Sierra Simone is my absolute favorite romance author, and this was a highly anticipated read for me. I really enjoyed the prequel to this series, Salt in the Wound, which is from Isolde's perspective. I loved the contrast of her steadfast strength & dedication to her cause with her darker desires and unintentional softness. Because I loved Isolde's character in Salt in the Wound so much, I had trouble transitioning to reading exclusively from Tristan's perspective in Salt Kiss. It took a minute to adjust to his worldview, particularly his rose-colored view of Mark Trevena.

Overall, this book is deliciously sexy, as Simone's books always are. Eagerly awaiting the second installment, which promises to be even more tangled, emotional, and riveting.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Salt Kiss by Sierra Simone!

This book was so addictive. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I was a bit disappointed because I expected mroe of Isolde. But I CANNOT wait for book 2‼ That cliffhanger… I need to know what's going to happen next!

Thanks to NetGalley & Source Books Bloom Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

💜🖤 Salt Kiss ARC Review 🖤💜

Thank you so much to Sierra Simone, Bloom books and netGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

Salt Kiss is a dark contemporary romance and book one in the Lyonesse series. Tristan has recently returned from deployment overseas and finds himself struggling with civilian life. Mark is a former CIA agent and now owns Lyonesse, the most popular kink club in the city - and has hired Tristan as his new bodyguard. While the two grow closer, secrets come out that might tear them apart…like Mark’s secret fiancé Isolde

This book was a fantastic read! I absolutely loved these characters so much! Tristan is so fantastic and I loved his growth with Mark. But just when the story feels semi stable…in comes Isolde! She’s definitely a spitfire and I can’t wait to see the dynamics of the three of them in future books! This is definitely the beginning of a series and it feels like there’s a lot of build up - but in a good way and I can’t wait to see where this series goes!!

Overall this was a 4 star read for me! I love the original Tristan & Isolde story, and I really enjoyed this twist of a retelling! As this book contains some darker themes, definitely check triggers if you’re sensitive. This book absolutely packed the spice - the kink was exceptional and I’m so excited for the potential of these three characters - four flames for spice

If you’re a fan of contemporary romance with boss/employee dynamics, bodyguard protectiveness, possessive men and strong women with a splash of kink, then absolutely pick this one up!!

Please Note: review will be posted on Amazon upon publication

If you liked the New Camelot trilogy you are going to LOVE Salt Kiss.

In this retelling of the myth of Tristan and Isolde, Sierra Simone shows us a brand new world inside the New Camelot universe. However, this book does not read like a “related” book. This new story is absolutely phenomenal and just as well-built (if not more) than American Queen.

Tristan Thomas is a young war vet who receives a job offer by non other than his new step-uncle Mark, the owner of infamous sex club Lyonesse. After weeks of sexual tension, both give way to their desires and Tristan discovers that there is no weakness in submitting.
However, Mark is full of secrets and his behavior is nothing short of suspicious most of the time. Will Tristan be able to look the other way. Will new revelations (and a certain badass Irish heiress) become their salvation or their ruin?

I liked this even more than its predecessor, simply because we are not buried in long flashbacks that explain things we already knew. This book was fast paced, steamy and absolutely unputdownable.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 / 5


Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom Books for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

3 ⭐️ Great intro - Shouldn't have been a separate book.

This entire book is literally just the blurb. All of it. The blurb -aka what you read so it can get you hooked on the story and you want to learn more- tells you the ending. I've spent the last two days reading about a sweet, tortured man fall in love twice... and that's it. He falls in love. No one else. He's not in a relationship with either of the people he's fallen for. They don't fall in love with him. He's nothing to anyone. And it's so f*cking sad.

For reference this is the book's blurb (don't read if you want to read this book anyway):
After leaving the army, the young former soldier is in limbo. Until, that is, he's hired by Mark Trevena, the owner of Lyonesse―DC's ultra-secret club―to be Mark's new bodyguard. He's drawn into Mark's dark, seductive world of power and desire, and slowly drawn to Mark himself, even though Mark is everything Tristan knows he shouldn't want: cruel and wicked and shamelessly amoral. But protecting Mark isn't Tristan's only duty: soon, Mark asks him to guard his soon-to-be bride as she travels home from Ireland on Mark's yacht. Tristan is jealous―and hurt to learn that the object of his obsession is engaged―but the former soldier in him is made to obey orders, and he goes to fetch Mark's bride for him. Isolde Laurence is nothing like Tristan expected, however. Young, quiet, and sharp, she's being pushed into this marriage by her family, and as the two travel back to America, Tristan finds himself fascinated with Isolde and the glimpses he gets of the lonely but determined woman behind her reserve. And the fascination is mutual: one night, while sailing under the cold stars, they share a searing kiss. From there, it's a fast fall into the forbidden for all three of them.

