Welcome to CarnEvil, where you come for the thrills, and leave if we let you. I’m a demon. We all are. I’ve been walking this Earth for centuries, using my psychic abilities to pose as a fortune teller, and feed on the humans that walk through those front gates. Their blood keeps us safe, masks our scent from the Hell Hounds roaming around, waiting to drag us all back to our keeper. Once in a lifetime, we meet our human match, our fated mate, whose blood sings to us unlike any other. And when mine walks in, I lock onto his scent like a bloodhound. He may try to run from me, but our bond will have him crawling back sooner or later. And when he does, I’ll be waiting.
Rune it's a demon that never found its human mate, but this is the night that everything's change when Cash comes into the CarnEvil... Rune is a fortune teller and the chemistry between him and Cash is really intense. Cash fights against it and Rune loves the chase... Sexy, hot, a quick good reading. To be continued?... What happens next? The vision that Rune has of the Hellhounds?
I have removed my original review. The author has plagiarized work and profited off of it and I refuse to support their work any further or provide positive feedback.
EDIT: Author is accused of plagiarism (IG vo.EROS) + bullying fans = I don't support her any longer.
There should be a difference between dubcon and r@pe. But I can't find one in this story. Not. Even. Lube. - Blood doesn't count. If you like r@pe porn, you do you - but please don't sell it as dubcon.
I would have loved to read the story of the two in a slightly longer version. But Rune r@ping "his human" after such a short time periode has little to do with dubcon. He forced himself onto Cash. Arousal doesn't mean consent.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t my cup of tea. I bought „Coerced“ primarily for Dana‘s story, but I was also excited about a whole dubcon anthology.
So I‘m a frequent reader of Dark Romance and dubcon, but 99% of Rune‘s and Cash‘s interactions felt cringe and more like r@pe than dubious consent. I mean Cash was already furious about a stolen kiss, although he felt attracted to Rune. The whole sex scene was a bloody mess - literally. All I could think about was that blood is no surrogate for lube, and that the whole interaction didn’t probably feel good for any of them. Especially since Cash had no “backdoor experience”. (And what about the bottom shaming anyway?) Yes it’s fiction and demons aren’t real, but sex is and I prefer if it’s a little bit more realistic, but that’s of course only my personal preference.
The emotional storyline was kind of anticlimactic. At first, Rune was super excited to finally meet his mate; almost like a child on Christmas. But later he didn’t seem to even care about him. It gave me the feeling that Cash was just a convenient time killer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Removing your first name from a book doesn’t make you less of a plagiarist, or the contents of the book less horrifyingly graphic. This author has stolen her plots and content from other writers (more info on @vo.Eros Instagram) and this book in particular includes a very graphic CNC scene where 🩸 is used in place of lube.
This was a good story but I didn't love it. While I'm fine with consensual non consent, what Rune did, in my mind, falls under rape. Despite how the other party felt after the fact.
I like the demon and hellhound component. I am very curious about Mara and the other demons. And look forward to reading the next book.
*Dana has a trigger warning in the beginning so I see no need for outrage. I recommend this is read with the warning in mind.
*** After reading other reviews and seeing a lot of hate for Dana due to her being accused of plagiarism I wanted to edit my own review to say this.
Sherrilyn Kenyon legally sued Cassandra Clare for willfully copying her novels. Both of these women are well respected authors. Sherrilyn's Dark Hunters came out in 1998 and Cassandra's Shadowhunter series dropped in 2007. I NEVER hear anyone bring this up. Cassandra done got a movie and tv deal and no one says boo about this.
So as far as the accusations against Dana, I say innocent until proven guilty. I think cancel culture is dangerous. Dana has produced some exceptional work and for people to get big mad over a book that had not even released yet and to be honest isn't even her best work is petty AF. Don't be a pack animal. Just Sayin...
** Updating once again. Please notice the PROBLEMATIC AUTHOR TAG I have on this book. Dana lost my faith in her when she crashed out over and over again and moved guilty. I did not have a Booktok acct and had only heard her side at the time of my original review. But watching her behavior and seeing receipts I sadly can't support her. She has talent, I never picked up a book by her and was left un-entertained, but she seems to be a person of questionable character and because of that I stopped reading her and/or following her on all social media platforms. I forgot about this review until I got a notification that someone liked it. I felt inclined to add this update for any future readers. I won't remove my original review because at the time it was written all my thoughts and feelings were genuine.
