House of Pain

by Denna Holm

335 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 22, 2018

About the author

A retired FEI competitor in dressage, Denna has earned her United States Dressage Federation Bronze and Silver Medals.

When an injury forced her to retire from training and showing horses, she turned her attention to her second passion in life, writing. Soul of a Warrior, a cross-genre paranormal/sci-fi romance was first published in 2013. There have been many more added to the list since then, and what a journey it has been. It's true what they say about a new door opening when another closes.

Denna makes her home in the beautiful state of Oregon. When she's not writing or editing, she enjoys spending time fishing, hiking, and hunting for mushrooms, Summers are spent in the garden with her faithful German shepherd Abby always by her side.

Reviews

[Saimi Vasquez]

Universo interesante

Maggie es mitad sucubus, mitad humana se encuentra bajo el poder de la dueña de un club sexual, nunca se ha planteado salir de ahí, y aunque odia lo que las obligan a hacer, nunca ha querido huir. Hasta que un día encuentra a su pareja predestinada y todo cambia para ella. Ahora debería intentar sobrevivir junto con sus amigos a una persecución que podría acabar con la vida de todos.

Es una lectura que se perfilaba interesante, un universo nuevo diferente, unos malvados que eran lo peor de lo peor, además de criaturas como demonios, sucubus e Incubus. Pero básicamente es una historia de amor.
Los protas me parecieron bipolares, cambiaban de personalidad cada 5min. Me gustaron los secundarios, sobre todo Thomas y Samuel. Pero en raro de los personajes y la trama me pareció forzada. El cambio de punto de vista, lo mucho que se tardaba en cada escena, me hizo el libro aburrido.
En fin, no creo que les otro libro de esta serie.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (2/15/2020)! 🎁

[Caroline Doig]

Wow what an amazing apocalyptic story this is one of the best I’ve read so far and I’ve read quite a few apocalyptic stories so bring on book 2, there are erotic scenes well it’s practically situated in a whore house ( I couldn’t write that on Amazon lol ) well it’s not much of a pleasure house it’s an apocalyptic story with demons and the females there are treated very bad. I loved this story and the characters and I definitely recommend reading this book.

[Alejandra]

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

What a post-apocalyptic story. Maggie is a half-succubus (I didn’t know what was the meaning of this until I read this book) who lived in the worst whorehouse in the world, her only objective is to find the freedom and the love, a man who be able to love her against everyone, against the world. In the year 3515 and the majority of the world has been destroyed by human and the Earth needs to survive because now the world isn’t a safe place and everyone wants to live.

In this place, angels and demons fight to reign the world but this time the demons are eviler than before, and now they want to rule the world in the worst way. Maggie is the key piece of the whorehouse the House of Pain because her value as a succubus is to keep her virginity but she knows how to keep her human side and fight against her demonic powers until the day she met Daniel. Daniel who was kidnapped and the prisoner in the House of Pain when he was looking for his 5-years son missing.

The owners of the House of Pain, The Bledel twins cross the lives of Daniel and Maggie of the most unexpected way when Daniel is forced to prostitute himself and the power of a woman takes away his control… After a while, Daniel promises himself to care of her. Maggie is the key-piece for who the devil can access to the Earth but she will keep the virginity for the Demon but the evil won’t count that the lives of Daniel and Maggie didn’t cross by simple chance and an unstoppable love will be born for destroying all the enemies.

The world and the characters are well created in this story, and the main story has sex scenes that were something that I hadn’t read before (sometimes it was a bit difficult for me), but in general, I liked so much the background of the story and the main characters. In other words, if you like paranormal romance you have to read this one.

[Gina]

This book has the feel of an old-timey Western while still being in the future. I also think it had a good amount of spice which is very appreciated and still had plenty of plot. While it can be read as a standalone it is the first book in the series so there are lots of unanswered questions. The author does a great job of villainizing the villains and oh they are disturbing! My one big issue is the age of the FMC. She’s barely of age and a virgin and while that does seem to fit into the story, which is appreciated, I still feel bad that the poor girl is already fated before she’s had a chance to spend literally any time as an actual adult

[Anij]

"She knew she could easily learn to love him...if only he would let her."

Who would have thought mixing the wild west, dystopia, and paranormal was even possible. But Denna did it, and it's fantastic!

As usual, her world-building is incredible. Totally believable and full of great details. All the characters, especially Daniel and Maggie, were interesting, and there's a ton of plot mixed with the steamy love story. I was especially intrigued by bounty hunter Michael Santos. This story was literally unlike anything else I've ever read, and I'm very excited it's part of a sequel. I can't wait to see what other stories she will write about this world.

[Johanna]

Book 1 of Forsaken Ones. And a FANtastic start it is! Look forward to more from this world.

