This was a unique one!

3.25/5 Stars

4/5 Spice

4/5 Narration Stepanie Kay and Ryan West narrated this in dual style. They did a great job! I wish this was duet, though. But that is my preference overall.

Tropes and Triggers:

Dark Gothic Romance

Phantom of the Operas Vibes

Age Gap (14 years)

Boss X Employee

Widow

Musical MCs

Secret Society

Institution

Social Pariah’s

Extreme Breath Play

Knief Play

Twists

Past Abuse/SA

Grooming/Pedophilia (on page)

Death of a Child (on page)

Dementia (on page)

Junkie Parent

This was my first book by Keri Lake, I look forward to reading more by her. This was a unique one!

Overall, I am somewhat torn about the book. There are aspects I loved and aspects I really hated. I do not think it was a bad book, but I can’t recommend it without insisting you read the triggers. This will not be for everyone. Let’d get into it…

I enjoyed the plot; I thought it was unique and different from anything else I have ever read. It kept me guessing what reality was and what was an illusion. I thought the characters were complex and interesting. There are several twists and turns throughout. Some of them, I guessed, while others took me by surprise. As I am a fan of the musical, I loved the Phantom of the Opera vibes. I enjoyed how these rejected, lost, and scared souls are drawn together. I loved that this explored some very dark sexual desires that, even in dark romance, do not appear often. This is a slow burn, and it felt appropriate for it to be so. There is a significant age gap between Lucien and Isa. Lucien is also connected to a dangerous world that could put her in danger.

There are many scenes that took place in the past. Due to this, I felt like it took much longer for the interactions between the MCs to become consistent. I loved their chemistry and wish we got to those parts sooner.

Here is why I am not rating this higher even though I enjoyed the actual plot.

(SPOILERS)

I do not think that the pedophile/ grooming relationship between Lucien and the maid needed to be as graphic as it was. I don’t need so much detail about the s3x and pleasure between those characters. It was in just as much detail as the romantic relationship between the MCs. I honestly found it disturbing. I was also very bothered by the on-screen death of a child. You find out the child is dead and how that was enough. It did not need to also be depicted. IMO, I don’t think it would have changed the plot or emotional weight of the story to leave out the depictions of some of the graphic details. For me, that was all too much. I didn’t think I had triggers, but apparently, I am mistaken.