A review of the second work in the Mask of the Succubus series by Dakota Voss today in which the story begins to find itself and decide where the real journey begins.

It’s not enough to be desire, to be consumed by it. Without want, desire can be a cold thing. It’s in the discovery of one’s own soul that the reality can be made to what one truly desires.

• Title: Mask of the Succubus Book 2
• Author: Dakota Voss
• Published By: Amazon Digital Services
• Length: 42 Pages
• Format: eBook
• ASIN: B09KQS8MHX
• Publishing Date: October 30, 2021
• This work in Kindle Format at Amazon.com

The work tells of:

After her Halloween night escapade of being a futa succubus, Vivian, faces difficulties back in the real world when everyone thinks she has gone off the deep end. Her provocative attire stirred up the entire town into a frenzy. But all of that is no bother compared to Vivian’s real problem. She couldn’t stop thinking about the mask and regrets returning it. When mysterious Elvira finally shows up and tells Vivian that her mom, Irena, wants to have a word with her, things take a turn for the unexpected. Irena gives Vivian a proposal that would allow her to win back the mask, forever. But there was a price to pay. Elvira had a secret fantasy that Irena knew about. Vivian was to make that fantasy come true on the night of her birthday. She was to don the succubus mask and take innocent Elvira in the night. Vivian agreed, but she was unprepared for how enticing Elvira would be. She hadn’t expected to be so drawn to her. Elvira’s luscious body awakened the fires of lust within her, and by the end of the night, the two will have surprised each other in more ways than one.

The day after Halloween brings Vivian a lot of grief for what the mask allowed her to do. But with that problem comes a larger one and Vivian can’t avoid facing her choice and what comes from the true harm she has done.

The work continues immediately after the prior work, mainly focusing on what everyone around Vivian thinks of her actions under the power of the mask through much of the work. It’s when she is confronted by Elvira, who gave her the mask, where things begin to move from the erotica of the prior work towards Vivian’s character beginning to evolve towards something more than the angry person she otherwise is.

The one thing that I think needs to be toned down or at least needs somehow to be passed through, is Vivian’s anger. It just feels like that’s far too powerful in the story. Taking that away might give something more for her to grow into and that seems to appear on occasion when she realizes just how upset Elvira is and what trouble she’s gotten into.

It’s a bit scattered in those moments, the anger still comes through, which makes it very difficult for Vivian to find compassion. I’d have liked more of that overall as I think that would help to progress the story and the relationships.

There comes a point where the mask returns the story, Vivian is given a choice by Elvira’s mother, who, as an aside would make for a wonderfully seductive succubus, though she seems not to be. The choice really isn’t much of one, the temptation of the mask takes hold of Vivian and from there the story sets itself onto an interesting path.

There’s a bit more in the transformation, which is interesting as there’s a question as to what the mask truly is. I liked that aspect of things as it gave something more to the story. Vivian’s succubus form is more wild now, seeing to be more concerned with domination, control and expresses a kind of animal need which is quite different from her first experience with the mask. That worked well, there’s a feeling that things are slipping out of control which brings a dangerous aspect to what follows.

The erotica between Vivian and Elvira however didn’t quite work for me. Once again the anger within Vivian seems to take over things and while that works in the context of the scene, which has a very strong D/s aspect to it, it sort of tripped over itself. A bit too rushed, a little too scattered. But there’s a lot to work with to give more to the relationship that is building, which is very promising.

Three out of five pitchforks.

There’s still a lot of promise here, both in the characters and the mythos that’s being constructed. I hope that Vivian’s anger turns towards something positive emotionally and otherwise as it feels like that’s the missing part of things overall.

Tera

Emotion is a powerful thing, it can drive a character towards the unexpected, or drive them further than they might ever have expected to be. In the hands of a succubus, it can be both a curse and a dream.

A review then of the first work in the Mask of the Succubus series by Dakota Voss in which revenge and desire can be one in the same. It can also bring about one’s true nature if a soul isn’t careful about what they seek.

• Title: Mask of the Succubus
• Author: Dakota Voss
• Published By: Amazon Digital Services
• Length: 13 Pages
• Format: eBook
• ASIN: B09KBD8LNK
• Publishing Date: October 24, 2021
• This work in Kindle Format at Amazon.com

The work tells of:

When Vivian finds out that Dave is cheating on her, she is livid. What a disaster, right before the Halloween party. But the strange girl working in the Halloween store offers her a peculiar gift to borrow and assures her that she will not be disappointed. It was a hand-crafted succubus mask. When Vivian puts on the mask she gets a lot more than she bargained for. She discovers what it is like to be a true-life succubus, powerful, lustful, and able to get revenge. She knows that Dave is with Jenna. She finds them and the rest of the night is a journey of vengeance, lust and self-indulgence brought on by the fires of hell. Vivian shows Jenna how great it is to belong to a succubus, and she makes sure that Dave knows that she is not one to be taken advantage of.

