Review ~ The Queen (The Original Sinners #8) by Tiffany Reisz

Book Description:

Once upon a time, Nora and Søren made a fateful deal—if he gave her everything, she would give him forever.

The time has finally come to keep their promises.

Out of money and out of options after her year-long exile, Eleanor Schreiber agrees to join forces with Kingsley Edge, the king of kink. After her first taste of power as a Dominant, Eleanor buries her old submissive self and transforms into Mistress Nora, the Red Queen. With the help of a mysterious young man with a job even more illicit than her own, Nora squares off against a cunning rival in her quest to become the most respected, the most feared Dominatrix in the Underground.

While new lovers and the sweet taste of freedom intoxicate Nora, she is tempted time and time again by Søren, her only love and the one man who refuses to bow to her. But when Søren accepts a new church assignment in a dangerous country, she must make an agonizing choice—will the queen keep her throne and let her lover go, or trade in her crown for Søren's collar?

With a shattering final confession, the last link in the chain is forged in The Original Sinners saga. It's the closing chapter in a story of salvation, sacrifice and the multitude of scars we collect in the name of ecstasy—and love.

Buy Links:

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1LU1YHH

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1N4aXKJ

Our Review:

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 stars

***ARC received for an honest review***

“God said ‘Love is patient. Love is kind.’ He never said ‘Love is easy.’”

This was one bittersweet read and I have been dreading this day for such a long time. I have been reading this series for years and these characters have wheedled their way into my heart and soul and to think that I may never read about them again is heart breaking. As dysfunctional as these characters are, they are endearing in their own right. This bunch of misfits have made themselves a family and they are such a strong unit, protective of their own and would literally put their life on the line to save that of another.

Tiffany Reisz really delivers with this book, Soren, Nora and Kingsley are explored in depth, we are treated to a lot more from their past and I especially loved how Nora Sutherlin and The Queen was born. We learn so much more about Soren and of course Kingsley and while some scenes were heart breaking, they were all so incredibly uplifting too.

“There is one person stronger than the queen or the king combined…”

“Who?”

“The man who moves the pieces.”

To say I had tears would be an understatement, Tiffany Reisz has been a master at toying with my emotions throughout this series and who would think that a sadistic priest, a dominatrix and the King of Kink would be able to elicit such emotional pain and anguish as well as a lot of smiles, laughs and love.

“If Jane Austen had set eyes on Kingsley, she would never have written her genteel comedies of manner. She would have written porn.”

I remember when I first started this series and was so reticent about buying, but something spoke to me and thank god I took that leap of faith and trusted my reading instinct. This was so far outside my box it was unreal, yet from the first to last book I have been held emotionally captive, every word, every sentence, every paragraph and every chapter. I can honestly say that this has been my favourite series EVER and kudos to Tiffany Reisz for being different, for taking that direction and for being a master at the written word. The woman is a genius.

This book centres around the time when Nora came back and how she became Mistress Nora. After a year in the convent Nora goes to the only person that she can trust, the only other person that she loves…Kingsley. She has no home and no money but as we know Nora is fiercely independent and to take advantage of Kingsley’s hospitality is not at the top of her agenda. Kingsley knows that Nora will not accept money from him so his only other alternative is for her to work it off and earn her own money and so training begins, this little waif of a woman trains and trains hard.

“I’ve created a monster.”

“You didn’t create a monster…you just let her off her leash.”

Nora is really on a voyage of self-discovery in this book, her flair and penchant as a domme and her realisation that she is a switch. Her realisations with regards to her relationship with Soren and the fact that even though she wants and needs her freedom, she cannot live without him, or Kingsley.

“…I will walk again, and I won’t come back this time.”

“You will walk the circumference of the entire globe and find yourself right where you started. Here.”

Soren still features heavily within these pages and he too has realisations of his own. Even though he has always been so mature and ahead of his years, when it comes to Nora he seems to regress. He has always had the “sensible” head and as much as he tries to take the right path, he knows that there is no Soren without Nora. We have compromises and that is something that I never thought would be said in the same sentence as Soren and Nora. We really see a tender side to Soren too and it is this that really gets the tear ducts secreting. However, I will say that there was one scene with Nora and Kingsley and this literally decimated me. My heart stopped, the tears flowed, my soul ached, and I was emotionally spent. Tiffany Reisz literally ripped out my heart…stomped on it and chopped it up for good measure and for those people that witnessed my emotional breakdown in the supermarket when I hit this scene…I apologise.

“How much pain do you want?”

“Hurt me until I forget how much I hurt.”

This truly is one unforgettable series and one that I will be reading time and time again. I cannot see a book life without these characters so will have to revisit this motley crew frequently. As much as I am sad and upset that this series is over though I am also excited…what does Tiffany Reisz have in store for us next? I for one will be at the front of the queue waiting.