Shades of Lust

The Carnal Tower, Book 1

By: E.M. Lindsey

Narrated by: Kirt Graves

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

"The path to paradise begins in hell.” (Dante Alighieri)

On a small path leading to nowhere sits a looming cathedral, once-abandoned, now hosting the most dangerous of pleasures.

And Stone Brice is the most dangerous of all: Lust. A former acrobat, Stone’s life was changed dramatically after an accident, and now he runs The Carnal Tower, a place where people can go to have their deepest and sometimes darkest fantasies realized.

Stone is a man who is rarely taken by surprise, so when he meets the artist, August Ashley, he doesn’t expect to trip and fall at his feet—literally. But there’s something about the quiet stranger in the park that Stone wants to take apart, and that feeling only gets worse the more Stone gets to know him.

Stone is well aware he can’t mix business and pleasure, but when August comes to him with a proposal for a trade—seven paintings for seven nights with Lust—he can’t say no. Not when it means he’ll be able to have August exactly the way he wants him—even if it’s just for a week.

Stone has every plan to strip August down to his very soul, but the longer the week goes on, the more Stone comes to realize that August might very well be his undoing.

Shades of Lust is the first book in a new series. It features a bi-awakening, high heat, low angst, and the human embodiment of a seven deadly sin whose sole purpose is to make sure his client never forgets their week at The Carnal Tower. Each book in the series can stand on their own, and all contain no cheating, and a happily ever after.

©2022 EM Lindsey (P)2022 EM Lindsey

unexpectedly heartfelt

Story: 3.75⭐️
Audio: 4.25⭐️

Given the premise of “Shades of Lust”, I was definitely expecting a steamy romp, but was pleasantly surprised by the quieter, character-driven story of two men convinced they’re destined to be alone finding love and rediscovering themselves. August has always been quiet and introverted, an artist who gets lost in the objects he sees and ideas and inspiration he finds everywhere, add in his innately anxious nature and difficulty dealing with people, he found himself ostracized or pitied by others.

People only see a weirdo, not a person, and definitely not someone worth their time to get to know; having carved out a niche for himself as an artist and small gallery owner, he’s made peace with being too different, too big a mess to be worth anyone’s time as well as his loneliness. Yet, when Stone commissions him to do paintings of the Sins, August can’t help but see this as a chance to escape the never-ending loneliness and chaos in his mind so agrees to do the paintings in exchange for 7 nights with Lust.

For Stone, The Carnal Tower isn’t a brothel with a cool gimmick; it’s a place to explore the art of sexuality, sensuality and discovery—to indulge needs and desires of the body as well the mind. Stone loves his job and the family he’s created with his fellow “Sins”, and while he encourages them to believe that they can find the kind of love and partnership they want, he doesn’t think it’s possible for him. When he meets August during one of his runs in the park, he’s intrigued and charmed by the earnest, tightly-wound man and becomes even more so when discussing the commission. Before their first night together, Stone is already in deep and knows his feelings for the man will complicate what should be a simple business transaction, and every time they are together all Stone wants to do is give August whatever he needs, be that Lust overwhelming his senses with pleasure or Stone offering cuddles and a Xanax.

Both characters are compelling and relatable, and the fast but deep emotional need for one another is palpable. While August’s constantly high levels of anxiety shape how he handles the world and how he lives, he’s not a one-dimensional ball of nerves, especially when he’s somewhat comfortable or being seen through Stone’s eyes. The other Sins are fleshed out enough to be interesting and to establish the found family dynamic at the Tower and Stone’s nurturing and protective personality.

My main quibble with how the story unfolds is that despite Stone and August being contracted for 7 days of lustful indulgence and needing to spend time together for painting session, the pair actually don’t spend much time together and the ending feels somewhat rushed. Given that many things overwhelm August and/or cause him to panic, especially unfamiliarity or even the idea of change, much of the story is a pattern of August spiraling and needing to reset alone and then each man spending the subsequent separation with their thoughts being consumed by one another. They spend a lot of time thinking about one another, wishing for more but being hampered by the barrier of the contract/their own fears and less time getting to know one another.

