Review: Craving Red by Rosalind Scarlett

Craving Red is a retell of Little Red Riding Hood, and I was excited to receive it from Rosalind. Rosalind normally weaves a tale that makes my heart beat faster and my toes curl.

This is the first time I’ve read one of Rosalind’s stories and didn’t quite like it. Now, don’t get me wrong. The style is still very much Rosalind, and it is captivating writing, but… Yes, there is a but. One I need to address.

Kaia is taken as a prisoner by a pack of wolves, kidnapped against her will, removed from her family and loved ones, put into a cage and treated like an animal. On top of that, she is told that she will be “initiated” into the pack when she is ripe. Let me just say that the way she is initiated was…rough.

The first 70% of Craving Red was rough reading, and my heart ached for Kaia, it wasn’t pleasant in any way. The ONLY ray of light was Dane, and even he was at one point on very thin ice for me. He does redeem himself, but to me… it was too late.

The writing is captivating and very much Rosalind, but the topics that she touches in Craving Red wasn’t for me. The next book in the series will evolve around Snow White.

 

It is the night of the snow moon. Sweden, 1790.

Maiden Kaia is days away from being married to the handsome Leif when her mother suddenly becomes gravely ill. Desperate to save his wife, her father sends his only daughter to the village on his horse to obtain help for her beloved mother.
But Kaia will not be returning home.
Out on the path, wolves emerge from the trees, surrounding her and spooking her horse. Fainting in sheer terror, the next thing Kaia knows, she is being dragged through the snow back to their lair. Shivering cold, half naked and bound, she startles awakes to the feel of warm breath blowing out over her body.
The following day, she realises she sees no wolves around, but does see several other women there. Noticing they are all pregnant, Kaia fears her fate. Her fears are validated when one of them complacently informs her that her initiation is imminent. The moment her scent is ripe, she is to be mated by all males of the pack.
Still worse than that is the struggle she is having with herself upon being presented with so much blatant man flesh walking about, leaving Kaia flustered with the responses of her body which are swiftly summoning forth to betray her. And then, she feels herself drawn to one in particular, Dane, the youngest member of the pack. But she swears she will not allow herself to fall for one of them.
Will Kaia ever escape this primitive place to see her family again? And if she does, will she be able to suppress the primal need she feels awakening in her? Worse yet, will she want to?

You can buy Craving Red here

"I write descriptive stories in lush settings overflowing with every emotion shared by the human experience: joy, hope, love, desire, longing, lust, jealousy, hunger, loathing, uncertainty, grief, and desperation, amongst others. As we can all relate to some, if not most of these, I delve into these matters of the heart and put them on naked display for you, the reader of my stories. At times you will find the aura of my stories is exceedingly beautiful, and other times, rather dark.

Whether it is my straight Erotica stories or my other books, I delight in writing a passionate sex scene, but do so in a manner which, though still deliciously explicit enough to stimulate your blood flow, is not in the least bit crude. I write the stories I always sought to read, yet could never seem to come across these days. My style of writing has been compared to Anne Rice, as well as classic female erotica writer Anaïs Nin."

Rosalind Scarlett is an award winning Paranormal Romance author of the Anam Céile Chronicles, as well as the New series Erotic Kingdom which retells classic fairy tales with a paranormal and erotic twist.

Rosalind Scarlett lives in Boulder, Colorado, USA with her loving and supportive husband, two rambunctious little boys, her pampered kitty, Bella, her feisty canary, Limoncello and her proud bunny, Micah. She holds degrees in Psychology and Interior Design. Rosalind is zealously proud to be of Celtic ancestry.

When not immersed in her writings, Rosalind's passions are reading, listening to music, yoga, spiritual exploration, organic gardening and living, riding horses, transforming ugly, old houses to their former splendor, riding bicycles with her family, hiking, mountains, lush evergreen forests, foggy mornings, falling snow, feeding old bread to small critters and watching nature from her deck on crisp evenings with a glass of wine.

 

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