This is a completely new take on dystopian vampire erotica. In this world that Kitty Thomas has built, the day last 1000 hours and the night last 1000 hours. Helene spends her days working and stockpiling supplies so that when night comes, her and her sister can hide in the safety of their home. That is until her sister figures out that she counted wrong and doesn't have enough meds to make it all the way through the night. Helene being the provider that she is, decides she can make it to the pharmacy and back in time. However, she is very wrong.

 

It is very early that we learn that the laws of this land are completely different from what we are used to in today's society. During the day, anytype of civil disobedience is not tolerated. However, during the evening, anything is fair game. Helene get kidnapped and taken to a mansion on the outskirts of town. Gabriel, who is head of the household and of the town, is intrigued by this woman and her will to protect her sister, even though she really has no will to live herself.

 

Gabriel offers to ensure that Helene's sister will get her meds, if Helene will just spend the entire night with him. He is convinced that he can make her feel again. He takes her to a dungeon where he beats her to make her cry, the first time since her parents died. He makes love to her and just overall makes her feel again.

 

Things really take a turn when Gabriel is forced to go to another city, and takes Helene with him, to stomp out a rebellion of humans trying to wipe out the vampires. Helene sees that maybe here town wasn't so bad after all. Each city is run completely at the whims of the head vampire.

 

Kitty Thomas has a great knack for writing deeply psychological stories. While I would never want to be one of the heroines in any of this author's books, I do love the emotion that she pours into the characters. While yes, there are sex scenes, they are not overly detailed or gratuitous like some erotica novels. There is more story than sex to this book.

 

Kitty Thomas leaves me with my mind blown after each and every read. I highly recommend this book to people who are willing to try something darker, but well written and wonderful characters. This story is written as a stand alone.

Now I've read plenty of books in this particular genre. They all have their own unique way of telling their stories though, when it comes to the H/h, plot etc.. But they all follow the same rule of the thumb, in most cases, when it comes to the growth/or outcome concerning events & the MC's.

That being said, I've NEVER read a book in this genre, executed in the way that this one was. This one had a lot of points/limits, some of them hard for me to witness & accept. But that's not what came off as totally bizarre to me. I've witnessed much worse in other books regarding this subject matter. But our lead heroine (which is the one telling this story) broke my heart. Her destiny basically was utter ruin. She was beyond broken and never "fixed". What shocked & scared the hell out of me, was that she didn't want to be fixed. She knew what she was reduced to, and she craved it. She saw it all just as clearly as someone who hadn't gone through what she had. But that made no difference to her. She wanted it. And saw no other way to live without it.

To say she was a shell of her former self wouldn't be accurate. It's more like she was reborn as a blank slate. *shudders* Yeah it was jacked up.

 

I wouldn't say this was any type of "Love Story",  personally. It looks more like the opposite of that. Cos love simply doesn't do what occurs here. And her response in the aftermath of it all, was not love. She even voices this a few times herself.

 

I just wonder what it will be like 5, 10 years from now, for her? For him? Weird.

But I was riveted to this story. I couldn't walk away without knowing how it would end. Most people I know, who have read this book, says it stayed with them for awhile. I don't see this happening to me. I just want to forget about it.

But the way this one was executed, for majority of the book, had a certain vivid, frightening color to it. Even though it was in just her words, for the most part; you got a real sense of our Anti-Hero. His mindset. Their surroundings, the intensity of emotion, everything.

And as jacked as the outcome is, I do understand how such things could happen. For these things alone, I would recommend this read to those who enjoy some dark, twisted erotica.

*BUT BE WARNED*
I don't care how "seasoned" you are with this genre/topic.
THIS one, is gonna surprise you.

Happy Reading :)

(2.5 stars)

This can be read as a standalone. This is a WTF book. It wraps up too fast with no real resolution. I guess this is why life is so messy. Brian is the villain from the loosely tied first book, Guilty Pleasures. I didn't like him in that book. Although truth be told I didn't like Vivian either. Her cameo appearance in this book didn't impress me that much either.

The concept of this book is sound. I liked Brian quite a bit after reading this book. It gives me a new perspective of him. Mina who is the broken doll...I didn't feel anything for because I'm not interested in broken dolls. She does seem to broken to be fixed unless she wants to fix herself. She is pretty helpless and I guess it's why males torture and abuse her. She lets it happen.

This exclusive club seems as if it is going down a shit hole. The owners have lost control and the inmate are running the asylum. There are so many business things wrong with this story, it was frustrating. There is little BDSM in here other than used to prove a point that Brian is a fucked up asshole and really shouldn't be into BDSM. The blas?? manner for killing people is rather disturbing yet oddly satisfying. I say this because in a fantasy world, people who are so damn annoying or a threat, killing them off is rather soothing.

It would be nice if the book club wasn't filled with princesses and cunts. It's be nice if this club wasn't so paradoxically. Why do I say this? Because the owner will assess a female for being trained and auctioned off, yet for some reason, they keep letting in bad eggs which need to be disciplined to scarification or killed off. WTF? Either these guys are terrible at assessing submissives or this is a contrived plot device which doesn't make sense to me. Still, I enjoyed the story because of Brian. Everyone else can burn in hell.

Kitty Thomas delivers yet another twisted tale like only she can.

 

This story starts out with Mina being thrown out by her abusive Dom/boyfriend.  He has forced her to move in with her and quit her job, so she has no where to go and no money.  You can see the desperation that she is in. The story then jumps to several months later when she is talking with her therapist, Lindsay Smith. Mina made it a point to find a therapist who was into the world of kink and BDSM so that they would understand where her needs came from. Mina was very surprised when Lindsay turns out to be a man and not a woman. Lindsay has a solution for Mina, but will it make things better or worse?

 

Brian is a sadistic sociopath.  He works with several others training women to be sold as sex slaves.  The women come willingly, if not through a little coercion.  Once they are in the program, there is no leaving.  Brian is the one who does all the dirty work.  Not only is he the one who takes on the task of punishing the subs who are out of control and need more punishment than the other men are willing to do the women.  He also takes care of any other issues when someone knows more than they should.  He has killed more than once to protect himself, his partners and the business.  Everyone is scared of him, the subs and his partners.

 

Both of these characters are broken.  Both for different reasons.  They each have their own way of dealing with their issues.  When I met Brian in Guilty Pleasures, I was really surprised when I heard that Kitty was writing him his own story.  I knew she liked to play with readers minds, but Brian gives new meaning to crazy.  I should've had more faith, Kitty knew exactly what she was doing.  The way that Brian was able to deal with Mina and her exact issues was perfect.  Don't get me wrong, Brian is still not a nice guy, but I do have more of an appreciation for his ability to not be a dick all the time. I actually liked him much more than Mina who whines a lot. I know she has had it tough, but she is wishy-washy in that she wants to leave and then isn't happy when she is allowed it. She won't make up her mind what she wants.

 

While this book is a "sequel" to Guilty Pleasures, this book is truly a stand alone.  It is set in the same world with some of the same characters.  It does take place after Guilty Pleasures chronologically, but you can truly read this book without having ever read a book by Kitty Thomas.  

 

If you've never read a Kitty Thomas book, there are a few things you should know.  Her stories are dark.  There is a bunch of mindfuck that goes on in them.  While they are listed as erotica, there isn't sex scene after sex scene after sex scene like some erotica books.  She messes with your mind much more than she writes gratuitous sex scenes.  I think that is one reason I love her work so much.  The depth in the stories and the characters is truly amazing.  She will push limits and a lot of what is done isn't consensual. If you like your stories dark and provocative, then Kitty Thomas is the author for you.