Natalie Gibson's Satin Sheets Romance Review of Mirabella's Mardi Gras Menage by Louisa Bacio

The Vampire, The Witch and The Werewolf:
Mirabella's Mardi Gras Menage

by Louisa Bacio

75 page ebook
Erotica - Paranormal, Menage Romance
Publisher: Ravenous Romance

Buy Links:
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Ravenous Romance

Constantly under the watchful eye of her Voodoo priestess aunt, Mirabella longs to break free during the events of Mardi Gras. Escapades draw her into the arms of Marguerite, a fiery redhead with a passion for life, and Nick, a familiar vampire who’s haunted by his transformation and past. What starts as a new experience – a Mardi Gras Ménage – soon turns deadly, and none of their lives will ever be the same.

Natalie Gibson's Review

The blurb kind of says it all.  This is a short erotic piece set in New Orleans at Mardi Gras complete with a vampire, two very sexy ladies who want him, and the Voodoo priestess who wants to keep them apart.  I was intrigued enough to select it from our review submissions pile.  That in itself is quite an accomplishment.  This is part of a series but it stands well enough on its own.  The lore is nothing we aren't familiar with.

Mirabella is overprotected and sheltered.  She's an adult but has very little experience under her belt (pun intended).  Marguerite is a take charge woman who knows what she wants.  She wants Nick, until she meets Mirabella and then she wants both. 

The story isn't long.  Marguerite comes to Mirabella's aunt's shop to get love help snagging Nick.  Weird guy creeps Marguerite out at work and Nick walks her home to find Mirabella waiting for both of them.  Then, there's a few chapters of menage sex, a little back story, a reveal, climax, and more sex.  Menage is difficult to write.  With two 'his' or two 'hers' the pronouns can get a little confusing.  There were a few times this could have been clearer.  If you are looking for a menage erotic short, give this a chance, you might like it.  If you are looking for a vampire erotic read, you might be disappointed with the minor part blood plays in this.

I enjoyed it but had some issues with Mirabella's character.  She is supposed to be a virgin.  First times are awkward. Her first is with a man and another woman.  She was anxious, which is to be expected, and then she says stuff no virgin would say.  She worries when they try something a bit kinky if they are already bored of her but that issue was never addressed.  She abandons the only family she knows without really discussing her reservations with her supposed mates.  Menage romance can be believeable but this dynamic felt a little lacking. 

I will say again that I enjoyed this short story for what it was.  I am always looking for an excuse to read about vampires and menage.  Throw them together in the melting pot known as NOLA, and I'll bite.  I give this one 3.5 satin pillows and 4 candle flames.

Connect with this author:
On her website http://louisabacio.com/ 
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Leave a comment with your email for a chance to win one ebook from Louisa Bacio's backlog. 

Natalie Gibson's Review

The blurb kind of says it all.  This is a short erotic piece set in New Orleans at Mardi Gras complete with a vampire, two very sexy ladies who want him, and the Voodoo priestess who wants to keep them apart.  I was intrigued enough to select it from our review submissions pile.  That in itself is quite an accomplishment.  This is part of a series but it stands well enough on its own.  The lore is nothing we aren't familiar with.

Mirabella is overprotected and sheltered.  She's an adult but has very little experience under her belt (pun intended).  Marguerite is a take charge woman who knows what she wants.  She wants Nick, until she meets Mirabella and then she wants both. 

The story isn't long.  Marguerite comes to Mirabella's aunt's shop to get love help snagging Nick.  Weird guy creeps Marguerite out at work and Nick walks her home to find Mirabella waiting for both of them.  Then, there's a few chapters of menage sex, a little back story, a reveal, climax, and more sex.  Menage is difficult to write.  With two 'his' or two 'hers' the pronouns can get a little confusing.  There were a few times this could have been clearer.  If you are looking for a menage erotic short, give this a chance, you might like it.  If you are looking for a vampire erotic read, you might be disappointed with the minor part blood plays in this.

