Title: Blood to Dust
Author: LJ Shen
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: July 18, 2016
Genre: Dark Romance, Erotic Romance, Romantic Suspense
More Info: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon US
Purchase: Amazon UK
Purchase: Amazon CA
Purchase: Amazon AU

His name is Beat, and I should hate him.

Bound, blindfolded and bruised, I'm tied in his basement, waiting for the men who stripped me from clothes and humanity to collect his debt to them. Me.

His name is Nate and I should hate him, but I don't.

I'm not supposed to know his real name, even worse, I'm not supposed to care. He is nothing to me but means to an end. The plan is simple: break free, collect the pieces of my broken soul, kill the bastards and run away.

His name is Nathaniel Thomas Vela, and I've never seen his face, though I hear that it's beautiful.

Behind the rugged and handsome exterior, there's a quiet murderer, a killer who thinks guns are for pussies and ends people with his bare hands.

His name doesn't matter, neither does his face, but what does matter is my heart. And right now, sadly, it's his.

Blood to Dust is a standalone, full-length novel. It contains graphic violence and adult situations some may find offensive.

Title: Blood to Dust

Genre: Dark Erotic Romantic Suspense

Author: LJ Shen

Release Date: July 18, 2016

Excerpt

I suck in my cheeks so that my mouth won’t break into a shit-eating grin of the douchebag variety. My left hand is still on the wheel, while I use my right one to grab the back of her head roughly and pull it into my lap. She unzips me and I help her by lifting my ass from the seat to give her better access. My dick is swollen, stiff and ready to get to know those pinks up-close. She reaches for my boxers and strokes my cock in her hand. It jerks its appreciation in response. I’m still not sure why she’s doing this. We weren’t on good terms when we left Hussein’s house, and I was under the impression she’d let me sweat before letting me into her pussy or mouth again.

Prescott leans farther down, her hot breath on my cock. I roll my head back and fight to keep my eyes open. Crashing into a traffic light would slow us down, but it would be fucking worth it with her mouth on my dick.

Generally speaking, I’m not a fan of blow jobs. Girls usually suck (no pun intended) at knowing the pace and rhythm that works for me. And Pea’s right, most chicks can’t even get half my cock down their throats, anyway. But this is fucking Prescott Burlington-Smyth. I’d take anything she offered me. Herpes included.

I feel her tongue swirling around my tip, painful desire tensing every muscle in my body. Her mouth is sweltering and her silky locks pale, but dirty like her soul, are all over my lap like a sheet of gold. She hasn’t even sucked me yet, but my balls are already tightening, ready to burst.

“Oh, fuck, Baby-Cakes.” I fist her hair and drag her mouth deeper into my groin, lurching myself up from the seat as far as this fucking car allows me, begging for more contact. My head lolls against the headrest and I’m struggling to draw a steady breath. What is it about this girl that makes me forget how to breathe?

She opens her mouth and takes some of me in a leisured suck, then comes up for air. Then she does it again. And again.

After a few minutes of her licking and nibbling through my length, even I have to admit—she gives terrible head. The California highway is potholed, scarred with the impact of earthquakes and the blistering sun, and the car hits bump after bump. Every time it does and my dick meets the back of her throat, she gags with a ghastly sound. She sometimes moves her jaw from one side to the other. I can feel her teeth. It’s like a getting a BJ from a shark. But even though she’s exceptionally untalented at sucking cock, I don’t want her to stop. Her mouth’s on me and that’s enough to make me want to say crazy things to her. Things I’m sure I’m incapable of feeling, anyway.

Ten minutes into the blowjob, Prescott throws in the towel and straightens her posture, eyebrows pinched together. Rage lights up her face.

“You’re not going to come, are you?” Her lips are puffy and bright pink. Just thinking about the fact that they’re swollen because they were wrapped around my cock puts a dark, sinister smile on my face.

“Nope.”

“I thought you said you’re always hot for me.”

“I am.” Is it a good time to tell her she shouldn’t quit her day job as a drug dealer because she sucks like a garbage disposal? “I’m saving my spunk for marriage,” I joke. But she doesn’t laugh. She stares at me seriously, tears pulling at the edge of her eyes. I move my gaze quickly from the road to her face, back to the road. We can’t stop. It’s too dangerous. . .

