
• there's not much plot, but the plot that does exist did intrigue me (i wish there was more actual fairy content tho). also the ending was, albeit a bit rushed, such an interesting set-up for a sequel that i'm genuinely mad this first book isn't even released yet and i'll probably have to wait forever until the next one comes out :')
• some of the writing was really really beautiful. the rest.. we'll get to that
WHAT I DISLIKED (i'm getting into spoilers here so be warned)
• ok so the first thing isn't really a dislike, but more of an observation: i know this is an ARC, so typos/inconsistencies can happen. but there were SO many of them, especially in the beginning, that i genuinely had a hard time making sense of some sentences. there's also lots of minor inconsistencies like last names that randomly change or characters leaving things (i.e. a laptop) in one place and then suddenly it's somewhere completely different. i hope this gets some additional editing before it gets published, because stuff like this can easily be fixed.
• alright. the writing. i have read s.t. gibson before, and i know she can write lush, beautiful, mesmerising prose. and like i said, some of the writing here is gorgeous, exactly what i expected from her! but then there's times where characters would say or think something so incredibly corny it would completely throw me out of the story and i'd just sit there quietly laughing to myself for a few seconds. example: "the way finley and adam looked at her, like she was a holy apparition of the patron saint of horny" ???? there's other examples but that one especially took me OUT lmao. it also just clashed with the otherwise descriptive and flowery writing, almost as if this was written by 2 different people, and yeah,, let's just say i could've done without it
• another thing that i could've done without: the random inc*st thrown in at the end. i have read the content warnings (and you should too!), and they do mention that inc*st/pseudoinc*st is discussed, but i thought this referred to adam and eileen, since they're kinda sorta very very distant cousins but didn't grow up together/didn't know the other even existed/aren't related by blood at all, and that i can handle. but yeah turns out it's not just that. i know the 2 people involved also aren't related by blood but they're adopted siblings, so for all intents and purposes they did grow up as siblings and refer to each other as such. and yeah, there's one scene between them that made me SO uncomfortable :') also the whole thing just felt so unnecessarily added in for the sake of being shocking/scandalous - it wouldn't have changed anything for the plot if these 2 were just, you know, normal siblings that had a falling out. it absolutely didn't have to be sexual. idk man, maybe it's the cassandra clare/game of thrones trauma, but i just really don't fw this type of thing.
• last but not least: i really really wish this would've been queerer. it's advertised as bisexual poly romance, and yes all of the characters ARE queer and talk about it very openly, and i loved that !! but most of the tension and steamy moments between individual characters are m/f, and i kind of expected it to be more balanced in that way. there's one m/m scene and one very very brief f/f scene right at the end, but that's all, and overall there wasn't nearly as much focus on establishing the queer dynamics of this polycule as there was on the straight ones. i do feel this will change in the sequels and i'm excited for that, but i still wanted more in that regard.
all in all i'm still a bit confused on how to feel about this one, but i'm still pleasantly surprised for the most part and will absolutely be picking up the sequel !! (i really didn't expect to be so hooked on this series, but what can i say the ending just was so so cool). i probably would've given this a higher rating if it wasn't for the inc*st thing tho, but like i said, this is a personal ick for me and it's not all that present in the book as a whole. so if this doesn't bother you and if kinky bisexual gothic romance with evil fairies lurking in the background sounds like a good time to you, i'd definitely recommend this !!
"i wonder if i'll ever dream of anywhere else"
September 12, 2025
2.5 stars.
Came for the Gothic vibes and possible return to form that I saw in A Dowry of Blood. (Good lord, my problematic ass missed the sensuality and toxicity.)
Received neither and ended up staying because this couldn't be any worse than Evocation, right? (That was truly one of my least favorite reads last year.) At least this was a fairly quick read.
I don't know what happened. Maybe ST Gibson is a one-hit wonder for me because this novel was not it. It felt very amateur hour with the story's premise, the insta lust polyamory, the beginner BDSM scenes, and the awkward metaphors.
This read like an erotica fanfic tbh. Very porn without plot. I didn't see any of the author's updates on socials so I honestly didn't realize that this was what I was getting into. Being a one-time fan of ST Gibson, I couldn't really be bothered to keep up with her bookish updates. Feel free to eviscerate me for this.
The sex scenes weren't half bad, so if you're into pwp, then this might just be the read for you. The Gothic vibes were also on point, so it's hard to totally dislike this novel.
Some of my favorite lines from the arc that absolutely sent me:
Also, the State shoutout was totally random and I wish it was in a novel that I actually liked. But, uh, go green, I guess. 💚🤍
Thank you to Redhook and NetGalley for this arc.
Came for the Gothic vibes and possible return to form that I saw in A Dowry of Blood. (Good lord, my problematic ass missed the sensuality and toxicity.)
