This book is erotica and comes with the requisite trigger warnings, but I am going to say a lot of the things in this series are a bit hardcore. I think the first book really didn't hit the right beats for me because it was half a book. I also don't read a lot of erotica, or contemporary-paranormal romance. The first and second books of these series would be so much stronger in a collected omnibus or something. I also had some issues with the depictions of BDSM in the first book, there were a lot of situations where it didn't feel consensual and it is my understanding that consent is a huge part of BDSM. I also found the forced threesomes quite uncomfortable to read. However, I like the concept of vampires being into BDSM. Vampire romances are kind of overdone post Twilight, so I like seeing different takes on the concept. Vampire romances are hard because they are horror monsters stuck in a genre that has to have a happy ending. This inevitably softens their edges to being more like falling in love with a superhuman. It also kind of kills the metaphor of the vampire because a person sucking another person's blood and penetrating another person is meant to be sexual, but combined with actual sex it makes it extremely literal, so it is a fine line to toe. It was a bit difficult in the first book, and I think this book fell back into softer vampires than the original concept. I don't think this is a bad thing because I think this book works as a romance in a way the first one didn't. This book also makes the two characters who are supposed to be dominant and submissive respectively, equals and throw out the idea of there being a mistress and a master, so the BDSM elements are really walked back a lot. I don't think this is a problem because I don't think the BDSM elements were working in the previous books. I like the relationship between the two mains and how it evolved over time, but again it would have been more effective if these two books had been combined and elements edited so it was more cohesive because there were elements that were played up, like Carnal that weren't as big a threat at the end. Playing up the precognition and the flashbacks in the beginning to explain the connection would have been better.
I also want to note that some of the historical flashbacks needed some research. For example I will accept that they wear corsets at a Renaissance Faire, even though it is not historically accurate, but I will not accept that in actual medieval times. Corsets weren't called corsets and were not a thing until the Victorian era (prior to corsets they were called stays, and in the medieval era they didn't really have stays in the same way they had in the 18th and 19th centuries), but this is a nitpick I noticed because I read a lot of historical novels. ( )

My Guilty Pleasure

I have a friend who I mention in almost every review that I do for these books and I feel like I owe him a big thank you. I have finished book two and three all in one day so let’s get started and let me tell you what I loved about this series. As with the previous book in the series, I was very much drawn into the story and did not want to put it down, wanting to know "what happens next" Again, as with the first book, there are some very intense BDSM passages as well as what some might consider gratuitous violence and or abuse, so if you're not able to immerse yourself into another culture (the Vampire's) and the BDSM community where that behavior truly is accepted and even expected by both the Masters/Mistresses and their servants, I would suggest this book may not be for you. For those of you who want to keep an open mind and give this genre and author a chance I cannot wait to see what you think.
In my honest opinion I felt that in some ways that the relationship between Lyssa and Jacob jumped farther forward from the ending of book one to the beginning of the second than I would have expected to happen immediately, but it was a minor bump and quickly passed as I got further into the story. Nothing that disrupted my enjoyment of the story at all What makes this book so very erotic and almost charming for me is the overwhelming passion and devotion of Jacob. Despite his own dominant personality, the fact that he truly needs to submit to his Mistress because that is what she needs is beautiful. I would not suggest reading this book without having read the previous story The Vampire Queen's Servant. I think it would be too difficult to understand the devotion of Jacob without that background. I also would not start this book unless you have time to sit down and devote to it considering I finished this in one long sitting. A complete five star read.



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Continuing Jacob and Elyssa's story, Joey gives us more wonderful story to immerse ourselves in this couples dynamic relationship
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Well not my favorite vampire world at all! Dark and sadistic. It was truly terrifying at times. Yet I found myself shockingly excited by it all! It all just confirms how corrupt my mind has become! Jacob *fanning self* is the reason I kept reading. A true loyal hero! He could not be broken though Lyssa tried. She did get on my nerves most of the time with her arrogance and " this is for your own good " mentality. Such the martyr! It was a good story, different but good! ( )

3.5 stars. I did not like this one as much as the first one. I will say that the end surprised me. I will say that the Gathering reminded me a lot of the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice. The one thing that is different is that the servants are forced into having sex with one another (which of course was not allowed for Beauty and her fellow slaves). ( )