Category Archives: Erotica
Review: Raw, A Dark Romance
Raw, A Dark Romance by Tawny Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Beautifully Raw
This was a wonderfully exciting dark romance. I really enjoyed it!
The premise was interesting. I’ve read similar before, but nothing quite like this. Badgered by her friend, Kendall reluctantly signs up for a matchmaking service catering to the excessively wealthy. Presumably they’re looking for a wife, but that’s not quite the actuality of it. Generally they’re more in the market for a fling, or…
Well, then Kace comes into play. He’s a Spanish billionaire who knows no bounds. He’s also the first one to take an interest in Kendall, and he always gets his way. No one says no to Kace, except… well, Kendall does! Repeatedly, in fact.
After her presumed date with the billionaire turns much darker, Kendall’s kind of trapped between worlds. She’s been striving to make ends meet, and while she’s fairly satisfied with life so far, it’s not always the best, you know? Kace could provide that for her, except is he even looking for a relationship or does he just want to use her for his pleasure for the week? Whether she likes it or not, that’s what his initial plans are, but sometimes plans have a way of going awry…
What I liked about this was Kendall’s sort of rough nature. She’s not all that impressed by Kace and his billionaire attitude. Yes, he’s strong and demanding, but why should she do what he says just because of that? She can be pretty headstrong and stubborn herself. It’s a match of opposites, but they end up going together in an intriguing sort of way.
Who will break first? Except do they even want that to happen? There’s a bit of danger and risk here, but I felt an interesting connection between Kendall and Kace that I really enjoyed. He’s used to getting his way, but in order to get it this time he’s going to have to do things that he might not really be ready for. Kace is strong and stubborn, but maybe sometimes it’s hard to keep it up if you forget the reasons for your stubbornness, too.
They don’t really go together very well at first, but I think that’s one of the reasons why I enjoyed reading about them. I was curious to see where everything went and how things would progress. I can’t really say that I wanted them to be together at first, but I wanted to see how they would react to each other and grow on each other.
It was a fun story to read, with a lot of depth and psychological intrigue to it, along with a thrilling dark romantic allure. If you enjoy dark romances, I think you’ll really like this one.
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Review: Only Pretend
Only Pretend by Nora Flite
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A Seductive Confliction
I’ve read all of the Hard Body Rock books by Nora Flite and really enjoyed them. I’ve also read Tears of Tess, though I haven’t delved too deep into dark romance besides that. I do like it sometimes, but I think other times it’s done a bit oddly and too far for me.
Saying that, I really enjoyed Only Pretend. It had some of the same elements that I’ve come to enjoy from Nora Flite’s books, but with a sense of something more like in what Pepper Winters’ writes.
Only Pretend is a wonderful story, but there’s a definite sense of darkness and depravity going on. After Celeste is not only fired from her job, but also broken up with by her boyfriend, for being “boring” as he says, she decides to find a new life for herself. I really liked the idea of that, too. I think sometimes everyone imagines what it’d be like to pretend you’re someone else for a day, right? So this is like that, except…
She gets what she wants in a way, and then way more than she could have ever imagined. Leonide is sensually provocative, but with some absolutely dark desires. He’s that man you love to hate, who can pull your strings and bring out the best in you, providing you with immeasurable pleasure, but… what does he want in return?
That’s really the driving question that I kept wondering about throughout the novel, and I think that’s one of the things I liked most about it. We start off knowing a little about Celeste, but not everything. And Leonide is a complete mystery initially. Where did he come from, what is he doing, and why?
Celeste started off trying to pretend, but maybe there’s even more pretense to all of this than we know?
If you like Nora Flite’s other books, or Tears of Tess, I think you’ll really enjoy this one. It’s got a seductive style that really keeps you reading. I liked the thrill and suspense aspects, too. There’s some darkness, obvious, so you really need to be able to handle some adult themes, but… I think everything in this book is the sort of thing you really want to read about, but maybe not talk about in “polite” company? Haha. Curiosity is a dangerous and compelling thing! But oh so wonderful, too.