Received neither and ended up staying because this couldn't be any worse than Evocation, right? (That was truly one of my least favorite reads last year.) At least this was a fairly quick read.
I don't know what happened. Maybe ST Gibson is a one-hit wonder for me because this novel was not it. It felt very amateur hour with the story's premise, the insta lust polyamory, the beginner BDSM scenes, and the awkward metaphors.
This read like an erotica fanfic tbh. Very porn without plot. I didn't see any of the author's updates on socials so I honestly didn't realize that this was what I was getting into. Being a one-time fan of ST Gibson, I couldn't really be bothered to keep up with her bookish updates. Feel free to eviscerate me for this.
The sex scenes weren't half bad, so if you're into pwp, then this might just be the read for you. The Gothic vibes were also on point, so it's hard to totally dislike this novel.
Some of my favorite lines from the arc that absolutely sent me:
"Eileen felt as though she were a rumpled female Christ, emerging from her tomb after a sleep like death."
"But if the way Adam and Finley looked at her, like she was an apparition of the patron saint of horniness, was any indication, she had perhaps just made things better."
"Adam gave head like it was his highest calling in life."
Also, the State shoutout was totally random and I wish it was in a novel that I actually liked. But, uh, go green, I guess. 💚🤍
Thank you to Redhook and NetGalley for this arc.
August 30, 2025
I can't remember the last time I was this utterly disappointed by a book. It promises to be so many things and doesn't manage to be any of them.
After Gibson's magnificent A Dowry of Blood, I was all but shaking out of my skin with excitement when my request for ARC of this book was approved. However, the excitement did not last long, and the problems began pretty much from the first chapter.
This book feels like it was written in a week. Not only did the whole faerie plot feel like an afterthought to what was just supposed to be a smutty novel, but the amount of typos, misspelt words, missing spaces in-between words and other technical mistakes is just appalling. I don't know if it's general practice to release the ARCs into the world without an editor looking at them first, but I couldn't help but feel like Savage Blooms was never even proofread after it was finished. Even Eileen's pet name "Ilsa" is misspelt as "Isla" in Chapter 33.
Additionally, there are so many inconsistencies. Just as an example, in Chapter 4 it's stated that Adam's laptop is charging in his room, but in Chapter 11 we are told that he never took it out of the car "just in case". The same happens with Nicola's birth control: we are first told that she is startled by an alarm reminder for her birth control (chapter 18) but it's later revealed that she's got an IUD (chapter 24), which obviously does not require any reminders.
But the problems don't end there. Give the book a good editor, and those can be dealt with. The problem that cannot be solved that easily is the story itself because it makes absolutely no sense. The whole premise it's build upon is contradicted in the final chapters. If Robert hated Craigmar with everything he had, why would he have told Adam stories like it was the best place in planet Earth?
However, the thing that really is the doom of this whole story is the pacing. It all happens over the course of approximately ten days. Ten days is usually the amouth of time people that meet each other for the first time need to start talking about what school subject was their favourite and who is theit current celebrity crush. In Savage Blooms, however, it seems like as much as four days is enough to act like it's actually been four years. The insta-lust comes quite literally out of nowhere, not no even mention the more complex feelings.
It's so unrealistic that it's honestly laughable. And this is probably the main reason why the whole actual plot feels so much like an afterthought - the point of the story was clearly to just write some BDSM-ish sex scenes, but for some reason, they were not enough on their own? Though in all honesty, those scenes were all very boring, at least to me.
Speaking of which, another thing that felt like an afterthought was the queer realtionships. Why bother at all if the grand total of pages actually dedicated to m/m and f/f romace is ten? For what it's advertised as, this book is so boringly heterosexual. And it would've been fine, honestly, if it didn't try to be something more. But then again, it's hard to demand queer relationships mean something when ever the heterosexual ones have zero ground beneath them.
Finally, for what is supposed to be a gothic novel, there are way too many references to pop culture that are completely unnecessary and that shatter the atmosphere. Bumble dates? Tesco? Podcasts? Starbucks? Weed gummies? You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Ultimately, the only person I did not hate was Finley. Both Eileen and Nicola are absolutely pathetic and one-dimensional, and I have no idea why a woman would write other women like that. Adam's only qualities are that he's blonde and tall. Oh, and good, you can't forget good. Because everyone else is evil. Or at least that's what we're told.
In all honestly the only good thing about this book is that Gibson spells "come" the way it's supposed to be spelled and not with a "u", which would've made me DNF it instantly.
P.S. At one point, we are told that Adam is wearing sweatpants without any underwear but somehow produces a condom out of his back pocket. Are you really meaning to tell me that he didn't bother to put on pants but slipped a condom into his pocket because he was feeling lucky? Comedy gold.
P.P.S. Adam is clearly a web designer and not a graphic designer, researching the difference literally would’ve taken Gibson one minute.
