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Master of Salt & Bones

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When I was a little girl, I dreamed a handsome knight would come and rescue me from my wretched mother. He'd ride up on his white steed and break the curse I've been fated to carry since the day I was born.

Funny how things changed over time. How the fairy tale twisted into something far more crooked, darker than I ever imagined.

In reality, my knight is scarred and broken, living alone in a castle of bones that overlooks the sea. He isn’t searching for me. He never was.

Lucian Blackthorne is as cursed as I am, and equally shunned by the locals, the fishers of men, who believe him to be the devil in the flesh.

Perhaps he is, with the way his amber eyes draw me in, ignite me like an infernal blaze. And the sins he whispers in my ear are as wickedly intoxicating as the man himself.

Yet, his touch is heaven and his will is my weakness.

He calls us forbidden, an unsalvageable tragedy, with no happy end. Maybe we are. But in this story, he’s the one who needs saving.

552 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 18, 2020

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About the author

Keri Lake

40 books9,180 followers
Author of gothic romance who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists.

I love connecting with readers, so feel free to join my reading group: http://bit.ly/2lWjOFg

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5 stars
9,108 (34%)
4 stars
9,303 (35%)
3 stars
5,187 (19%)
2 stars
1,782 (6%)
1 star
760 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,589 reviews
Profile Image for Nilufer Ozmekik.
2,834 reviews56k followers
January 16, 2025
Yessssssssssss!! This is the dangerous combination I truly adore: a gothic mansion made of bones, dark, intense, erotic, horrific, psychological, soul crushing story: Beauty and the beast meets Phantom of the Opera and Jane Eyre!

And of course, just take a look at this amazing cover! Sigh!

Two broken, secluded, distinguished MCs and their extremely emotional, tragic, heart breaking, angsty, pant melting story!

Lucian Blackthorne: even telling his name aloud makes your heart pounding faster. What a charismatic, dangerous, secretive, seductive but also caring, deeply atoned, sad and lonely character.
He is the Alpha hero we’re always looking for!

He’s devil of Bonesalt, the monster of Tempest Cove, the mad son. There are so many rumors about him including killing his own son and wife, a psychopathic, enigmatic man who doesn’t live his mansion, hiding behind shadows.

Isadora Quinn is unique heroine, brave, straightforward, musical prodigy who is a daughter of junkie mother, abandoned to be raised by her auntie when she was only ten, shunned by the village people who are constantly gossiping and verbally abusing her about the traumatizing incident she’s been involved at a high school party.

Now she is hired to live at the mansion for assisting Lucian’s ailing mother.

But as soon as she takes her first step to this haunted place, she realizes her life will never be the same. Especially meeting with the dark lord of the mansion and being enchanted by his charismatic power.

This book is hidden, underrated gem. It’s twisty, angsty, surprising, extremely smart. There are so many jaw dropping moments. It was like walking in the minefields. Anytime an unexpected bomb may explode and shakes you to the core with new revelations.

It looks like a long journey but I wish there would be more parts. It never bores you. The pacing, psychological high tension, too gothic world building were well developed. The characters are dark, deeply layered, likable.

It’s hot, steamy but it’s also jaw dropping, action packed, mind numbing.

Some of the twists we’re foreseeable but they were still well-crafted.

Overall: I didn’t expect to love this book too much and I’m so happy to discover this shiny gem. It was smart, heart pounding , entertaining.

I highly recommend it to the genre lovers. ( Thriller, psychological thriller, gothic, erotic romance)

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Profile Image for jessica.
2,620 reviews46.1k followers
September 30, 2020
this is the kind of dark and psychologically twisted story that makes you feel like a terrible person for really enjoying it. which should be a genre all on its own, honestly, because i really do love these kinds of stories.

the characters are compelling, the story is mysterious, the writing is engaging. so many things about this draw a reader in, regardless of how messed up a lot of it is.

definitely not a story for everyone, but i found this to be so fascinating.

4 stars
Profile Image for Chelsea Humphrey.
1,487 reviews82.5k followers
September 17, 2022
"The breath of new life. The steady pulse in my veins. The long-awaited beat of a heart that's been dead too long. My kindred flame."

I finished this book almost a week ago, and I've been constantly thinking about it ever since; if that's not the telltale sign of a personal 5 star read, then I don't know what is. Each time I bring myself to type of my feelings surrounding the gothic, yet contemporary atmosphere, the haunted, tragic characters, and the dark and disturbing plot of Master of Salt & Bones, I can't quite find the words to do it justice.

Is this book for everyone? Certainly not. There is an assortment of unsettling factors to this book, including (but not limited to): . All that to say, this one is part dark age gap romance, part psychological thriller, especially as the final 15% of the book really ramps up to a different pacing than the previous portion of the book. If you enjoy the idea of a modern gothic Phantom of the Opera meets Beauty and the Beast, you've come to the right place.

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Profile Image for ✩ Mira ✩.
95 reviews161 followers
August 6, 2020
1.5 stars because I liked some of the chapters set in the past

me, for the entirety of this book:



So, my biggest problem with Master of Salt & Bones is that this book felt like it had no idea what it wanted to be and accomplish. Oh, and literally nothing happened for the first 40%, and considering that this is one chonky boi (560 pages), it was A LOT and it DRAGGED.

Was it a romance? Not really.
This is what I expected it to be going in and I think that that's the impression the blurb is trying to leave - we have an isolated, elusive, misunderstood, suffering, brooding H who lives in this castle and is the town's legend and we have this again misunderstood and jaded girl, who goes to work in the castle. I imagined that she would see him for who he truly is, slowly break down his walls and they'd have this sweet romance that'd make me feel super soft.

past me, now that I've finished the book:



There was a romantic subplot in there but it was sooo under-developed that I just couldn't feel anything between the characters. They had no reason for being together, besides the fact that they found the other attractive. I just felt annoyed while reading their scenes together, not that there were many of them.
Their relationship was supposed to be "sex only" at first, but it never really was, and the H became super obessive to the point of being toxic (I know that this was discussed in the book - he admitted that she was his obsession, but it was never dealt with, and that's just..... not healthy, sweetie :)))))); acceptance is just the first stage)
Plainly, I hated them together.

Was it a mystery? Maybe?
There were some "mysterious" things happening throughout the story, but none of them were really explained. So, they just felt like magic realism. There was the whole mystery of what happened to Lucian's family, which we learnt about and I'll say this - the flashbacks and that whole plotline were my favourite thing and I found them actually interesting. Especially that one chapter about Lucien and his son was amazing.
The rest honestly just left me confused (actually it didn't "leave" me confused because I was never un-confused while reading Master of Salt & Bones .

Was it a murder/ crime story? Kinda?
There were a loooot of murders in this book, too much, imo, actually. I didn't really get the point of them though, this subplot was the weakest, it involved characters that I didn't care about, the murderer and their reason was super idiotic and it honestly contributed nothing to the story.

