CARDS OF LOVE: THE MOONby SIERRA SIMONE
She’s angry that I left. I’m angry that I died.
It’s the trouble with our two lives: we don’t only have one past to work through, but two. Double the pain, twice the betrayal.
A million times the tragedy.
***The Moon is the story of Merlin and Nimue from the New Camelot trilogy. It’s recommended that you read the trilogy first, as there are American King spoilers in The Moon.***
Cards of Love is a massive multi-author project, a series of love letters to the mysterious and inspirational world of tarot cards. These can be read in any order, as the only thing the Cards of Love books share is their common inspiration from the world of tarot.
"Happiness is in her nature. Just like destroying me is."
Effortless, but hard hitting. That's my phrase for Sierra Simone for the day. Actually, I think for always. She has a unique way of telling a really great story, with a lot of depth, and this time she did it all in NINE chapters. NINE. 9. How do you cram that much emotion, that much depth and full-bodiedness (is that a word?) into nine chapters?? Well, she did!
After becoming slightly addicted to her New Camelot Series, I was shocked to hear there was going to be more to the story, but not in the traditional sense. This wasn't an add on story for Ash, Embry and Greer, but a deeper look into Merlin and Nimue, and how their life came to be. I am sure I am like many others that had a chip on their shoulders regarding Merlin for much of the series and I know I wasn't the only one that didn't trust him!! But, of course, Sierra drags me into a very different love story - one for the ages, literally. One that made me think outside the box and gave me a hidden look into this life that I wouldn't normally ever check out. I liked it! I liked it a lot. I saw a whole new side to Merlin, one I could never imagine. Nimue was a little vixen with her own wicked side as well, but seeing some of her New Camelot Series from this angle, almost like peeking in a window to see what's happening, was really eye-opening. It's like a behind the scenes look with a front row seat into the other characters while the others were making it through their trials and tribulations.
I will admit that I struggled at a few points and found myself rereading passages because I don't comfortably think along the fantasy ways of thinking and so I had to actually catch myself and re-read a few paragraphs. Not a big deal at all because that was a me issue, but it was just me trying to follow along and redirect my way of thinking. I am not a fantasy reader by choice but I was super intrigued, as well as somewhat confused, but still very interesting. Having said that, this was nothing short of a fantastical read.
"Finally, my suffering has purpose."
If you are curious about this one, remember - it is the 4th book in her New Camelot Series and it does contain spoilers for that series. There is an excerpt below that you can check out if you are curious. This novella was definitely the extra kind of read I could get behind. I love Sierra's imagination and how she can take a tale and make it a whole world that is an extraordinary escape beyond the confines of my boring mind. She always provides me an escape that is nothing short of amazing. At the end of the book, she listed alllll the books she has coming up and I could just fill my calendar!! Bring it on!
"It was only every her. It was only ever going to be her."
~BEE
PURCHASE LINKS:
EXCERPT
A hiss in the darkness, then a flame, bright and dancing and unwelcome.
A match, I think, and then I think, why?
And then: where am I?
“You’re awake,” says a voice like water. A voice I love. It still doesn’t help me figure out where I am.
“Am I?” I ask. “Awake?”
Like I said earlier, I don’t dream as such, but when I close my eyes, the memories and visions are there, dogging my sleep. And I think maybe—yes, there is also a memory like this. A memory of a dark-haired girl and a cave sparkling with light, the night air heavy with the ecstatic cries we fed it.
“You are awake, Merlin.” The flame moves, calves another flame, and then is blown out. A candle now glows softly against the face of a woman standing at the end of the bed I’m on.
Dark brows arch high over clear blue eyes and a long nose curves gracefully down the woman’s oval face, framed by a high forehead and cheekbones, and a beautiful, if narrow, jaw. Her lips are on the thin side, but perfectly sculpted, giving her an expressive, fascinating mouth. Coffee-dark hair hangs in glossy sheets around her face and down her back.
She’s haunting. Haunting even as a girl, but now even more so as a woman. “Nimue,” I say, and for the first time I notice how thirsty I am. I make to sit up—and realize my hands are tied to the bed.
Nimue sets the candle down on an end table, and it illuminates the space enough to show me that I’m indeed in a room and not in the damp mouth of a cave. It means it’s now and not then, which I suppose I should be grateful for.
After all, I died then.
A silver key glints from just below the smile of her clavicle, the bottom tip of it pointing to the sweet valley between her breasts I used to know so well. They are small and pert—her body still the lithe dancer’s body she had as a girl—and my flesh responds to the sight of those little handfuls, the memory of them. The fantasy of her dusky nipples dragging along the underside of my aching cock is enough to have my body warming, and that’s when I really become aware that I’m not only tied to the bed, but I’m also dressed in a pair of black boxer briefs and nothing else.
Well, nothing else except for the padded cuff around my ankle.
Nimue leans forward to untie my wrist, which leaves the front of her swishy dress gaping forward enough that I can see those nipples now, dark rose and erect. I’d tasted them frequently once upon a time.
Once upon a time, twice.
In another life, I’d known the feel of her breasts against my lips and tongue better than I’d known almost anything else.
With one of my wrists freed, Nimue straightens and nods at the other. “You can untie yourself. You’ll find that the chain allows you more than enough length to do everything you need. I’m obviously trusting you not to do anything self-destructive, but should the need arise, I can take away this particular freedom.” She says it cheerfully, almost as if the idea of taking away my freedom delights her.
The key on her chest glints as she steps back, and I understand that it’s the key that unlocks my cuff—the same cuff that is connected to a ring in the floor by a length of slender chain. Anger comes.
And with it shame.
And with that, fear.
I died once this way, and I’d rather not do it again.
I lunge for my other wrist to untie it, needing to be free, needing to reach for Nimue to kiss her or kill her—but by the time I untie myself, she’s out the door with it shut and locked behind her.
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~MEET SIERRA SIMONE~
Sierra Simone is a former librarian who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk. She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City.
~CONNECT WITH SIERRA~
ORIGINAL ARC REVIEW
AFFILIATE LINKS USED
COPY PURCHASED FOR GIVEAWAY
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