Queen of the Damned: Part 1 by Emily Shore

BRIELLA
I ran through the woods with my abusive ex hunting me—until I found them.
Five masked men.
They dismembered him, dragged me into their abandoned mine, and shattered me.

The Initiation was meant to ruin me.
They never expected me to survive.

Now I'm trapped inside their off-the-grid compound, claimed by outlaws bound by blood and the kinship law of their leader, a literal psychopath. They call me their Queen.

But I will have revenge. I'll break these chains. And then, I'll run—before their darkness devours me.
I will never be theirs. And they will never be mine.

THE DAMNED
We are not heroes. We are monsters. We will never be redeemed.

The alpha—a calculating killer with a law written in blood.
The doctor—who stitches wounds and breaks bones in one breath.
The damaged ex-fighter—held together by rage, scars, and ink.
The sociopathic butcher—a rabid madhouse with no brakes.
The axeman—who laughs while splitting men in two.

She should have disappeared into the pit like the others.
Instead, she bleeds with us. Laughs with us. Burns with us. And bites back.

She was born for our darkness.

And if she runs, we will hunt her down and drag her back to hell.
If she chooses to rule, we will build her a throne of corpses.

Because there is no freedom without chains.

“Scars upon scars. They do not simply heal. They remember. Within every one, her name is carved.”

Queen of the Damned is a standalone dark, why-choose romance (MMMMMF).

Queen of the Damned is not for the faint of heart. There is quite a bit of non-con throughout, so I highly recommend checking the trigger warnings before reading. 

That being said, I enjoyed the story a great deal and completely fell in love with all the characters. Emily Shore did an excellent job of giving each character their own unique voice. Each character has a tortured past and I’ve found myself wanting to learn more about them. One character in particular is a complete psychopath and the author even interviewed a real psychopath while researching for the book which I found fascinating. She clearly poured an incredible amount of work into this story, and it shows on every page.

On a lighter note, there are a few funny moments in the book that made me laugh, which helped balance some of the heavier themes. I definitely recommend this book to my dark romance readers out there who don’t mind going into darker territory. 

I also highly recommend Emily Shore in general. Everything I have read by her so far has been thoroughly enjoyable.

Now I am off to read part 2!

About Emily Shore

Emily Shore is a cult survivor and former seminary student turned bestselling dark romantasy author. She is best known for Kidnapped by the Krampus—a #1 Amazon Holiday Bestseller—the Her Monstrous Boys series, a Top 100 for “Dragons,” and her latest trending dark romance venture, the Savage Stalkers series.

A proud trauma-informed storyteller, Emily writes strong heroines who don’t need a sword, broody bad boys, and vanishing-pants-worthy spice, all woven with themes of healing and empowerment.

Bisexual and polyamorous, she naturally weaves normalized LGBTQIA+ representation in her stories.

When not writing, Emily loves cuddling with her cats, watching horror movies, taking long walks with her husband, and reading with her two daughters.

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