Was it a phychological story? Again, kind of, but not enough.
So, there is this plotline about but it didn't play a part in the story set in the present. He seemed cured of all the trauma and "forbidden desires" he had.
There was also this whole thing about sadism being a genetic thing, which brings me to

Was this a book about a secret society? idk man
There was this whooole plotline with this secret society of super powerful men, who studied sadism and how it's apparently genetic and it can be artificially imbeded into one's DNA, and then passed down to their children. Now, I ain't no scientist but this sounds like a whole load of bullshit to me.
And they pay people to torture them?


There were also a lot of other things in this book that I just can't place in the above-mentioned categories.

i hope that I managed to properly communicate my mental state which was (and still is) just
Profile Image for Kat valentine ( Katsbookcornerreads).
736 reviews1,196 followers
June 1, 2020
What a delicious fucking ride this book was!!! Darkly erotic and all kinds of sinfully scorching sex and steam!! I haven't read a book with characters that kept my attention and focus as much as this book did!! Truly amazing writing that sucked you down the rabbit hole and didn't let you up for air!!The devil of bonesalt Lucian Blackthorne is everything a women should run from he's whispered to be a murder and known as the Mad son and his sexual debauchery is legendary and especially to a young 19 girl like Isa who has her share of bad things that have happened to her,but when she goes to Blackthorne castle to be a companion to his mother and their paths meet seeing him for the first time and knowing what the town calls him behind his back a monster and a murder she finds out that their is more to this man and sparks start flying and soon a sensual dance begins.Lucian trys to fight the heady attraction that he feels every time he hears,see's or thinks about her! Isa is getting under his skin and he knows the only way to stop it is to fuck her a couple of times and get her out of his system,but what he finds in her bed is a kindred soul because not only does he have secrets so does Isa. This book was what I call dark erotica, both Isa and Lucian went through horrible things as children that warped their minds and made them different. They were meant to be together and find love and help each other to put old ghosts to peace so that they could be happy together. This is the first book I've read by Kerri Lake and I'm very impressed with her storytelling and her amazing writing!!! The characters were all very good and so complexed it was like peeling layers with every page I read!! It has mystery,suspence and great snarky humor which had me laughing on and off and steam factor was pretty fucking hot!!! It was kinky ,sexy and done perfectly!!! A word of warning before sitting down to read have a extra pair of panties and maybe your little friend you keep in the night stand, it's gonna be one hell of a read!!😉 Until Next Time Luv's💕💋
Profile Image for Arini.
857 reviews2,088 followers
August 1, 2020
3.75 Stars

I wouldn’t have pegged this for a romance judging by the cover, but then again, I don’t think it’s exactly that either. It read like a sexy/erotic/psychological thriller. In other words, it’s beautifully dark and bewitching, and I LOVED it—though not without restrictions.

From the gothic atmosphere of the seaside manor to the beastly man Lucian Blackthorne, the f*cked up secret society, the masquerade ball, the psycho mother who loves collecting creepy dolls, the messed up family dynamics, the suspense and mystery . . . it’s all so alluring.

Since the book is shelved as romance, it’s unfortunate that this part doesn’t get as much focus as I would’ve liked. I loved that it’s an age gap trope, and don’t get me wrong, the book has it all covered when it comes to the sexual relationship. However, it just felt like the development was condensed.

On another note, a good chunk of this book consists of flashbacks. While I found the subject in them intriguing, they also got old pretty fast. I never skimmed, but I wanted too. I would much prefer if some of those chapters had been used to polish up the romance.

This book has one of the most disturbing plot. Seriously, Lucian and Isadora, whether individually or together, are like magnets for all kinds of predators. You’ll get the twists and turns, the thrill and horror. The only problem is that the ending is a little rushed, and it doesn’t really amount to anything.

Master of Salt & Bone is a unique and deeply engrossing read that I could’ve otherwise given a five stars to. In any case, don’t deny yourself a Lucian Blackthorne and make sure to treat yourself to this sinister Beauty and the Beast-esque tale, for I think this is still worth checking out.
Profile Image for Lana ❇✾DG Romance❇✾.
2,223 reviews13.4k followers
April 19, 2020
5 STARS

Together, we are madness. And there is music in madness and madness in love.


Magical, all encompassing, enthralling, with a dark undercurrent and a romance that's literally to die for, this book was everything!

How do I even begin to review this book. Keri Lake is a master of her craft. She's written some of the most memorable stories I've read to date. Her romances are unique and unlike any I've read before. And this goes double for Master of Salt & Bones. This is a shift away from Keri's usual dark romance, but it's still somewhere there in the middle. It's a gothic romance full of mind blowing twists and jaw dropping secrets. It tells the tale of an unlikely romance between a mysterious recluse and the young ingenue that tempts him beyond reason.

Lucian Blackthorne. The Devil of Bonesalt. Just saying the man's name gives me shivers. Keri has written some of my favorite antiheroes, but this man? He is something else. If you like tortured heroes, prepare to give your heart away. Lucian hides devastating secrets. He's richer than sin and the town recluse for reasons that slowly unwind as the story unfolds. He's mysterious, aloof, and ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants.

Isadora Quinn is a young woman with secrets of her own. She's lived her entire life underneath the shadow of her mother's sins in their small town. Desperate for an escape, she takes a job as a caretaker for Lucian's mother. The second she enters the Blackthorne manor, life as she knows it, takes a turn.

There are dangerous secrets lurking in every dark corner. And the man that warns her off with every sharp bite of his temper holds the darkest secrets of all. He pushes when she pulls, and then he pulls when she pushes. Theirs is an intricate seductive dance of forbidden and dangerously alluring. Isa is everything that Lucian doesn't deserve and can't have, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't temp him beyond reason. She's too young, but only in years. Hers is an old soul that has survived too much in her young life. But there's something more that binds them. Something more dangerous. Something darker. Something that Lucian already knows he craves and Isa is only figuring out.

This book, y'all. GAH. It's THICK. The story is a bit of a slow pace in the beginning as it sets the scene. But then right around the second half, it takes off like a bullet. I loved the dark allure and the sharp edge that this romance carried. It was a little depraved and a whole lot twisted. And this girl? Loved every single page.

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Profile Image for ❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books.
2,483 reviews10.3k followers
May 4, 2020
xcx

MY REVIEW AND OTHERS: can also be found on my blog:
➽ KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS

MASTER OF SALT AND BONES Is a full length, dark suspenseful romance read, by new to me author Keri Lake. Spoken in 'Dual perspectives.' In this we meet Lucian & Isadora.

I'd seen 'Master of Salt & Bones' doing the rounds on my IG, HERE and FB and couldn't help myself, I HAD to one click!! I craved something different, something unique, the cover is absolutely gorgeous, and being that its a new to me author I was willing to jump in both feet!! And I'm so glad I took that plunge, because straight away I was pulled under this authors spell.

God what wasn’t there to love about this book.
I wanted unique, I got it, I wanted an unputdownable read, I got it, I wanted to forget about the ugliness our world is currently experiencing, I got it. This ticked so many boxes. The mystery, the darkness, the twists and turns, the romance, the vast age difference. God the feels on this one came at me full force.

Living in a small sea side community known by its superstitions resides 'Blackthorne Manor' a modern day castle which overlooks the township otherwise known as Bonesalt due its white clay and sand that covers the exterior of the castle. This very castle is owned by the only heir Lucian Blackthorne, he's also called the Devil of Bonesalt a man shrouded in mystery with a double homicide attached to his name.

