Whenever I rave about romance novels, one of my guy friends always seems to have to ask, "Is it like those books with the cow boys on them or something?"

For the longest time I have gotten to say, nope! I then also tell him to broaden his romance novel mind a little. This time around though...there is a cowboy. And the story is picture perfect.

Jason "Still" Waters' life looks perfect from the outside—money, fame, and the words "World Champion Bull-Rider" after his name. But Jason has a secret, one he never planned on telling anybody...until he meets Simone. She's the kinky girl of his dreams...and his conservative family's worst nightmare.

Now I should start by telling you that I pretty much will love anything that Tiffany Reisz produces in book form. Or at least, that is what it seems like as of now. If it changes, well, it will be as big of a surprise as if Tiffany actually takes up my challenge I gave her on Instagram of trying to out weird herself. A win for both of us if she does. Picture Perfect Cowboy, though not on the weird scale of my reading, it was certainly on the fantastic level that would make me give this enjoyable fun story back with the original sinners gang a five out of five stars.

Picking up with our famous side character, Simone, one of the pro for the eighth circle and Soren's submissive (which makes her a super sub), we travel back down to Kentucky where Tiffany creates all our favorite lovable men. This includes our picture perfect cowboy, Jason "still" Waters who very well may be a bit more curious than your average retired bull rider when Simone tells him what she does for a living other than taking photos for a nude charity calendar.

"I’m not going to get involved with a guy who treats women like they’ll break if you so much as breathe on them. If you want to respect women, respect the real woman in front of you, not some fake fantasy idea of what women are supposed to be like."

Full of humor, wit, emotion that never stops until you hit the last page. The characters made me never want to stop reading, savoring and devouring each moment as Jason and Simone are tangled in the sheets and also in a new sort of world filled with BDSM and love they are beginning to form together. Even if bubbly Simone isn't quite what the conservative western family values truly desired for their son who was raised to never dare even raise his voice to a woman let alone beat and punish a woman. Let alone like it.

“I need to believe I’m a good man,” he said. “I don’t know if I can be that or do that and also be a good man.”

Throughout the original sinners series, I don't think I have seen enough of Simone. She was always there in the background as a good friend and a side sub for Soren, but man am I happy to have read her. She is fun, joyfully uninhibited in what she says, and someone I could fully connect to in this world Tiffany created where everyone is a bit of a freak, but ultimately perfectly happy about it unless they are in the lab of their former dom crying about being a possibly horrible slave which made me want to laugh and cry with her.

This novel however from past characters in this S&M world challenged the idea that to be a perfect dominant as Simone views Soren in many ways, one didn't have to be super intense. Jason is hers both in her heart and in the bedroom (and anywhere else) with a playful and downright sexy humbleness that makes them perfect to bring out the best in one another's most private dreams.

“Maybe, if I have your permission, Master Jason,” she said, “maybe it would be okay if I fell in love with you?” 

Though this book is a standalone and can be read as a stand alone, if you like erotica or some steamy romance I suggest to finally jump on the Tiffany Reisz Original Sinners train. Seriously, this is technically book 10, and it wants each reader to enjoy the ride of Jason Waters.

Happy release day to The Chateau by Tiffany Reisz!

Wow, another release day for Tiffany Reisz. This lady can whip out books fast and they never seem to disappoint. The story of Frenchman Kingsley as a young spy was already set up as a win and she took it even further, intertwining his story with The Story of O. Immediately I was in, and I bet so were almost all of the Original Sinners fans who already know the esteemed, funny, and highly seductive Kingsley Edge.

Advance Praise for The Chateau: An Erotic Thriller:

"Compulsive, erotic, suspenseful. A must read!" — A Woman and Her Books

"Five stars." — Reading Keeps Me Sane Blog 

"I just can't get enough of Tiffany Reisz." — Caro, Collector of Book Boyfriends 

"Kinky... [keeps] you on the edge till the end." — Sweet & Spicy Reviews 

"Feminists are once again making a stand in the world and the timing seems quite perfect as this novel is an intriguing look into the world of a strong, sadistic and mysterious woman." — Kelsey's Korner Blog 

"[Will] satisfy the insatiable needs of The Original Sinners fans." — Warhawke's Vault Book Blog

Need any more of a reason to read?

