Author: Ashlee Jay
Genre: Erotica, Romance, Interracial, Multicultural
Publisher: Lillium Publishing House LLC
Summary:
The Bounty is the first story published by Author Ashlee Jay under Lillium Publishing. It’s an erotic short that details the explicit sexal encounter between Lara, a young woman just getting home from work who inadvertedly stumbles on the murder of her beloved neighbor, and Lorenzo, a demonic bounty hunter who’s doing the murdering. After deporting her neighbor–who also happens to be a demon–back to hell, he sets his sights on the only witness; Lara herself. After she stops him in his tracks with a well placed command that feels more like a spell to the seasoned hunter, and she freaking STABS him, they head back to her apartment and the tables turn. Fear and lust are only separated by a thin line. And it snaps.
My Review:
I genuinely enjoyed this story. I collect short stories to read in my downtime or between work and this one didn’t disappoint. Ms. Jay’s writing style is crisp, clean, and easy to understand, and the erotic scenes leave you feeling both satisfied and craving more. My only complaint was the pacing and what seems to be a missing story arc. While this is only a short story and obviously isn’t going to have lots of details, I felt a little jipped that more of the story wasn’t included. I want to know more about Lorenzo, his history and his powers. Speaking of powers, whatever Lara is has to be tied into the story somehow. I really hope she does a sequal to this as The Bounty is shaping up to be a great start to a long writing career.
Excerpt:
“Lara Ferreira took one step out of the elevator and into the depths of hell. The pained cries of her neighbor, high pitched and guttural, sounded like a car dragging a box of helpless kittens. Her ears rang, but her feet refused to move. What on earth was going on in there? Glass shattered. Thump after painful thump vibrated the floor beneath her. Her body coiled as she backed away, only to be hit by the fast closing elevator doors. She sighed. How much crap would she have to deal with before she finally made it home? The sound of metal striking flesh came to a brutal halt around her. Someone was slammed into the metal apartment door, sending the six-inch slab of steel into the hallway and her neighbor tumbling after it.
Jackson, her neighbor, rolled off the door and promptly regurgitated his dinner on the hall carpet. His clothes were torn, his eye beaten shut and his once flawless jaw structure swollen beyond recognition. He was a complete and utter mess. Lara ignored her natural response to move forward and help him, choosing instead to stick as close to the elevator as possible. If he knew she was there, he didn’t show any signs of acknowledging her presence, and that was fine with her. His body shook violently as he raised a bent and broken arm over his face. The other, he used to try and push himself away from his attacker who stepped over the debris. Lara’s knees quaked as a silhouette appeared in the doorway. Large hands brushed at the fibers of his a dark blue suit. Her eyes were immediately drawn to blood dripping off of his knuckles to pool on the carpet below his feet.
She watched him step through the doorway, finally getting her first real glimpse of the attacker. Sweat beaded on her forehead, her treacherous heart betraying her stoic expression as it thud loudly against her ribcage. His head was close to the ceiling he was so tall, his body large and intimidating. She watched his equally large hands lift the door and toss it to the side like it was nothing more than paper. He tugged at the lapels of his suit, straightening, the Italian fabric and attempting to wipe the blood from his hands. His footsteps thumped loudly as he neared her hiding place and her breath caught in her throat but, luckily, he was fixated on his target and didn’t appear to notice her.”
Excerpt From: Ashlee Jay. “The Bounty.” iBooks.
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Fiction for the Masses 