Review // Pure Ecstasy by Aja James

Goddess above, he didn’t know how much longer he could resist her. It wasn’t about pride and will any more. It wasn’t about being a Blood Slave but not a whore. Seth feared he was too far gone for any of that. For, over the past six months of his contract with the vampire queen, he’d stupidly and irrevocably fallen in love with her.

Pure Ecstasy by Aja James

Pure/Dark Ones #7
Release - January 1, 2019
Genre - Paranormal Romance
Multiple POV - 3rd person
Heat Level - 4 out of 5
Format/Source - Kindle purchase
Page Count - 239
Publisher - Indie

Jade: She is a ruthless, cunning vampire queen, the most powerful amongst all the Hives in the world. Beautiful, predatory, and alluringly dangerous, she’s a huntress who revels in blood and sexual pleasure.

Seth: He is calm, cool, and level-headedness personified, as the most effective negotiator and mediator amongst the Pure Ones. Known by the moniker of “Monk,” he thought he could resist any and all temptation.

3 years ago, they made a deal, one that gave the Pure Ones a critical advantage against a deadly foe. But the price he paid still haunts him to this day.

3 years ago, she played a delicious game, not realizing until it was almost too late, how he changed her entire world.

Now, common enemies force their paths to cross again. Only this time, the stakes are higher, the risk is greater, and the love—should they choose to claim it—will be worth every sacrifice.

Buy it here: https://amzn.to/3stNHPa
(free to read with Kindle Unlimited)

I'll say this now... Jade and Seth were heartwrenchingly beautiful together!

I'll admit that when I first realized that Jade was meant for Seth, I was a bit horrified. This woman, who kept him as a blood slave, manipulated him, treated him like a toy, and had sex with multiple lovers (some at the same time) right in front of him, couldn't possibly be his forever mate.

So what if she listened and appreciated his counsel? So what if she understood that what she felt for him was far more than she had felt for any other male? So what if she was lost and devastated without him?

She didn't respect him!

Goddess above, he didn’t know how much longer he could resist her. It wasn’t about pride and will any more. It wasn’t about being a Blood Slave but not a whore. Seth feared he was too far gone for any of that. For, over the past six months of his contract with the vampire queen, he’d stupidly and irrevocably fallen in love with her.

But I changed my mind for many reasons, one of them being that I've learned that not only did she not have real sex with these people, she made sure Seth was completely aware of it.

What I loved most about Jade were her moments of vulnerabilty and fragility. I could appreciate her being a badazz, but her having a soft side... Her humanity is what made her truly endearing.

She looked so innocent and childlike in slumber, not at all the mighty queen she played during her waking hours. He might love this side of her the best. But no, he loved all sides of her. The dark, the bright, the good, the bad. He loved her strength, her weakness, her passion, her insouciance. He loved her even when she hurt him, when she shattered his body, his heart, his soul. He couldn’t seem to help himself.

I didn't find her past to be as devastating to me as the ones I've seen before, however, I felt such sympathy for her. She was once a slave, with no rights and no freedoms, aside from what she was able to manipulate from her masters. I thought it would make her more empathetic with what Seth found abominable. But no.

How he feared and worried for his female. How he hurt inside from the way she used him, even though he’d offered himself for that very purpose. How he loved her desperately and unconditionally despite it all. How his only regret was that he couldn’t protect her to the end.

Honestly, Seth could do no wrong with me. He was so sweet, so kind and considerate, so sexy and loyal and generous, so amazing. I loved this man so much!!

There was no mask over his expression now. He was unfiltered, undiluted, and unrestrained. The look in his eyes would be seared into her consciousness forever: possessive, primitive, an intoxicating blend of agony and pleasure, strength and vulnerability. And she knew right then and there that he’d never looked at anyone this way before. Only her.

Once again, Aja James had me swooning and engaged and anxious for more.

And here are my kinda spoiler-y discussion points...

I thought that nothing could really surprise me with this book because a) the author seems to love shocking us and b) I was prepared for all of the shocks. I'm telling you now... I was not prepared! I read these lines:

It didn't want Benji's short, innocent life to be snuffed out with all the other candles in the human world.

It wanted its son to live.