Honestly parts of this didn't feel like dubcon at all and just straight up noncon. I feel like authors in general need to more responsibile with the way they try to execute dubcon. A physical reaction is not consent. Body betrayal is a thing. Arousal isn't a step closer to consent than not being aroused. During the scenes, there was no emotion or intimacy on either sides that indicated a dubcon circumstance. I feel like the author tried to rectify this by explaining emotions after the actions had taken place, but because it wasn't on page when everything was happening that was hard to believe.
I did enjoy the atmosphere a lot, I like the lore and magic system, and their bickering was fun. I hope we get to see more of this world, it was my favourite part.
“I want him crying and bleeding at my feet, begging me to take him in as mine. I want him in a puddle, weak and needy for anything I could possibly give to him or take from him.”
Ok I am a total sucker for a creepy carnival/circus romance and this gave me that and more! Rune is a demon working as a fortune teller with a live snake tattoo and his character was so alluring. The way he looks and his cocky vibe are definitely a reflection of his personality. He senses his mate and is on a mission to claim him. Cash is covered in tattoos and has a smoking problem and feels compelled by the mysterious man at the carnival. The tension between the two of them is thick and when things start happening it’s intense. I really enjoyed the push and pull between them and I am eager to learn more about them!
May I just say I am a huge fan of Dana Isaly! She inspired me to become a good writer! So first of all! This was a beautiful novella! I did not expect to finish it so quickly and now my mind is stuck in “so does Rune return back to hell?” I cannot wait to see if more of this comes out! Dana thank you!!
Her recent books are not as good as the past books. Not sure if it is due to the copyright issues on previous books or not. But this just isn’t the same.
I am not of the "I no longer support the author" bandwagon due to plagiarism. What has she plagiarized? I am genuinely asking, because if you do not state what she's done then I'd tend to think there is a 'hive mind' issue.
My issues are the non-consent aspect being dubbed as dubious consent. Cash literally repeatedly says no, gets raped, is not a bottom but is forced into being one, spit & blood are used as lube then the tone of the book/the characters seem to be different people if you compare the first iteration of who they are to the last iteration of who they are.
The book also heavily relies on the "Where's Johnny!" trope if I could call it that. I've never watched the movie, but I get the reference and it is overused. That and the fact that Cash doesn't like being called Johnny. Nothing annoys me more than when you tell a person don't call me that and they insist on doing so.
Then, TSTL aspects such as from what I understood, Cash was basically compelled to want a connection with Rune, but that didn't mean he couldn't walk his chain smoking ass out of the carnival. Like instincts/gut instincts are there for a reason. He could have at least attempted leaving the carnival.
Then what was the point of the annoying female friend?
So, In conclusion, this left a burnt taste in my mouth.
so fucking good..but that ending pissed me off to no end. i’m left with so many questions and the fact that the book just abruptly ended like that should be a crime. we were basically left off on a cliffhanger as well as a plot twist but as far as i know, there’s no full length novel or future books coming out which could explain more as to what will happen.
anyway, aside from the ending there were an array of things i liked and found interesting such as the demon side of things, the maze of mirror scene (so hot), the personality (somewhat) of both Cash and Rune, and the whole carnival (or in this case, CarnEvil) aspect of the book as well even though it played a bit of a small role. overall, i found this book a fun and very hot read.
if it weren’t for that abrupt ending, i would have rated this 5 stars seeing as it was a 5 star read for the entirety of the book in my eyes, but the random abruptness of the book at the end just bumped it down to 4 stars.
**Note: yes i know this author is problematic but i can actually SEPERATE art from the artist, so my reviews about this author’s books are purely about the book and how much i enjoyed it or not and not related to the author or their actions. no need to attack me 👍🏼**
I have had ‘Rune’ on my tbr for quite a while, and I was quite disappointed. If you have read ‘Rune’, you will understand what I mean when Rune seemed to force himself onto Cash and make the memory foggy for him? I loved the carnival idea and how they ‘fall in love’ but it’s the way it all happened which I was uncomfortable about. I would definitely check the trigger warnings before reading, if you are thinking about doing so.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I can read anything she writes and won’t get tired. This story was different from anything else I’ve read by her since it had that paranormal touch, but the spice and hotness was still there. I loved this little introduction to the world and can’t wait to read the full story of this two characters and everyone else in the carnival.