Men of darkness, men of passion. . .trapped by temptation and bound by desire. No woman can refuse their erotic invitation for sexual pleasure. . .
"The Demon Lord's Cloak" by Delilah Devlin
Bound and naked, Voletta has every reason to fear the mysterious man holding her in his arms. Instead his brooding presence intrigues her, his hard body excites her--and his rough touch arouses her. . .
"Night Sins" by Lisa Renee Jones
In the battle between good and evil, Kayla Ward knows vampires are strictly off limits. But Ethan's dark sensuality and seductive allure leave her craving hot, passionate sex. . .
"The Devil's Paradise" by Megan Kerans
Justice Malloy is looking for the perfect place for a wedding reception. What she finds at The Last Resort Hotel is a man whose raw male power promises carnal pleasure like she's never felt before. . .
Delilah Devlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with a rapidly expanding reputation for writing deliciously edgy stories with complex characters. Whether creating dark, erotically-charged paranormal worlds or richly descriptive westerns that ring with authenticity, Delilah Devlin “pens in uncharted territory that will leave the readers breathless and hungering for more…” www.DelilahDevlin.com
"Damned, Delicious, and Dangerous" is an anthology published by Aphrodisia (Berkley's erotica line). It contains three stories of dark heroes.
"The Demon Lord's Cloak" by Delilah Devlin is about a shape shifter who's fur pelt is stolen when she is kidnapped as a virgin sacrifice to fulfill a town's deal with the devil.
"Night Sins" by Lisa Renee Jones tells what happens when a vampire and a Watcher are intended soul mates, but forbidden by their respective worlds from being together.
"The Devil's Paradise" is the story of a man who lost his soul, and a woman who finds what she wasn't looking for.
I enjoyed each story. Actually liked Lisa Renee Jones' story the most. The three star rating is because although I began the book several weeks ago, it didn't 'grab' me enough to have me finish it in one sitting. When I can easily set a book aside, there's just something missing for me.
Despite how dark the blurbs on the back of this collection sound, the three novellas here are actually fairly light for paranormal romance--as soon as danger or disaster become a real prospect, the conflict is resolved almost immediately, so each of these end up feeling fairly light. I'm not sure the order does them any favors, though, as the first is by far the most balanced. As an erotic retelling of Beauty and the Beast, it balances the element of erotica with the storyline really well, and although I'd expected it to be a bit darker, I did enjoy it. The second novella here, on the other hand, tries to pack in so much world-building and action and story, it goes by in a blur; this novella in particular should have been a novel, though it's actually the shortest in the collection (and I admit it felt far too close to the tv show Lucifer in terms of character dialogue/traits and development, too, which was a distraction). The last novella in the collection feels like it had the most to offer in terms of originality, and I also think it could have been developed into a novel, but here the story felt like it got a lot less attention than it deserved and was overbalanced with constant erotic encounters. Despite it being a second retelling of Beauty and the Beast in only three novellas, though, I really enjoyed it for what it was.
Will I read more from these authors? Maybe... I did really enjoy the novellas from the first and last author, despite them being a bit lighter than expected. At the same time, I'm not in any hurry, as I tend to want a bit more story and development than was offered here.
If you only like smut, this book is for you. If you like smut with a story, you won’t find much of that in here.
The second story had the most promise… at least there was a story. The others… the smut was overkill and the stories, what little there was, were rushed and generic.
I really enjoyed the first and third stories the most; the second was good but not quite as good. Very steamy novellas, for sure, but also with some good character development and storylines.
For starters, I have to say that the first story, " The Demon Lord's Cloak " from Delilah Devlin, didn't impress me much. I did smile and yes it was a funny and tender story but there was something missing.
For me the story pick's up when Voletta meets Damien and has to accept that she belongs to him. I think that her lack of fear is due to the fact that she's not human at all and probably her life would be different from a human.
Not used to give up control, Voletta always had free will to go and be whatever she wanted. There is also an inocence of physical knowledge and we see her falling in love with her own encarcerer, as we see her discover the pleasures of the body.
On the other hand, we have Damien, Lord Malphas, a cursed fallen angel, a dark soul that falls in love with Voletta and makes an effort to keep her in his embrace. I liked Damien, his sensuality, his tenderness, and his honesty in the decision to let her go free.
In the end, I did like the story, but I still felt that there was something missing.
The second story " Night Sins " from Lisa Renee Jones enchanted my mind and bewitched my senses. I love the good old dark vampires and a good love story, so this one really appealed to me.
We have Kayla Ward, a watcher, and then we have Ethan, a hot vampire. While she's trying to catch a murderer vampire that is killing in Vegas, Ethan is trying to find out where is the leak in his staff is and find who is helping the Blood Brothers, vampires that are trying to take the city from his hold. They are killing his former lovers and before it's too late, he has to protect Kayla from them. She is his blood mate and they cannot deny the atraction between them.