Thank you to NetGallery for provising me with a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, you're the best, as always ❤️
P.P.P.S. (SPOLIERS) I can look past incestious relationships in fiction because it's fiction but writing a romance scene and making a point of saying "his sister" when he's all but inside her is certanly a choice. If we're supposed to keep in mind that they're not related by blood and therefore it's "not really incest" then why draw attention to her being his sister? Was there really no other reason why Robert could've ran away other than being jealous? Not to mention that it came out of absolutely nowhere. This is honestly just lazy writing.
After Gibson's magnificent A Dowry of Blood, I was all but shaking out of my skin with excitement when my request for ARC of this book was approved. However, the excitement did not last long, and the problems began pretty much from the first chapter.
This book feels like it was written in a week. Not only did the whole faerie plot feel like an afterthought to what was just supposed to be a smutty novel, but the amount of typos, misspelt words, missing spaces in-between words and other technical mistakes is just appalling. I don't know if it's general practice to release the ARCs into the world without an editor looking at them first, but I couldn't help but feel like Savage Blooms was never even proofread after it was finished. Even Eileen's pet name "Ilsa" is misspelt as "Isla" in Chapter 33.
Additionally, there are so many inconsistencies. Just as an example, in Chapter 4 it's stated that Adam's laptop is charging in his room, but in Chapter 11 we are told that he never took it out of the car "just in case". The same happens with Nicola's birth control: we are first told that she is startled by an alarm reminder for her birth control (chapter 18) but it's later revealed that she's got an IUD (chapter 24), which obviously does not require any reminders.
But the problems don't end there. Give the book a good editor, and those can be dealt with. The problem that cannot be solved that easily is the story itself because it makes absolutely no sense. The whole premise it's build upon is contradicted in the final chapters. If Robert hated Craigmar with everything he had, why would he have told Adam stories like it was the best place in planet Earth?
However, the thing that really is the doom of this whole story is the pacing. It all happens over the course of approximately ten days. Ten days is usually the amouth of time people that meet each other for the first time need to start talking about what school subject was their favourite and who is theit current celebrity crush. In Savage Blooms, however, it seems like as much as four days is enough to act like it's actually been four years. The insta-lust comes quite literally out of nowhere, not no even mention the more complex feelings.
It's so unrealistic that it's honestly laughable. And this is probably the main reason why the whole actual plot feels so much like an afterthought - the point of the story was clearly to just write some BDSM-ish sex scenes, but for some reason, they were not enough on their own? Though in all honesty, those scenes were all very boring, at least to me.
Speaking of which, another thing that felt like an afterthought was the queer realtionships. Why bother at all if the grand total of pages actually dedicated to m/m and f/f romace is ten? For what it's advertised as, this book is so boringly heterosexual. And it would've been fine, honestly, if it didn't try to be something more. But then again, it's hard to demand queer relationships mean something when ever the heterosexual ones have zero ground beneath them.
Finally, for what is supposed to be a gothic novel, there are way too many references to pop culture that are completely unnecessary and that shatter the atmosphere. Bumble dates? Tesco? Podcasts? Starbucks? Weed gummies? You've got to be fucking kidding me.
Ultimately, the only person I did not hate was Finley. Both Eileen and Nicola are absolutely pathetic and one-dimensional, and I have no idea why a woman would write other women like that. Adam's only qualities are that he's blonde and tall. Oh, and good, you can't forget good. Because everyone else is evil. Or at least that's what we're told.
In all honestly the only good thing about this book is that Gibson spells "come" the way it's supposed to be spelled and not with a "u", which would've made me DNF it instantly.
P.S. At one point, we are told that Adam is wearing sweatpants without any underwear but somehow produces a condom out of his back pocket. Are you really meaning to tell me that he didn't bother to put on pants but slipped a condom into his pocket because he was feeling lucky? Comedy gold.
P.P.S. Adam is clearly a web designer and not a graphic designer, researching the difference literally would’ve taken Gibson one minute.
Thank you to NetGallery for provising me with a free copy of this book in exchange for a review, you're the best, as always ❤️
P.P.P.S. (SPOLIERS) I can look past incestious relationships in fiction because it's fiction but writing a romance scene and making a point of saying "his sister" when he's all but inside her is certanly a choice. If we're supposed to keep in mind that they're not related by blood and therefore it's "not really incest" then why draw attention to her being his sister? Was there really no other reason why Robert could've ran away other than being jealous? Not to mention that it came out of absolutely nowhere. This is honestly just lazy writing.
November 13, 2025
I was expecting a fantasy book with a romance sub plot, but instead this is a romance (or I might even say erotica) with bits of a fantasy plot sprinkled here and there.
