Scan barcode
emilylovesbooks94's review
5.0
I don't know how E.M. Lindsey keeps coming up with these series concepts, but I've really been enjoying all the ways they've branched out lately. The Carnal Tower was both everything and nothing like I expected it to be, and it was fascinating to get to know Stone and the other Sins that worked there. I'm not usually one to get caught up in the details of a character's workplace, but every facet of the cathedral told a story either past or present. Stone, like all of E.M. Lindsey's characters, didn't live a charmed life, but it was the uniqueness of his situation that shaped him into the lovable man I got to know in this story. I've yet to meet another author who can peel back even the most guarded character's layers to give me a peek at their soul, and that intimate knowledge of Stone was what made me so excited about his connection with August. Knowing the way he grew up, the family that turned their backs on him, and the found family he'd built for himself in Norwich gave Stone's desire for a romantic partnership even more weight than it otherwise would have had. It was really sweet to watch how August quite literally knocked Stone off his feet, and their slow-burning relationship was equal parts tender and passionate. Everything I learned about August made me want to bundle him up in a warm blanket and feed him soup, but luckily Stone was there to be a steady presence amidst his anxiety spirals. It was breaktaking to see how clearly August could break down the essence of Stone and transform it into a painting, and it made me really believe in their emotional connection. I called August and Stone's relationship a slow-burn, and by all practical definitions it was, but it certainly didn't feel slow to witness how even the briefest touch could turn August into a trembling mess around Stone. Their passionate sessions rewrote my definition of natural chemistry, and I loved watching them grow closer each and every day. Best of all, Stone and August's happy ending opened the door for every single other Sin to meet their match, and I cannot wait to get to know all of them as deeply and wholeheartedly as I did Stone.
**I voluntarily read an ARC of this book. This review expresses my honest thoughts and opinions.
**I voluntarily read an ARC of this book. This review expresses my honest thoughts and opinions.
indiekay's review
4.0
I really liked this, though it did leave me wanting a bit more.
Like most of the E. M. Lindsey books I've read, it did seem to do a lot of info-dumping at first, giving a lot of detail of the setting, which isn't always my favourite, but honestly I could have done with even more information at the beginning? Like one of the seven sins doesn't even get introduced until 70% into the book, and I think introducing all of them nearer the beginning would have been nice. And I could have done with more detail on both August and Stone's histories.
That said, I thought the setting for this book was really cool, and I liked the lore that Stone had built up around his establishment. The book had a certain feel to it which I can't really explain, but enjoyed.
The felt like it was lacking something - while I liked the romance and highlighted a few scenes, the romance was also at once both instant love and a slowburn, and the sex scenes weren't as intense as I would have hoped. I also could have seen more of August's painting process and Stone modelling for him (it seemed like every time they were about to do a modelling session they'd end up having a very short conversation and then leaving, or August would have an anxiety attack and they'd cancel it.) August showing the painting to Stone in the epilogue felt both rushed and like it was lacking detail. I just wanted to know more.
I liked the representation in this book. Stone's different walking aids were cool (but, again, I felt like I only understood how much of his legs were left like 50% into the book and would liked to have had that information sooner so I'd been picturing everything better), and August's intense anxiety was good to see too. Sometimes if a character is too anxious in books it can transfer to me and I'll end up having to DNF because it's making my mental health worse, but either Lindsey's writing helped avoid that (by not writing too much detail about August's spirals), or August's anxiety was different enough to mine that it didn't affect me.
Like most of the E. M. Lindsey books I've read, it did seem to do a lot of info-dumping at first, giving a lot of detail of the setting, which isn't always my favourite, but honestly I could have done with even more information at the beginning? Like one of the seven sins doesn't even get introduced until 70% into the book, and I think introducing all of them nearer the beginning would have been nice. And I could have done with more detail on both August and Stone's histories.
That said, I thought the setting for this book was really cool, and I liked the lore that Stone had built up around his establishment. The book had a certain feel to it which I can't really explain, but enjoyed.
