Master of Salt and Bones
Dark, Erotic, Contemporary Romance
April 22, 2020
Kindle Unlimited
557
https://amzn.to/2KzCwzG
Meet the Devil of Blackthorne Manor ...
When I was a little girl, I dreamed a handsome knight would come and rescue me from my wretched mother. He'd ride up on his white steed and break the curse I've been fated to carry since the day I was born.
Funny how things changed over time. How the fairy tale twisted into something far more crooked, darker than I ever imagined.
In reality, my knight is scarred and broken, living alone in a castle of bones that overlooks the sea. He isn’t searching for me. He never was.
Lucian Blackthorne is as cursed as I am, and equally shunned by the locals, the fishers of men, who believe him to be the devil in the flesh.
Perhaps he is, with the way his amber eyes draw me in, ignite me like an infernal blaze. And the sins he whispers in my ear are as wickedly intoxicating as the man himself.
Yet, his touch is heaven and his will is my weakness.
He calls us forbidden, an unsalvageable tragedy, with no happy end. Maybe we are. But in this story, he’s the one who needs saving.
Master of Salt & Bones is a dark modern gothic contemporary standalone romance.
WOW! Book bloggers and bookstagrammers, if one of your friends is currently reading Master of Salt and Bones by Keri Lake, you may want to reach out to them because if they’re anything like me, THEY ARE NOT OK!
What a fucking JOURNEY I just went on. I have so many good things to say about this book but I am going to do my best to keep this review brief and free from spoilers!
First things first, let’s talk about the POWER OF THE PROLOGUE. There are few writers that I have read who take writing the prologue as seriously as Keri Lake did in the Master of Salt and Bones. Jewel E. Ann is the only other author I can think of that lays the foundation to an incredible story through the power of her prologue.
Master of Salt and Bones is Beauty & The Beast (without the Stockholm syndrome) + Phantom of the Opera + 5 Doses of Extra Sexy Fantasies + 3 Doses of Mystery.
Please note: This book has a TON of trigger warnings so if you’re sensitive to dark themes, I would say this should be a pass for you.
The Story
In a small fishing town in the Northeast, there resides a castle that’s almost as mysterious as it’s inhabitants. Despite the rumors and the warnings from her family, Isa, short for Isadora, takes a job at the mysterious Blackthorne Castle so she can make enough money to escape the town that has ostracized her.
Upon taking the job, Isa learns more about the family, and most importantly, about the families current heir to their shipping fortune, Lucian.
Lucian’s face is scarred from and incident in his past and is considered a freak in his own right. The rumor that follows Lucian around is that he killed his wife and son.
The Characters
Isa: Fiercely independent and strong, she grew up being raised by her aunt after her mother wasn’t able to care for her due to her drug addiction. Isa had a rough experience a few months in the past and wants to escape the town that not only punishes her for what they perceive is psychotic behavior, but also for the mistakes of her mother – the town whore.
She’s younger than Lucian and has very little sexual experience, but isn’t shy about what she wants.
So young. These lecherous thoughts she’s stirred inside of me are wrong, yet the temptation pulls at me every time I’m near her.
Lucian: Lucian is not only fighting his grief over losing his son and wife, he’s fighting to destroy a legacy he wants nothing to do with. Trauma in his youth and and experience in a mental institution, has him doubting his own mind.
He is the BEAST and the PHANTOM incarnate.
It doesn’t matter. I’ve dreamed of this. Of him. Coming to me in my sleep. I want the savage beast that I imagine lies beneath the thing mask of control he wears. The devil who whispers in my ear while I dream, spinning depraved promises.
Let’s Talk About (the) Sex, Baby!
Angst mixed with a touch of sadistic behavior pushes this book into the XXXTRAHOT category!
Thick pulsing veins feed the long and stiff erection captured in his fist, the sight of which tickles my stomach.
There are so many sexual scenes in this book that I want to highlight, but they’ll give the whole story away. Let’s just say that if you have any delicate sensibilities, it may be best you keep moving along.
The Writing
This is my first Keri Lake book but it WILL NOT be my last. She has a unique way of writing a truly depraved and demented story while still being able to capture the audience and push their perceived boundaries of what makes a book “sexy”.
The heart is a different animal. A caged, lonely scavenger that feeds on its own wounds. Its scars never heal, because you can’t mend the very thing it needs to survive.
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