A Soul to Keep: Duskwalker Brides: Book One

I picked up A Soul to Keep as an audiobook for book club and immediately thought, why on earth is this thing eighteen hours long? That’s a full-time job’s worth of monster romance. I stuck with it, though. Let me start by saying I have officially learned that monster smut is not for me. Orpheus’ body descriptions just weren’t it. I tried, I really did, but I could not find the appeal in a skull-faced, antlered man with a tail situation going on. But if that’s your jam, this book might be the gold standard. Plot-wise, it’s giving Beauty and the Beast meets if you feed her and ask for consent, she’s yours. Reia is a gorgeous virgin (of course she is) sacrificed by her village to Orpheus, a Duskwalker who’s part protector, part soul-eater, and fully lonely. Turns out, he just wants a willing human companion, specifically a clean and willing woman. The village men interpret the clean woman requirement as virgin, which was both predictable and annoyingly sexist. What Orpheus really wanted was someone disease-free and emotionally open, but nuance isn’t the village men’s strong suit. What was kind of sweet, though, was Orpheus’ yearning for connection. After absorbing traits from everything he’s eaten, including humans, he develops emotions, and now all he wants is love. Unfortunately, he also eats people who don’t want to be there, which feels like a bit of a red flag. Still, I’ll give the author credit for writing a surprisingly tender monster. The book’s message on how to win over a woman is actually solid. Feed her, teach her to wield a sword, worry about her wellbeing, get her consent, plant her a garden, read with her, talk her through sex, and genuinely listen. Even if you look like a walking nightmare, you’ll win her over through being selfless. Revolutionary, right? The sex scenes were fine, but I couldn’t get into them because… antlers and bells? No, thank you. The tentacle talk made me want to crawl out of my skin. That said, I loved how vocal Reia was. She’s got some confidence. Orpheus’ dirty talk was surprisingly hot. Reia’s jealous streak annoyed me a little, but I appreciated her self-awareness and her ability to reflect instead of spiral. I also really liked how Orpheus comforted her about her family’s death and reminded her it wasn’t her fault. That’s the kind of emotional support every fantasy heroine deserves. The ending was a letdown for me. I wanted Reia to travel and live her dream of freedom, not get roped into a future pregnancy and trad wife life. She earned her independence! Let her have it! Overall, the writing was smooth, easy to follow, and honestly way better than I expected for this genre. The narrators were excellent, especially Orpheus’ voice which was deep, eerie, and emotional. This was an entertaining listen while doing chores, but I’m tapping out of monster romances. I’ll probably try Opal Reyna’s Pirate Romance series next, though. If she can make me swoon without skull heads and antlers, I’m in.

Loved loved loved this book. I have not enjoyed a book so much in a long time. Will be thinking about this one for awhile!

Kinda long for not really much happening. He’s only hot if you like fucking men with the emotional regulation abilities of a 7 year old child.

first book that got me into reading more novels❤️‍🔥