'She dreams of one day being free of her nightmarish life but fears no man will ever truly trust her.'

The characters were very complex and complicated and compelling. Plot was intriguing and intense and well paced. World building was excellent and impressive. Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

Grab a copy, kick back and enjoy!.

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

[Summer]

Post apocalypse world with a demonic twist. This was different from what I was expecting. Parts of it definitely had my attention. Although I do think some of the characters could use a little more depth. Maggie and Daniel were reasonably well written. The plot was good. Wild West meets paranormal fantasy. With a sprinkling of blood, S3x and violence. Overall this was a pretty good introduction to this particular world.

[Amanda Ho]

This was intense as any end of the world apocalypse story would be… and add in the romance factor it made it a page turner! Not sure that I would typically choose this book, but since I won it I had to read it! I enter giveaways on Goodreads to push myself out of my comfort zone or simply because I really want said book. Obviously, this one was about my comfort zone and pushing my boundaries. Pleasantly surprised!

[Brittany Britton]

House of Pain by Denna Holm is a great paranormal post- apocalyptic romance. The story is entertaining, interesting, romantic, erotic, steamy, spicy, and more. House of Pain is the first book in Forsaken Ones series.

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

[Cyrus]

A dark, thrilling, and deeply emotional read, House of Pain masterfully blends post-apocalyptic suspense with powerful romance. Denna Holm creates an unforgettable story filled with passion, danger, and compelling characters. A must-read for fans of intense dystopian romance.

[Juanita E. Arp]

House of Pain by Denna Holm is the first book the Forsaken Ones series and I can't wait for the next book. The story is entertaining, interesting, romantic, steamy, spicy, and more. I received a free ARC copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Diana Davis]

House of Pain (The Forsaken Ones Book 1) Kindle Edition
by Denna Holm
I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley and am choosing to leave a fair and honest review.

This is a post-apocalyptic, Wild Western themed, paranormal romance/adventure where love alone keeps the evil at bay.

What a mouthful! But it is so worth it. Magdalena is a half succubus in 3515 CE. A time that is roughly 1500 years from now and a time that the world is sill recuperating from a nuclear war. The war was egged on by demons who wanted access to our realm. These demons are not your average fallen angels. They are nasty, evil critters that live in an even nastier realm that they are unable to leave without a summoning from a human and not able to stay here for long.

Like most post-apocalyptic stories, the world is not the nicest place. This isn't a Mad Max Hellscape with fast cars and nutters all about. The world is more like the Wild West, in fact there are several places with Maggie's true mate Daniel sounds like Clint Eastwood.

My only issue is the overriding mode of moving the story along is Maggie gets in trouble and the men must rush to save her. I wish she would grow a back bone a little sooner. I did like her most of the time, once she got out of her 'it's all my fault' attitude. Something she had help from Daniel to overcome. Daniel is a strong, Alpha in the midst of other Alphas who are Maggie's body guards. As I wrote earlier, he has an Eastwood feeling about him, even though he consistently makes sure he has consent and makes sure Maggie understands it is her body and her choice, right down to her hair. This is a great, new trend in the romance field and Ms. Holm creates a character and scenes where asking for consent is still sexy and caring.

The world is well created, with hints of Joss Whedon's unfortunately canceled masterpiece Serenity. The only thing separating that world from the novel's is there is no Whedon-speak. I also question some of the remaining garbage, IE.. I don't think cars would still be around AFTER a nuclear war, the acid rain caused by that war, the nuclear winter and so on. Even American Muscle Cars would probably be melted or rusted piles of steel. But I went with it because --- a Mad Max/Fast and the Furious. In this horrible future, instead of water being a form of money, cash is still accepted and sex is what the men seek. This results in a nightmarish sex trade that can and often does include small children. One of the drivers of the story is Daniel's son, Erik, who the party of heroes are trying to keep out the trade. And of course, much like today, Canada is the only safe place to flee to!

The sex scenes are sweet and steamy, even with some of the corny names for body parts. The scenes are sparse and this is a slow burner. The payoff is worth the wait.

5 spurs out of 5

https://www.amazon.com/House-Pain-For...

[Melissa Kirkman]

House of Pain is set in a dystopian future where demons have entered the earthly realm. The story centres around Maggie a half-breed succubus who is in high demand from a lot of dangerous people.

I liked the premise of this story but didn't really feel like I could connect with any of the characters. It felt like I jumped into a story in the middle and although the lead up was described throughout the book, it felt like I was missing a connection. Some of the decisions the characters made seemed to go against how their personalities were portrayed but I think a more robust lead up might have helped this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in return for an honest review.