Highly recommended! I loved this book.
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Hunted: Audiobook?
So… I’m not actually sure how this is going to go, but I figured I’d try it. I just put up a listing for a request for a narrator for the full-length version of Hunted: An Erotic Retelling of Beauty and the Beast yesterday, and I’m hoping to maybe get that done by Christmas.
The thing with that is that uh… well, I never planned on doing an audiobook version of this one, per se. I mean, the idea was always in my mind and of course I was open to it. If a random narrator approached me about doing it, then I definitely would have said yes. That doesn’t really happen too often, from what I know, but I’d honestly probably be open to a lot of things like that.
For random reference, I like to do royalty shares with my audiobook narrators, since I think it’s more fair to everyone. The problem there is that a royalty share can be a good or a bad thing, you know? If the story doesn’t sell very well, then they’re kind of out some time and effort, which is sad. If the story sells well, they can make a good amount of money, though. On the flip side to that, if I paid them per finished hour (this is also relatively standard), then they could technically make more money if the story sells well, or a lot less of the story sells poorly.
As of now, most of my audiobooks have at least broken even, just about. I don’t know if anyone really cares about the business side of that, but the narrators and I have a 7 year agreement, too, so basically like… they’re all pretty much going to get paid more than the industry average, but it might take awhile for them to get it? So far they’ve broken even, or are very close to breaking even, and my first audiobooks ever were released this year, so it should work out for them in the long run. That’s kind of how this business is on all fronts, though. Not always, and sometimes a story sells really well right from the get-go, but not always.
Anyways! The point of all of that? I like doing audiobooks because it helps the narrators, gives them legitimate credits for their voice-over work, and kind of sets them up for more, you know? They can use the audiobook as a stepping stone to a better foot in the narration industry, or for acting, or whatever. I honestly think all of the narrators that have worked for me could do really well with this, either strictly voices or acting, or whatever. They have talent and drive to succeed.
So… saying that, I wasn’t going to do an audiobook version of Hunted at first, because I didn’t actually think it would sell amazingly well. I didn’t think it’d sell poorly or anything, and I thought it’d be a good book. Honestly, I like it a lot, myself, and I think it’s pretty sexy. It’s different and fun, with a bit of darkness to it, and more than its fair share of eroticism. That’s uh… well, that’s kind of the thing, I guess. I don’t want to make anyone feel awkward narrating it? Haha.
I don’t know why I think anyone would feel awkward with it, though. I’m pretty upfront about what it is and what to expect, so if they’re interested, then I think they should be given the chance to give it a try. And if I think it’ll be a decent seller and good for their career, then I don’t mind offering the opportunity to them, either, you know? I’ve been given some chances in life when I thought I could do something that others might think was too difficult or too strange, and I think those are the best types of chances sometimes. Just to get things out there and try something different, but also something good and useful, right?
So… well, Hunted is doing well. The e-book version is doing very well, and the paperback is doing pretty good, too. Paperbacks are honestly a harder sell, since, as an indie author, I can’t really get them into physical bookstores at the moment. That’s just an industry thing, and the big traditional publishers mostly have a stranglehold on that. E-books are a lot different, though, and I think I have a good understanding of that side of things.
For reference, Hunted is currently #16 in the entire All Romance eBooks store. They even sent me a neat little image thing for this site, which I’ll throw up on the sidebar soon! It might be there by the time you read this.
It’s also doing exceptional on Amazon, with a max ranking so far in the low ~1200s. This has translated into being on these best sellers lists there:
#4 Paranormal Romance > Angels
#6 Paranormal Romance > Ghosts
#6 Fantasy > Fairy Tales
#6 Paranormal Romance > Demons & Devils
#10 Paranormal Romance > Witches & Wizards
#11 World Literature > Mythology
#28 Paranormal Romance > Werewolves & Shifters
That’s just in the US. It’s ranking pretty well in Fantasy > Fairy Tales and Fiction > Fairy Tales, plus Myths & Fairy Tales in the UK, as well.