Savage Blooms is a lush and evocative read. The author does an excellent job of setting the melancholic and ominous gothic ambience, closely intertwined with the sensuous and straight up horny mood of the characters. These four people spend half the book pining for each other and the other half sleeping with each other.
If this sounds good to you and if you enjoyed the romance aspect of this author’s previous books, you’ll definitely enjoy this one and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
The bits of actual story we got were interesting, and that’s what kept me reading. Sadly, I prefer my plot with more substance so this book wasn’t for me, but that’s ok, not every book can be.
Thanks to Orbit via NetGalley for providing an eARC
Savage Blooms is a lush and evocative read. The author does an excellent job of setting the melancholic and ominous gothic ambience, closely intertwined with the sensuous and straight up horny mood of the characters. These four people spend half the book pining for each other and the other half sleeping with each other.
If this sounds good to you and if you enjoyed the romance aspect of this author’s previous books, you’ll definitely enjoy this one and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
The bits of actual story we got were interesting, and that’s what kept me reading. Sadly, I prefer my plot with more substance so this book wasn’t for me, but that’s ok, not every book can be.
Thanks to Orbit via NetGalley for providing an eARC
June 30, 2025
first of all - read this in one day, we are so back!! I declare this reading slump over, thank you s.t. gibson you have saved me!!
secondly, what a banger. crazy atmospheric, stupid horny, solid plot. gibson never lets me down, and i'm so relieved that this was no exception. will be eagerly awaiting the next instalment of this disastrous fae-cursed bisexual catastrophe (complimentary).
massive thank you to the publisher for the early copy!
secondly, what a banger. crazy atmospheric, stupid horny, solid plot. gibson never lets me down, and i'm so relieved that this was no exception. will be eagerly awaiting the next instalment of this disastrous fae-cursed bisexual catastrophe (complimentary).
massive thank you to the publisher for the early copy!
November 18, 2025
Savage Blooms was truly some WPS but in a super fun way! Like, Lifetime Movie Network premiere event meets Flowers in the Attic and Wuthering Heights in a dark, gothic house that's being haunted by forces unseen yet completely alive while everyone is horny and yearning for connection.
Adam, Nicola, Eileen, and Finley were all NUTS. Everyone dipped their toes into various roles, whether that was being a chameleon, sneaky, perceptive, suspicious, a little bit of a slut, or a little bit desperate, and I had fun! I literally didn't know what I was getting myself into here. I knew S. T. Gibson is good for a solid gothic read with beautiful imagery, writing, and very steamy spicy scenes, but I just was NOT expecting the things that happened at Craigmar. There is betrayal, kink, fear, toxicity, and hidden plans, and Gibson really took these characters through it.
I did find the pacing a little off at times, and I ultimately think it took too long to come to the "why." By the time the why was revealed, I blinked and found myself in the epilogue. I know this is the first of a trilogy, but I wish there was more plot packed into this because it has a lush setting and captivating lore that is eclipsed, at times, by lust and longing.
The narration was absolutely incredible; the narrators did a wonderful job giving life to these characters, and Gibson set them up well with a 3rd person POV that keeps the reader in the mix, but somewhat at a distance. The accents were well done and seamless, and I really enjoyed the scenes where things got a bit more…intense.
I've loved Gibson's vampires in the past, and now I'm certain I'm going to love her fae. I'm super excited for book 2!
Thank you to Hachette Audio, Redhook, Orbit Books, and NetGalley for the ARC and ALC!
4 ⭐️s
3.5 🌶️
Adam, Nicola, Eileen, and Finley were all NUTS. Everyone dipped their toes into various roles, whether that was being a chameleon, sneaky, perceptive, suspicious, a little bit of a slut, or a little bit desperate, and I had fun! I literally didn't know what I was getting myself into here. I knew S. T. Gibson is good for a solid gothic read with beautiful imagery, writing, and very steamy spicy scenes, but I just was NOT expecting the things that happened at Craigmar. There is betrayal, kink, fear, toxicity, and hidden plans, and Gibson really took these characters through it.
I did find the pacing a little off at times, and I ultimately think it took too long to come to the "why." By the time the why was revealed, I blinked and found myself in the epilogue. I know this is the first of a trilogy, but I wish there was more plot packed into this because it has a lush setting and captivating lore that is eclipsed, at times, by lust and longing.
The narration was absolutely incredible; the narrators did a wonderful job giving life to these characters, and Gibson set them up well with a 3rd person POV that keeps the reader in the mix, but somewhat at a distance. The accents were well done and seamless, and I really enjoyed the scenes where things got a bit more…intense.
I've loved Gibson's vampires in the past, and now I'm certain I'm going to love her fae. I'm super excited for book 2!
Thank you to Hachette Audio, Redhook, Orbit Books, and NetGalley for the ARC and ALC!
4 ⭐️s
3.5 🌶️
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