A review by gypsystar
Tales of Darkness and Sin by Natasha Knight, Lucia Franco, Ashley Jade, Lylah James, A. Zavarelli, Pepper Winters, Sam Mariano, Aleatha Romig, Skye Warren, Cora Reilly, Sierra Simone, S.M. Soto, Isabella Starling, Giana Darling, Jade West, Parker S. Huntington, K Webster

4.0

This anthology was so good. There was only 1 story I didn’t like. The rest I liked or loved. It was kind of thrilling reading through each story blind. It’s for a great cause too. Totally worth every penny.

SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER BY ALETHA ROMIG & SKYE WARREN
⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was more of an appetizer than an actual story. I liked it but it was disappointing that we didn’t actually get to see any of the relationship between Cameron and Bri. The story ends where it should begin and then we get an epilogue that explains what happened but we don’t get to see it.

I get that it’s a short story in an anthology but I would have preferred less building up to the good part and more of actually seeing Bri and Cameron together.

STALKER BY A JADE & A ZAVARELLI
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A stalker story, one of my most favorite tropes, written by two of my favorite authors. Yes, please. This story isn’t terribly long but it’s so good. The only thing I’d change is that he planned to make her fall in love so he could break her heart. I prefer my stalker stories to be about getting and keeping the girl.

It was a great story though. Obviously he didn’t go with his plan. The ending was absolutely perfect!

POISONED HEARTS BY PARKER S. HUNTINGTON & GIANNA DARLING
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one was interesting. I’ve read a lot of mafia books but I’ve never heard of a deflowering ceremony. I was definitely rooting for Frankie and Lily. I was pretty appalled by his behavior in the beginning but I do think he redeemed himself well enough.


COLLATERAL HEARTS BY K WEBSTER & S M SOTO
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I know there was some plagiarism controversy with S M Soto and this story is to be removed from the anthology. It’s in the version that Apple Books delivered from my pre-order so I’m including my review even though I think the updated version won’t have it when it’s available.

I would love to see this story rewritten by K Webster solo or perhaps another collaboration with Sam Mariano or another author. It was a really good story. It definitely evoked a lot of emotions from me.

I hated Saint in the beginning. The way he broke Melody down was cruel. It worked shockingly well. It was so interesting to see Melody’s slow transition from captive to willing participant in taking down her father.

Even though this story is short it thought provoking and packs an emotional punch. I loved Saint by the end. He may have brought out a fierceness in Melody but she brought out the light in him.

DIRTY BARGAIN BY LYLAH JAMES & CORA REILLY
⭐️
This one was unfortunately a miss for me. I’ve never read Lylah James before but I do love Cora Reilly’s books. I’ve been meaning to try some of Lylah James’ books just haven’t got there yet. While I didn’t like this story at all I still want to give her full length solo books a try.

Why didn’t I like it? There are several reasons but the biggest one was him fingering another woman to orgasm in front of her. He was unredeemable after that. I don’t care what his intentions were that ain’t it, fam.

I adore dark romance, you can hardly go too dark for me. Fingering another woman to orgasm in front of the heroine isn’t dark, it’s disgusting. The whole twist at the end was also not believable at all.

MR. FOSTER BY K WEBSTER & SAM MARIANO
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Real talk, this particular collaboration is the reason I bought this book. I adore anything written by Sam Mariano. She’s one of the few authors that wow me every time. Her dark heroes walked right out of my dreams. Carter, Matteo, Sebastian & Brant