And this book literally ends where the "from there" should begin. There is nothing 'from there'. It's a deliciously torturous beginning to what I'm sure will be a torturous romance. But this isn't it. I wish more than anything that I would've waited to pick up this book until the series was done being published, because this should've been a very long book, not a series. Why make two spare books? The cliffhanger is not even a cliffhanger, is just the beginning of the MMF story. Because the book was half MM bdsm romance and a quarter MF k!nk erotica (the other quarter is just introductions and us getting situated into the story).

This book is NOT -I repeat- it's not MMF! Which is a huge disappointment, since it's targeted as such. The second part of this series, I'm sure, will be MMF. This one is NOT.

The story itself is a great time. I probably would've given it over 4 stars if the story was whole. I really liked the writing and Tristan's portrayal, his personality, his struggles. I was really good. It's plenty dark and the level of degradation k1nk here is through the roof. It's very, very intense, and I surprisingly loved it. I'm not a person that tends to enjoy reading books with degradation -if I'm honest I've actively stopped myself from reading books I know I'd otherwise enjoy because I knew they had degradation in them. What I've realized, though, is that my problem with degradation is that it's always MALE Doms, and the female subs are the ones being degraded. Women being degraded by men is a tad too close to the unfortunate cruelty of the world for me to enjoy as a fantasy. Men being the subject of degradation, however... that I apparently like, because I enjoyed reading Tristan's POV so much. The whole book is narrated from his side of things, and although at first I was skeptical I shouldn't have been. Seeing everything through his eyes, reading about his feelings and experiences is what carried this book. His lack of experience made everything new and exciting.

The protagonist here is Tristan, a 29 year old v1rgin soldier whose life lacks structure and meaning - and he finds it all in Mark. Which I would've liked way more if I could understand why Tristan falls in love with Mark to begin with. Mark is cruel and cold and unfeeling, and I understand that since Tristan's into degradation he would desire someone like Mark... but fall in love with him? Tristan falling for Isolde, sure, that I get. But Mark? That was one of my biggest issue with this book. That and the fact that I kept waiting for the 'F' in this 'MMF' to show up, only for her to make a couple of small cameos and then - curtain- the end.

I really did enjoy this... but it feels like it's missing half of the book. I would not recommend reading this until book #2 is out. You will be very disappointed otherwise.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5
🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 / 5*

Thank you so, so much Net Galley for providing me with an eARC of the book!! This review has already been uploaded to goodreads :)

*I think this is only the second or third time I've given all 5 spicy peppers to a book. Seriously, beware of the heat cause it will melt your face off... I loved it!

I flew through this book in one day. When the people that live in my house...yeah, my family...needed things, they got a glare from me because I was busy. Yes, I said it - - I WAS BUSY reading and did not want to do ANYTHING else but inhale this hot little number.

Salt Kiss was a great blend of several things. It's the perfect amount of spice, heart, plot and action. Sierra Simone can weave a plot like no one else and kept me turning the pages on this beauty until the bitter end. Since I knew it was part of a series, I already suspected there would be some kind of cliffhanger at the end....and there was. It wasn't horrible, but the book definitely left me wanting more. I'll be reading the prequel book soon (Salt in the Wound) as I didn't know about it until I'd already started this one.

This book definitely isn't for the feint of heart. A good portion of it is set in and around a sex club after all. The characters are well defined and as a reader, I felt like I knew everything about them. You also really feel like you're in their head with their emotions and so on.

The dynamics being created in this book were on fire and I really can't wait to see what else happens in the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Summary:

A romance inspired by Tristan and Isolde; Tristan Thomas feels aimless after being discharged by the military. He agrees to work as a personal bodyguard to Mark Trevena, his step-uncle and owner of Washington DC's premiere kink club, the Lyonesse. Soon, he's Mark's submissive and falling in love, only to find out Mark is engaged. Despite this, he agrees to bring Mark's fiancée Isolde back from Ireland. What he does not count on is falling for her as well.