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It is said that when Lucian was younger he was incarcerated in a psychiatric ward and scars mar half his face. The very scars that earned him the devil moniker.

The devil of Bonesalt.
My new boss.

For a few months, desperate for an escape nineteen year old Isadora will be hired as a companion to Lucian's ailing mother. Being a daughter of a sinner and father unknown she's lived her life striving to escape the hold the island has on her.

Since childhood she's had an uncanny ability to play music by ear, even though she doesn't have the ability to actually read sheet music itself.

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It was my mother who first told me that there was no such thing
as fairy tales with happy endings.
That's because she spent her whole life waiting for the white knight
to come and rescue her from the life she so desperately wanted to escape.
I went in search of the villain instead,
and found him alone and in pain, living in a castle of bones.


I loved how past and present was incorporated. This is exactly how a long book should be executed!!
This author definitely has a way with words, she had me eating out of her palm effortlessly. I devoured this and I can honestly say that this book won’t be the last one I read by her. I absolutely loved it. Every page pulled me in deeper and deeper. This is exactly the type of dark, twisted story that I love!

This comes highly recommended by yours truly. Get your one click on. You won't regret it!!


Profile Image for Navessa.
449 reviews620 followers
July 24, 2021
Watch the video review here:



“The heart is a dangerous organ that isn’t meant to be free. Why else would God have built a cage for it?”

About a week ago, I wrote an article devoted to Gothic Romance because I think it’s a very underrated and undersaturated subgenre right now, and I’d like to see that change. After drafting it, I bought nearly every title on the list, and now I plan to work my way through them.

With it’s Jane Eyre vibes and overwhelmingly positive reviews, Master of Salt & Bones jumped to the top of my TBR, and after finishing it, I have to say that this is everything I ever wanted from a modern Gothic Romance. It’s dark, atmospheric, macabre, and twisted in all the right ways.

To really classify as a Gothic Romance, a book has to have a mystery, sometimes supernatural, always tinged with a little bit of horror. The backdrop tends to be some sort of sprawling, maze-like mansion or a castle. The female leads are usually trying to balance what they want with what society expects of them, while the male leads live almost entirely outside of society. All of these themes hold true in this book.

Isadora, or Izzy, our female lead, is from a small fishing village on an island off the Massachusetts coast, much like Martha’s Vineyard, and thanks to her lineage, she’s something of a pariah. Lord, did I relate to her.

Some backstory: I’m originally from Cape Cod. My family has fished the rough seas surrounding it since we landed there with the Mayflower. We’re a blood of the earth kind of people, with saltwater flowing through our veins.

Very rarely do I read books set where I am from, because they never get it right. Keri Lake got it right. She managed to perfectly depict the small-town mentality that still exists there. The apathy for the throngs of summer tourists, paired with the begrudging need for them to prop up what would otherwise be a dying economy. She captured the gossip, too, and the fact that hatred for some families goes back generations, and there’s nothing the current one can do to break free from the curse of their forefathers.

I understand this well. My family is made up entirely of fishermen, and criminals. There’s mention of us in books going back as far as the late 1600s, and the quote from that one goes something like, “There are two _____ families on Cape Cod. One is spelled with an E, and they are all horse thieves. The ones with an I are even worse than that.”

I’m from the I family. Not much has changed since that book was published. Nearly every one of my male relatives still living has been incarcerated. So, yeah, to say that I’m impressed with how well this author captured what it was like for me growing up in that place is an understatement.

But this isn’t about me, it’s about the book. If Izzy is a pariah, then Lucian, the male lead, is nothing short of the specter that haunts the entire island. He’s the ghost story kids tell to scare each other. People cringe at the very mention of his name. The driveway to his home, a castle said to be built on the bones of his family’s enemies, is lined with crosses to ward against his evil.

“Maybe that’s the reason they call him the devil. Because the madness that breathes within these walls is as real as the man who feeds it.”


One of the things I loved about this book is that Lucian’s reputation is well-earned. It’s not one of those romances where you meet the male lead and find out he doesn’t deserve the black mark against him and is secretly a stand-up guy. He’s not, and you should be prepared for that going into this.

When I said at the beginning of this review that this book is dark, I meant it. There are some themes here a lot of readers will struggle with. TWs for sexual assault, abuse, violence, suicide, institutionalization, breath play, knife play, animal cruelty, torture, murder, hallucinations, panic attacks, severe mental health issues, and probably several others I just can’t remember right now.

On a more positive note, everything that happens between Lucian and Izzy is consensual. He’s not the typical abusive asshole you find in a lot of dark romances. Consent matters to him, and while he’s openly enamored with the fantasy of forcing Izzy, it’s only the fantasy he’s attracted to, and he wouldn’t pursue it without her agreement – actual rape is horrifying to him.

So while I loved this book, I can’t gushingly recommend it like I would with any other five-star read. But if you might be okay with those triggers, then my god do you have one hell of a book to look forward to.

There are several overlapping plots in this, each a mystery unto itself, but the main one is Lucian. That’s right, this author managed to make the male lead into such an enigma that I spent 3/4 of this voraciously consuming his backstory and still I want more. What drives someone with such dark desires? How did he become the person that he is today? Is he really as mad as everyone says? And if he is, how the hell can he and Izzy ever be happy together? Especially when Izzy might not be the innocent 19-year-old I first believed her to be.

I don’t want to really get into any specifics with this because there are so many potential spoilers that I might veer too close to, and really, this is a book that should be read instead of read about.

I do have one regret about Izzy’s character, and it’s that she didn’t have as much progression as I would have liked to see. Actually, she had a lot of growth overall. What I’m really trying to say is that she didn’t embrace part of herself as much as I hoped she would. Because if she had: dark phoenix rising. My god, did want. So maybe that says more about me than anything else, lol.

I also had one or two issues toward the end, and I almost dropped the rating to four stars instead of five because of it. I just couldn’t do that, though, because overall, I fucking loved this book, and I know I’ll end up re-reading it whenever I’m in the mood for something deliciously dark. It will stay with me for weeks to come, and that, more than anything else, speaks volumes about how much it meant to me.