[Rachel Nefeke]

From the very start, I wanted to see how far human's craving for power will go. The story describes a possible future for humankind, which is not as impossible as it seems.
The main character of the story, Magdalena, suffers from her heritage of father and mother, being hunted for what she was. Lies had been told to her many times to broke her spirit and thoughts about being loved by a man, not only in a sexual way. Yet still, Maggie, as her guardians always called her, found her way to love. She found the willpower to overcome her fear of touching a human and helped the man to break free from captivity he was held in to trap her inside a hellish whorehouse. The description of various BDSM alike techniques was hardly to chew on, but for fans of this pain-pleasure very well written.
My most favourite scene included bastard snake and how they made a tasty soup from it. The idea of daemons causing the end of the world as we know it is very interesting and the author really worked through the whole concept. I was happy to see that some of my favourite places stood untouched by daemons and offered the safe-place for Mags and her family, as she often called her men.
What slightly disappointed me was all stuff around Olemjessa. She kind of disappeared from the story, which is a pity, because I would like to see behind her plans with Maggie and why she started to deal with incubus in the first place.
Anyway, I recommend this book for all lovers of darkness, apocalyptic-like stories with awesome mix of emotions and action.

[Maggie Long]

Great read

Fighting against her demonic powers, Maggie succeeds - most of the time - to keep her soft, gentle human side at the forefront. With her sidekicks, Noah and Thomas, to help her, Maggie feels safe in knowing that her virginity will remain in tact. Then along comes Daniel. Daniel, searching for his 5 year old son, finds himself a prisoner in the House of Pain. The Bledel twins, who are the owners of The House of Pain, are evil to the core. Their Demonic Master orders them to bring him Maggie. Now the twists and turns begin when the twins lead Maggie through the maze of tunnels, in the House of Pain, and show her the chained up Daniel. What happens after their encounter changes Maggie's way of life. I loved reading about all the characters in this book. I hope there is a follow-up.

[Christopher Jenerette]

Aside from the demons and succubi the world itself has and interesting take on a possible future for our world with the climate change is. At first I found it strange why a was succubus albeit a half breed was still a virgin but it was later explained the story overall was great but I was left wondering what happened to a certain character at the end the author explained what happened to most of main cast except for one character since it’s at the end it doesn’t affect the story overall it just left me wondering. Like the I said was would gladly read the sequel.

[M Schroeder]

It took me a little bit to get into Daniel and Maggie's story, but once I did, I couldn't put the book down until I was finished. I still have a few unanswered questions I hope will be answered in a sequel (please!), the biggest being what the demon meant about her being the one?? I really hope there is a sequel as I would also like to know what happens after the baby is born.

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

[Scarolet Ellis]

House of Pain by Denna Holm is a great story to read. This is book number one in this great start to a brand new series to read. I enjoyed reading this story and look forward to the next book in this great series. I recommend this great story to everyne who likes reading about Sci-Fi and paranormal romances in their stories.

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

[Jenipher]

This book is a must read, I didn't like the prologue I would have given the master a name, but I truly loved this book can't wait to read the rest of the series, if you are looking for a paranormal book with some action and romance this book is it. Buy this book you will not regret it. (I didn't put in any spoilers because I want everyone to read it for themselves)

[Yolisa]

This was truly a first for me.It went way out of what I am used to.Using sex as medicine to heal,wow.The book overall was a page Turner because in every page you wanted to see what's gonna happen next.After they buy Daniel and Michael turning every stone to find them.It's not like they were sitting idly by waiting to be found,they were doing and making life altering decisions.

[Mandy Birch]

Great book geared for mature audiences due some sexual scenes throughout the book. For me it had a slow beginning to keep me interested but got better as the main character got out her comfort zone and stopped worrying so much. Overall I would definitely recommend to family and friends for a good read. Thank you for such a good read!

[Tanya]

She is living in a whorehouse and she hates it as all she wants is a man to live who will not care who she is. He is attacked and taken to where she is living where they try to force him to be like them. He refuses until she is brought in? What will happen now? Will he give in? Will he be able to.save his son?.See how he gets on

[Adrianna Lamm]

This was my first time reading a book written by Denna Holm. I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The characters were believable, the plot well thought out. Action packed, hot and steaming, ups and downs, with twists and turns. Overall, a good book!

[Ken Thompson]

My first Deanna Holm novel. I have not been disappointed. Who knew the things a half succubus with a heart could do. Truly thought provoking and enjoyable. I looked forward to reading more.

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

[Beth Ostrosky]

A very good read!

Oh my! This was a wild ride kind of story with a lot of twists and turns! The characters are awesome being well thought out. The plot is different and believable. Try it!

[BookGirl98]

This books kept me on my toes, loved it can’t wait to read the rest of the series 10/10 for me

[Janice Johnson]

New adventure and author held my interest throughout the whole book. Lost some sleep over this one. And, she gave me a happy ending.