The felt like it was lacking something - while I liked the romance and highlighted a few scenes, the romance was also at once both instant love and a slowburn, and the sex scenes weren't as intense as I would have hoped. I also could have seen more of August's painting process and Stone modelling for him (it seemed like every time they were about to do a modelling session they'd end up having a very short conversation and then leaving, or August would have an anxiety attack and they'd cancel it.) August showing the painting to Stone in the epilogue felt both rushed and like it was lacking detail. I just wanted to know more.
I liked the representation in this book. Stone's different walking aids were cool (but, again, I felt like I only understood how much of his legs were left like 50% into the book and would liked to have had that information sooner so I'd been picturing everything better), and August's intense anxiety was good to see too. Sometimes if a character is too anxious in books it can transfer to me and I'll end up having to DNF because it's making my mental health worse, but either Lindsey's writing helped avoid that (by not writing too much detail about August's spirals), or August's anxiety was different enough to mine that it didn't affect me.
firedragon27's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
teenykins's review
3.0
This is going to be a long review with some minor spoilers that I might have forgotten to put under tags.
As it can be seen this took me a while to finish. The reason is that
Because pretty early on I got a feeling that that might happen I re-checked the blurb and the TWs accompanying it and there was nothing mentioned, I was re-assured for a minute before my eye caught a review and said exactly that. So the story lost 1 star because of not mentioning that fact in the TWs. No stars have been removed from the review because of that, since that wouldn't be fair as I continued reading fully knowing it exists.
Anyways.... I have to say that I haven't read many books by E.M. Lindsey. I've read [b:Open Ice Hit|58977678|Open Ice Hit (The Sin Bin #1)|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632903656l/58977678._SY75_.jpg|92958437] which is a collaboration with [a:Marina Vivancos|17206706|Marina Vivancos|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599516156p2/17206706.jpg] and I'm not one of those readers that can discern which author wrote which POV or characters etc. So this makes 2. I like their writing style but sometimes it's too long winded. That's one of the things that kept circling in my mind because I read and read and read and not much was going on. Maybe it was because we spent more time in the minds of the MCs were they kept going round and round with their decisions and wants. So the little dialogue that existed didn't help with speeding things up.
Then I had these two constant niggles in my mind and they had to do with the Carnal Tower:
a. We kept reading about customers coming to the Carnal Tower to live their darkest fantasies but there were no mentions as to what those fantasies were. When you say darkest fantasies I'm going full on BDSM, blood play, primal, rape fantasies, incest fantasies, watersports etc but the only time a scene is fully played out on page is one with a non-sexual customer and them over-indulging in things they wanted as a kid but their parents always criticized.
There's even a point where August, on his Carnal Tower tour, sees an St. Andrews cross and Stone tells him that they aren't a BDSM club... so I don't know what to think. Yes, not everyone's dark fantasies need to be the things I mentioned above but the author kept building a mystique around the brothel that I just never saw.
b. Lust. Did we actually ever seen Stone be Lust? Again a big game was talked but when it came time to actually see Stone be the Lust we kept reading about, there was close to nothing. was as close as it ever came, and it was really, like reaaaaaally, HOT, but based on what the MCs themselves said, Stone had bled into his role as Lust.
So yeah the story kept promising things it didn't really deliver.
Now when it comes to August and Stone. They have few and very little interactions. We saw a lot more of August talking with his assistant and Stone with the other members of the brothel, than them together even in the most innocuous ways. And don't even get me started on the fact that. REALLY?! What was the point then of this story? To introduce the world and all the other characters? Because let me tell you, we got to know August some, but Stone? Apart from the fact that he escaped his home situation and joined the circus and that he lost his legs in an accident I can't really recall anything else about him, so much so that if the guy on the cover is supposed to be Stone I just can't reconcile that image with the Stone on the story as one and the same.
Should I mention the fact that at some point this exists:
'...the sound rising like a hymn to the shade of Cleopatra and Antony in their tower of iniquity'.
