100th Review Celebration - Giveaway! Balustrade by Mark Henry

It's been a long time coming, folks! 100 reviews. Had some rough years, a lot of hiatuses, name changes, lost all our readers; but we're back and we're strong and we're not going nowheres! It can only get better from here on out.

So in celebration of Book Verse's 100th review, and as a thank you to both new and returning readers, we are holding our very first raffle(s)! Squeee - am I the only excited one here? Free books, can I get a hellz yeah!? I went back and looked through the reviews from the last couple of months and picked a few of our 4 and 5 star rated books to give away. 

We have a total of four different books, by four different authors. I say this calls for a little author spotlight! So for the next four days, we will give you guys some general information on each author, some stalking links. And we'll also relay any special interactions we've had with them. Entering is super easy, just scroll down to the rafflecopter widget and follow the steps to get entries. We will be verifying entries, so no cheating! :)

We thank you again for your support and hope you'll stay with us for future reviews, author interviews, and other fun stuff!

*** 

Our first author spotlight is for the witty and sick in the head (in the best possible way) Mark Henry. If you're a sensitive flower, I suggest you walk away now.

 About Mark (taken from his Amazon page): Mark traded a career in the helping profession to scar minds with his fiction. He attributes his ideas to premature exposure to horror movies, and/or witnessing adult cocktail parties in the '70s. His development has been further skewed by surviving earthquakes, typhoons, and two volcanic eruptions. Despite being disaster prone, he somehow continues to live and breathe. Residing in the oft maligned, yet not nearly as soggy as you'd think, Pacific Northwest, with his wife and two furry monsters that think they're children.

I've had a few encounters with Mr. Henry - I'm lucky enough to be on his street team. He is a very intelligent man and it shines through in his sense of humor; both of those things shine through in his books. He is the author of the Amanda Feral series, and also writes YA under the name Daniel Marks. He is a very down to earth guy and is very uncensored, which is probably what I like most about him. Who else can you talk cock cozies with? When you read Mark's books you will encounter zombies, weresharks, voyeurism, and many many more fun things. If any of these things appeal to you, check him out!

Stalker Links:

Website: http://burlesqueofthedamned.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glamazombies
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mark_henry
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mark_henry/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/848968.Mark_Henry
Instagram: http://instagram.com/mark_henry/
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mark-Henry/e/B001ILME6I/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

I'm giving away an Amazon Kindle copy of Balustrade. An erotic horror story that is one helluva mindfuck. As I said on my review, it was "bewitching." I was "literarily seduced." I can't wait to find out what happens in the next book. And now is your chance to win yourselves a copy! Ready. Set. Goooo!







a Rafflecopter giveaway

Balustrade by Mark Henry

A couple on the verge of divorce begrudgingly agree to an unorthodox marital retreat. Despite warnings and portents, Hilary and Jack travel to the remote Washington scablands, braving a strange religious demonstration to arrive at Balustrade, an oddly voyeuristic couples program.

Under the tutelage of Chantal, a harsh mistress, and Ludo, a brooding sex surrogate, the couple find their most intimate relations under discomfiting scrutiny. The therapy is ritualistic, sensual, wearing away their inhibitions to lush, orgiastic ends. For a while, Hilary luxuriates in a slippery, sensual descent into wickedness. But when time begins to disintegrate in dream-like fugues, sexual awakening takes a turn for the sinister.

Clandestine cabals whisper behind closed doors. Robed figures congregate in the dark cavern at the apex of the strange building’s courtyard.

Nothing is quite as it seems. And a question looms…

Is it the intention of Chantal and Balustrade to help mend their failing marriage or are their minds and bodies being groomed for more sinister, carnal purposes? Hilary must strive to unlock the secrets behind Balustrade before it pushes her to the brink of insanity and ignites her darkest urges.

***

I don't even know what just happened. I don't know what I just read. All I know is it was amazing. I've never read anything like this before. Erotic, paranormal verging on horror. This couple, on the verge of a divorce, agree to a couples retreat; at first I really disliked Hilary, the wife. I thought she was just a bitch, plain and simple. I felt so sorry for her husband Jack, who was doing everything in his power to make their marriage work, and she wasn't even appreciative. That first sex scene with them was so sad; I could feel her indifference, her disdain, and Jack's sadness and desperation. But as the story progressed, I could understand her reluctance to participate in the retreat and her suspicion that something evil was lurking nearby. I began to dislike Jack, as he started to come off more selfish than I originally thought, more self-centered...but then my feelings started to change again! Things got really sexy and murky, and just plain weirdly creepy. By the end of this book - which is a freaking cliffhanger! - I didn't know what to make of the whole thing. I didn't know whose side I was on, if I was even on a side. Who was good, who was bad, or how I felt about any of the characters. In a way, I kind of feel like Hilary felt when she first started giving in to the "lessons" or "counseling" or whatever you want to call them - thoroughly satisfied, but wanting more, and kinda feeling dirty about it.

If I had to use one word to describe Balustrade, it would be "bewitching"...I was literarily seduced...the pacing was sublime...like foreplay...then fucked senseless...and then discarded like a piece of meat - the wrong meat.

Uncensored thoughts straight from my Kindle:

•  The cubed building with knobless doors made me think of the movie Cube.
• It protruded from the wall like a panic switch, in case of fire push this and fuck. - LMAO! One of the funny lines/moments from the book. There's a bunch of em hidden throughout; think of them as Easter eggs.

If you're into dark stories, and/or erotic scenes, I strongly recommend this book. It will blow your mind. And please have something or someone nearby to scratch the itch you're going to get while reading this.