Master of Salt & Bones

By: Keri Lake

Narrated by: Stefanie Kay, Ryan West

Meet the Devil of Blackthorne Manor.

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 fairytale twisted into something far more crooked—and 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.

Master of Salt & Bones is a dark, modern gothic contemporary standalone romance.

©2020 Keri Lake (P)2023 Podium Audio

Not what I expected

1- I think trigger warnings should be listed with audio books. Around chapter 40 I wasn’t expecting to listen to that and would probably have skipped the book if I knew what was coming. That hurt and I ugly sobbed.
2-female narrator was excellent and I’d happily listen to her again, make narrator sounds soooooooo much older than the MMC. Like if he was reading for a 60+ male character I’d say he was perfectly cast
3- the synopsis doesn’t really prepare you for this book. I think I mostly enjoyed it (except that one part I really hated) and it had some really interesting plot twists (one I felt pleased I guessed correctly). If you enjoy a darker book with BDSM and breathe play, this is absolutely the read for you
4- spoiler
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The trigger warning for child death was only listed when I went to the authors website. What it doesn’t tell you is that it isn’t something that just happened, but an entire scene played out in detail that hurt so deeply to listen to or to have read it. I have kids, if I knew ahead of time I could have skipped the entire thing and saved myself the entire sobfest and emotional hangover. So if you don’t want to hear about it and you notice around chapter 40 they are talking about his son…skip ahead

Keeps your interest

Was definitely a difference twist than what I’d expected.
I pictured Keanu Reeves as Lucien lol

Dark and mysterious plot with some lightness in to temper.

Cleverly written. Story includes flashbacks, but chapters state whether they are past tense so following along on story line was no issue. Both narrators performed great and differentiated characters well.

Villains voice had me wanting more

Overall it was good storyline and only fell flat once or twice. So happy I chose to listen to this particular book… the performance was incredible and the voice of Lucian kept me wanting more.

It was good 👍🏼

The story was pretty good. Really enjoyed the narration. There were some plot twists I was not expecting. Great story.

Dark romance

This is a dark story. I liked it, but I prefer linear plot lines. Going back and forth in time breaks the tension and forward momentum but this held my attention more than most.

The plot twist just kept coming

I will say check for trigger warnings there are quite a few. A psychological roller coaster of a book I ate it all up.

Atmospheric

I kind of went into this book blind, just knowing that I like Keri's writing and I was hoping to love this one as well. While I did like this book, it wasn't my favorite. I will say that for a book that is 550+ pages, I was still very much engaged right through to the end which isn't always the case with longer romance books. I do really like how spooky/atmospheric Keri is able to write and making it seem like you are reading a fantasy novel without actually reading one.

I will definitely read more from Keri. 3.5 stars for this one though.

Trigger Warning

I didn’t look into the trigger warnings enough but I did enjoy the listen! Dark, broody, and plot twists. If was good!

the plot twists ♥️♥️♥️

I loved the story. Keri made me happy once again!! Can't wait to pick another one of her books up tomorrow.