My review:

As per Sierra Simone's usual, this book was gorgeously written, sexy and emotional in equal measure. It's written entirely from Tristan's perspective so there's this underlying sense of melancholy through much of the book as Tristan grapples with PTSD and falling for two people who are taken. He admits early on that he tends to fall in love very easily, which feels like such a rarity for a contemporary romance hero, but it tracks as far as characters in chivalric romance-inspired stories go.

Listen, there was a lot of hype in the lead-up to this book about how *dastardly* Mark Trevena is (and a lot of that hype was from Mark Trevena himself, as he constantly told Isolde in Salt in the Wound), but I've yet to see the full scope of his dastardliness. I'm not complaining; we're only one book into the trilogy, and what we do see of Mark's extracurricular activities is pretty hysterical, like when he blows the whistle on a weighted blanket company, or when he breaks into a senator's house to put gastroenteritis on his toothbrush. You know, classic DC political shenanigans.

Most of this book centers around Tristan and Mark's relationship. Tristan misses the regimented structure of the army where he was constantly told what to do, so it's no surprise he's immediately curious about the kind of submission that takes place in a kink club. Ultimately, he makes the first move on Mark (well, the first explicit move... there was definitely some teasing on Mark's part beforehand), and after that, all bets are off.

Isolde only comes into the picture around the 70% mark when Tristan is sent to retrieve Isolde and bring her back on Mark's yacht. It's insta-love on Tristan's part, even if he feels a little outclassed by her rich-girl persona (interestingly, Sierra Simone calls Isolde a "monster" in her acknowledgements and I'm curious to know if it goes further than her penchant for knives). There's a lot of erotic sparring, followed by a brief, passionate affair that has a looming deadline. Ultimately, the book ends on a cliffhanger in more ways than one.

The sex:

To no one's surprise, Tristan Thomas is a virgin because if there's one thing Sierra Simone excels at writing, it's a sadsack virgin. He's lonely and touch-starved (I nearly cried when he asked for a kiss from Mark), so being with someone like Mark is (almost) everything he needs. As for Mark Trevena, I'd say he's a little less sadistic compared to Ash Colchester, or even Auden Guest, and more insatiable (well, I suppose there's a certain sadism in that) so Tristian is perpetually well-used when they're together. Here are some standout moments:

a) This book changed my perception on what can be classified as a breeding kink (as in, Tristan gets off being on both ends of the "breeding").

b) A very hot wax play scene

c) there is an m/m face-sitting scene, which made me wonder how I haven't read one before

d) I was curious to read Tristan and Isolde's sexual dynamic— my take is, it's closer to St. Sebastian and Poe than Embry and Greer. Isolde is a masochist, and Tristan is willing to provide that pain for her, but not as a Dominant. Instead, the vibe is more hungry and animalistic than anything because they've agreed to fuck as long as they're on the yacht and nothing further (Tristan really keeps emotionally torturing himself huh).

e) Of course they fuck in a chapel. Of course they do.

Overall:

I adore Sierra Simone and will never not recommend her books. This is yet another solid start to an erotic romance series that intertwines legend and religion (of course) with kink and queerness, and I look forward to the upcoming books in the Lyonesse trilogy and getting Isolde and Mark's POVs.

Thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

I thought it took entirely too long to get Tristan and Isolde together but once we got there I loved it. I just felt like I was reading a really long novella. I feel like she was writing in a lot of details and world  building that I felt really didn’t need to be there but also the writing style in this book, I’m not sure if she did something different, but it wasn’t my favorite, It feel like I was reading third person point of view.(If that makes any sense) but I usually really like her writing. I’m trying to figure out what it is about this one. I don’t know if it’s the format I read it in, I don’t know it’s because I felt like it dragged, and we really didn’t get to the good stuff until the end, don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely going to continue to read the rest of the series. Just don’t think this is my favorite though. 

Heavy on the smut, not so much on the plot. More like character development for future books. Overall it's an okay read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Bloom for the E-ARC

Book Releases September 12, 2023

All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

I love Sierra Simone’s novels so I’m incredibly biased. I loved the New Camelot, The Bell Brothers, and now I’ll love the Dark Camelot trilogy as well.