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Profile Image for ✰ Liz ✰ .
1,397 reviews1,355 followers
April 24, 2020
"Between the grip of my throat and his mouth on mine, I can't breathe."
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Master of Salt & Bones is a complex dark romance with a tortured alpha hero and a young (and spunky heroine) just looking for a way to escape the life she has been given. Lucian Blackthorne is a mysterious man who lives in a mansion on the water with a tortured past. He has quite the reputation in his town as being the "Devil of Bonesalt, the Mad Son..." and yet, reluctantly, Isadora Quinn decides to move into the mansion and become Lucian's ailing mother's assistant. Coming from a broken home, Isa carries quite a bit of baggage. She is desperate to escape the poverty and ridicule of her home life. When Lucian meets Isa, she opens up a well of emotion that he hasn't allowed himself to feel (much less acknowledge). Somehow Isa manages to break down the Mad Son bare and together they become a force to be reckoned with. However, the stakes are high for Isa and Lucian to find solace in each other and escape the demons of their past.
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"I'd have given up my soul to the devil himself for you. If that isn't fucking love, then I don't know what is."
Told in multiple POV, Master of Salt & Bones is a complex story with dark undertones and a lose Beauty and the Beast type theme. There is a well-developed plot with many twists and turns as the story unfolds. As the timeline shifts between the past and the present, the supporting ensemble of characters enhances the plot with expert precision. The lines between good and evil are blurred greatly, as the sparks between Lucian and Isa continue to burn into an inferno of passion and desire!
"I want you to come back."
Overall, Master of Salt & Bones will appeal to readers who enjoy a dark romance with mystery, passion, and intrigue in their read. The plot is dense with a number of complexities and yet, as always, Ms. Lake displays her expert storytelling skills by captivating me with each page turn. There are certain aspects of the story that did not appeal to me and yet overall, I appreciated Lucian and the way in which he was able to overcome.

🖤ARC graciously provided in exchange for an honest review!

🖤 🐟This is an (F)BR with WAR, Loyda and CC! 🖤 🐟

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January 8, 2023
“Together, we are madness. And there is music in madness, and madness in love.”


master of salt and bones more like master of sass and boners


this book and the thousand trigger warnings it comes with, is in equal parts disturbing and hot and keri lake made me convince myself i have a questionable amount of kinks i never thought i'd have in a single lifetime.
i absolutely loved the gothic vibes and was gripped by the unaplogetic wrongness that is the entirety of this book.
in case you're having doubts about my mental sanity, i'll invite you to check out the warning sign i put right below the first paragraph of my review.
repeat after me: unless you show proper and actual signs of specific psychopaties, enjoying problematic fictional content doesn't make a monster of you.
go and be wild, darling.


trigger warnings:

ACTUAL RATINGS 3,5/5


🚩𝙿𝙾𝚂𝚂𝙸𝙱𝙻𝙴 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝙱𝙻𝙴𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙲 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝙰𝙻𝙴𝚁𝚃!*🚩
*𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜, 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍/𝚘𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌/𝚝𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚌/𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚚𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎.
𝙸, 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠, 𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚎𝚍𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍, 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚣𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚓𝚘𝚢𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎:
-𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢;
-𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚛𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎;
-𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗 "𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌" 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜/𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙𝚜/𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗;
-𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚂𝙴 𝙱𝙾𝙾𝙺𝚂, 𝚢'𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠?
Profile Image for Bee.
154 reviews434 followers
April 10, 2020
3-ish STARS

I was so ready to love this. A hero, who has a troubled past, is shunned by his little town and lives in a gothic castle meets his soulmate? It literally sounds like my next favorite book. And while the idea was awesome, the execution and and all the other elements fell flat for me, unfortunately.

Lucian and Isa's relationship lacked substance. Meaning, I was never really convinced about their romance or really on board with it. A relationship like theirs needs time and trust to ever become a thing, and they never really had that, which honestly speaking was a huge let down to me. I wished that they'd become friends first before the romance, before anything. Their pasts are too messy and unconventional for their relationship to happen the way it happened. I wouldn't go so far as to call this insta-love, because it wasn't really that. The romance was just lacking.

This book had so many scenes where only Lucian, his backstory and family's history were on the focus. And that got tedious fast, I started even skimming some of the scenes of from his past and POV because I found them too long, too descriptive and sometimes unnecessary. And I'm saying this as someone who doesn't really like skimming. We learned about Lucian in the most monochrome way and that took away a lot from him as a character. I think this book could've been about 70 pages shorter, had those scenes been handled differently and a lot of them cut out.

As characters both Lucian and Isa were quite interesting. But like I mentioned above, there were so many unnecessary scenes that ate from their character development. Also the plot got so dramatic so fast, and while some of the revelations had me wowed, most of them were simply too much, too dramatic.

I'm a huge fan of Keri's Juniper Unraveling series, but this wasn't what I really expected from this book... It felt more like a dark, fucked-up thriller/erotica than romance. I don't think this was totally bad, but I think it could've been so much better had the romance and character development been the center focus rather than all the rest, unnecessary things. At times, simplicity is what makes the best of books, and I think many authors need to learn that. You don't need a genius, crazy exciting plot if you have the basic elements figured out.

**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review**
Profile Image for Júlia.
256 reviews7,447 followers
May 22, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶🌶🌶🌶/5


TW: Violence, Cruel Language, Rape, S&M, Psychological Torment and torture.

If you know me, you know I have a real obsessions with the macabre. I started my journey watching horror movies at the age of 10 and I can't remember a single weekend in my life I haven't watched, played (videogames) or read something spooky. We, horror movie people, can find beauty in tragic, ghost stories. There is a romantic sadness, a longing, so many breathless moments you can only experience alongside fear. As Pam Godwin would say, "God, I truly have a weakness for cruelty wrapped in a beautiful package."

I hardly ever love a book from the very fist page. The connection I experienced with this book was out of this world. Have you ever felt something must have been written specifically for you? Every single element of this story was exactly the sort of movie/book I would write or create if I had the ability or the talent for it. Thank God people like Keri exist for that.

A mystery that will give you goosebumps and won't allow you to put the book down. One of the most carefully crafted psychological thrillers I have ever read. The book switches it's point of view from the past to the present back and forth and keeps you on edge while you try to put together the missing puzzle pieces of Lucian's and Isa's life. Scary, sensual, tragic, angsty, a real page-turner, haunting and unpredictable.

This book will give you Phantom of the Opera vibes all the way. A dangerous, secretive romance, that will break your heart, put it back together and leave you breathless by the end of it. I haven't stopped thinking about this book since I finished it and I don't think I will ever forget it. It made to my all time favorites list.

“I appreciate things that others tend to fear and cast off as evil.” I appreciate the tragic, twisted stories, the compulsive self-destructive type of love stories. That's when you know they're real. Unforgettable.

Profile Image for Marianna Moore.
324 reviews28.3k followers
August 25, 2024
Keri Lake is the queen of dark gothic romance. And this book absolutely delivered on all things haunting, spooky, suspenseful, dark, and twisted! The age gap and forbidden romance was scrumptious… it took me a little bit to connect with the characters but once I did I was hooked! The overall plot was so unique and had me so invested I couldn’t stop reading because I HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! And the world Keri Lake creates is so atmospheric, it’s hard not to be sucked in. I also really enjoyed reading about Lucian’s backstory and how he became the tortured and damaged man he is. Isa didn’t do much for me as and FMC, I didn’t like nor dislike her I was just kind of indifferent towards her. Which is why I can’t quite give this 5 stars!

Keri lake is an absolute master of her craft and will forever be an auto-buy author for me!
Profile Image for Paige ♠.
310 reviews1,085 followers
February 2, 2021
Wow, this book was fucking wild. I don't even know where to start with this review, so I apologize if it's all over the place and a bit long.