What are you telling me? The Creature is the father of Benji? Again with this 6 degrees of separation. So it's the father and Inanna is raising her nephew without even knowing it. Why has The Creature gotten itself involved in everyone's lives like this? Don't even get me started on its conversation with the comatose Dalair, letting on that it was the man Sophia chose over Dalair in her past life (the one in which he sacrificed himself for). What. The. Ever. Loving. Heck. Is. Going. On???

Then there's the rest...

I found it incredibly off-putting that Ramses was not only attracted to Jade (and really, who could blame him?), but that he was also extremely possessive of her. I'm not thrilled that he was depicted this way. Where did it even come from? I'm hoping I forget all about it by the time I get to his book about him finding his own mate.

Other than Tal, do any of these people believe in foreplay?

Ayelet referred to Seth as family. Is that real or chosen?

Why is no one suspicious over Wan'er? I can't wait to see this whole thing blow up!

I think I'm most excited to see when The Creature realizes who he truly is. I have a feeling this author, based on how amazing she's been so far, is going to make this reveal AWESOME!!

Check out the previous books:

“I want you.”

She stated the words as if she were throwing down a gauntlet.

He looked back at her intently, searching those intense blue eyes for some depth of feeling beyond superficial lust.

But he couldn’t see inside of her. She was, and always had been, closed off to him.

One of Seth’s Gifts was the ability to detect the desires of others, the better to negotiate and mediate. All he’d ever felt from Jade was sexual aggression and hunger for pleasure. He could never tell whether these were the only things she wanted, or that these were the only things she allowed herself to want.

“My blood,” Seth clarified.

“Yes.”

“My body.”

“Yessss.”

“That is all?”

She narrowed her eyes.

What did he want her to say? She didn’t have patience for guessing games.

“That is plenty,” she said. “I want to renegotiate our deal. What do you want for your blood and body? Unlimited access. Sole ownership. Name your price.”

A sharp, splintering pain exploded within Seth’s heart.

“You want me to be your Blood Slave,” he rasped out, his eyes boring into hers.

Her gaze flickered slightly as if she knew she’d hurt him with her demand, but wasn’t sure why.

“We don’t have to call it that,” she coaxed. “We don’t need to formalize the ritual. You would simply give me your word that you’re mine. Only mine.”

“I cannot be owned that way,” he stated quietly.

“Everyone and everything can be had for a price,” she resolutely refuted. “It is how I built this Hive, the strongest vampire Hive in the world.”

The look in her eyes gentled slightly as she considered him.

“I would treat you well, Pure One,” she promised softly. “I would only take my pleasure with you, if that’s what you want. I would forsake all other males, and keep you always by my side.”

“Like a pet.”

Jade sat back as the waitress came to take their plates away and put the check on the table.

She was nonplussed.

She was offering him carte blanche access to her Hive, her resources, her power and influence, in return for mutual pleasure and gratification. Yet he was obviously extremely put out, if the muscle ticking in his jaw were any indication.

Perhaps she should have thought through her strategy better.

But this was their last day together. She wanted more days like this.

Infinitely more.

She was desperate to possess him totally, elated to know that no one ever truly had.

She wanted to mark him, claim him, own him before Destiny decided to loan him to any other female.

He was hers.

She needed to make him hers.

Mine, the primitive beast inside of her growled.

“We should go,” he said and stood, after paying the bill, his ever calm and polite mask once more encasing his face.

She took his arm as they walked out of the dessert shop together, the better to lean in and ask, “You’ll consider it?”

“No.”

“But—”

He turned to face her on the sidewalk and clutched her close so that their conversation couldn’t be overheard by humans going about their day.

“I will not be your whore.”

“That’s not—”

“I cannot be bought.”

“You—”

He held her shoulders and shook her a little, finally losing some of his cool.

"Don't," he ground out.

"Don't," he repeated when she opened her mouth to speak.

I do not f*ck on command. I am not built that way. I will never give anyone the power to reduce me into a collection of flesh and bones and blood. I am more than that. And if you wanted to pretend that you are my wife, you would know that. You would respect who I am."

Aja James just completed the Pure/ Dark Ones paranormal-fantasy romance series in 2020. If you want your heart battered, bruised, shattered and skewered, then put back together in the most glorious ways, check out the series below. Every couple gets an HEA, but they fight like hell for it on the way.

Aja is now working on her new series, Dragon Tails, because dragons are her favorite shifters of all!

Visit https://aja-james.blog/ for more information!