So… anyways, it’s doing well! Which is fun and great, and I really appreciate everyone’s support in this one and I’m glad to hear that a lot of people have liked it so far. I’m always kind of nervous about these things, you know? Like… I want things to do well, and I try my best to make them good and something that people will like and want to read, but I guess I’m sort of a pessimistically optimistic person. Like… it would be really nice if everyone loved everything I wrote, but I know that’s not how things work, and different things work for different people, so I just hope that at least some people will like some of the things I write?
I don’t know if that makes sense. Don’t take any of this as being especially pessimistic, because I’m not. I get really excited about things, to the point of being maybe too excited, but I try to have realistic expectations, too. The two things sort of clash sometimes.
I’m rambling a bit now, but the point of this whole thing is that I’m hopefully going to make an audiobook of Hunted, and I think this will be a great opportunity for the narrator. I like helping people out and in a creative entertainment sort of place, like with fiction books and everything, it can be really hard to get a foot in the door, you know? It takes a lot of time and effort sometimes. I’ve spent a lot of my own time and effort on all of this, so I’m hoping to share it a little by providing someone the opportunity to use some of my time and effort to help themselves out and to further their creative endeavors.
I will let you know if I find anyone! I’m still kind of picky when it comes to narrators, and I have a certain sort of voice in mind for this one, but I like to leave my options open, too. Sometimes people can surprise you, you know? I like when that happens, since it’s a lot of fun.
(This is a weird sort of post, but these are just some of the things I think about sometimes, so I thought I’d share for those who were interested in that kind of thing. I hope you liked it! What are your thoughts on audiobooks? They’re a lot different and they take a little getting used to, but I really like them)
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Caitlyn St. Cyr’s Fuzzy Handcuffs (Weekly Sale!)
Detective Caitlyn St. Cyr stared out through the grimy window in her too-small office. The sun was setting in the distance and darkness began covering the city like a thin layer of dust. Just the way she liked it, really. The sun was nice–a happy place for happy people–but she didn’t need any of that crap. She had a job to do and it was easier if people were asleep. Sighing, peeling herself away from the window, she walked over to her grungy couch and lay down. What kind of screwed up stuff was she getting herself into lately? Where were the good jobs and the interesting mysteries? Maybe she should give up, become some kind of dream fairy, use her special magical abilities to wander through people’s dreams and give them hope and happiness and maybe a blowjob or something–
F**k Screw that! No way. She wasn’t done yet. Something interesting would happen, and when it did, she’d be ready. So what if she didn’t have enough to buy more than the bread in a hot, juicy pastrami sandwich with pickles and mayo and olives, with hot peppers, and…
What the hell was she laying on? Reaching behind her, she felt the hard fuzzy object digging into her back and pulled it out. She stared at the fuzzy handcuffs for a moment, then grinned. They looked fake, but they were real, and they worked great for catching horny idiots.
She tossed the handcuffs away and lounged on the couch, closing her eyes. “There better be something I can use tonight. I’m getting tired of this.”
—–
Caitlyn St. Cyr is one of my favorite stories. It’s really different from most of what I write, but it was a ton of fun to write, too. Caitlyn’s a succubus with the ability to enter people’s dreams to try and get information for her detective business. She works alone mostly and never tells anyone what exactly she does, or how she does it, so the cops always wonder how she solves her crimes. Unfortunately when you go into criminal’s dreams, you tend to have to deal with fantasies of a more adult nature, but she’ll do what she has to do to solve a case. Sometimes it’s not so easy to convince thugs to tip her off, but she’s got plenty of ways to make them talk.
It’s a great story and a lot of fun. It’s a mix between monster sex erotica and hard-boiled women sleuth fiction. The sexy parts are detailed and dreamy, dirty and explicit. The crime is crooked and mysterious, too. Have you ever wondered what it’d be like to enter someone’s dreams and become a part of them? Ever wanted to hear someone’s deepest secrets and learn their private fantasies?
Well, here you go! I really hope you enjoy this story as much as I do. I’m definitely going to continue it in the future, too, so be on the look out for that.
