“Losing her mind wasn’t an experience she enjoyed.”
After a steamy night of passion with a dark stranger, Arbor’s life takes on a surreal edge. Disturbing dreams, lapses in memory, and entire buildings going missing are only a few of her problems. Her search for answers leads her to Detective Trey Murphy, the man in charge of investigating satanic and ritualistic crime for the New Orleans area.
Where do you turn when your mind is the enemy?
Meeting Trey only adds to Arbor’s confusion. By day, he keeps her captivated and gains her trust in a way no one else ever has. At night, Arbor’s every fantasy is brought to life by two sexy men who steal away her inhibitions. Torn between what her heart knows is real and what her eyes show her, Arbor must find the truth before she loses herself completely.
But, then again, sometimes reality is more twisted than any dream and love is the cruelest form of insanity.
**Author Note**
Warning: This isn’t your typical love story. It’s dark with scenes some may find disturbing. Sometimes love is senseless, and the heart is so very stupid.
After a steamy night of passion with a dark stranger, Arbor’s life takes on a surreal edge. Disturbing dreams, lapses in memory, and entire buildings going missing are only a few of her problems. Her search for answers leads her to Detective Trey Murphy, the man in charge of investigating satanic and ritualistic crime for the New Orleans area.
Where do you turn when your mind is the enemy?
Meeting Trey only adds to Arbor’s confusion. By day, he keeps her captivated and gains her trust in a way no one else ever has. At night, Arbor’s every fantasy is brought to life by two sexy men who steal away her inhibitions. Torn between what her heart knows is real and what her eyes show her, Arbor must find the truth before she loses herself completely.
But, then again, sometimes reality is more twisted than any dream and love is the cruelest form of insanity.
**Author Note**
Warning: This isn’t your typical love story. It’s dark with scenes some may find disturbing. Sometimes love is senseless, and the heart is so very stupid.
If the ending of Sated means what I think it means, then that was freaking awesome.
If I’ve misinterpreted the ending, then it’s still freaking awesome because the
alternative is mind blowing. Sound confusing? I kind of think that’s the point.
While this is not the first book I have read by Ms. Parkerson, it is the first
paranormal romance I have read by her and I believe it was her intent to leave
some things unexplained so that the reader could draw their own conclusion as
to Arbor’s fate. The problem, however, is that it makes it very difficult to
discuss the specifics of Sated while
writing a spoiler-free review. So proceed with caution because even though I’m
going to try my best NOT to spoil the book, the potential for slippage is
extremely high.
Take heed, Sated is a book you must pay attention to as you read. It is not a
light read and by that I am not saying that it’s a dark read, but rather Ms.
Parkerson reveals Arbor’s story in such a way that you have to be attentive to
the obvious state of affairs and the subtle hints that are dropped along the
way. All but two chapters begin with what appears to be a journal entry written
by Arbor. I was a few chapters into the book before I recognized them as such
and found them to be a rather interesting method for providing the history
between Arbor, Killian, Lyric, and Trey. Initially they seemed to contradict
what was happening outside of the journal, which is what caused my confusion. It,
and the book being set in New Orleans, also led to some rather interesting
hypotheses on my part as to what was going on and all I will say on that is… things
are not as they appear.
As their story played out –
alternating between the past and the present – I was enthralled by the
relationships that developed. The ménage relationship between Arbor, Killian
and Lyric was expected and Ms. Parkerson delivered on some seriously hot sex
scenes between the three. While I was not actually surprised that Arbor and
Trey also connected, I was pleasantly shocked by how their first time together
proceeded. Yowser! That was HOT! With each sexual encounter that occurred, I
was torn between which romantic entanglement would be the best for Arbor and
while I would have loved to be in her shoes during those encounters, I didn’t
envy her having to choose. Arbor’s situation became even less enviable as the
end of the book neared and just when I thought I knew what had happened another
piece of information was revealed that made me rethink it. At this point I
should note that I finished the book and wrote most of this review several
hours ago and as I reread my review and mulled over the book, I feel more
confident about what I believe happened and yep, it’s still freaking awesome.
I’m already looking forward to rereading Sated
so I can confirm my suspicion and enjoy the heck out of Arbor’s journey.
“I thought you
were with the band,” he said as he lifted his coffee to his lips. It was the
only way he could think to open the topic for discussion. Not that he cared, of
course. She’d called him. It was a start. If there was a line he wouldn’t cross
when it came to getting what he wanted—namely, her—he hadn’t yet seen it. Deep
longing for something out his reach was a familiar weight. Her eyes never left
the dessert menu. He knew she wasn’t really seeing it because her gaze remained
fixed to one spot.
“With the band,”
she repeated, sounding wry and making him wonder if he’d insulted her. “That
would require knowing where they are,” she added so quietly Trey assumed it was
meant more for her than him. With a shake of her head, Arbor met his stare. For
a split second, Trey was rendered mute. Everything around them disappeared. It
punched him in the chest. She possessed something other people did not.
“What about you?”
Her question didn’t make as much sense as it might have if she wasn’t affecting
his brain function.
“I’m not with the
band,” he said automatically, pulling a ghost of a smile from her.
“You’re a cop,”
she said, helping him along.
“Detective
actually.” He wasn’t trying to be a dick. It was more that he’d worked hard to
get where he was. She set her elbows on the table. A playful light entered her
eyes.
“What do you
detect?”
“Satanic and
ritualistic homicides.” Huh. She didn’t even flinch.
“I wasn’t aware
there was such a high number of those types of murders that it required a
special title. Are you the only one or is there an entire division?”
Against his will,
Trey’s lips twisted. “Unfortunately, there is a need for such a title. There’re
three of us. I’m not sure it counts as an entire division. Louisiana is a
hotbed of all things satanic and ritualistic. You’re likely to run across
anything here.”
Her gaze moved
over his face, but her expression remained blank. “You do look tired.” Before
he had time to react, she added, “I’ll have to take your word on the matter. I
only moved here two weeks ago.”
He opened his
mouth to ask more. Instead, something entirely different popped out. “You’re
beautiful.” She blinked. Her surprise evident. There was no way she was as
shocked as he was. He hadn’t meant to say it. It was true, of course, but it
had still slipped past his lips without his permission.
“Thank you.”
Arbor’s response sounded more questioning than automatic. He snorted. She
blushed. The sight fascinated him. Their knees brushed making Trey realize
somehow, he’d moved his chair closer to hers.
Charity Parkerson is an award winning and multi-published author
with Ellora's Cave Publishing. Born with no filter from her brain to her mouth,
she decided to take this odd quirk and insert it in her characters.
*2013 Readers' Favorite Award Winner
*2013 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner
*2013 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner
*2014 Readers’ Favorite Award Finalist
*2014 Ankh Award
Nominee *ARRA Finalist for Favorite Paranormal Romance
*Five-time winner of The Mistress of the Darkpath
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