ARC Review: ‘Carnage’ by Shantel Tessier
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the blog tour host in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Carnage
by Shantel TessierPublished by Self-Published on October 30, 2023
SubGenres: Dark Romance, Erotic Romance, Erotica
Format: eArc
Pages: 628
Source: the blog tour host
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An all-new dark standalone romance from the USA Today & Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Shantel Tessier. Carnage is based in the Lords' world and can be read as a standalone.
A PUPPET The men in the secret society known as the Lords think they rule the world. And in a way, they do. Each has sold their soul to the devil at a young age in exchange for power and wealth. Like anything else, they have different levels of success. The more they’re willing to serve, the more power they have.
Among them are the Spade brothers, who run Carnage. It’s where the Lords who have not held up their oath go to live out the rest of their lives in shackles. Tucked away from the world as if they never existed.
I VOW. YOU VOW. WE VOW.
I once belonged to a Lord—Saint Beckham Carter. Although nothing was holy about him, I still kneeled as if he could grant me eternity in a world where only evil existed.
At the time, I willingly vowed to be his and allowed him to share me with his “brothers.” But things changed. And what I thought couldn’t get any better got exceptionally worse. So I did the only thing I could and ran from him, knowing I could never return.
Now he’s found me and dragged me back to his hell, where he will make me his pet. The world already thinks I’m dead, so no one will miss me. And I’m just another name on a long list of those who will never know freedom.
What he doesn’t know is why I ran from him in the first place. A Lord doesn’t listen to reason, so it’s not like he’d care anyway. Saint was born a Lord, and he will die as one.
If life has taught me anything, it’s that we all pay for our sins. And Saint will never let me forget that my place is at Carnage, serving him on my knees until death is granted.
Sadly, Carnage will not be my favorite in the L.O.R.D.S world, and I’m upset it wasn’t because this was one of my most-anticipated books after reading Sacrifice earlier this year. I really wanted to like this book, but unfortunately, I found myself skipping over most of the book. Now, I enjoy a book that has smut in it, especially if written well, but if there is too much smut and a lot of repetition doing the same thing over and over, then I tend to lose interest. I needed a storyline and felt this book lacked it, especially when it’s considered a revenge story. The revenge plot didn’t come until toward the end, and by that time, I was ready to be done with reading the book.
Shantel Tessier split the book into two parts—the first part was okay and kept me intrigued enough to keep reading the second part, especially with how Ashtyn became Saint’s Chosen. I did feel for Ashtyn because she grew up in this world of the Lords and knew what was expected of her. She was okay with it and had wanted to be Saint’s Chosen. She didn’t have much of a backbone like previous FMCs that I had read in this world, but I believe it had to do with her mother and how she treated Ashtyn. Ashtyn’s mother was the worst, and I couldn’t stand her.
My main issue was with Saint and how he was described as being an OTT J/P MMC, and he was to a point, especially in the second part of the story. I believe this book would have been better written as an RH, especially with how he shared his Chosen with the other Spade brothers. One of the Spade brothers admitted to having feelings for Ashtyn, too, and Ashtyn liked all the brothers, but she loved Saint (supposedly).
I wished I had enjoyed this book more because, again, this book was one of the most anticipated reads for 2023. I wanted the revenge storyline more in the story, and it didn’t come until the end, when everything was revealed. This is when Saint showed his OTT J/P side, and I was here for it. You can call me a sadist for it, but I love reading the part ‘Who hurt you’ or ‘Where is my wife’ and reading the MMC go off the deep end to save his significant other/loved one.
Will I read the next book in the series? Yes, because I need to know who Kaston and Haidyn end up with, especially since they did have Chosens, but they were rarely mentioned. Haidyn is the one I am mainly intrigued with after what happened to him in this book.
Story Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Steam/Spice: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶
Standalone or Part of Series: I know it’s been mentioned that this book can be read as a standalone, but I recommend reading the other books set in the L.O.R.D.S world. I loved having Ryat, Sin, and Tyson show up in this book, plus other characters from Shantel’s other series that I need to read now.
Would I recommend this book? Although this book didn’t get a high rating for me, I’m still going to recommend it to readers who enjoy reading Dark Erotic Romance, that has a lot of smut in it.
Genre/SubGenre(s): Romance | Dark Romance | Erotic Romance
Trope(s)/Element(s): Secret Society | Revenge Romance | OTT J/P MMC | Virgin FMC
Content Warning(s): Please check your triggers before reading this book. Shantel lists TW at the beginning of the book.
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About Shantel Tessier
Shantel is a USA Today & Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author. Who lives in Oklahoma with her high school sweetheart, who is a wonderful, supportive husband and their two daughters. She loves to spend time cuddled up on the couch with a good book.
She considers herself extremely lucky to get to do what she loves while wearing pajamas. Going to concerts and the movies are just a few of her favorite things to do. She hates coffee, but loves wine. Although she has a passion to write, her family is most important to her. She loves spending evenings at home with her husband and daughters, watching Netflix.
My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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