This story has all the good ingredients, beautifully written, and with a plot development that takes you from the first page to the last wanting more.
About "The Devil's Paradise" by Megan Kerans, tells the story of Dashiel Wilde, a soulless demon and Justice Malloy, a human. They meet in " The Last Resort Hotel " when Justice goes out to find a place for the reception of a wedding for one of her clients.
This hotel has the catch of only appearing when there are too many sinners walking the earth and it is taken care by our demon. Bound to the hotel, his soul is only freed by someone that will love him for what he is, but with so many sinners, sex and lust, it is very dificult to find a woman that has in her heart true love. He is provided with a compass that measures one's true self and the measure of it's lust.
Ovelooking this story by it's hole, I enjoyed it and would give a 3 stars to it, eventhough I think that the first three chapters were a little bit rushed.
"The Demon Lord's Cloak" by Delilah Devlin 4 stars
Damien is a ancient being imprisoned in a magical keep. Every hundred years a human virgin from the village is sacrificed to him. But there's something very different about this years offering.
This was one dark and compelling story. A simple set up really, but the characters really popped and the smex was insanely hot. The erotic equivalent to Anna Campbell's more gothic romances. By far my favorite part of the anthology. I see myself hunting down some more of Devlin's tales mighty soon. = )
"Night Sins" by Lisa Renee Jones 2 stars
Is supposed to be the tale of good vs evil. But in actuality it's just 2 non human do-gooders, who's only beef with each other are their specific group affiliations. Much like the way police officer resent the FBI for pissing on their territory and taking shiz over. While (said encroaching) FBI agents are irked that the coppers don't get how unequipped they are to handle this situation and the sooner they clear the field for the big boys to play the better.
So where was? Oh yeah. Why did the vamp & the watcher (mystic human protector) cross the road? to stop the bad guys...sorta, Duh. lol. So the story wasn't horrible, it was ok. Just ok.
"The Devil's Paradise" by Megan Kerans 3 stars
Rides the quality fence btwn stories. It's has a 'Hotel California" style plot, where only love can save the delicious damned stud that resides within. The concept was pretty well executed. But the lack of significant plot driving conflict, emotional or physical, keeps me from giving it an additional star.
This is a 3-story paranormal erotica anthology, so if smut isn't your thing, stop reading now.
I read 2 out of the 3 stories, and I thought they were really good romances, but not all that interesting as erotica - they were pretty lovey-dovey and vanilla. The paranormal aspects were original, though. The first story was about a shape-shifting woman who needed her animal hide to transform, but was tricked into becoming the 100-year offering to an immortal lord. My description sounds dreadful, but it was really very good. I skipped the second story - it seems way too cliched for me - but the third story was interesting. It featured a contemporary American setting where a good-hearted woman stumbles into a hotel for the damned, and ends up falling in love with the devil manager, redeaming his soul. Cliched on the romantic end, yes, but I've read a ton of paranormal romance, and the setup seemed unique to me.
The Demon Lord's Cloak (4 stars) is about a trapped demon. Once every 100 years he is able to step away from his prison to take in a companion. The nearby village supplies the sacrifice to keep the demon away. She must be a virgin. When they are unable to find a suitable victim from their own village, they make due with a stranger who happens by at the wrong time. She however, is no ordinary human, she's a shifter whose pelt was stolen. It's a great quick read.
Night Sins (4 stars) is a story I'm hoping has others out there. I found the world very fascinating with opposing factions uniting to fight a common foe.
The Devil's Paradise (4 stars) reminded me of the Eagles song Hotel California. I enjoyed the read and the twist on the Last Resort Inn.
It really was good, compared to some that I've read. I'm still have a hard time believing in HEA after only a few hours, even days, let alone months or years. But if you can grab my attention & have my brain following along wishing to be in their place, you've done your job as a writer & grabbed the reader & lured them to your cause. Which these authors have done. This anthology was more a 3.8 than a 4 for me.
My favorite story was the first one. It was sweet and cute and funny all at once. The other two were okay. Sex scenes were decent but not my favorite in terms of stories. It's a fun novella collection worth a 3.5!
Huh. Helps to pay attention. Originally gave this two stars because I thought it was a different book! Looked it over again and realized that I was thinking of a completely different book than this one. This was really good. I liked it and the first story was my favorite.
pretty good. i really like the story Night Sins by Lisa Renee Jones the best because it was like something i would read in a regular novel. the other two were okay.
I thought all three stories were great. All 3 were paranormal which usually I don’t read but I’m going to start b/c I really enjoyed them. Read the book its worth it!!!!