I enjoyed it but had some issues with Mirabella's character.  She is supposed to be a virgin.  First times are awkward. Her first is with a man and another woman.  She was anxious, which is to be expected, and then she says stuff no virgin would say.  She worries when they try something a bit kinky if they are already bored of her but that issue was never addressed.  She abandons the only family she knows without really discussing her reservations with her supposed mates.  Menage romance can be believeable but this dynamic felt a little lacking. 

I will say again that I enjoyed this short story for what it was.  I am always looking for an excuse to read about vampires and menage.  Throw them together in the melting pot known as NOLA, and I'll bite.  I give this one 3.5 satin pillows and 5 candle flames.

Connect with Louisa Bacio on

her website

facebook

twitter

Leave a comment with your email for a chance to win one ebook from Louisa Bacio's backlog. 

Natalie Gibson's Review of Blood Avenged by Gabrielle Bisset for Satin Sheets Romance Reviews

Blood Avenged (Sons of Navarus #1)
by Gabrielle Bisset

Length: 253 pages (60K words)
Genre: Paranormal (vampire) erotic romance

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"I am everything you desire. 
I am vampire. 
Powerful and manipulative, Vasilije does as he pleases. A vampire beholden to no one, he takes what he desires, drinking deeply the pleasures this life has to offer. When one of his own is staked, Vasilije must travel to New Orleans to exact his revenge. There he meets Sasa, a beautiful woman who arouses him like no other has for centuries. Vasilije’s need for vengeance is equaled only by his passion for her, but what he finds in his revenge is just the beginning... "

WARNING: Vasilije isn't a beta pretending to be an Alpha. If you want a sweet hero, his story isn't for you. He's mad, bad, and dangerous to know. But his heroine is strong, so she can handle his style.

Contains adult sexual situations and language.

Natalie Gibson's Review:

Vasilije is a middle aged vampire (500 years).  His sire is dead, thereby releasing him to sire any and all vampires he wants.  He does this often and is known to be a loving maker seeing to the needs of his 'children'.  He can feel each and every one's location around the globe.  If he wants them near, they come.  If he wants solitude they leave.  He is the boss and he loves every second of it.

Sasa is a good girl who loves her dying mother.  She also happens to be an empath who gets in too deep with a voodoo priestess.  Using her powers in exchange for treatments for her mother, puts her neck deep in the vampire world.  She finds herself between a rock and a hard place when the woman she's sworn to help, who she owes, sends her to spy on Vasilije, a man who she instantly feels a connection.  She witnesses the staking of one of Vasilije's children and is forced to lie about it.  She is in so deep and soon even she doesn't know what side she's on.

In my mind, there is no better setting than New Orleans for a vampire story.  It is so dirty and gritty and old world.  If vampires were to exist there would be tons in NOLA.  If you like erotic vampire romance then you will enjoy this one.  There is plenty of blood drinking and a dominant god like beautiful male to make you daydream about getting bitten, and being possessed by an all consuming need for another. The pace of the book was pretty good.  The beginning scene was wonderful and I loved seeing Vasilije on the hunt in the modern world.  Everyone could be his if he wanted; no one was off limits or out of his league.  The sex was off the charts hot from the very first scene where he and his new vampire share a human woman.  It was well written and thoroughly erotic.  In my opinion the chemistry between Sasa and Vasilije was good enough to make me overlook the negatives I found.  

My real complaint is that the ending was anticlimactic.  The two vampires are almost equivalent ages with matching passions and the whole book builds up to this big standoff that is over in a few short pages.  I wanted a fight, a struggle, a battle.  Instead there was just some monologuing and rehashing of grievances and then stab to the old heart box and it's over.  Then, there is a last chapter that feels tacked on where we find out that Vasilije is a member of the Sons of Navarus and they are feuding with another ruling group of vamps.  It really felt like it came out of nowhere.  I can see why the author added it.  It is a set up for the series.  It would have been better if there had been a hint of this undercurrent throughout the story.

I am willing to forgive those few things as snags in the first book of a series.  I had high hopes for the next one and, as I have already finished Blood Betrayed I can tell you, they were exceeded.  Come back in a few days for that review.

I award Blood Avenged 3 satin pillows.