You can read my review, or you can also read...

An exclusive excerpt from The Chateau: An Erotic Thriller from 8th Circle Press...

By late afternoon, Kingsley been waiting for the payphone to ring for six hours. At least it had warmed up enough that he could almost, perhaps, maybe take a quick nap while sitting on the floor of the phone booth with his coat wrapped around his knees. He got settled in and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to drift off, someone knocked on the phone booth door.

Kingsley sprang immediately awake. And when he saw the girl standing outside the door, he leapt to his feet, a smile on his face.

“Pardon me, sir,” she said. “Do you live here?”

She spoke French like a native. He knew he was supposed to play dumb, to act like he only spoke English or stilted French, as part of his cover.

But.

The girl was magnificent. Black hair in a loose bun. Onyx eyes. Skin a deep olive like his, maybe even darker. She had a little beauty mark on her chin and her lips were a dusky hue, full and mischievous as if they wanted to slide into a smile but knew better than to encourage him. All her clothes were chic. Chic brown leather knee boots with a little heel. A brown skirt, a belted brown coat, and a red newsboy cap tilted rakishly over her right eye. She didn’t look very old—maybe eighteen or nineteen—but she carried herself with a sophistication beyond her tender years.

Since she was so very magnificent, he was compelled to respond with his own fluent French. So what if he blew his cover? He’d blow anything for this girl.

“Do I live here?” he asked. “On this street?”

“In the phone booth?”

She smiled and he decided they should have two children. Both girls. Or maybe one boy and one girl. He wasn’t picky.

“No,” he said. “I’m waiting on a call.”

“Oh,” she said. “I’ll find another phone then.”

“You can use this one,” he said. “It’s not mine. I don’t own it. It’s public. You’re the public.”

“But I’m not public. I’m very private,” she said.

Maybe three children, he thought. The third would be an accident. Unplanned. Likely the result of him ravishing her one time too many while on holiday in Saint Croix. He wondered if she liked being spanked. He would try to find that out before tomorrow morning.

“Then you shouldn’t use my public phone,” he said. “We should find you a private phone. I have one back at my place.”

“If you have a phone, why are you using a phone booth?” she asked. She was looking at him with unabashed appreciation. She might even find him as attractive as he found her.

“It’s for work. I think.”

“If you’re working I should leave you alone then,” she said. “I’ll find another phone on my own.”

“You’re Jewish.”

She furrowed her beautiful brow. “Are Jews not allowed to use phones?” she asked.

“I noticed your necklace,” he said. A gold Star of David pendant danced in the hollow of her throat. “I like it.”

“Are you Jewish?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “I’m just so happy you aren’t Catholic.”

She laughed and her laugh bounced off the sidewalk into the sky and jumped into the nearest passing cloud. Kingsley hoped wherever that cloud went it would rain her laughter onto the world.

“Is it so bad to be Catholic?” she asked.

“I went to Catholic school,” he said by way of answer.

“Is it like I hear it is?” she asked.

“Worse. We can raise our children Jewish. I’ll convert.”

“Are you circumcised?” she asked.

“Not yet, but if you’ll give me a minute, I have my Swiss Army knife on me.”

Need more of The Chateau before its release date on June 5th? Look not further for an fun sexy excerpt as Kingsley falls down the rabbit hole.

Only a few days left.

Prepare yourselves Original Sinners fans...but first read this excerpt.

An exclusive excerpt from The Chateau: An Erotic Thriller, on sale this June from 8th Circle Press...

The ropes around his wrists were long enough Polly didn’t have to untie him. Kingsley simply rolled onto his stomach and moved back into place, the ropes twisting into a knot. The pressure on his wrists was comfortable, but tight enough to feel like a pair of strong hands. Strong hands on his wrists, Kingsley lying prone, someone about to take him…

Just like high school.

“I see you smiling,” Polly said as she moved off the bed to do whatever it was she needed to do.

“Just remembering,” he said. “It’s funny. I don’t usually smile when I remember…”

“What?”

“Anything,”

Polly kissed the back of his shoulder. “I’ll give you a memory to make you smile.”