THIS BOOK CAPTURED MY ATTENTION from the very first page. Honestly, I have never read a first chapter that made me think "wtf is going on" quite like this one did. From the psycho mother to the creepy cultish society to the thrill of unravelling the mystery of Lucian Balckthorne... this book definitely left me eager to keep reading 😆

I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO BE DARK but I don't think I was prepared for how dark it ended up being. The entire idea behind the "Schadenfreude" cult was the most off-putting thing for me. It was so out there and obviously not real, but at the same time, it was so well written that the extreme cruelty was almost believable and it just made my skin crawl

MULTIPLE TIMELINES USUALLY bother me but I loved it here. As the reader, you're aware of all these tragic things that happened to Lucian but you don't know how any of them happened. So the flashbacks not only gave insight into Lucian's complex psyche but also made it feel like solving a mystery as you learn the truth about how things happened

🆗 THE ROMANCE IN THE FIRST HALF of the book was mostly just sexual tension building between Isa and Lucian. Through flashbacks, we also learn how Lucian developed his fetishes, which were some of the strangest scenes I've ever read. If you're sexually shy I probably wouldn't read this lol

THE ROMANCE IN THE SECOND HALF of the book starts to pick up significantly and it definitely gets pretty heated! I will say that by the end of this Lucian definitely won me over - I'm a big fan 🥰

I still ended up enjoying this book even though there were some things that made me uncomfortable. If you want a thrilling read with a sexy romance and you don't mind reading about some especially dark themes then I definitely recommend this book! You will likely either end up really liking it or really disliking it haha

TRIGGER WARNINGS: I've never included trigger warnings in a review before but they deserve to be called out in this one: abuse (sexual, physical and mental), torture, attempted rape, fetishes, paedophilia, sadism, violence... probably some other stuff I'm forgetting too 😓
Profile Image for Aisling Zena.
634 reviews509 followers
July 27, 2020
4.5 stars

A dual POV dark romance between two broken people irresistibly drawn to one another. The writing was gripping even if I saw some of the twists coming. Keri Lake created an exquisite,mysterious and gothic atmosphere that pulls you under along with her characters. Faintly reminiscent of a twisted Beauty and Beast tale.

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Profile Image for ✩ Yaz ✩.
647 reviews3,341 followers
October 14, 2021
4 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️


Together we are madness. And there is music in madness, and madness in love.
It doesn't matter what the world thinks of us.
Because we're the composers, the conductors of our own fate, and we write the notes to a beautiful, dark melody that no one else can hear.



Master of Salt and Bones is a gripping and suspenseful dark romance that I did not expect to enjoy so much. It was dark and a little nerve-wrecking and eerie.

I must say I usually avoid reading dark romances especially ones that have a fair amount of triggers in it.

Let's just say it's not my cup of tea.

What was appealing about this one is it gave me a compelling story that radiated between the past and the present, a cast of complex characters and a delicious slow-burn romance that kept my heart racing.

To properly flesh out this review, I must divide it into sections to highlight every important point as follows:

• Story:

The story starts off with a nerve-racking prologue that does a good job at making you uncomfortable and keeping you in suspense, an intentional move by the author to stir up your senses.

We follow 19-year-old Isadora Quinn whom recently was hired for as a companion for the Blackthornes or to be more specific the ailing mother, Laura Blackthorne.

The Blackthornes have a dark and ruthless reputation that precedes them. Making anyone wary of their affiliations and most especially the current Master of the castle in Tempest Cove located on the highest cliff, Lucian Blackthorne.

The rumors and superstitions do not deter Isa from accepting this job. Little does she know, the castle is a seperate universe from the world with its own secrets that may alter Isa's life forever... and her heart.

Parts of the story shed light on the secret society known as Schadenfreude run by rich and powerful sadistic men that the Blackthornes are secretly associated with.

Other parts navigate through the secrets and tragedies that only touch the surface of the truth in it for if you dive too deep... you may find yourself in darkest depths with no way out.

But I promise you'll have your fair share of plot-twists that most may feel predictable but they still manage to make your anticipation grow even more.

The first 30% of the book was the most disturbing part of the book for me, and I'm glad it took a different direction after it.

...

• Characters:

- Isadora Quinn:

I found Isa to be a dull in the beginning but I guess that is because she is an average person with average traits and nothing more to her. But she is a person with her own insecurities and trauma that shaped her to who she is until she meets Lucian.

In the second half of the book, her personality spikes as she begins to become this fiesty woman and it made me enjoy her development as a character since I can trace the changes in her from the very first moment she is introduced to the last page.


- Lucian Blackthorne:

The Devil of Bonesalt. The Mad Son. The Monster of Tempest Cove.

Lucian is an intimidating man with a chilling reputation earning him such monstrous titles that may or may not have to do with his scarred face or the rumor that he had murdered his wife and 4-year-old son.

For 33 years, he had been groomed by his father in unfathomable and terrifying ways. He is a man that has no notion of happiness nor love. A man shackled by tragedy, grief and deviance.

He is thrust into a society of predators and locked at some point in an asylum. He may have caused the deaths of his wife and son since he is a man with blood on his hands.

I really enjoyed his characterization he is such an appealing man with such a complex personality.

The world slices me open once again, and I bleed out the misery trapped inside of me.

The secondary characters do not blend into the background, each contribute to a certain part in the story and some may be a part of something so twisted.

...

• The Romance:

There's a lot of delicious sexual tension going on between Isa and Lucian. I wouldn't call it Insta-love, but they are instantly attracted to one another much to their frustration.

The slow-burn and build-up towards the culmination of the romance makes it so good that it kept me invested.

I love that there is a tinge of Beauty and the Beast and Phantom of the Opera dynamic in the romance. Lucian is a scarred hero while Isa is a a heroine thrust into his dark world and brings light to it despite both being broken souls.

"You're my curse. Staying away from you, is like trying to hold my breath when the tide is rising."
His words dance around my head, the deep timbre of his voice titillating my senses. "I want to drown in you."

...

The Writing:

I'm so impressed with the writing I can't remember a moment where I was bored out of my brains because the writing is so immersive and does an excellent job at keeping me engaged with the story.

The pacing flowed with the writing and it managed to maintain a balance that made the flow not too fast nor too slow.

...

I think this book has the perfect combination of dark romance, mystery intrigue, psychological thriller, and a cast of morally grey characters

There are a few trigger warnings in this book for: emotional and physical abuse, sexual assault, drugs, attempted/r*pe, a hint of pedophilia, self-harm, suicide.

This book may not be for everyone, also it's not a fantasy and it's set in the modern world. It has some very dark and twisted scenes but it's not on the same level as the darker and more triggering books I've read before.
Profile Image for Robin.
534 reviews312 followers
January 13, 2021
In my best Stefon voice: This book has EVERYTHING - dark romance, bad parents, the mafia, cults, pedophilia, forced marriage, torture, suicide, murder, drugs, an imbalance of power between a wealthy employer and his employee that results in a questionable sexual relationship, etc.

