Soles

by Kay Brandt

Roland, an anti-social teen, inherits the family business—a specialty shoe store—a decade after his parents were murdered there. Having no choice but to accept his fate as the new owner of the creepy, run-down and very haunted store, Roland returns to where his childhood and bloodlines was stolen. The store had taken not only his parents from him, but his grandparents, and he could feel it wanted him dead, too. His psycho aunt, Grace, had run the store into the ground, and the ultimatum he'd been running from was finally given. A year had past since Roland was supposed to take over the business, and at nineteen, it was time for him to make his unwanted return. Terrified of facing the evil that lives in the stockroom, and the blood stains of his lineage embedded in the cement floors, he bravely faces his eight vicious, blood-thirsty shoes alive and waiting to take possession of his soul. Will Roland succumb to the demonic curse that's plagued his family for generations? Or will he fight the madness that consumed his father, and release the evil embedded in the shoes' soles?

Genres: Horror

131 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2016

About the author

Kay Brandt is an award-winning erotic storyteller and filmmaker specializing in erotic romance. A writer and director of 50+ erotic films and the bestselling author of 30+ erotic novels, novellas, and shorts, Kay helmed the production of the first erotic book made into an adult movie, "Safe Landings", and went on to adapt nine more books into movies, including the New York Times/USA Today bestselling novel, "Babysitting the Baumgartners". In 2012, Kay won awards for writing and directing two large-scale all-girl erotic films, "Cherry, episode 1" and "Cherry 2" - and then turned the stories into an Amazon #1 bestselling book series, "The World of Cherry". Three of her books, Safe Landings, Naked, and Hotwives and Their Dirty Desires, have been made into successful feature films for Adam&Eve Pictures. "Hotwives and Their Dirty Desires" is also available as an audiobook on Audible.

Kay has helmed major projects for Adam&Eve Pictures, Dorcel, Lust Cinema, Digital Playground, New Sensations, and Girlfriends Films, and her movies can be found on PlayboyTV, Showtime, Skinamax, and other streaming sites. A selection of trailers and behind-the-scenes videos are available on her YouTube channel and Instagram.

Bestselling Author https://amzn.to/2Eh0bnUTwitter: https://twitter.com/MsKayBrandtIG: https://www.instagram.com/kay.brandt/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KBrandt

Reviews

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soles has the most original premise of any book I've read so far this year!

Roland has inherited his family's shoe shop which has gone severely downhill since the violent death of his parents. His Aunt Grace has tried to keep it going, but is finally throwing in the towel and handing it over to Rolie. Problem is, he's not interested and...oh yeah, the place is haunted.

I'm not going to act like I understood everything that went on, but honestly, I don't need to understand every little thing. The atmosphere went from slightly silly when Rolie first took over the store and hired Stephanie, to deadly serious when Stephanie's friends came to rob the store. There were some extremely creepy moments, especially when the shop kept locking its own doors, trapping Rolie inside. For some reason, that gave me the shudders.

In the end, I'm not positive as to the cause of things, but I'm okay with that because I enjoy ambiguous stories and providing my own ideas as to what was happening. My thoughts being that Rolie's father, literally, put his soul into the soles, (see what I did there?), and they carried it on, as did the shop itself, long after he was gone. Or was the shop itself haunted long before Roland's dad came along? Am I right or am I wrong? That's the beauty of ambiguous stories: I don't know. Perhaps you'll come up with your own theory and we can discuss it?

Soles is an original take on a haunting and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The writing was above average and in the creative department this tale knocked the ball out of the park. As such, I recommend it-especially to readers that don't need everything tied up in a neat little bow. If this sounds interesting to you, you can grab your copy here: Soles and we can discuss it when you're done!

*I was provided an e-copy of this novella in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*

[Nikki "The Crazie Betty" V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. So I really love Kay Brandt and was way looking forward to reading this story given it is very much outside of her normal erotica foray. That being said, I was slightly confused in this story. The below may be spoilerish, so I’m tagging it just in case. I enjoyed the underlying concept of a haunted shoe store where the shoes are the ones doing the haunting, but I would’ve liked a little more description as to how the curse started and why. Here are my points of confusion:

-I’m not sure why it was the shoes made for the random women that haunted the store, and not something relating to the wife?
-Where did the pairs actually go to and why were they separated?
-It seemed like the haunting could’ve possibly been going on prior to the father given how he changes over the course of his work; but the details in the book indicate it started there. Again, not sure how or why the haunting actually started.

I’m a big fan of horror so I’ve definitely read a lot in the genre. That being said, maybe I’m making mountains out of mole-hills? Or maybe I truly just didn’t catch what was written between the lines? If someone can give me some more information on my confusion points listed above, I would appreciate it! I will discount the fact that this may be a ‘me’ thing more than a story thing. I would definitely try reading more from Ms. Brandt in the horror genre because she’s definitely got some great stories to be told, but I think in general I just look for more in horror. Specifically, more background and details.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this story via an ARC received from the author.

[Creativeusernane · Rating 5 out of 5]

In her first foray outside of erotica Kay has proven that her storytelling is gripping and intense- no matter the genre. This book will grab you from the start. Set in the 80's, the hip lingo had me chuckling at times as I remembered back (I may be dating myself here!). Roland's story had me tearing through pages anxious to see what would happen next. I was afraid if I stopped reading he might not make it! If you like a good spook story you've got to read this book!

[Jason Halstead · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure where this book was going and I was nervous about that. I was sucked in from the first sentence and Kay not only found a way to entertain and educate me about the character's backstory, but she transitioned into a riveting story that kept me guessing and wondering what comes next. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found myself making time in my busy schedule to keep reading it until I ran out of words to read.

[Shell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say 3 1/2 stars if that were an option. Interesting story with a bit of humor and originality but it was just a little too ambiguous for me, I was hoping to find out why it involved the particular women it did, or maybe how it all began (I'm staying vague to avoid spoilers) but overall this was an entertaining story, although I do have to add that at different points I could hear Steve Martin intoning "the CRUEL shoes" in my head. ;)