The Nora Theory

Look, if I’ve ever met you in person, you’re not here. I’m not here. This isn’t happening. It’s fight club. Let’s never speak of this again. Yes, that’s how extremely spicy this book is. Madness by Shantel Tessier is a contemporary secret society dark romance for a very specific kind of reader.

Every time I read one of the books in Shantel Tessier’s L.O.R.D.S. series, there are at least a few moments where I think to myself, wow this is way too much. It’s rare when reading dark romance for me, but it happens. And yet I keep reading them, despite the predictable ick factor. Why? I suppose it’s a morbid curiosity to see how far this author can make these characters go. So here we are again.

Annabelle is given an assignment for the Lords, and she knows you never turn down an assignment. She’s supposed to go undercover as a therapist named Charlotte to infiltrate Carnage, the Lord’s most hellish prison, run by the Spade brothers. Her specific target, Haidyn, has no intention of opening up to this therapist, but he has his own motivations for playing along. Primarily she’s hot, and he wants to break her.

Everyone is keeping secrets, and the Lords, as usual, are playing games, keeping all the characters dancing like puppets on a string. Soon, Annabelle is left with a choice, surrender to the Lords, or let Haidyn keep her as his toy.

At nearly 800 pages long, Madness is significantly longer than you usually find for an intensely smutty book in the dark romance genre. And that is its most significant problem. This book could have easily been cut in half. For the first 400 pages, it’s just supremely kinky sex and sheer confusion. I’ve read all the books in the series and even with that background, could not figure out what the hell was happening until the second half. And even then, there are significant plot holes.

There are a great deal of flashback scenes here, some of which remain vague, unclear, and unnecessary, even after the big reveal at the end of the book. A large portion of the remainder repeat events of previous books. These flashbacks add to the confusion and general feeling that this book is way too long.

It is simply not a well-written plot. It’s hard to get invested with the characters or anything that is happening to them, besides a brief span of about a hundred pages towards the end. Previous books in this series have a plot you can follow and get invested in, but this story alternates between boring and convoluted. If you are reading for a good story mixed in with your kink, look to a series like Legacy of Gods, which has a similar vibe in terms of consensual (ish?) non-consent. If you’re just here for the sex of it all, then sure. There are 800 pages of that here that will rip your eyebrows up to your hairline.

I have been reading horny literature for many years. I’ve read hundreds of these books. I’m also an adult human in the age of the internet. And yet somehow Shantel Tessier continues to reveal new kinks in her books that I had no idea actually existed. 

The author warns us that this is not a model of healthy BDSM practices, which is an understatement. This couple has chucked safe, sane, and consensual right down the dungeon drain. The hero puts the heroine through actual hell, and she seems to enjoy it. This is not actually my problem with this book, as readers are properly notified of what they’re getting themselves into. It’s just not well-written, and way too long.

To sum up:

This book is only for you readers out there who are looking for the absolute filthiest dark romance imaginable, and you don’t care at all about the plot. If that is not you, move right along. As far as I’m concerned, for everyone else, I read this book so you don’t have to.

Writing: 1.5

Spice: 5 (this is an understatement)