Review: The Queen (Original Sinners Book 8), by Tiffany Reisz

The Blurb:

Once upon a time, Nora and Søren made a fateful deal—if he gave her everything, she would give him forever. 

The time has finally come to keep their promises. 

Out of money and out of options after her year-long exile, Eleanor Schreiber agrees to join forces with Kingsley Edge, the king of kink. After her first taste of power as a Dominant, Eleanor buries her old submissive self and transforms into Mistress Nora, the Red Queen.With the help of a mysterious young man with a job even more illicit than her own, Nora squares off against a cunning rival in her quest to become the most respected, the most feared Dominatrix in the Underground.

While new lovers and the sweet taste of freedom intoxicate Nora, she is tempted time and time again by Søren, her only love and the one man who refuses to bow to her. But when Søren accepts a new church assignment in a dangerous country, she must make an agonizing choice—will the queen keep her throne and let her lover go, or trade in her crown for Søren’s collar?

With a shattering final confession, the last link in the chain is forged in The Original Sinners saga. It’s the closing chapter in a story of salvation, sacrifice and the multitude of scars we collect in the name of ecstasy—and love.

The Stats:

The Review:

Words nearly escape me. Nearly, she said…She’s a liar.

This series began for me back in early 2013 and I have followed along eagerly anticipating each new book and each related novella and short offered like an attention-starved puppy. This is also the only of its kind where I’ve bought both e-book and paperback because I needed to feel the pages under my fingertips.

With the first four books we learned of the existence of a kingdom. With the last four we learned how it was built and how it sustains, even when it comes so close to crumbling. The other accompanying stories offer additional insights, sometimes begging more questions, sometimes rounding off some jagged edges. Honestly, how all of these pieces fit together—in all of the twists and turns in this epic tableau of sin and virtue, pain and healing, love and redemption with parallels to Dante, Lewis Carroll, biblical scripture, chess, and god knows what else sometimes wearing kilts—all this is what leaves me nearly speechless in its genius.

These books weren’t my first in the land of erotica. But, they were among my first that were so smartly written with gorgeous prose and imagery that encouraged me on my quest to seek more.

With The Angel, I was introduced to my first male/male romance story and it was a gateway that opened up this genre of Romance and Erotica to include so many more amazing stories involving people of more walks of life.

These weren’t my first BDSM themed books, but they were the first I found that weren’t cookie cutter spank-n-call-me-sir. This delved into levels of sadism and a few kinks I wasn’t wholly comfortable with—but, I could safely visit those places and fully embrace that what may not be for me could be as necessary as breathing for others—and that there is healing in the breakdown.

These ain’t your typical romance. I don’t think they’re your typical erotica either. This isn’t one love affair. It’s many. It isn’t just one plot entwined with little sub-plots. It’s many. This series is chock full of twists and turns of unexpected, sometimes shocking, sometimes taboo, sometimes so-sweet-it-aches tenderness wrapped in brutality—all puzzle pieces of an epic saga of infinite intricacy in an underground world that both terrifies and intrigues.

There isn’t much of these characters and their experiences I can identify with, even their strengths and weaknesses are so far removed from my own. Yet I’ve been rapt these last few years peering through a looking glass into this risqué Wonderland where answers are given to questions I didn’t know I had for people I’ve grown to love.

This final book brought everything full circle and tied up most of the loose threads…enough so that I’m mostly satisfied believing in Forever and Everything and Happily Ever After in this underground kingdom.

Yet, greedy reader that I am, I still feel the need to childishly stomp my foot and declare that I don’t want this to be the end. I want more. I want more of the Priest with the King and Queen ruling from their place at his knee. I want more of Griffin and Michael. I even want more of Wesley because I miss his sweet face, and Nico because there wasn’t enough. I want more of Grace and Zach because they’re probably the most like me and found a way to be a part of it all.

I will miss them.

This review also posted on GoodReads & Amazon.