This is one of the worst books I have ever read. The writing was just atrocious. There was just too much going on, and much of the plot felt like it was written only for the shock of it all. The main female character is this outcast who is described as an exotic raven beauty with a tattoo that says "invulnerable" on her arm. People think she's a goth, but she actually sits in her room and reads and listens to Chopin. And she has this ability to listen to a song once and then play it flawlessly on the piano. At one point she says that she doesn't know the difference between easy and hard pieces. LIES AND DECEIT. The author tries SO HARD to make this girl edgy and cool that it was embarrassing. Most of her character description and dialogue made me cringe. And dude, if you steal something from your employer in the first week and he catches you on camera, you're going to get fired. Unless you're this girl. Because she's exotic.

The main male character is known as The Devil of Bonesalt. LOOOOOOL. Maybe the Devil of Boning. I mean, these sex scenes were HILARIOUS. At not one, but TWO POINTS, this guy pushes his penis into her WOMB. The American education system really needs to up its sex ed game.

The main male character is also named Lucian, because of fucking course he is. He thinks he's a bad boy, but then he instantly falls in love with Isadora after they have sex and says weird dirty things to her that no one except Armie Hammer would actually say.

Here are some examples of why this was bad:

"Sharks don't compromise, they hunt to kill, and Lucian is one of the more cunning in this sea of corruption."

"I hate funerals. If I was a grief eater, I could feast all day on the sadness and misery that comes with being forced to stare at a casket."

"He descends the staircase, the ease of his stroll like a man who can show up to a funeral without a care in the world and leave as if he's stolen the last sip of air."

And the last line:
"Because we're the composers, the conductors of our own fate, and we write the notes to a beautiful, dark melody that no one else can hear."

Yikes, ya'll.
Profile Image for  Sonya ♕Chatterbooks book blog♕.
1,006 reviews1,165 followers
April 24, 2020
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Ok… I felt like I went through some dark crazy alluring mystery that has left me suspended in not wanting to go to sleep for fear of dreaming about a haunting castle that gives me the creeps, or just having a sly smirk on my face permanently because I enjoyed the heck out of these characters despite their crazy!!

When I first read the blurb for this story, I knew that I wanted to read it because this author has always managed to deliver and give us these messed up bad ass heroes who deep down, have something out of the ordinary and these men would do anything for their heroines. This story was no different of course but it much more complex than I would have ever expected. Master of Salt and Bones is creepily haunting with a touch of goth and the passion and aura of sex goes over your skin like a long feather stroke. It’s goosebumps inducing with a mixture of hold on to your seat thriller that you will want to experience over and over despite the madness.

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Together, we are madness. And there is music in madness, and madness in love.

Lucian Blackthorne is a man that as much as you would like to sum him up with a few words, you can’t. complicated, messed up in the head, protector, broken, survivor, powerful, scarred, the list goes on and yet there is still a lot more to be said about the man who puts fear into people by just mentioning his name. When he hires a young beauty to be his mother’s companion and live at the house, Lucian has no clue that this woman is going to work her way into the organ that he thought was once rotten and black. His heart.

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When you live in a small town like Isadora does, there isnt much to do when it comes to having a thriving career. Needing the extra money to not only help her and her aunt, Isa agrees to a job working at the infamous Blackthorne estate despite the warnings. Caring for a member of the legendary family is one thing, but having the attention of the most powerful man is another and Isadora is about to discover a whole new world and deadly secrets.

I really enjoyed this read and I think the author did a wonderful job with incorporating the past and present because those chapters flowed nicely and we learned more about Lucian’s past. I did think that story was a bit too long and certain things dragged a bit but aside from that, this was a solid read and one of my favorites from this author.

If you’re a fan of dark twisted reads, then this book is for you.


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Profile Image for Apoorva .
166 reviews231 followers
December 24, 2020
Okay so good news first: I didn't end up screaming like a banshee on completing this. (If you read the updates, you know what I'm talking about)
Second: It went from fucked up to really fucked up in the last chapter.

I loved the cover (yes, I stared at it for five minutes straight before reading) and it didn't incite a single feeling in me that would have warned me what this story held. It was twisted, dark and not a usual fairy tale. I don't know why they didn't mention the warnings but they should have. There weren't any major particular details BUT it does mention (superficially) physical, sexual and substance abuse, and BDSM and sadism too but not between Lucian and Isadora (MCs).

Now onto the main part- I was caught off guard by how dark the plot was. Based on the cover I was expecting the haunted feeling but I wasn't expecting the wrong-ness that came along. At first I kept on thinking about some secondary characters- twisted sick bastards, btw- instead of the main ones. But Lucian, despite being subject to their cruelty and company was relatively much more restrained and human, and I actually sort of liked him. Isadora was young, only 19, while he was almost 33. This thing perturbed me a bit since bringing an age gap on top of all the twisted things seemed too much. But we get to see that Isa is much more mature than an average 19 year old and takes on to the life in manor pretty well. I liked their story, however unorthodox it was. And it was a really slow slow burn. The plot building took a lot of time. It was worth it but definitely could've been cut short a little.

Lucian has been through lot of really bad situations and so has Isadora. They both are survivors, yet predators, in their own way. They unconsciously attract the good and the worst out of each other and I liked the honesty of it. But I would have appreciated if they had become friends or built their relationship on trust before becoming lovers. It seemed a little abrupt to go from avoiding each other to being all over each other in the middle of the book.
I liked them as a couple and there's so much darkness surrounding them that I guess their darkness became their beauty. What I really liked was the twists at the end, even if you could spot them from a mile away. But even then, it didn't really lose its pace or my interest.

Read it if you want something dark and have time on your hands.
Profile Image for farwa ☽ (hiatus; exams).
166 reviews359 followers
May 7, 2022
4.5 stars

“Together, we are madness. And there is music in madness, and madness in love.”

This!Book!
I can’t even express how much I felt throughout reading this amazing dark and twisted and yet such a magnificent and lovely masterpiece.It was a perfect blend of a haunting and goosebump rising mystery thriller and gothic romance.The beautiful writing fit so well with the story,making my love for this book rise to a notch.Wow!This is my first time reading a gothic romance and I just realized how much it resonated deep within my soul while reading something like this.Like I discovered a new piece of me and I was left wanting to explore more and so much more.What caught my eyes and instantly hooked me from the very beginning was the SETTING *chef’s kiss*.The setting was everything for me.I just loved the vibe of it.Hats off to Keri Lake,she did an AMAZING job delivering the setting of the story and the superstitious people in this small creepy island along with the backstory of the characters.It completely immersed me into it and didn’t let even a flicker of doubt enter into my mind towards the location,towards the people and their made up tales they sang along,till the end.The passion,the aura of goth and sex and the twisted reality mixed together felt like heaven to me.It was portrayed so beautifully and precisely.