Kingsley let out a breath of pleasure as Polly laid her hand flat on the small of his back and caressed him there.

“This is my favorite part,” she said.

“Back rubs?”

“No, silly boy. Backs are my favorite part. Boy backs. My favorite body part,” she said. “Right here.” With her fingertips she lightly scored the center of his back where his tailbone met his spine. “Maybe that’s why I love doing this so much. The view of you is divine…”

With a compliment like that, how could Kingsley object to anything she wanted to do with his body? Polly whispered instructions in his ear. He did as told, and he did it with pleasure. He pulled his knees up under him and spread them. Polly worked the plug out of him carefully.

She positioned herself behind him and started to slowly…slowly…slowly enter him. Too slowly.

Polly told him to lay flat, to stretch out his legs—however was most comfortable for him. He was under the strictest of orders to tell her the second he felt a moment’s pain. But there was no pain, no discomfort. Fullness, yes. Not pain. Not like he’d known once.

“You like this, don’t you?” Polly said as she kissed and licked the back of his neck. “Being taken? Penetrated? Used?”

“Very much.”

“Say it then,” she said.

“Say what?”

“Say you like penetration. You said you aren’t shy, so say it. Or are you shy?”

He opened his mouth, laughed softly. “You make me feel shy. It’s an accomplishment.”

“Kingsley…” Polly said as she nibbled on his earlobe. “Say it or I’ll stop fucking you…” Her voice was teasing, but the order was an order. It had to be obeyed.

“I like being penetrated,” he said. “There. Happy?”

“So very happy. If I keep doing this,” she said and thrust into him, “will you come?”

“Yes.”

“You’re sure?”

“I would bet my life on it.”

“You’ve come from penetration alone before?”

“I have.”

“High school?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Summary

As the Jack-of-All-Wicked-Trades for a secretive French military intelligence agency, Kingsley Boissonneault has done it all—spied, lied, and killed under orders. But his latest assignment is quite out of the ordinary. His commanding officer's nephew has disappeared inside a sex cult, and Kingsley has been tasked with bringing him home to safety.

The cult’s holy book is Story of O, the infamous French novel of extreme sado-masochism. Their château is a looking-glass world where women reign and men are their willing slaves. Or are they willing? It’s Kingsley’s mission to find out.

Once inside the château, however, Kingsley quickly falls under the erotic spell cast by the enigmatic Madame, a woman of wisdom, power, and beauty. She offers Kingsley the one thing he’s always wanted. But the price? Giving up forever the only person he’s ever loved.

About Tiffany Reisz

Tiffany Reisz is the USA Today bestselling author of the Original Sinners series for Mira Books and Mills & Boon, including the RT Book Reviews Best Erotic Romance 2012 winner The Siren and the LAMBDA Literary Award-winning The King. Her novel The Saint won the Romance Writers of America RITA® for best Erotic Romance in 2015.

So you haven't read Tiffany Reisz yet? Well well, we must change this. Perhaps we will change it with the Kingsley Edge? If anyone could turn anyone into a fan he would be the one. Unless you already know to be a Soren fan- Don't worry, Kingsley is too. Or, you may be like me, who would gladly be converted to the Original Sinners religion by both.

But for now, Kingsley. King.

Kingsley Boissonneault Edge who finally has his very own French spy prequel, The Chateau coming out June 5th. I had no idea that I needed this beautiful novel until I read the magnificent thing. Feel free to read my review I already posted on it, or the first excerpt I shared with you all.

For now here, take a read of the magnificence yourself.

An exclusive excerpt from The Chateau: An Erotic Thriller, on sale this June from 8th Circle Press...

The dream always begins the same way. In the winter. In the woods.

Kingsley stands in snow surrounded by shadows. None of the shadows are his because he’s not really there. He leaves no footprints as he walks. He does not see his steaming breath as he breathes. He is a ghost in this white forest, but he is not the only ghost here.

Before him stands a door.

It’s an arched wooden door alone in the woods. It belongs to an old chapel, but there is no church here, no chapel, no house. Only a door. Kingsley can walk around the door, but nothing will happen. Nothing will happen at all until he steps through it. The iron latch is cold enough to bite his bare fingers, but he doesn’t feel this either. He lifts it and passes through the door, because that is where the boy in white waits for him.

