Her Soul to Take
by Harley Laroux
Self Published
Book 1 in the Souls Trilogy
Leon
I earned my reputation among magicians for a reason: one wrong move and you're dead.
Killer, they called me, and killing is what I'm best at.
Except her.
The one I was supposed to take, the one I should have killed - I didn't.
The cult that once controlled me wants her, and I'm not about to lose my new toy to them.
Rae
I've always believed in the supernatural. Hunting for ghosts is my passion, but summoning a demon was never part of the plan. Monsters are roaming the woods, and something ancient - something evil - is waking up and calling my name.
I don't know who I can trust, or how deep this darkness goes.
All I know is my one shot at survival is the demon stalking me, and he doesn't just want my body - he wants my soul.
Her Soul to Take is book 1 in the Souls Trilogy. Although all the books are interconnected, they are stand-alone and can be read in any order.
Content Warning
This book contains graphic sexual scenes, violence, kink/fetish content, horror elements, and depictions of hard kink/edgeplay. This book is strictly fictional and is not meant to represent realistic expectations of BDSM or kink.
Kinks/Fetishes Within: consensual non-consent (CNC), breathe play/choking, bloodplay, spit, needle play (body modification fetish), pain play, fear play, public play, bondage, restraint, spanking/impact play.
Genre
Dark Supernatural Romance
Her Soul to Take is the first book in the Souls trilogy by Harley Laroux. It centers around Leon, a demon who is known as a killer, and Rae, a college student who finds herself in a world of trouble. Rae is a big believer in the supernatural, but she has a hard time coming to terms that her hometown has ancient monsters walking the woods, and a being that calls to her, and wants her death. Nor can she quite believe that the only person who can possibly save her from a horrific fate is a demon who can't seem to stay away. The problem is, he doesn't just want the mind-blowing sex they have when they come together - he wants her body and soul. But Rae is reluctant to give her soul to him. And the longer they fight their feelings for one another, the more danger Rae is in from the thing that calls to her in her dreams, the monsters it controls, and the cult that worships it.
After reading a contemporary romance series, and sadly dnfing Fire Heart, I was in the need of something spicy, and I was in the mood for a dark romance. So I scrolled through my TBR, and came across this series, that I didn't realize was not finished before I started it. So, there were things I really enjoyed about this book, and things I didn't. Harley Laroux is a pretty good author. She writes imagery very well, and this move played itself in my head much like a movie. The setting was creepy (perhaps a bit cliché, but it works), and I immediately felt like I was in a horror/thriller flick. The plot was interesting. The concept of a sleeping god - and that it was definitely evil - and a small town cult following was intriguing, and different from other books I have read.
The characters were great, but perhaps a little predictable. The chemistry between Rae and Leon wasn't terribly strong, but it seemed comfortable and unforced. The sex was great. One of the things I loved was how characters sexual preferences weren't even a discussion. No questions on labels - hell, no labels. You love who you love, and thats that. As for the sex itself, even if you aren't into this kind of sex, it wasn't off-putting ... for the most part. I don't kink shame here, and am pretty open minded. There was only one thing that made me cringe, and it might make you laugh. Spitting. I believe it only happens once, but I gagged a little. Not because of the sexual act that follows, but because spitting in general makes me feel actually sick. If I see some dude walking along and spitting, I gag. So reading about it ruined the entire act for me. haha. There is also a scene that involves piercing a very sensitive area(s) that gives me the shivers, not from disgust (I promise, I have lots of friends who have these piercings, and have no problem with it), but because I myself find those areas incredibly sensitive, and I imagine how much it would hurt. Otherwise, I had no problems. If I had to complain, it would be because it was a bit predictable.
I would never recommend this book to everyone. It's definitely on the darker side. There are lots of kink that may be disturbing to some. We are dealing with a small town cult, gods and monsters, and demons. There is dark, horror-esque content. But if you are the type of reader who enjoys this kind of thing, I think you will really enjoy this book. And I hope the second book intrigues me as much as the first.
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In French, there’s a phrase for the random urge to jump from high places, the irrational desire to swerve into traffic despite imminent destruction: l'appel du vide, the call of the void. Those sudden feral impulses tend to be shoved away immediately, but humans still experience them. What if you jumped? What if you touched the fire? What if? What if? When I looked at him, staring at me, the void called. What if? Leon: “It really is too bad for you that I enjoy seeing you suffer. But frankly, thinking of you having to get through your next class with your panties soaked and your pussy still begging to be filled just gives me the warm fuzzies.”
He smiled happily, and turned away with a little wave of his fingers.
Leon: “Au revoir, petit jouet. I’m sure you’ll suffer beautifully for me.” Leon: “Their skulls are the only part of them that don’t rapidly decay,”
he said, spearing the ground again.
Leon: “Keeping them around can make the others a little less eager to come into yard.”
I winced in disgust as he mounted the next skull on the stake. The once-white eyes in the skeletal sockets had shriveled and blackened like old grapes. Absolutely disgusting.
Rae: “I can’t just keep severed heads around my yard,”
Leon: “Oh, I’m sorry.”
Leon turned to face me.
Leon: “Do they not fit your aesthetic? Would death suit your aesthetic better?” Leon: “All the time you’ve spent playing in the dark — is this what you were waiting for? For some evil thing to come take you?” Leon; “I decided I wanted you,”
he said simply, but the words barely made their way out from between his teeth.
Leon: “I saw you, and...and I felt…”
He winced, as if the word stung. Felt. What did a demon feel?
Leon: “Not anger. Not hatred or fury. You…”
He turned his face away, staring back into the trees.
Leon: “You’re a light in the dark, and I’ve been in the dark a very long time.”
His words were like fists beating against my heart. It hurt, somehow, to hear something so genuine from him. And it terrified me, to feel it tug at me, to feel those beating fists press into my heart and pull. He looked at me again, and I forgot how to breathe.
Leon: “I want you. Irrevocably. But I can’t settle for less than all of you. Body and soul, Raelynn. We demons, when we see something we like, we need to possess it. It’s in our nature.” Funny, I’d always thought I would die angry. That I’d die for hatred and fury. Dying for love didn’t hurt any less; it probably hurt more. But I felt better than I thought I would.