And one thing that most dark romance characters(especially the hero)lack(in my experience at least) is their oh-so-dark-and-broody-and-dangerous-and-what-not reputation doesn’t happen to be well-earned.And in this very book,Lucian Blackthorn earned his every right to the kind of reputation he is so infamous about.Also,you wanna know something gold about Lucian,ladies?
Lucian Blackthorn is NOT an asshole,I’m saying this again if you didn’t believe it the first time,HE IS NOT AN ASSHOLE and this is a dark romance,given his past traumas and all but still he isn’t an asshole,go figure.Like lol this is jackpot!!Let this sink in.Fuck.Man,it feels so good to know that this guy is everything a typical dark romance hero is not.He is so complicated but so alluring at the same time.He is lovely and smart in the most haunting and dark way possible without being an asshole.Also,Kill Switch(also all broken hero)lovers this is broken hero territory,feel free to barge into it,you won’t waste your time I promise.*meanwhile gives my wedding invitations with him to people in my dreams*
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—Now Isadora,or Izzy,she’s some kind of a pariah and broke as fuck,she has no choice but to work at the cursed and dangerous Blackthorn mansion as Lucian’s crazy and ill mother’s care taker.She has every reason not to,but oh well she’s broke so she did anyway.But little did she know that she would uncover secrets not only her own but the Blackthorns themselves,getting caught between the arms of the cursed man himself who is like the ghost story that kids tell eachother.

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“The girl has corrupted every fiber of my being, and no one will ever be good enough after her. No one will ever compare to the flesh and blood fantasy before me. She’s mine The breath of new life. The steady pulse in my veins. The long-awaited beat of a heart that’s been dead too long.
My kindred flame.”


This was so easily The Phantom of the Opera meets The Beauty and the Beast.

“You’re my curse. Staying away from you, is like trying to hold my breath when the tide is rising … I want to drown in you.”




There were many trigger warnings though like sexual abuse as a child,major mental health issues,etc.Also,the only thing didn’t make me rate this 5 stars was that the romance wasn’t enough for me,being a total-glutton-for-romance of a person that I am,I craved for more of their romance,so yeah,oops.And also,as it is categorised under the romance genre,I felt the romance was less,and the plot and flashbacks took more of the book.But overall I fucking love this book nonetheless,can’t wait to re-read it again whenever I’m in a deliciously dark state of mind and the day is chilly just like the book!!
Profile Image for 𐙚 moon .
158 reviews62 followers
January 15, 2025
It doesn’t matter what the world thinks of us. Because we’re the composers, the conductors of our own fate, and we write the notes to a beautiful, dark melody that no one else can hear.

Isadora Quinn is in desperate need of money, so when she's offered a job as a companion at the foreboding Blackthorne mansion, she accepts, despite the dark rumors surrounding the family—especially Lucian Blackthorne. Known as the Devil of Saltbone, Lucian is a mysterious, reclusive man haunted by whispers of murder, madness, and tragedy.
As Isa settles into her role, she finds herself drawn to Lucian, despite his cold demeanor and the chilling secrets that seem to lurk in every corner of the mansion. The lines between truth and myth blur as Isa uncovers the mysteries of the Blackthorne family and the sinister forces at play.

𐙚 Grumpy/Sunshine Dynamic
𐙚 Gothic Mansion Setting
𐙚 Reclusive MC
𐙚 Damaged MC
𐙚 Forbidden Romance
𐙚 Slow Burn Romance
𐙚 Age Gap (19-32)
𐙚 Secret Society focused on sadism
𐙚 Abuse/SA (Not from the MC)
𐙚 Loss of a child
𐙚 Mention of suicide and selfharm
𐙚 Mention of torture
𐙚 Breathe play / knife play


𐙚 My thoughts about this book


At some point, I enjoyed my reading. It was pleasant and quite interesting. I generally love anything related to secret societies, and reading about Schadenfreude after discovering it in Nocticadia pleasantly surprised me.

Without overthinking what I read, I’d say I really liked this book.

However, certain things bothered me, especially the age gap. I have no issue with this type of romance—on the contrary, I usually love them—but only when the age difference isn’t unsettling and when the female character is older than 19. I find it unhealthy, and if I hadn’t known the characters’ ages, I would have assumed they were 24 and 32. It really kept me from fully enjoying the book, especially since Isa’s youth is often emphasized. While the romance, the slow burn, and everything related to it were very well-written, I hate knowing that she’s only 19 while he’s 32.

The story itself is truly interesting—the idea of a secret society aiming to determine whether sadism is passed down through generations, the presence of rituals... it’s exactly what one imagines when thinking of a secret society. Even though it’s disturbing, it’s fascinating. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying sadism is fascinating; what’s intriguing is the existence of secret societies and their portrayal in novels.

I enjoyed the entire backstory surrounding the rumors about Lucian—it was compelling to see the story unfold and to discover what lay behind his mask. The ending genuinely surprised me, and I must say it was very well-written.

As for the romance, I wouldn’t add much more to what I’ve already said.

It’s a really good book overall, but the age gap makes it less enjoyable for me.

𐙚 Quotes

“You’re my curse. Staying away from you, is like trying to hold my breath when the tide is rising.” His words dance around my head, the deep timbre of his voice titillating my senses. “I want to drown in you.”

“The way your body responds to my touch. Like the strings of a piano when the hammer strikes it. Every note of a song that I write. A song you keep begging me to play.”

If only I could’ve captured the notes of her moans, I’d claim the song as mine and no one else’s. The sound was everything I dreamed it would be, and coupled to that pleading look in her eyes, it’s enough to make a man lose control.

“I can’t stop. All I think about is this.” He drives his finger up inside of me, and I arch into him on a moan. “Day and night, I think about your taste. Your scent. The softness of your skin against my tongue.”
“You said you love the torture. Now you don’t?”
“I’m beyond torture. I’m on the brink of madness,”

“I want my name to echo inside your head like a blade across your skull, because that’s what you are to me. The knife that cuts deeper and deeper.”

He kisses the tear streaking down my temple, and his eyes are locked on mine. “I told you, there’s a difference between getting fucked by a boy and getting fucked properly.” Hand stroking my hair, he wears an earnest expression. “You’re mine. And I would never hurt what’s mine.”

I would’ve destroyed every last one of them for her. My raven beauty.
My Isa bella.

“I have to admit, you’re not what I expected.”
“What were you expecting?”
“Not you.”
“Good? Bad?”
“Good, unfortunately.”
“Why is that unfortunate?”
“Because this is supposed to be filler, but you’re making me curious about the plot.”

I’m convinced she’s my punishment from God. My curse. A forbidden touch. A stolen kiss. My temptation in the flesh.

I’ve come to the understanding that everything in life comes down to a rule of threes. For me, the rules have always been simple:
Never give into temptation
Never show your cards
Don’t fall in love With Isa.
I broke all three.

“Love and danger make for one hell of a good life. Something my mom used to say.”
“She wasn’t wrong.”
“She wasn’t. So, I’ll take my chances and stay with you.”
“Good answer.” Hands tightening around my back, he lifts me up into his arms for another kiss. “As fucked as I’ll be for saying this, I do love you, Isa.”

I went in search of the villain, instead, and found him alone and in pain, living in a castle of bones. A darker version of my mother’s knight, whose armor had dents and cracks, and his hands sullied with blood. A broken man who tasted of salt and depravity, and who took me selfishly, without apology. He’s the curse my mother warned me about. The Devil of Bonesalt, the Mad Son, with whom I’ve fallen irrevocably in love.
Profile Image for Birjis.
457 reviews307 followers
June 7, 2020
Not my first read of Keri Lake and this is definitely not going to be my last read of her. Not enough praises are justified to these mastered fictions she writes. I'll say it again her books need to be made into movies, these stories needs to be recognised more. Her romances find a unique kind of middle ground, they are unlikely romances with temptation. This is a haunting, gothic kind of dark romance with mind blowing twists. The story was still plotting, solving and running even at the last pages of the book! Now I am super spoiled because I want more.