Caitlyn St. Cyr is a Monster Sex Mystery Erotica novelette and will be available for $0.99 until February 1st, 2013 at these select retailers!
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | ARe | Smashwords (Use Coupon Code: BY77L )
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Used by the Beast, an erotic fairytale (New Release!)
I finished this story earlier in the week, but I wanted to wait a bit before releasing it. I prefer to put stuff up on Thursdays and Fridays(though sometimes I do other days). I don’t really have a reason for this, it’s just some goofy superstition thing =P
Anyways! It’s done. I love this story, and I think it’s really exciting. I enjoy fairytale stuff a lot.
Used by the Beast is the fourth in my loosely based erotic re-imagining of the classic Beauty and the Beast. I kind of take a lot of liberties with my fairytale stuff and prefer to make it my own instead of just the same general story with some sexy scenes, so it’s mostly entirely different. I did use the general concept of a man cursed to look like a beast, the magical rose, and a poor merchant with three daughters. I liked the idea of servants in the Beast’s mansion having their souls trapped in everyday objects, too. I think that’s a fun idea.
I’m actually going to be finishing this series up with the fifth one(I believe, unless something super strange happens). After that, when I get a chance, it’ll be made into a print book, too. I’ll -probably- release an eBook bundle version, also(with all 5), for $9.99, but I need to figure some stuff out first. This is me rambling, so I’ll stop that now. Sorry!
I find fairytales really interesting, though. It’s one of those things where they used to be much darker(go read the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales! Those things are brutal), and then they were toned down for a younger audience sometime between now and then. But, why? Why not switch them up a bit and bring back some of that more primal nature to them? That’s the kind of mindset I go into these with. It’s not -too- far into it, because I didn’t want to make it super vicious or anything, but the general tone of this story is an erotic horror type of thing. There’s obsession and stalking, exploitation, humiliation, voyeurism, rebellion and rivalry, and dark magicks. I really liked the ending, and I hope you will, too. The last one(tentatively titled Bound by the Beast) is going to go a little further with this, make it a bit scarier(but still sexy!).
And a happy ending. I know a lot of erotic horror doesn’t have a happy ending, but I’m not a big fan of those. Not to judge anyone, but horror movies like that bother me, too. Hostel and the Saw series and all of those? Ugh, I can’t even watch them.
I’m a bit tired at the moment, so forgive my meandering! Here’s the cover of Used by the Beast. Links for where you can buy it will be up as soon as I have them(which should mostly be tonight, except for Apple and maybe ARe). Enjoy!
Used by the Beast is an erotic fairytale with various aspects of erotic horror and monster sex.
Amazon | B&N | Apple | Kobo | ARe | Smashwords
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New and Improved! (Plus my first weekly sale)
This is really exciting for me, and I hope it’ll be just as exciting for you! I have found a way to increase the quality of my eBooks by quite a bit, and I am in the process of updating old stories to fit these new standards.
I mostly have D2D to thank for this. Now, don’t get me wrong or anything, my older eBooks are fine. There is literally nothing wrong with them whatsoever, and they still contain everything. I’ve already gone through and updated some to have nicer covers, plus better descriptions, and some other minor changes, but with D2D’s conversion software(plus their simplified distribution, but that’s probably only super exciting to me, so I won’t ramble about that one), I can provide basically -better- than “professional” quality eBooks to you all.
Now, I say -better- than professional quality, because, honestly, the major publishing houses don’t actually do anything really above and beyond for their eBooks most of the time. They are essentially just as good as mine in terms of format, and while obviously the story quality is different(you never really know what you’re going to get sometimes), besides that there’s nothing really setting my books apart from anyone else’s besides format.
Here’s some examples for you:
Alessandra Torre’s Blindfolded Innocence
E.L. James’s Fifty Shades of Grey
My Vanima’s Dirty Dilemma
Now, obviously all those contain different content, which is mostly beyond anyone’s control, but the format’s vary widely depending on how much effort the publishing house/author puts into it. Blindfolded Innocence started as a self-published book and was picked up by Harlequin, but despite that it’s not really anything more than simple. Also, the cover inside the book is potentially going to show up as a giant square or some awkward shape depending on what you read the book on. Don’t get me wrong, the story is the same, and I do like Blindfolded Innocence so I’m not trying to bash Alessandra Torre by any means, but the person who formatted her eBook did the absolute minimum in order to make it presentable.