So I haven't read Dante's Inferno. If it wasn't mentioned in Stone's and August's first meeting I wouldn't know that the brothel's name is a reference to that. So a passage like the one above makes no sense to me, throwing me of the story because I can't make heads or tails of it till I google search. I don't want to stop what I'm reading to do google searches! So the author presuming that their readers will understand the reference was presumptuous.
Lastly why I almost DNF'd at 99% and I'm still considering whether to keep my rating at 3 stars or go below.
I'm Greek! And when I say Greek I mean full on, live in Greece, work in Greece, Greek is my first language kind of Greek. So the ANCIENT GREEKS had 7 words for love:
- Eros (romantic, passionate love) - falling in love
- Philia (affectionate love) - translation: friendship
- Agápe (selfless, empathetic, universal love)
- Storgé (unconditional, familial love)
- Ludus (playful love) - actually this is in latin. I'm not sure what word the A.G's used. Translation: Flirting.
- Philautia (self love)
- Pragma (enduring love) -it's a love built on commitment, understanding and long-term best interests. It is a love that has aged, matured and about making compromises to help the relationship work over time, also showing patience and tolerance.
I'm not sure if we still do. We have Eros, Philia, Agápe, Storgé. Flirting we don't think of it as love. Self love? oh boy that's a tangled thread right there. But Pragma? No man! Pragma to Greeks means thing. An inanimate object or something unspecified. Not love! Much less a love based on experiences and years together. That we just call it love and more specifically Agápe!. We pretty much use Agápe for everything but with different nuances depending if we are talking about an SO, someone from our family, a friend, an animal, something we love to do, music etc. So yeah that there at the end was such a hard drop from me out of the story my head is still spinning.
I received an ARC from Foreword PR and this is my honest review.
As it can be seen this took me a while to finish. The reason is that
Spoiler
there's consensual non-monogamy, although till where the epilogue leaves us, nothing on page like that has happened. It's just understood from both MCs that it happens since Stone when he is with August isn't "Lust" and what the customers get is "Lust" and not Stone.Because pretty early on I got a feeling that that might happen I re-checked the blurb and the TWs accompanying it and there was nothing mentioned, I was re-assured for a minute before my eye caught a review and said exactly that. So the story lost 1 star because of not mentioning that fact in the TWs. No stars have been removed from the review because of that, since that wouldn't be fair as I continued reading fully knowing it exists.
Anyways.... I have to say that I haven't read many books by E.M. Lindsey. I've read [b:Open Ice Hit|58977678|Open Ice Hit (The Sin Bin #1)|E.M. Lindsey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1632903656l/58977678._SY75_.jpg|92958437] which is a collaboration with [a:Marina Vivancos|17206706|Marina Vivancos|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1599516156p2/17206706.jpg] and I'm not one of those readers that can discern which author wrote which POV or characters etc. So this makes 2. I like their writing style but sometimes it's too long winded. That's one of the things that kept circling in my mind because I read and read and read and not much was going on. Maybe it was because we spent more time in the minds of the MCs were they kept going round and round with their decisions and wants. So the little dialogue that existed didn't help with speeding things up.
Then I had these two constant niggles in my mind and they had to do with the Carnal Tower:
a. We kept reading about customers coming to the Carnal Tower to live their darkest fantasies but there were no mentions as to what those fantasies were. When you say darkest fantasies I'm going full on BDSM, blood play, primal, rape fantasies, incest fantasies, watersports etc but the only time a scene is fully played out on page is one with a non-sexual customer and them over-indulging in things they wanted as a kid but their parents always criticized.
There's even a point where August, on his Carnal Tower tour, sees an St. Andrews cross and Stone tells him that they aren't a BDSM club... so I don't know what to think. Yes, not everyone's dark fantasies need to be the things I mentioned above but the author kept building a mystique around the brothel that I just never saw.
b. Lust. Did we actually ever seen Stone be Lust? Again a big game was talked but when it came time to actually see Stone be the Lust we kept reading about, there was close to nothing.
Spoiler
The last seen with August and Stone in the pewsSo yeah the story kept promising things it didn't really deliver.