Quick Synopsis: In the novella Salt in the Wound we meet Mark and Isolde and learn their story. Salt Kiss follows those events, building on the relationship between Mark and Tristan, who becomes Mark’s bodyguard after retiring from the military. Also Mark’s nephew-in-law, Tristan quickly becomes entranced by the sex club owner and the two embark on an affair, until Tristan discoves Mark is engaged to Isolde. As luck would have it, some plans go awry, and Tristan has to go on the 3 week long cruise from Ireland to the US to bring Isolde back to Mark in time for the wedding and he’s not happy about it.

Going into this, I would recommend you understand that you’re essentially reading 2 novellas, and 3 if you add Salt in the Wound. The first novella, Salt in the Wound, is about Mark and Isolde; the first 60% of Salt Kiss is a novella for Mark and Tristan; and the last 40% is a novella for Tristan and Isolde. I wasn’t crazy about the fact that it read that way, but the author had to provide all the background before getting them all together.

Be warned it does end on a cliffhanger, so we have to wait until the next book is released to learn more, but I’m so unbelievably excited. While this book was kind of choppy given the nature of all the background info we needed to know, the writing was still beautiful, the smut was still incredible, and I am more hooked than ever on these three characters. I love an omniscient, super strategic character, which we get in spades with Mark. I need to know everything possible about this man. The fact that he is now paired with Isolde, whose real strengths and intentions are as yet undefined, and Tristan who is about as doe-eyed as it gets, is such a juxtaposition in characters that you can’t help but be intrigued.

Altogether I loved it and I need more.

Thank you to Bloom Books and NetGalley for the arc
3.75

The smut was really good. However, this book by itself is such an unfulfilling book I understand it's going to be a part of a trilogy however this is still a novel it should still give some sense of ''Oh this was a book and it had a plot'' this was more like character introductions and smut. If you like a lot of smut, mm, and fm content this is for you.

Okay....where to even start with this one. This novel is more SMUT driven then plot driven and if you go into this book with that in mind I think you'll have a better understanding of the book and a better reading experience. Our main man, Tristian, falls for both his boss Mark, and Mark's wife Isolde. This book is full of tension, desire, lust, and kink play. Ends on a cliffhanger which ugh...

MM and MF Romance
Bodyguard Romance
Forced Proximity
Unfaithfulness

Check the Trigger Warnings before reading.

this was great! went into this blind and while it took a minute to understand the dynamics surrounding mark and his business (i probably should have read the novella first), i really enjoyed it. tristan is so eager to please, both inside the bedroom and outside of it. he has amazing chemistry with mark and isolde individually which really feeds into this forbidden love triangle that the story ends on. the journey these three characters will go on together looks promising (and heartbreaking at some point im sure) - im so excited for this series and cannot wait for book 2!

When picking up a Sierra Simone book, we have ideas of what it’s going to be yet Salt Kiss feels completely unique. The book begins with Tristan Thomas who is hired by his stepmother’s brother to be his new bodyguard. The brother is Mark Trevana who was featured in the New Camelot series and owns a kink club called Lyonesse.

While things seem innocent enough at first, it’s clear Tristan is attracted to Mark. Eventually, he decides to act on his attraction and the two start up an incredibly intense relationship. Mark is extremely dominant and possessive of Tristan. We watch their relationship flourish both in and out of the bedroom with both of them taking care of each other including when Mark is injured towards the mid-point of the story.

Tristan can’t stop his feelings and starts to fall in love with Mark before finding out the harsh truth that he’s engaged. Tristan is obviously hurt and ends things but not before Mark tasks him with picking up his blushing bride-to-be. Upon meeting Isolde, Tristan can’t stop his attraction towards her so from there, it becomes a cat-and-mouse game between Isolde and Tristan to resist each other and be faithful to their promises to Mark.

As always, the spice in these books is amazing because Sierra Simone is the smut queen. She knows how to write a good sex scene. The way she writes them showcases the relationship and connection between the characters which I adore. I also loved Tristan’s character as he was so tender-hearted and did things even knowing that he’d likely be hurt in the end.

Then there was the choice to add Isolde in the end. It was such a smart move and honestly, makes me even more excited for book 2. Considering how Salt Kiss ended, I hope we don’t have to wait much longer for the next one.

