Title: At His Throat, A Promise
Series: N/A
Author: Lilith Grey
Genre: MMM / BDSM
Length: Extended Novel
Publisher: Amber Allure
Reviewer: Thommie
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4.5Hearts
Blurb: In the slave city of Spire, Ellis has been discarded. His former master, a man who was supposed to teach him and take care of him, passed away, leaving Ellis alone and in danger of being taken to the Facility. Ellis is desperate to avoid that fate. He seeks a master to take him on, guiding him into adulthood as well as a profession. Ellis has had desire stolen from him—he’s been trained to blush, to submit, to give in. He doesn’t know how to cope with William, a man who wants the real Ellis.
William is a Master, a man born in a neighbour city that does not deal in slavery. He has had bad experiences with slaves in the past, but all that changes when he rescues Harte, a young slave whose abusive master had all but destroyed him. Together, they are content in their mutual roles, not looking for anything more. But when Ellis catches the eye of Harte, and by extension, William, their relationship changes in ways for which they are unprepared.
Harte is a born submissive, a young man who lives for his role. He’s bratty but genuine. William, his master, is his entire life. Harte never expected to have room in his heart for another, but Ellis is beautiful and different and fills a place in his life that he hadn’t known was empty.
If only Ellis could learn to ask for what he desired, what he needed, then maybe William and Harte could help him. But Ellis is trapped inside himself, insecure and afraid. To stay with William, he only has to ask…but that’s the one thing Ellis cannot do…
Product Link: http://amberquill.com/AmberAllure/AtHisThroat.html
Review: The most intense thought that burned my head the moment I reached the end of this book was “I must read this again… Now!” The very next one was of how horrific this read was. There is this constant feel of fear all through the book that doesn’t let go, even when I reached the end and there was no more, I still had this fear in me that the next page is going to bring a greater devastating event that would literally kill me reading it. How very fascinating that this author maintained that level of intensity throughout the book. Terrific!
This book is narrated entirely by Ellis point of view. Ellis is unfortunate enough to be smart. In the city of Spire that means that when he reaches the age of 16 years old he must be put for servitude until he’s twenty. And that means that his body, mind and soul no longer belong to his but his master. He is to be trained his master’s profession, he is to serve that master in any sexual way and obey his every whim. He is his property. The unfortunate event of his master’s death leaves Ellis facing the Facility, a place where slaves without a Master to claim them go. A place to avoid at all cost.
In his desperation to find an owner Ellis comes across Harte and his Master, William. Not a very conventional Master/slave relationship one might say. It seems that Harte has his Master wrapped in his little finger. It seems that Harte is a spoilt slave. But those two are perfect and content in their relationship, for that is what it looks like to Ellis, who is dumbfounded to witness how Master William truly cares for his slave. That is almost unbelievable and causes great jealousy to Ellis who wants nothing more than a master to claim him, to own him and care for him like William does.
In an attempt to help a fellow slave from facing the Facility, Harte begs his Master to sponsor Ellis and so Ellis is taken into their home. However, the wonderful environment and care he experience there has Ellis scared. Scared that he will want to be a part of that, and if he’s honest the three of them seem perfect together. But Ellis is the kind of submissive that will never ask. He is not Harte, he will not want or if he does he will never show it.
And this is how a very painful emotionally story begins. A story that follows the horrors a slave endures in the hands of cruel masters, a story that follows the attempt and often failures of those kind Masters to change the law, a story that shows that cruelty is more acceptable than love in this peculiar world.
This is a love story first and foremost. A non-conventional love story between three people who literally go through hell, pain and horrors, a love story that goes against the world itself in order to survive and bloom. I loved all three main characters here. I adored Harte, a seemingly weak person who had an incredible strong will to live and love. I loved William, an amazing Master with an iron personality that bend enough to reach the sweetest feeling and conveyed a strong desire to love and respect him. Most of all I loved Ellis. That character was supreme in his beauty. Insecure most of the time he reached an amazing level of power in the end, when he finally sorted in him what was it that he wanted and that he must take it upon himself to make those wants reality for him.
And as you probably figured out, this book being about slavery, the sexual content was a bit more than explicit. The entire plot revolves around the sexual exploit of people, people being forced for years and years to endure horrible sexual tortures. The scenes are horrible and do not shy away from the gruesomeness or the pain. Many of those scenes may make your stomach churn and cause bile rising in your throat. However there is the threesome relationship of William-Ellis-Harte that will make up for it with a beauty and a balance that might leave you panting. I found them amazingly hot. The scenes were gorgeous and the writing was perfect even if it was seen in only one POV. The dramatic flavor of finality and the loss that was feared at every corner made for some very intense scenes as well. It was a feeling that will keep you constantly on your toes and won’t let you relax at all unless you reach the end line. I loved it, every single bit of this book.
And if you are so inclined and enjoy the hard-core BDSM read you will too love this book. As I said in the beginning of this review, my very first thought when I was done was that I must re-read this book… Now!
