Join five authors as they take you through a very special and unique apartment building, where monsters dwell in the darkness, waiting and watching with insatiable hunger. These stories are for the adventurous, so tread with curiosity and caution.
Bi-continental, Stella and Audra break all misconceptions about siblings. Writing as a team they have produced well over eighteen novels as well as several novella's and short stories. And nary an argument has come from it.
On their off time from writing, Audra is a makeup artist and Stella is a graphic artist and web designer, as well as the convention director for the Authors After Dark convention. They both love animals and have several including several snakes and a peacock.
Audra lives in Scotland with her husband and children, while Stella Lives in South Carolina with her dogs Moo and Poe and her husband.
Normally I would do a rolling review of each story with a rating and a few words but unfortunately Dark Needs needed more cohesion and depth.
The ideas, the worlds and the monsters were original and unique but each story lacked execution. They were HFN/HEA but at the same time they weren’t. The stories weren’t long enough for any character development and some descriptions were a little wonky.
The smut? That was mostly well done but when you have a story that ultimately needs a bigger word count, the smut kind of falls flat.
Overall, I kind of liked this but was mostly disappointed.
Happy to give an honest review on this ARC I received.
Audience: 18+ Genre: Fantasy Romance-Monster Type of spice: Explicit on-page scenes.
The following stories detail what happens to a group of friends who come face to face with the monsters that haunt their building.
Nighttime Feeds by Joely Sue Burkhart
This Djinn-adjacent demon story starts off the anthology strong. JSB presents a unique take on demons having to feed off emotions, and how it could have devastating effects on their master. I was hooked quick! I truly hope this concept gets fleshed into a full novel someday. As always, JSB’s spicy scenes were fire!
Love Across Universes by Sidney St James
Sidney had a really unique concept involving slime tentacle monsters and inter-dimensional universes. I loved the twist that comes when Aris discovers the true identity of her slime friends. Sidney didn’t miss with the spicy scenes either!
Cravings by Cara North
I enjoyed the concept of a Mirror Man being hindered by what his mirror can see, and seeing how the FMC works around that. This story had an almost enemy to lovers/insta-love thing going on that made the short story feel too busy. It was entertaining nonetheless to see how the mirror situation all played out.
What Feeds the Garden by Naomi Elliot
I love when I come across stories with sentient nature! The usage of the Green Man is definitely not used often, so I was pleased to see Naomi utilize this character. The plot was well-paced and the spice was great! Definitely worth a read!
I Live in Darkness by Dagmar Avery
A shadow man encounters his mate when she moves into his space. I always appreciate a good fated mates story. The concept of the Under and how the FMC already has connections to it provided depth in a short amount of time. Overall, I enjoyed the plot!
Nova, Wren, Penelope, Aris and Danielle are all best friends who move into an apartment building together. The building has a mysterious and shady past and each girl encounters a different and unique monster of thier own. I loved how all the stories entwined and were left open so they could continue the story later on. Great stories.
Super fun collection of shorts all set in the same apartment building. Each author focuses on a different resident of the building with that character's monster entanglement. All different styles and different monsters, all HEA.
4 stars instead of 5 because some stories clearly had more editing than others and the timeline is a little confusing moving from story to story. There are also a few minor inconsistencies as the characters overlap that could have been hammered out prior to publication if there was a central editing team for the collection as a whole.
Overall, the stories make for a super fun read and all have plenty of monster sex. Tentacles, plant based dildo, and multiple partners all feature throughout.
When it comes to dark steamy erotica, I can depend on Joely Sue Burkhart to deliver. In this collection, she brings along four other authors. These authors are now on my radar for smexy "monster" erotica. I loved every single one of these stories and I want more.
To read the rest of my review, click on the image below to see it on my website
Great set of stories about different types on monsters all sharing the same apartment building. I love how the stories are kind of connected but also readable as stand alones since each has a different main character finding and falling in love with her monsters.
Simply put, I want more. The fact that each story was well written and they are all connected, I want more. Give me more. More, more, more. Authors, are you hearing me?? MORE!!!
This hit me just at the right time, I think - a collection of interconnected stories set in the same building, of ladies encountering monsters. But uniquely THEIR monsters!
This is a spicy book, make no mistake. But it's not unnecessarily smutty, instead entertaining and with well-drawn female characters (for the most part - one of them really annoyed me with her actor's ego!).
I've looked up the authors and will be watching for more from them in future.
Love this collection of authors coming together to put together some short stories that all center around the same apartment complex. Nova, Wren, Penelope, Aris and Danielle all move into a building together and we get to meet each of them and experience what they do. Def must read!