Now when it comes to August and Stone. They have few and very little interactions. We saw a lot more of August talking with his assistant and Stone with the other members of the brothel, than them together even in the most innocuous ways. And don't even get me started on the fact that
Spoiler
4 of August's visits were sped through and summarized through August's musingsShould I mention the fact that at some point this exists:
'...the sound rising like a hymn to the shade of Cleopatra and Antony in their tower of iniquity'.
So I haven't read Dante's Inferno. If it wasn't mentioned in Stone's and August's first meeting I wouldn't know that the brothel's name is a reference to that. So a passage like the one above makes no sense to me, throwing me of the story because I can't make heads or tails of it till I google search. I don't want to stop what I'm reading to do google searches! So the author presuming that their readers will understand the reference was presumptuous.
Lastly why I almost DNF'd at 99% and I'm still considering whether to keep my rating at 3 stars or go below.
I'm Greek! And when I say Greek I mean full on, live in Greece, work in Greece, Greek is my first language kind of Greek. So the ANCIENT GREEKS had 7 words for love:
- Eros (romantic, passionate love) - falling in love
- Philia (affectionate love) - translation: friendship
- Agápe (selfless, empathetic, universal love)
- Storgé (unconditional, familial love)
- Ludus (playful love) - actually this is in latin. I'm not sure what word the A.G's used. Translation: Flirting.
- Philautia (self love)
- Pragma (enduring love) -it's a love built on commitment, understanding and long-term best interests. It is a love that has aged, matured and about making compromises to help the relationship work over time, also showing patience and tolerance.
Spoiler
Stone says that the Greeks have 7 words for love.Spoiler
So having Stone and August exchanging all romantic like the word Pragma, was like an anvil to the head. Not to mention the fact that the epilogue was set like 6 months in and based on the definition of Pragma as love it's a love built on long-term commitment and NOT on future long-term commitment as it was used.I received an ARC from Foreword PR and this is my honest review.
3ll3's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
theeclecticreview's review
5.0
Shades of Lust is the first book in The Carnal Tower series and the whole concept of a brothel and each hot male playing the part of the seven sins is brilliant.
Stone Brice's life has not been easy but his strong will and determination have made him a successful business owner of an exclusive male escort service called The Carnal Tower. Each escort is assigned one of the seven deadly sins and plays out that sin however they wish in the bedroom. Stone's sin is Lust and he has never had a close relationship until he meets the most intriguing man in the park. Can a lonely sinful man have a happy ever after?
August Ashley is a 43-year-old virgin painter with severe anxiety. He's lonely and isolated in his art gallery until he meets a gorgeous and beguiling man willing to trade his body for August's extremely realistic paintings of the seven sins. Can seven sessions of unbridled sex with the most beautiful man he's ever met keep his heart intact?
Wow! This love story is divine. August and Stone are two lonely men who want to be loved, but life's circumstances have not made it easy for them. It's a wonder August can function. He has been bullied or ignored all of his life and he is finally coming to terms with his sexuality. With Stone's kindness and understanding, August finally feels visible and wanted. Stone's natural ability to nurture is what holds the Sins men together and what makes August trust Stone completely. August sees past Stone's disability and his job as an escort and accepts Stone as the good man he is. I would also love to see August's paintings of the seven sins as he completes them. I'm sure they are stunning.
It is apparent that Stone's employees, the Sins, care deeply for him as they worry about August breaking Stone's heart. As I learned about each one of them, the more I couldn't wait to read their stories. Especially Stone's brother Flint (Wrath) who seems very vulnerable and volatile all at once. I also want to note that August's employee Gianna is a wonderful and caring friend to August as she takes care of him after his attacks without asking questions.
I highly recommend this beautifully-written story that is so much more than I expected. It is filled with profound insights into subjects such as severe anxiety, physical disabilities, and sexual awareness. The characters are compelling and the plot is intriguing and unique.