On the other hand, Random House did an amazing job with Fifty Shades of Grey. It looks super first-class and really nice. I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Grey yet(I know, I know! I’ll buy it soon!), but I’ve heard great things about it. I think it’s awesome that the eBook version is so crisp and nice looking, too. You can tell that her eBook formatter put a lot of time and effort into it.
Then, mine. That’s the first I had a chance to switch over, so the content is kind of widely different than Blindfolded Innocence and Fifty Shades of Grey, but the concept is there. The cover in the book(which is something that not a lot of self-publishers do for B&N, since it’s not a requirement there), plus the really crisp title and copyright pages, and then the Table of Contents. You can’t actually see it, but the Table of Contents in my book is in the -back-. This seems odd, except you can access the Table of Contents for an eBook through different menus, so putting it in the back is actually nice since it doesn’t clutter up the front of the book. That’s more of an opinion thing, but I’m a fan of having the ToC available(through menus) but hidden so you don’t -need- to look at it if you don’t want to.
Anyways, the whole point is that, before D2D, I was kind of stuck with “good” but not “amazing” eBook formatting. I like to think that everyone still really enjoyed them, because the content was the same. My stories are still fun and sexy and exciting, but the formatting was always something I struggled with. It’s either a.) Expensive! or b.) -VERY- time consuming. As the sole person in charge of my writing(I literally do everything, and I already spend tons of time on it! Editing, formatting, cover art, editing again, and more), it was impossible for me to get my eBooks up to super pro level. As you can see from the Blindfolded Innocence example, this is considered fine, though.
But, ugh! I’m a perfectionist. I don’t like -fine-, I want AWESOME! So, D2D is amazing, and as long as they continue to be amazing, all of my future eBooks(and eventually all of the past ones) will not only have a great story with wonderful characters and some really erotic sex scenes, but they will also look really nice on whatever eReader you own. They are also helping me get more of my books onto the iTunes iBookstore, which I think is wonderful.
Anyways! Hey! Sorry for the rambling a bit, but this is really exciting to me. To kick this off, I wanted to offer a great sale this week. I will be offering Vanima’s Dirty Dilemma for only $0.99(or equivalent if you’re purchasing from another country). This is a 67% discount! It is technically the second part of the “Vanima’s Initiation” series, but you can read it as a standalone if you’d like(or go buy the first, also, which, total between the two, would still end up being a 33% discount overall).
Vanima’s Dirty Dilemma is a contemporary fantasy novelette about a teacher who is mistaken for her niece by the sorority president at the Magic Academy where she teaches(they’re both elves, and so they age slower than humans, so even though Vanima is older, if she puts on college student clothes she looks very similar). I don’t want to say it’s exactly like this(because it’s not), but think of it like Harry Potter, if they were all in college, with sexy hazing rituals and mistaken identity. It’s dirty, but in a delightfully erotic way. I redid the cover just for this(though the woman on the front is still the same; and beautiful). I know you’ll love it! =)
Vanima’s Dirty Dilemma is a BDSM Monster Erotica novelette and will be available for $0.99 until January 25th, 2013 at these select retailers(some are currently processing to convert to the $0.99 price point. I apologize for the delay if they don’t show up immediately as that, but if that happens it should be switched in a couple hours):
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | ARe | Smashwords (Use Coupon Code: BP42G)
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Princess Miri updates, and more! (An Amazon Top 100 International Best Seller???)
Hello to you all!
I’m currently working on a few changes and I wanted to let everyone know exactly what was going on.
First, the very exciting news! Princess Miri has become an Amazon Top 100 Paid International Best Seller Fantasy Series story! It reached 100 on the US list, 35 on the UK list, and 97 on the Canada list at its peak, and I’m sure over time it can reach even higher. This is really amazing and I want to thank all of you who helped it get there.