Lucian Blackthorne, The Devil of Bonesalt was a man of aloofness and ruthlessness. Shouldering a dark past with mysterious galore, he is one of the dangerous man ruling from his castle. His reputation as a Mad Son is steeped with power. Life wasn't easy on him, brutally scarred and suffering from hallucinations he stays alone, away from endless whispers of people except with his few trusted people.

Isadora Quinn has seen and suffered enough in her young life. While life was a joy living with her aunt money wasn't pouring. Isa's new employment as a companion to the Mad Son's mother take into the job without any fuss even if there were dark and dangerous rumors. Soon her past presents itself and things we learn of the secret lurking right under our noses was shocking.

Their seduction was dangerously alluring and forbidden. Isa is too young for Lucian. Lucian tries to push her away because of his complicated past but in the end their attraction couldn't stop their undeniable lust. The story begins slow but after Isa steals a doll the pace picks up. You won't know who is the victim or abuser. There are lots of depravedness, disgusting people, assualt and insanity. It's amazing how each characters are well developed even after so many books of Keri Lake. Who is the most evil person here - the abusers of the past or present?


This book has lots of triggers - violence, sexual abuse, suicide, and many more. And finally another amazing detailed cover connected to the story. Everything is perfection here. I recommend all of Keri Lake's books.
Profile Image for warhawke.
1,477 reviews2,189 followers
April 22, 2020
Genre: Dark Romance
Type: Standalone
POV: First Person - Dual
Rating:




Isadora Quinn’s life had not been easy. When she got the opportunity to work for Lucian Blackthorne’s family, she took it without hesitation, ignoring the town’s rumor of the family’s sullied reputation. Soon enough, she learned that there were much more sinister secrets behind the castle walls that she could ever imagine.



This book has Beauty and the Beast vibe with a dark Gothic undertone. Even though I figured out the majority of them, I enjoyed the mystery and the gloomy ambiance surrounding the mansion and the Blackthornes. I did struggle a little with the length especially when I felt a certain aspect of the book needed more rationale.

The idea that I’ve stirred this lack of control, made him want me to the point of savagery, it almost feels like too much power in my hands. Like I’m holding the reins of an untamable beast. Like I’m the one in control.


I loved living through Lucian’s family history. Some were sinister while others were heartbreaking. Even though Isa had her own sets of issues, I like how she didn’t let it hold her back.

Master of Salt & Bones is a story of secrets and healing. It would appeal to readers who enjoy Dark Romance with elements of mystery.






⚓️⚔️⚓️. . . (F)BR With Twinsie CC, Loyda & Liz . . .⚓️⚔️⚓️






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Profile Image for CC.
1,197 reviews709 followers
April 22, 2020
4 ★



Lucian Blackthorne is the sole heir to his family’s shipping business, but he is known to be a recluse and monster to some. With mystery and rumor surrounding his family, Lucian operates in the shadows and has secrets to protect. When nineteen-year old Isadora Quinn begins working at the Blackthorne estate, she is skeptical of rumors but her curiosity about Lucian is peaked. However, she soon learns that the past has a way of resurfacing.

“You’d be surprised what lengths some will go to, to see what’s off limits.”

Told in dual POV and with a shifting present/past timeline, this story unfolds at a measured pace with various plot points intersecting until it all starts to unwind during the last quarter of the book. Together, Lucian and Isadora try to find a common ground, and find it physically, but ambiguity remains that can permanently wedge them apart.

“All that mattered was the exquisite rush of fear and recklessness that burned inside of me.”

There were elements of this story that I enjoyed. With Lucian, I liked how he was afflicted with pain and loss yet maintained his own belief system. At first, I admired Isadora’s tenacity, but there were certain incongruities that didn’t mesh for me. Though the story at times lost its momentum which lessened the impact of certain revelations, the murky secrets and unscrupulous ways of the Blackthorne family were intriguing.

Master of Salt & Bones is dark romance steeped in a plot with scheming and shadowy characters that operate without limits. This book would appeal to those seeking a tormented anti-hero in a mysterious setting.



*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.*



*This was a (F)BR with Twinsie Hawkey, Loyda and Lonestar Liz!*



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Profile Image for Jessica Louise books.
134 reviews7 followers
January 2, 2021
Lost me at “Any guy who doesn’t fantasise about forced sex on occasion is a fucking liar. Would I act on it though? No, I’m not a rapist.”
Not really a fan of my heroes fantasising about rape.
Do I need to explain?
Profile Image for Alaina.
6,930 reviews209 followers
December 28, 2020
What the hell did I just read? No. Seriously. What the fudge.

Master of Salt & Bones was a book that I thought I would like.. but then ended hating. Loathing. Honestly, if I never saw this book ever again - I would be extremely happy. In it, you will meet two horrible people: Lucian and Isadora. He is the typical alpha asshole and she is something special. I guess?

Since I couldn't connect to either one of them and some of the stuff that they said to one another made me want to puke - I wont dive into them much. In a way, I guess you can say that they had a romance.. full of weird lust and shit. Again, I didn't really like them and nothing was making me be like - wow, this is steamy as shit and I might like them?

Ha, yeah - no, that didn't happen. It was weird and not my cup of tea at all.

In the end, the drama was just pointless. Nothing really happened until halfway through the book. The characters just ended up annoying me because they didn't really grow or do much that intrigued me. In other words, I just wasn't invested in anything that was happening. Which made me happily count down the pages that were left with some wine.

All I can say is that I'm done with this book and I will move on and never think of it. Ever. Again.

Profile Image for MC The Bookaholic ♡.
217 reviews91 followers
April 25, 2020
This book is so dark and beautiful. It was truly anything I expected it to be.

Normally I’d go on and on talking about the h and H, but this book has fogged my mind to the point where I’m trying to get my thoughts and emotions down as I write this review.

A little bit about this book without spoiling it:

- This read has elements of violence (death, murder, rape, etc.) described openly for those that need a trigger warning. There’s also cheating involves. Not between the main characters but it’s there.
- Our H is fucked up. And his family contributes to this as depicted in the end.
- The age gap between Isa and Lucian isn’t that huge, but it’s prominent.
- There is smut but that’s not the main focus of this book.
- The plot is so different and so unique — I’ve never read a book like this one. But it does give off Edgar Allan Poe vibes sometimes, lol. And the twist within the plot kept me on my toes.

In all, this was an amazing read. It was beautifully written.

4 stars!!
Read
June 18, 2024
Dnf at 28%
Honestly this book was questionable,but I don’t think it was the worst book I ever read I just kinda got busy and lost interest in reading it tbh😅 I might come back to it in the future but honestly I really don’t know😭

pre read:
⭑ ๋࣭ ⭑: .
I’ve read three Keri Lake books so far and why I’ve enjoyed them, some can also be hit or miss🤧 so I’m hoping this doesn’t disappoint!!
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