Thank you to E.M. Lindsey for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
Stone Brice's life has not been easy but his strong will and determination have made him a successful business owner of an exclusive male escort service called The Carnal Tower. Each escort is assigned one of the seven deadly sins and plays out that sin however they wish in the bedroom. Stone's sin is Lust and he has never had a close relationship until he meets the most intriguing man in the park. Can a lonely sinful man have a happy ever after?
August Ashley is a 43-year-old virgin painter with severe anxiety. He's lonely and isolated in his art gallery until he meets a gorgeous and beguiling man willing to trade his body for August's extremely realistic paintings of the seven sins. Can seven sessions of unbridled sex with the most beautiful man he's ever met keep his heart intact?
Wow! This love story is divine. August and Stone are two lonely men who want to be loved, but life's circumstances have not made it easy for them. It's a wonder August can function. He has been bullied or ignored all of his life and he is finally coming to terms with his sexuality. With Stone's kindness and understanding, August finally feels visible and wanted. Stone's natural ability to nurture is what holds the Sins men together and what makes August trust Stone completely. August sees past Stone's disability and his job as an escort and accepts Stone as the good man he is. I would also love to see August's paintings of the seven sins as he completes them. I'm sure they are stunning.
It is apparent that Stone's employees, the Sins, care deeply for him as they worry about August breaking Stone's heart. As I learned about each one of them, the more I couldn't wait to read their stories. Especially Stone's brother Flint (Wrath) who seems very vulnerable and volatile all at once. I also want to note that August's employee Gianna is a wonderful and caring friend to August as she takes care of him after his attacks without asking questions.
I highly recommend this beautifully-written story that is so much more than I expected. It is filled with profound insights into subjects such as severe anxiety, physical disabilities, and sexual awareness. The characters are compelling and the plot is intriguing and unique.
Thank you to E.M. Lindsey for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.
kaity_b's review
4.0
4-4.5 stars
Well this was an unexpected win for me. It might be due to the fact the Kirt Graves narrated this book, but I was hooked from page one and I couldn’t put it down.
It’s hard to say if there was cheating since Stone was an escort/sex worker…? But fancier? Haha so he still has his clients (and August is one of them, until you know feelings) haha but to me there it didn’t feel like cheating, my brain made the switch from Stone being Lust and Stone being Stone. But I can totally see how people will say this is cheating. There were scenes that Stone did have clients, not August, but no real on page sex happened, I think they were mostly non sexual (if my memory serves me right)
I did pick this book up mainly so I could read book two, since I was more interested in Jet, but I am so glad this book went above my expectations! I am excited to read about all the Sins!
Well this was an unexpected win for me. It might be due to the fact the Kirt Graves narrated this book, but I was hooked from page one and I couldn’t put it down.
It’s hard to say if there was cheating since Stone was an escort/sex worker…? But fancier? Haha so he still has his clients (and August is one of them, until you know feelings) haha but to me there it didn’t feel like cheating, my brain made the switch from Stone being Lust and Stone being Stone. But I can totally see how people will say this is cheating. There were scenes that Stone did have clients, not August, but no real on page sex happened, I think they were mostly non sexual (if my memory serves me right)
I did pick this book up mainly so I could read book two, since I was more interested in Jet, but I am so glad this book went above my expectations! I am excited to read about all the Sins!
freya_amber's review
4.5
I really liked this. The sex work aspect was uniquely done but great and I was really glad Stone doesn't give up his sex work for romance.
I also liked the disability rep. Both main characters are disabled in different ways.
I think the only issue I had is they seemed to fall in love very quickly. Though this is common in romance books and at least it wasn't insta-love.
Oh the kinks were mild, but some them weren't for me. "Little virgin" is an awful pet name and I dislike "slut".
No third act breakup was a win too. It was pretty low angst.
I also liked the disability rep. Both main characters are disabled in different ways.
I think the only issue I had is they seemed to fall in love very quickly. Though this is common in romance books and at least it wasn't insta-love.
Oh the kinks were mild, but some them weren't for me. "Little virgin" is an awful pet name and I dislike "slut".
nina_readsbooks's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
brittanymeeks's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0