Review: Black Satin Confessions by Empress LaBlaQue

Black Satin Confessions (Revenge Anthology) by Empress LaBlaque

Publisher: Red Rose Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 2

Blurb

SHE

SHE is Lyria Grayson. After leaving an abusive relationship, Lyria became a Pulitzer Prize winning author. While hosting a book signing, she met and married wealthy Ezra Westbrook. Although she has everything she wants, the past still haunts her. The house where her torture occurred still stands. She vowed that one day she would return and burn it to the ground. Finally, that day has arrived. IR Confessions Contemporary. Empress LaBlaQue BW/WM empresslablaque.com



My Italian Vendetta

Mayor Ruben Barrett was one of the youngest and brightest mayors of all times. But, Ruben had a crippling disability. Although married, he just couldn’t conduct business with his pants on. If Nedra could shoot him and plead temporary insanity, she would. BW/WM



Caught in a Spider’s Web

Vestal Davis has a terrible crush on her supervisor, Cason Bridges. Cason does not realize Vestal exists until he uses her to make his ex-girlfriend jealous. BW/WM



Educating Kristin

Kristin Brady is a beautiful and innocent college freshman, just perfect for Professor Perry’s class experiment. When Kristin can’t make a passing grade in her psychology class, she discovers that Professor Perry has been conditioning her in a sex for grades experiment.



Lia’s Review

I must admit, when I see the word revenge, I get deliriously happy. I love the idea of people getting what they have coming. However, this “Revenge” anthology left a lot to be desired. Since the book contained four short stories, here are the reviews for all of them:

SHE

Years after the abuse has ended, Lyria Grayson is still haunted by her past. She feels like the only way she could rest is by burning down the house in which she was held prisoner by her abusive husband.

In the beginning, I felt like the dialog was a bit strained and unrealistic, but that improved as the story developed. I could see and feel Lyria’s motivation to burn down that old house even if it was the last thing she did. The burning wasn’t so much revenge as it was closure, however.
The story was engaging, although it contained a lot of plot holes that the author didn’t explain. Like if they have no electricity due to her husband not paying the bill, then how can she check the food in her refrigerator? Or after so many years of abuse, Lyria finally pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot her husband. Where did that gun come from and why didn’t she use it earlier?

My Italian Vendetta

Nedra is an ugly duckling married to a gorgeous politician who is so embarrassed by his wife’s appearance that he makes her stay at home rather than take her to social functions. When she finds him cheating (for the millionth time) she decides it’s time for a makeover to save her marriage.

The story was rather short and the writing was seamless, but once again the concept of revenge left a lot to be desired. I could not relate to Nedra who so easily forgave him for cheating and rather than getting revenge, she got a makeover so she could be more attractive to him.

Caught in a Spider’s Web

Vestal has a huge crush on Cason, so when he needs her help to make his ex jealous, she sees that as an opportunity to make him her own.

I liked Vestal, although she was a bit of a doormat. Cason, however, was not fit to be a hero. He was a self-centered, selfish, spoiled little brat and rather an idiot. He was blown away when Vestal informed him that relationships are about human connection rather than just sex. I thought the story was going to be redeemed after that, but Cason got dumber with every page turn. I was happy when Vestal left him and continued reading in hope of her getting revenge on him for what he did. However, when Cason came back to her with his tail between his legs, she forgave him rather easily which was a bit disappointing.

Educating Kristin

Kristin is getting an F in her collage class unless she gives the professor some sex.

This kind of harassment happens all the time in real colleges, but this story didn’t do any justice to the actual crime. Once again, revenge was not involved in this story and it didn’t even fit in with the other three. It felt like the author just threw this in to make up for a word count shortage, feeling out of place

All-in-all, SHE was the only story worth reading; it was the only one that showcased likeable and realistic characters. The book would have been better if SHE was the only story in it.

2 Tea Cups!