The moon is full and high, and the snow is bright, and he can see the young man so clearly it’s almost as if it were daytime, almost as if it weren’t a dream at all.

The boy in the clearing is beautiful, his hair so blond it looks almost white. His hair is white and his clothes are white, not snow white but a purer white, a baptismal white.

Kingsley speaks a word—either the boy’s name or “sir.” When he wakes he can never remember what word he says.

The boy, luminous in his pure white clothing, stands next to a table made of rough stone and on the stone table is a chess board made of ice.

Even though it is a dream, and no one has spoken but him, Kingsley knows he is supposed to sit and stay and play the game. It’s the rules. If he doesn’t play, he’ll wake up, and the last thing he wants is to wake up now, to wake up ever.

He sits opposite the young man with the white-blond hair. The chess board is between them. Everything is between them.

Kingsley moves his pawn.

“You’re not really here,” Kingsley says to the boy with the snowy hair and the silver eyes. The boy’s beauty renders the dream a nightmare because Kingsley knows when morning comes, the boy will be gone and nowhere does such beauty exist among his waking hours. Not anymore.

“How do you know?” the boy asks, moving his king.

“You look eighteen,” Kingsley says, moving another pawn. “You’re twenty-five now. I’m twenty-four.”

The boy moves his king again. “In your memory I’m eighteen.”

“That isn’t how you play,” Kingsley says. “You can’t move the king like that.”

“It’s my game,” the boy in white says. “I move my king however I want. Don’t you remember? Don’t you remember the way I moved my King anywhere and everywhere I wanted him to go?”

Even in the snow and the cold, Kingsley grows warm.

“I remember.”

Kingsley moves his bishop.

The boy in white moves his king again.

“I don’t know how to win this game,” Kingsley says. “How can I win if I don’t know the rules?”

The boy in white narrows his silver eyes at him. “You’ve already won.”

“I have?”

“To play is to win, if you’re playing with me. Isn’t that true?” the boy asks with an arrogant smile in his eyes.

Kingsley knows this is true though it galls him to admit it. He doesn’t care who wins the game as long as the game between them goes on forever. He moves another pawn and the boy in white captures it.

To be the pawn captured in that boy’s hand…

“How do you keep finding me?” Kingsley asks.

“You came to me,” the boy says. “I’m always here.”

“I lost you,” Kingsley says. “Seven years ago. I lost you.”

“No,” the boy says, smiling for the first time. His face is like Michelangelo’s David, passive and powerful and carved from pale marble. His eyes are granite and if Kingsley had a chisel he knows he could chip away at the boy’s chest until he uncovered an iron and copper wire heart beating inside a steel ribcage.

“No?”

“You lost you,” the boy says. The smile is gone and it has begun to snow again. When it snows, Kingsley knows the dream is almost over. All he wants to do is stay asleep a little longer. All he wants to do is stay asleep forever.

“How do I find you again?” Kingsley asks. “Please, tell me before I wake.”

“You don’t find me,” the boy says. “I find you.”

“Find me then.”

“When it’s time.”

“When will it be time?”

The boy in white moves his hands over the board and Kingsley looks down. The ice king lays on the board broken in two pieces.

“When?” Kingsley asks. He is a child again, asking a thousand questions in the quest for a single answer. The snow is falling harder now, heavy as rain and hot as tears. “Tell me when, please…”

The boy leans across the board as if to kiss him, but instead of a kiss, Kingsley is given an answer.

“When you find you.”

Between the kiss and the answer, Kingsley would have picked the kiss.

Summary

As the Jack-of-All-Wicked-Trades for a secretive French military intelligence agency, Kingsley Boissonneault has done it all—spied, lied, and killed under orders. But his latest assignment is quite out of the ordinary. His commanding officer's nephew has disappeared inside a sex cult, and Kingsley has been tasked with bringing him home to safety.

The cult’s holy book is Story of O, the infamous French novel of extreme sado-masochism. Their château is a looking-glass world where women reign and men are their willing slaves. Or are they willing? It’s Kingsley’s mission to find out.