I only really have two complaints about Salt Kiss. First, the book felt too slow-paced in the middle. I wish we would have gotten more action or something to help bring up that mid-point slump. Second, I didn’t really love Mark as a character and his relationships with Tristan and Isolde. Maybe it’ll get better in the next book but he never really wowed me.

As a new-found Sierra Simone reader and lover, I’m happy to have read Salt Kiss. I think this has the potential to be another huge hit for her. Plus it’s another retelling which Sierra Simone does great at. It was everything you love in a Sierra Simone book while also being something fresh and new.

She has done it again! Sierra Simone is truly a wonder with words. I immediately was captivated by this story and I cannot wait to see more from Tristan, Isolde, and Mark.

Sierra Simone has done it again! Dark Romance that gives you all the feels and such character depth. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 only because for me personally, there was a lot of military/war explanations and references that I just skipped over. Potential spoiler alert - I didn’t pay attention to know that this was a series and I cannot, cannot wait for the next one! It left it on such a cliffhanger that I kept going to turn the page because I couldn’t accept I would have to wait to get more of the Lyonnese world!

This was my first book I have read by Sierra Simone.
Let me just tell you I am OBSESSED.
What a book🥲
I am absolutely in love with these characters and the writing!!
I need more 😭🫶🏻

⤷‧₊˚4.5⭑
„I want two people. I’m not able to have either of them.“

the tension got me right in the beginning i was so hooked that i finished it in one row i just couldn't stop reading. Tristan reminded me so much of embry which made me love him even more.
The smut was like always in sierra simone books top tier.

i'm usually not a love triangle fan but when sierra simone writes it i'm suddenly a fan of it.

it's so cruel that we have to wait for the next book..🫠

thank you so much for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

5⭐️ ♾️🌶️

WOW… WHAT A BOOK 🫠🫠

This was the perfect start to this series. It is so so different from prior Sierra books but even tho this is much darker and the characters (minus Tristan) are very morally gray, there is still such poetry to it! I think this is going to be a fan favorite because of it’s darker nature. While this is not a dark romance, I believe it will be an excellent read for dark romance fans.

LETS GET STARTED 👏🏻👏🏻

Here are some tropes you can find in the story:

- Step nephew/step uncle
- Virgin MC
- Crawl to me
- Breeding & praise kink
- Wax Play
- Morally gray MMC/FMC
- Bodyguard
- Tortured, golden retriever MMC
- Church is the best place to fuck
- Forbidden romance
- Forced Proximity
- Arranged Mareiagw

We are returning to the kinkiest club in the history of the United States and to its even kinkier owner— Mark Trevena. This is set in the same world as New Camelot but reading New Camelot is not a requirement to do this series. Although, I will say, the mentions and tiny appearances here and there make it even better if you’ve known and loved the NC characters.

Salt Kiss is book 1 of Lyonesse and it’s a contemporary, super spicy/kinky Tristan and Isolde retelling with SO👏🏻MUCH👏🏻TENSION IT COULD BREAK A WALL!! Seriously… the tension was so good and delicious. We have what Sierra writes the best, complicated characters and my second favorite MMF romance. There is such palpable chemistry between all 3 of them that have me so excited for the next two books in the trilogy.

Since this was book 1, we have a lot of background and establishing the plot for the rest of the series. I have some questions that went unanswered and I can’t wait to prove if I’m right or not with my guesses when book 2 is out next year. We get to meet Tristan in depth and get a good look into his character and who he is, how he ended up working for Mark and you will specially call in love with his tortured, golden retriever, Embry-Coded personality. Tristan is just so freaking adorable I want to wrap him in a bear hug and never let go. I will have to agree with Sierra that Mark and Isolde are monsters in their own ways. Their relationship will be flames and lightning and I hope I get burned with it.

The kink and spice in this story was EXCELLENT!!! We get more kink than we did with New Camelot and it makes sense given the settings and who Mark is. But seeing this through the eyes of a character that has zero experience with sex, let alone kink was a whole new experience for me and so freaking well done. I wanted to be consumed by it and consume it did. Towards the end tho, Sierra reversed uno me and all of a sudden I was gasping for air and clenching my thighs so hard I am currently sore.

The speed at which I read this book would get me a big fat ticket from highway patrol. I need it to be March already so I can have Honey Cut in my hands!!!!!