Fuck it.

I swing onto the shoulder of the freeway, inches from the concrete divider, and lift the handbrake quickly.

“Yo, Pea, what’s up?”

I know she cries. A lot. Over the past few weeks, I saw her pink eyes, the puffy skin beneath her lashes. She cries, but never in front of men. Always alone and in the dark. So why now?

“This is stupid.” She shakes her head, wiping away a tear using the sleeve of my hoodie. Even now, she looks sad, but not helpless. “We need to move. We still have to take pictures for the new IDs.”

“Why are you crying?” I insist. Fuck the fucking pictures.

“It’s stupid, just start the car. We’re running out of time.”

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

She looks out her window, tapping it with her fingertips, obviously embarrassed.

“I’mscadyo mighsto likee me,” she mumbles.

“What?” I move closer, which rewards me with another hit from her stress ball, right into my groin this time.

“I’m worried you might not like me anymore!” She yells, throwing her arms in the air. “What if you decide to ditch me before we get to Godfrey and Seb, or the minute you get your new passport?”

I take her face in my hands without thinking much of it. The need to touch this girl is overwhelming in a way that fucks up every single working cell in my brain. Carefully, I bring my nose to hers, my lips hovering over her pinks, staring right back at her.

“If you think I’d ever bail on you, you’re out of your beautiful, twisted mind. And if you think just because I didn’t come, I don’t find you attractive anymore, you’re a psycho. Because there’s nowhere I’d rather be than between your legs. And if you think that you’re damaged goods because of what those lowlifes did to you, then you’re an idiot. It’s just the opposite, Pea. They built a woman who’s untouchable. So many people have tried, me included. But you’re stronger than anything, which is why we’re sitting in this stupid car right now, chasing freedom. You think I don’t like you?” I breathe into her mouth.

I’m fucking crazy about you.

My Review

I don’t even know where to begin with this review. I am in complete and utter shock at just how effed up and beautiful this novel was! These two characters were so damaged and shameless and brave and such loving warriors. Just when I thought I had them figured out, Shen would throw another curveball and I was left questioning everything I thought I knew. This book contained not only some of my favorite characters but also some of the most hated characters I’ve ever read. Yet for all their differences, they all seemed to flow seamlessly together in perfect, effed up, dysfunctional harmony. If it’s a twisted tale you’re looking for well, look no further. You’ve got a winner in Blood to Dust.

You start the book thinking it will be your typical kidnapping tale where the guy is only seemingly bad and eventually falls in love with his victim. But unlike those stories, I started the book knowing within a few pages that he truly was a good person underneath it all and she was already a warrior. She wasn’t some innocent young girl, plucked up from high society unknowingly. She’d been living in the trenches among the rats for years, and was all too ready to face her demons once and for all. There were so many facets to her characters and I truly enjoyed uncovering each and every one of them. From her coping mechanisms, to her heartbreaking past, to her dismal view of the future, I most enjoyed watching her fall for Nate and fight it every step of the way. Each time she seemingly lost hope and settled towards depression, I felt it in my bones. Her sorrow was mine, her tears mine, her blood mine. But her pure strength in the face of adversity shocked and awed me. For everything that she’d been through, to still have that perseverance, well, it would have brought lesser people to their knees, women and men alike.

Nate. Nate. Nate. What an utterly beautiful specimen of a man. I loved that even though he was a hardened criminal, he still held a code of ethics and morals he wouldn’t cross. I loved that he tried to put up a resistance towards Pea, but it was futile. I loved how forceful, in an alpha way, he was in the steamy scenes. I loved how they truly were built for each other. You know, when you find that person who has the same kinks as you, who’s your missing puzzle piece. They just get you. I loved how no matter what, he had her back. As much as I longer for her chapters to find out more of her past, I equally longed for his just to read his inner thoughts and gain more insight into him. He was a truly mercurial character and I savored every morsel we were graced with.

This book was non stop action and filled with heart pounding scenes. You couldn’t blink without the direction changing and I held on tight to every turn of the ride. This was my first title from this author, but you can guarantee with her phenomenal story telling and easy to read conversational skills it won’t be my last. This author is a genius and I await the next time I get to visit her twisted mind!

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