Red-Haired Ash Reads

TW: non-consensual sexual encounters; confinement; violence; sexual assault mentioned; 

It’s been since 2013 since I last read an Immortals After Dark book and I remember nothing about the series so I figured it was time for a reread. I knew this book was problematic when going into it but still wanted to start at the beginning so I get a better sense of all the characters and world. Also I am the kind of person who can’t read a series out of order. 

Nikolai Wroth is a Forebearer Vampire who finds his Bride as a prisoner in the castle of his enemy. Myst the Coveted bloods him, makes him all horney, then abandons him in his sexual state for five years because she is the only one who can release him. Once he finally catches her he uses a gold chain that takes away her free will to keep her with him and get his revenge on her leaving him. 

While I know this is problematic, which I will get to, I did like some things about this story. Myst the Coveted was a great heroine. She was fun, cocky, flirty, and a self-assured woman who takes no shit. I really liked her and how she refused to settle for a man who didn’t see the real her. This world that Cole has created is fascinating. I love a good paranormal world with all kinds of creatures and so far we have vampires, valkyries, and other species hinted at. I am really interested in seeing more of this world. 

What I didn’t like about this story was basically Nikolai and him taking away Myst’s free will and using the chain to control her. He doesn’t use the chain to  force her to have sex with him, but he does for her to seek her own pleasure in front of him, even after she repeatedly tells him no. This is clearly a lack of consent and I didn’t like it, or Nikolai at all after that. Nikolai also believes Myst sleeps around as part of her powers to control men and views her as a slut when she hasn’t even done half the actions he accused her of. He goes so far as to claim he is going to use the chain to change her personality and make her forget everything about her past and family to make his ideal version of her. So yeah, even though he sees the error of his ways in the end, I don’t like Nikolai at all.

I wouldn’t recommend starting this series with this book because this novella can be incredibly off putting. I only started with this book because I have technically read this series before and knew I liked it so I knew I shouldn’t base this series on this book.

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