Review: BIG SKY by Kitty Thomas

Big Sky
by Kitty Thomas

Publisher: Burlesque Press
Release Date: October 1, 2012

Veronica Cason lives in a small apartment with no clear view of the sky. It’s uncertain which might crush her first: her debt or the buildings squeezed in so tight that they surround her like ominous sentinels. She can’t breathe in the city. Her success is a lie, and her debt is coming to collect her—unless someone else gets there first.

When a stranger offers her a job at a ranch, it feels like salvation, but it could also mean her death if his motives aren’t pure. Which door has the tiger behind it? The claustrophobia of the city or ranch life under an open sky?

NOTE: Big Sky is dark, literary erotica and is intended for a mature adult audience.

Veronica Cason is drowning in credit card debt. Unable to keep up the rent on her New York City penthouse, she has had to downsize to a much smaller apartment in a less than desirable part of town. Her mountain of debt rises higher each day and soon she is faced with eviction and is fired from her job as an advertisement executive. She is forced out of her apartment and moves into a motel. One day a stranger notices her and makes her an offer to move to his ranch to work for food and board. Veronica is distrustful of this tall and handsome cowboy. She doesn’t know what to make of his strange offer and why does he want to help her anyway?

Luke Granger is in New York while taking some time off from his ranch. He spots Veronica one day as she is on her way into a coffee shop. He stares at her openly throughout this first encounter. Soon after finally being evicted and losing her job she meets up with Luke again in a park. He tries again to convince her to move to Vermont to work at his ranch. Ronnie goes back and forth on whether go or not. Luke soon gives up and starts walking back to his truck but then suddenly heads back to take Ronnie against her will. Tied up in the truck, Ronnie doesn’t know how much longer she has to live.

The writing in Big Sky is fantastic as always and I liked the dark elements. Ronnie was a feisty, strong willed woman and I liked her snarky attitude. I wanted to love this novel but my main issue is that I didn’t like Luke. I tried really hard to like him but I just couldn’t get past his creepy desire for Ronnie to become his dead ex girlfriend. That freaked me out more than him and his ranch hands turning Ronnie into their own personal milk maid. A lot of bizarre things happen to Ronnie on the ranch and I thoroughly enjoyed all the deviant scenes. The wild and crazy interactions between her and Luke, her and the ranch hands and one other character held my interest and kept me captivated to the very end.

I don’t know that there was a happy ending for Ronnie. But she was out of debt, had a roof over her head and someone to take care of her. I think in the end she was content. This is definitely a story that had me thinking for a few days after reading it. Big Sky was a good dark erotic story by Kitty Thomas and I think one of the darkest ones that she has written. I highly recommend Big Sky to all fans of dark erotica.

Book Spotlight & Giveaway: HEAR ME by Skye Warren

HEAR ME

by Skye Warren

Length: 32,000-word novella

Genre/Heat Level: Dark erotica

ISBN: 9780988363205

Blurb:

She doesn’t remember her past, only her training. She can’t talk, not that a good slave should speak out of turn. None of that matters when she wakes up in the warm, rustic room. Her new master is distant but kind. There’s only one problem: he doesn’t want her.

Longing for the shackles of safety, she pulls from the last dregs of her will to prove her worth as a slave. It seems to be working. He responds first to her body and next to her submission. The secrets of his past haunt the cabin, fraying the tightening bond between Master and slave, but it is her own memories that may finally unravel it.

This book contains a bonus short story Escape, set in the same dark erotica world.

WARNING:
This book contains explicit scenes of sex, including dubious consent and captivity situations. The BDSM does not conform to literary conventions, making it sometimes more realistic, and other times not. This is a work of fiction not appropriate for anyone uncomfortable with these situations or anyone under the age of eighteen.

Excerpt (strong sexual content)

Her training wasn’t about how to stand or to suck, not really. She had become an expert at reading expressions, at decoding body language. He was a formidable cipher, but she only needed time.

Meanwhile, she knew well enough what those heavy lids and flattened lips meant. She saw the tinge of red on his cheeks. All of that would have told her, even if she hadn’t seen the bulge in his wet jeans. He wanted to take her and this time, it wasn’t in his sleep. It wasn’t in some awkward moment, born of pity—no. He had initiated this. He had brought her to this magical place. No dream.

He seemed to like her forwardness, like a release valve to the curious guilt he had about her status, so she tentatively reached up to sweep a wet lock of hair from his forehead. He remained still for her touch, his expression one of approving forbearance. But when she went to stroke down his neck, he caught her wrist.

“I’m going to ask you something, and I want you to say no if you don’t want it too. I’m afraid you can’t. If I were better—stronger—I wouldn’t even make you choose, but I…” He sighed. The moisture in the air beaded on his eyelashes. “It’s been so long. I’ve waited so long.”

He pulled her in deeper, until the water climbed her thighs and lapped at her cunt. They followed the wall of the cave until it opened up onto a small beach that was completely enclosed by cool stone and reflective water. Barely enough place for both of them, but she knew that was the point. Here even the white noise of the water was reduced, and all she could hear was her breath and his.

“I never imagined a submissive as perfect as you,” he said lowly, but the words were as commanding as she’d ever heard him. “I keep thinking you’re not real, that I’ll wake up and find myself alone again. But this isn’t real, is it? You aren’t really like this. They made you this way.”

Don’t make me think about it. Just want me.

“Jesus Christ,” he said. “When you look at me, so damn trusting. It’s not right. I know that, but I can’t stop. Will you let me, subby? Can I hurt you?”

 

Author Bio:

Skye Warren writes unapologetic erotica, where pain and sex and love collide. She has been called "a true mistress of dark and twisted erotica" and her dark erotica series has reached the bestseller lists at Amazon and been a Night Owl Reviews Top Pick.

Author Links:

Website: http://skyewarren.com/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/skye_warren

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/skyewarren

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Hear-Me-Dark-Erotica-ebook/dp/B009BUR5QM

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hear-me-skye-warren/1112922458?ean=2940015690354

All Romance: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-hearme-943870-144.html

Giveaway:

Skye Warren is giving away a $100 Amazon gift card and four $25 Barnes & Noble gift cards on this tour. In addition, you can win a copy of Hear Me at this stop. Enter to win by leaving a comment below. What do you enjoy about reading dark erotic books?

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