Vivian isn’t at all pleased with her so-called boyfriend. A rash decision to appear at the same Halloween party leads her to a very strange store to find an even stranger costume. Transformed into a succubus, her seething need for revenge fuels her powers and none that she encounters can resist her newfound nature.

The work is a mix of succubus transformation, female dominance and a bit of medium heat erotica that works well to tell a story of revenge and need. The work mainly sets up the series and there’s quite a lot of character and universe setting up that works well.

Vivan, the succubus of the story, isn’t exactly evil. She’s angry, frustrated and wants revenge most of all. They are somewhat dark emotions and there’s a sense that the mask takes those emotions to transform her and give her a more dominant and powerful personality. The transformation isn’t explored as much as I would have wanted to, it mainly happens off the page and we see the aftermath as Vivan tries to make sense of things.

The erotica mainly focuses on Vivan taking control of those around her and making them do her bidding. There’s a simmering heat in those scenes, but her anger mutes the heat a bit. Perhaps that’s the underlying current of the story, her anger overwhelms all else and it feels like some character development and world building gets sidetracked as a result.

The work is very short, and I wish there’d been some time spent on the transformation. Yes, Vivian is a delightful succubus when she’s transformed, but there’s something missing that could have been explored. Similarly, the story feels rushed at a few points, notably the first reveal of the mask and Vivina’s first encounter with her mother that could have teased out something more of what the mask is capable of doing.

Three and a half out of five pitchforks.

It’s an interesting start to the series overall and there’s a lot of ways this story could go. Vivian might be a little over the top sometimes in her anger, she might be a little blind to what’s going on. But there’s a lot of room for her character to develop and the story to become something more than revenge alone. I think that will be fun to see unfold and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

Tera

Within the telling of a story, beyond the erotica, past the monologuing, there’s a point where the tone matters. It’s very difficult to place heat where the storytelling doesn’t give rise to it being possible, or really adding to the story or the characters themselves.

Passion is more than the words themselves. Need is more than just vaguely asking for it to be. A story should draw the reader to becoming captivated in the story and invested in the characters too.

• Title: My Darling Demon
• Author: Sherry Stone
• Published By: Amazon Digital Services
• Length: 39 Pages
• Format: eBook
• ASIN: B09TKSPR5Y
• Publishing Date: February 27, 2022
• This work in Kindle Format at Amazon.com

The work tells of:

Melody is at home in the middle of her obsessive afternoon ritual of self-pleasure when all kinds of strange and scary things begin to happen. Glass breaking, poundings on the door, strange voices talking to her. All done to get the young girl’s attention so a lusty hybrid of succubus and incubus can indulge herself in the pleasures of the frightened girl’s body.
Anxious for the demon to leave so she can get back to her personal obsession she agrees to let the demon have her way with her. On the stipulation, she does no further damage to her house. The demon readily agrees to the request and provides Melody the most sensational lovemaking she had ever had, alone or with someone else. Thus began the beginning of a very symbiotic relationship between the two.
Melody and Trinity have over time adjusted to and normalized their bizarre relationship and are at a point where they can engage socially and celebrate their love outside the confines of Melody’s home. On a whim, Trinity decides to surprise her human lover with a weekend of endless bliss and other jaded sexual endeavors at a luxury resort. The resort will never be the same.

Melody is being haunted by her own desires and needs. A moment of frustration brings Trinity into reality and with her comes the wanton desire that Melody craves. But a succubus has needs as well and when those needs become entwined, their desires might not be enough for them both.

The work is a hot flash which has some issues creating heat overall. The characters are unique, the story is something different, but the actual passion between the characters doesn’t quite come out well. At times it’s missing passion in the tone of the dialogue, at other points the erotic scenes just don’t tell of passion and heat, which was a real shame.

Trinity, who is described as being both succubus and incubus in nature, doesn’t evolve as much as I’d have liked her to. Her form, desires and drive aren’t expanded on very much. The sex scenes tend to take over most of her parts of the story and that left I think a lot of storytelling behind.

The work needs some editing to bring life and emotion to the dialogue. There’s a need to get past the sex scenes and tell of character growth. Most of all, the overall tone of the storytelling could use passion because there’s just not that sense of desire and need overall. Giving rise to something more than telling what happens and more of teasing the reader’s imagination would make this so much better.

Two and a half out of five pitchforks.

The singular problem isn’t the characters themselves, but really it’s the oddities of the dialogue, the flat tone which comes out in the emotion when there needs to be something more. There’s an interesting story here, but the heat just doesn’t make things work as well as I’d hoped.

Tera