Once inside the château, however, Kingsley quickly falls under the erotic spell cast by the enigmatic Madame, a woman of wisdom, power, and beauty. She offers Kingsley the one thing he’s always wanted. But the price? Giving up forever the only person he’s ever loved.

About Tiffany Reisz

As everyone knows, I absolutely LOVED The Chateau by Tiffany Reisz just as much, if not more, than the rest of her books. How could I not?

For more on my thoughts, feelings, and declarations of love for Kingsley's character, check out my review of The Chateau here.

As the Jack-of-All-Wicked-Trades for a secretive French military intelligence agency, Kingsley Boissonneault has done it all—spied, lied, and killed under orders. But his latest assignment is quite out of the ordinary. His commanding officer's nephew has disappeared inside a sex cult, and Kingsley has been tasked with bringing him home to safety. 

The cult’s holy book is Story of O, the infamous French novel of extreme sado-masochism. Their château is a looking-glass world where women reign and men are their willing slaves. Or are they willing? It’s Kingsley’s mission to find out. 

Once inside the château, however, Kingsley quickly falls under the erotic spell cast by the enigmatic Madame, a woman of wisdom, power, and beauty. She offers Kingsley the one thing he’s always wanted. But the price? Giving up forever the only person he’s ever loved.

For now while we wait for The Chateau to be released into the world on June 5th 2018, interview time with Tiffany Reisz!

Welcome to the Chateau

The cult at the center of That Chateau regards Story of 0—the infamous French erotic novel—as their "holy book." When did you first read Story of O? 

I was in my 20s. I'd heard about it but never read it. Then I read it while I was in seminary considering joining a religious order. I never joined the religious order, but I'm not sure if that was because of Story of O or not. We'll leave that to my future biographers to decide.

Inside the cult's chateau, women reign and men are their willing slaves. How did the idea for such a community come about?

Wishful thinking?

The french spy Kingsley Boissonneault—who Original Sinner fans may not better as Kingsley Edge—is 24 in this novel. What most surprised you about him at that age?

That Kingsley still has the teeniest, tiniest shard of innocence left in him even after all he's been through at that age. He's still a bit of a romantic before life turned him into the incredibly jaded (i.e. French) character we met in alter books. It is fun that now, in present day, when Kingsley finally has the love and family he craves, he's turning back into that more playful, less jaded person he is in The Chateau at age 24.

Madame is an interesting character. She's described as "a woman of wisdom, power, and beauty." Tell me more about her.

There is a very famous French dominatrix (Catherine Robbe-Grillet) who is in her 80s or 90s now and is till actively kinky. She's an incredibly classy, elegant older woman with white hair and I find her fascinating. I think my Madame is how I imagine Robbe-Grillet at a younger age. The Vanity Fair profile of Catherine Robbe-Grillet begins with this line: "[She] makes Fifty Shades of Grey look like a Disney movie." Madame makes Mistress Nora look like a Disney Princess.

"Through the looking glass" is a theme that comes up several times in The Chateau. What's the significance of the looking glass?

That Chateau isn't simply a story about a previously unexplored time in Kingsley's life (when he was a spy in his 20s). It's also an origin story of sorts about the kingdom Kingsley will later build in New York for all his kinky friends. Kingsley and Nora both employ Alice in Wonderland and Through-the-Looking-Glass imagery in their kinky lives. This book shows where Kingsley first encountered the concept of living a kinky life as going "through the looking glass."

You've written suspense before (your gothic suspense The Lucky Ones was recently published by Mira Books), but this is your first real thriller. How did your writing process differ on this book?

This book was much easier to write than The Lucky Ones. With Kingsley, all you ave to do is conjure him up and drop him into a weird situation and you'll have fun as a reader and a writer. The pitch was, "Kingsley goes on an erotic adventure inside a femme-domme cult." The story pretty much wrote itself. It's James Bond with blow jobs, BDSM, and an angst-ridden bisexual hero still in love with his ex-boyfriend.

Other Original Sinners characters show up or are eluded to, including a certain blond priest...

There's so much Søren in this book, it's silly. He's all over the book from the first page to the last. That's because you can't have a Kingsley book without Søren. It would be like bread without butter, day without night, sadism without masochism. Kingsley cannot be understood as a person or a character without Søren. Søren is his creator. There would be no Kingsley as we know him if he'd never met Søren.

