Kitty has such a great way with dark and twisted books, and I think that Twisted Fates really shows that. This is the latest book in the Pleasure House world. The Pleasure House books can all be read as standalones. They are interconnected, but not serial. The characters do show up from one book to the next, but if you don’t know who they are, then you aren’t going to get lost. One of my favorite of Kitty’s male main characters is in the Pleasure House world, Brian. He’s a total sociopath and beyond broken, but there is just something about his story. I mention Brian because his actions are part of what happens in this book. They happened prior to his book, which happened prior to this one, in the timeline of things.
So, the Pleasure House is one where women can go to be trained to be sex slaves. When they are done with their training, they are sold to masters. Many of the women are there more or less voluntarily, but once you walk into the house, you don’t walk out of it, unless you are owned. And if you try to get away… Well, let’s just say that there’s a reason there’s a sociopath on staff.
TF is Lindsay and Shannon’s story. Lindsay is a kink-friendly psychiatrist who is one of the owners of the house. He helps to bring women to the house and does some of the training and such. Shannon was his patient, years ago, after the man that she was in a total power exchange relationship dumped her. Once he got her to a better state, he got her to come to the house for training. That was 8 years ago.
Three days into her stay, Shannon made a huge mistake. She laughed at Brian. Beyond being a sociopath, Brian ain’t the most stable person. He grabbed her, dragged her down to his personal dungeon, whipped the shit out of her and cut her with his knife, then left her for dead. She now has scars all over her back as well as some on her chest and stomach from that time. They couldn’t let her go, because, well, you just don’t leave like that. So, for the last 8 years, she’s been in a kind of limbo at the house. She manages the spa, gets played with very occasionally, and serves as kind of an object lesson, really. The lesson being, don’t fuck with Brian. She still has nightmares, and goes out of her way to avoid Brian. Then, there comes a day when it all becomes just too much. She goes to the spa, swallows a handful of pills, and lays down to wait for it all to end. But in walks Lindsay.
Lindsay tells her that he’s wanted her for all those 8 years. Shannon tells him that she hates him. Which, I don’t blame her, do you?
I really despised Lindsay. I have from the first time I read Brian and Mina’s story. I thought that he was an asshole who thought being a psychiatrist meant that he was actually God, and that he messed around with things that he shouldn’t’ve oughta done. He seriously causes a lot of problems and doesn’t fix any of them. I just can’t stand him. At all. I mean, I have been cheering for Brian to kill him. Or hell, let Mina do it. I actually think that Mina might have more right to kill him than Brian does, but that’s just me. After having read this book, I’m kinda torn on Lindsay. I’m pretty sure that I still don’t like him. I think that I don’t like him a little less than I didn’t like him before. I don’t want to say I like him more, because that insinuates that I might have good feelings for him, and I sure the fuck don’t. I think that he is still an arrogant, condescending asshole who thinks that he knows everything, can make all the decisions for everybody ever, and is God. There are several places where he almost comes off as a good guy, but there are more places where he really doesn’t. I tried really hard to not let my dislike of Lindsay color this book before I read it. It was impossible to totally do, I mean, I am only human, but I wanted to give him a good chance, and I feel like I was able to do that.
I have always felt sorry for Shannon. She got dragged into something that was way beyond her with Brian. He was in a bad, bad, bad place when he did what he did to her. Not like he’s ever in a good place, but he was in a really bad place then. (Again, Lindsay’s fault) She has sat in the house for 8 years, watching woman after woman after woman getting what she wanted. All Shannon wanted was to have a master who loved her, took care of her, and wouldn’t throw her away. Now, she can’t even get any of the trainers to really even play with her. She feels like she’s worthless, she feels like she’s too scarred for anything and that everyone is disgusted by the way that she looks, and she can’t even look at herself because of the scars.
I loved this book. I wanted to read it faster and slower at the same time. I couldn’t wait to see what happened, but I knew that once I read it, I wouldn’t be able to discover the story again. I’m mad and sad and happy that I’ve gotten to read it for the first time. TF might be my new favorite Kitty book. If not, it’s at least tied for first. It was so intense, and I got so many feelz from it. It really is just a wow book.
And, oh, Ralph? Funny AF.
I thought that the addition of Damian was really interesting. I also think that Damian had a point with some of what he told Lindsay, and he should’ve listened to Damian.
I liked seeing Quill and Saskia, and I think that the afterparty scene is probably one of the most intimate that I’ve read.
OK, that’s all for today. I honestly can’t recommend this one enough, or any of Kitty’s books, so go check them out. Happy reading!
In Between the Pages 