Then the shift from ‘we only have these 7 days’ to ‘we’re going to give a relationship a go’ is a bit abrupt, with the story then breezing through the last few days of their contract into dating. Their connection is intense from the start and when they get to talk, they feel so seen and understood their connection can’t help but deepen, and while this does mostly work for the insta-love in this story, I can’t help but think of Stone’s remark about clients who are so touched-starved/deprived that they fall in love at the first kiss, and it kinda feels like that a bit with these two—both certain no one could love them for who they are that they can’t help but fall in love with the first person who makes them feel seen.

Once again, Kirt Graves gives a great performance; he is so good at conveying the nuance and emotionality within the character beats and story with genuineness and without OTT dramatics that he’s a perfect fit for this type of story. He makes the moments the men spend together, their fears, their strengths and weaknesses feel real and moving. The narration definitely elevated my enjoyment.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this audiobook provided by Gay Romance Reviews.

This is a return for me 😞

I always love Kirk Graves narration, and he did not disappoint. However, the author did. First time listening to this author and I don't think I'll try another. The series is called Carnal Tower and centers around a brothel by the same name. The theme at the tower is the seven deadly sins. This first installment focuses on the owner, the embodiment of Lust and his seven night contract with a client. So, to say I was disappointed at the total lack of any heat? The scenes that played out were perfunctory and at one point you get a 30 second summary of 4 of the nights, which had they been part of the story might have made it worth it. If you want something hot and steamy try something else, this author felt to me like they were embarrassed or just not into it. It was strange.

Fantastic!

This book was not what I was expecting. It was SO much more! Seriously, the characters are rich and deeply created, with struggles and interesting challenges. I honestly thought that there would be lots of erotic scenes between multiple characters because the setting is in a high class brothel, but no. There are many intimate scenes, but mainly between the mc’s. This reminds me a lot of Irons and Works, where the plot drives a deep intimate romance. Both main characters are imperfect like most humans, and have to work through their flaws. There is no pity or shame, just kindness and genuine caring. A great new-to-me series! Kirt Graves has a beautiful way of distinguishing these characters. He is really becoming one of my go-to narrators because his works just keep getting better and better!

Magical

Story: I absolutely loved the Carnal Tower concept and the amazing characters the author created within it! It promises to be a fascinating series and Lust’s story is a delicious intro.
The idea for the story and the MCs themselves had me addicted from the get go. The book is yet another proof of E.M. Lindsey’s talent of creating fascinating, complicated personalities you’d just love to hug and call friends.
Narration: perfect match for the book. The performance was brilliant and the voice added another great layer to the story.

First Deadly Sin

I jumped at the chance to listen to this story because of Kirt Graves. I love his narrating, and the story sounded interesting. I like the idea of writing a series about the seven deadly sins, this one being the first. I thought the story was good, but I wish we had more detail about their arrangement.

Amazing!

I already left a review for this book on Amazon, and when I had a chance to get the audio version of it I was more than just a little excited! I could honestly listen to Kirt Graves read the phone book to me and I think I would enjoy it. He is hands down my favorite narrator out there.

My review from before still applies, though I feel like it is amplified with the amazing narration. I adore August and Stone, I love the idea of the Tower, and I love how there are so many unique things about our main characters that make them work together. This is going to be one that I listen to more than once!

I can say without a doubt I can't wait for the rest of this series, and the rest of this series in audio!

Worth Checking Out

I enjoyed seeing August and Stone's story brought to life. The storyline is an interesting premise and you can't go wrong with Kirt Graves narrating.

Fantastic

I adored this book when I read it. Hearing Kirt bring these characters to life just blew me away. I truly enjoyed every second of this audio.

ᗷᗴTTᗴᖇ Tᕼᗩᑎ ᗴ᙭ᑭᗴᑕTᗴᗪ

I didn’t read 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘶𝘴𝘵 before listening to the audio {my #1 preference} and so has no true idea of what to expect.

This story is so much more sentimental than I anticipated, and I loved that!! It’s a very sweet story, with a heavy side of beautifully managed anxiety and chock full of sin & steam.

The narration could have been better. There were many times that the wrong “voice” was used for one of the mc’s and that really threw me off. Also many tiny little errors {wrong word of name, mispronunciation}.

Overall I really enjoyed it, though.

Exciting

This was a entertaining story. I enjoyed the play between Stone and August and there 7 day deal. This was exciting and interesting with lots of hot moments and great adventure. The narration was good and I am excited to see what comes next.