Amazon.com Top 100 Paid Fantasy Series Best Seller!
Amazon.ca Top 100 Paid Fantasy Series Best Seller!
Amazon.co.uk Top 100 Paid Fantasy Series Best Seller!
Because of the support and the interest in the Princess Miri stories, I’m going to be doing a few extra things for it. First, the paperback version that I mentioned a few days ago. I’ll release this at an initially low price on Amazon.com($7.99, with comparable converted prices for the UK, German, French, Italian, and Spanish Amazon storefronts).
After that, the print version will rise to $12.99 for extended distribution to other Amazon storefronts, B&N, and more. I might be able to lower the price a little further, but those are tentative prices based on expectations. It honestly all depends on the page count in the final book and a few other factors(mainly, CreateSpace won’t let me distribute to B&N and others if the price is too low, since then I would -owe- them money every time someone bought a book =/ ).
You still save quite a bit on the print version, -and!-, if you email me a picture of your book somewhere around your house(or wherever) and let me post it up here for others to see, I’ll send you some coupon codes so you can get the eBook versions for free! How’s that for a good deal? You can have a print book to keep your sexy secret safe at home, but an eBook copy so you can read about our haughty heroine wherever you go without anyone knowing. 😉
Besides that, I’ll be updating some minor things in the Princess Miri series over the course of the next few weeks. I’ll also be adding an epilogue done under Fleur’s point of view sometime soon, too(I don’t know exactly when, but it’s in my plans).
If you haven’t read any of the Princess Miri eBooks yet, you should definitely check them out. You can grab the first in the series for only $0.99, and if you like it, but want a paperback of the entire series, well… just wait a few weeks and it will be available for sale!
You can find Princess Miri at all your favorite eBook retailers:
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple – iTunes | All Romance eBooks(ARe) | Smashwords | And a few more!
If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you. You can leave a comment below, or email me at cerysdulys (at) gmail (dot) com.
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Princess Miri, a Kindle Store Best Seller!
I have exciting news! This happened yesterday, and I thought I’d share it with you all.
The picture’s a little small in this post, but if you click on it you can see it at full size.
Anyways! I’m really excited about this. Princess Miri was the first erotica story I wrote when I started, and it’s the first story in my Princess Miri series, too(that last part is kind of obvious, huh?). I love writing this series and I think it’s a lot of fun. The sex is really sexy and different since it’s more fantasy and part of my monster sex stories, but I really wanted to make it more accessible and open, too. It -is- an erotic story, but it’s also has themes of a princess coming of age and learning what she needs to do in order to rule the kingdom in the future.
And Monsters, Maidens, and Minxes! Oh my.
I really appreciate all of the support, though. When I first started this, I never really thought I’d have a best seller story. It’s nice to dream, but you never know what’s going to happen, right? I’ve gotten so many wonderful comments from everyone about my writing, though. It’s kind of crazy!
One of my favorite comments I’ve received on the entire series was:
This… is insanely funny, and cute, and messy and sexy and
*DEEP BREATH*
SO. MUCH. FUCKING. FUN!!!!
This is so nice! It’s basically exactly what I wanted the story to be, so when I saw someone describe it just like that, I was super happy.
If you haven’t read the Princess Miri series yet and it sounds like something you’d like, the first story is only $0.99. There’s 6 stories total in the main series, and then 1 side story involving Miri’s friend Allysin. I also have a print edition of the first book available, though it’s short stories so it’s smaller(32 pages). But! If you really want, I can totally sign that for you if you want to mail it to me. (I don’t know who would want that, but if there’s anyone who likes the idea, I’m up for it =P )
You can find Princess Miri at all your favorite eBook retailers:
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple – iTunes | All Romance eBooks(ARe) | Smashwords | And a few more!
If you’ve read Princess Miri already, or are interested in checking it out, I’d love to know what you think about it. Let me know in the comments below?
~Cerys =)
Cerys du Lys 