After eight books in the Original Sinners series, The Chateau is the first full-length standalone set in the Original Sinners universe. Why did you decide to step outside of the series format for this book?

I had conceived the idea for The Chateau a long time ago as a spiritual sequel to Story of O, but Kingsley wasn't a character in it. But the idea kept falling flat for me. When I threw Kingsley into the mix and made him my O who gets thrown int this weird kinky world, the book came to life.

What's next for the Original Sinners?

In October, 8th Circle Press is releasing Picture Perfect Cowboy, which is an Original Sinners standalone novel (category-romance length). It stars Simone, Søren's backup whipping girl who works at The 8th Circle, and a new character, Jason Waters, a retired rodeo champion who's deeply conflicted between his kinky impulses and his incredibly conservative family and upbringing. Simone is the cure for what ails him! Søren and Mistress Nora both make big cameos in Picture Perfect Cowboy.

Excerpt from The Chateau

“Don’t speak,” the woman said. It was the voice from the phone, who'd ordered him to wait at the hotel. “Only speak when I ask you a direct question. I’ll speak in French. You answer in English. If someone is eavesdropping it’ll make it a little harder on them. Do you understand?”

Comprenez-vous?

“Yes,” Kingsley said, en anglais. He wondered how she knew he knew English. Had his American accent been that convincing?

“I’m going to touch you,” she said. “If you have an objection to that, then I don’t know why you’re here.”

Again, Kingsley did not speak. He had absolutely no objection to being touched. Not by her, anyway.

He waited, eyes closed, and felt a soft touch on his head, a stroke of fingers through his hair.

“You lied to me,” she said.

Kingsley tensed, but didn’t speak. He knew better than to say anything to that sort of accusation.

“You told me you were handsome. You aren’t,” she said. “You’re exquisite.”

Kingsley almost said something to that. Something like, “Will that be a problem?” But she’d only made a statement. Until she asked a question, he wasn’t allowed to speak.

“If I were a painter, you’d be my muse,” she said. “You belong in oils on canvas.”

Not being allowed to say “thank you” to a compliment of that magnitude was mild torture.

She stroked his hair again. His eyes were open, but he couldn’t see her as she stood beyond the farthest edge of his peripheral vision. That explained partly why the curtains had to be closed. Otherwise he could have seen her reflection in the window.

She touched his forehead and now Kingsley felt the silk of gloves against his skin. Her touch was gentle, soothing, and the second he relaxed into it, she put a knife to his throat.

Kingsley froze.

“I don’t want to kill you,” she said.

That made two of them.

“Very good,” she said. “Even with a knife at your throat you hold your tongue. Someone’s trained you very well.”

Kingsley still did not speak. He knew he could overpower her if he needed to, but would she make a fatal stab first? Better to wait it out, behave, play along.

“Someone sent you to me. Who was it and what did he tell you?” she asked. “If you tell me even one lie I will slit your throat. And yes, I will know if you lie.”

She’d asked him one direct question. Therefore he was allowed to speak.

“I’m employed by an intelligence agency without a name,” he said. “French military. Officially unofficial. Leon isn’t my friend. He’s my commanding officer’s nephew. They think you’re holding him against his will. They asked me to get him out. If he wants out.”

“Leon is your commanding officer’s nephew,” she repeated, sounding amused. “So that’s the game, is it?”

“I don’t care about the boy,” he said. Kingsley wasn’t sure what she meant by “the game.” He hoped he lived long enough to find out.

“Then why did you come here?”

“My own reasons.”

“You wish to serve, do you?”

Kingsley whispered, “Yes.”





8th Circle Press is a Lexington, Kentucky-based publisher of literary friction, publishing the work of international bestseller Tiffany Reisz, New York Times bestseller Andrew Shaffer, and others.


*Interview and excerpt provided by 8th Circle Press along with a galley copy of The Chateau for review.

Through the looking glass we go.

The amount of Alice in Wonderland references that Tiffany Reisz dishes out always sits really well with me. It mixes the raw reality of sexy young and broken Kingsley with the sort of magic I can only hope I fall down the rabbit hole into in my life.



For now I will only say that I had previously thought before reading The Chateau that I couldn't like Kingsley any more than I already did- but I was wrong. I love him so so much more.

Not only is Kingsley the sexy and cocky Original Sinner I grew to love from the red years book one, but now everyone can love him too in this standalone erotic thriller. It goes a little something like putting a much more kinky James Bond in a sex cult. But a fun femme-domme sort of sex cult. In a chateau! A cult that Kingsley somehow, yet of course obviously, fits into in all the best ways as he is put on a mission to find and possibly retrieve the stray nephew of his slightly unsettling colonel who apparently just doesn't want anyone to have any fun.

But fun, sexy times, and intrigue of all sorts is what we have.

Oddly enough, I have always considered Kingsley the original sinner I scarily say that if I could mix him with a little bit of Michael, I relate to the most in a weird alternate universe sort of way.

Maybe that looking glass universe is the one where I didn't  email in desperate need of an advance reader's copy. A few weeks ago as I was online (probably Instagram) when I came across the excitement of a snipet from The Chateau. Below in the comments however, the June 5th publication date suddenly stuck out to me.

June 5th?




I could have been one of those fabulous people who toss their hair and say, "Well I won't be in the country then." Only instead of doing that, I wrote a ranty email about how Tiffany Reisz books are some of my favorite of all time, plus, bonus if I got the early copy: I could scream about how sexy Kingsley is across the very boarders of France, if it so pleased the ARC giving gods.

An email in reply much more casually told me of course, I was already on the special list, and sent me along possibly the most beautiful copy of a book ever. The cover is very soft and gets floppy as you read it in all the right ways.

It was a very good Monday mail day.

I got to reading right away.

As the Jack-of-All-Wicked-Trades for a secretive French military intelligence agency, 24-year-old Lieutenant Kingsley Boissonneault has done it all—spied, lied, and killed under orders. But his latest assignment is quite out of the ordinary. His commanding officer's nephew has disappeared inside a sex cult, and Kingsley has been tasked with bringing him home to safety. 

The cult’s holy book is Story of O, the infamous French novel of extreme sado-masochism. Their château is a looking-glass world where women reign and men are their willing slaves. Or are they willing? It’s Kingsley’s mission to find out. 

Once inside the château, however, Kingsley quickly falls under the erotic spell cast by the enigmatic Madame, a woman of wisdom, power, and beauty. She offers Kingsley the one thing he’s always wanted. But the price? Giving up forever the only person he’s ever loved.

First off, though you didn't need to read Story of O, but I am really glad that I have previously read it before devouring The Chateau. Without reading it I feel like I wouldn't have the full insight of what Kingsley and our new mind bending sadist, Madame, understood about the story and how it intertwined itself within the lives of those who serve in the chateau.

One who served in this novel of course was Kingsley. O' Kingsley O' Kingsley. Because we must come to terms with the not so sad fact that we can't have a Kingsley without great banter, a flawed past, and enough hot sex to go around to keep you on your toes.

Or knees.

Whatever suits your fancy.

What suited me was this plot. From the first page I couldn't stop turning them. My boyfriend one night had to turn out the light, toss the book across the room, and tell me to sleep. Each scene and dramatic reveal of characters and momentary cameos, and backstories I only previously imagined from reading the Original Sinners series however, kept me from sleeping a few hours more.

At that point sure I only had one chapter left. Turning around in bed, I cursed my boyfriend. He laughed.

“Real sadism is an art form. I’m an art lover, and you, right now, you’re the Louvre. Tell me more about how he hurt you and let me see your face while you do.”

No matter what I read of Tiffany's so far, I enjoy it immensely. I completely loved this book in all of its twists, but to be honest, I REALLY love these characters. Every time I open a story of hers, especially from the original sinner crew, I feel like I am returning to old friends. Tiffany manages to bring them back to life and further into my heart.

Though I definitely believe that to get the full wonderful experience from this stunning novel you should read all the Original Sinner's books and fall in love with Kingsley, The Chateau could also be read as a stand alone.

Happy sinning and happy reading, Reisz fans.

This book does not disappoint in the least.