Bastian by Elizabeth Amber Series: The Lords of Satyr #6
Published by Kensington Books on May 1, 2011
Genres: Historical Romance, Mythological Fantasy Romance, Erotic Romance
Pages: 321
Format: eBook
Source: Library
The forum excavations in Rome go on, directed by the iron-willed, charismatic Lord Bastian Satyr. Out of nowhere, a mysterious, haunting voice calls out to him...and lures him to the site of a long-vanished temple, where vestal virgins once performed rites of erotic surrender. The temple is the find of his career, but his heart is about to face the unknown...Michaela is a pure Ephemeral. She can enter the bodies of others - and become any woman a man might wish to possess. His choice is her pleasure. And the commanding and utterly virile Bastian is the only man she desires...
This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.
Bastian is the sixth installment in the “Lords of Satyr” series and I have had this series on my TBR for I don’t know how long, I can’t tell you how tempted I have been in picking up these books. The seventh book “Sevin” I think I saw somewhere on a book blog and I was so intrigued that I knew that I needed to read these books. Now I think what put me off these books was the erotic factor of these books. At the time of placing this series on my TBR, I remember knowing that I needed to be in the right mood. But as I was browsing through my library, I saw that this was a series I had really wanted to read. And it does have fantastical aspects of it so felt like a perfect fit for the month and for some reason Libby was telling me that this one was the FIRST book of the series ….and let me tell you it ISNT haha But I hadn’t realized it until I was already hooked into it but I was actually fine. I mean there seemed to be details that I was missing out on but I caught on quickly and even though there was some mild confusion, I adapt quickly.
Bastian is a highly sensual romance that features some wildin:
- Bastian -a brother of the Satyr clan, highly sexual, color blind, a magical being
- Silvia -is a pure Ephemeral, moves from body to body to survive, immortal, mission to save her sisters
Bastian is a story that starts off with our heroine, Silvia, who is a pure Ephemeral, which is a being that can only maintain her form for 24 hours when she is in the mortal world, and she can be invisible if she chooses, and she is also immortal. She was sent to serve the goddess when she was just a girl and pledged to give thirty years of her life before marriage but then the goddess cursed them into this Ephemeral form, and now her sisters are imprisoned, and she and her best friend have been sent to the mortal realm to claim certain stones for the one that imprisoned their friends. Silvia is determined to free her people no matter what it takes. Her uncle is evil in every way but is cursed and will use her for whatever means he can. The stones are hidden in Italy in the late 1800’s, and a certain Satyr male “Bastian” is in charge of the dig site. Bastian and his brothers need those stones to maintain their concealment of the mortal world, if they fail, they all mythical creatures of the gods will be revealed. But, Bastian is having an affair with Silvia’s best friend, and she has to keep switching forms every month, but somehow Bastian recognizes her unique soul, but will Silvia be able to continue deceiving the man she is falling hard for or fall under the love spell he captivates her with….
Bastian is one of the most strange unique and unusual romances that I have EVER read in my life. I honestly don’t know how this review will go because I still don’t know how I feel about this one. I know I liked it quite a bit, but it’s a strange one. First, off it does have a mix of genres packed within it, and another well there are some scenes with f/f and m/m sexual interactions and it’s definitely different. Now the f/f is a scene at the beginning between Silvia and her best friend and you can see how they have a relationship where they are the best of friends but occasionally explore each other. Now the m/m scene, that was different but technically it was a mix because it was Silvia possessing a male body, and she and Bastian were smexin it on haha So I am not sure how to categorize that, to be honest. I will say that I found Silvia to be such a wonderful heroine. I love what a fighter she is, despite being betrayed and hurt by all those that she trusted the most, for the losses that she has to grieve and always having to deny herself, love, and family. She is so bound by her duty to free her sisters who have been imprisoned. And I really wondered how this romance would work with Silvia switching bodies so much, but there is a way that the hero can detect her presence, so we do see their bond build in that way even if he is put in the dark for much of the book. Bastian is such a great hero though, he definitely knows how to work his body but he also has this connection with Silvia that goes deeper than just his sexual appetites. I love how he is willing to fight for her and for what they have because she is not in a position to do so.
I found their love story to be so breathtaking in so many aspects, I honestly think that what kept this book from being a higher rating is the lack of connection and romance you don’t really feel in the first half of the story. Because of how she switches forms so often and he doesn’t see the real her for quite a long while in the book, there is this disconnect but about 60% I was really feeling their chemistry and their bond to each other. I definitely would put this under a slow burn even if the sex scenes are explicit because the overall relationship is slowly built gradually. There will be aspects of their relationship that isn’t built right away, so you do need to be patient because I can see why the author wrote it in this way now that I have fully read the story. There were some levels of confusion I had at times (I think part of that was definitely reading this book out of order of the series) but I truly enjoyed so many elements in this one here.
Overall I found Bastian to be a highly sensual erotic romance that expands the horizons of time and space in a way you won’t be expecting, its the most unique, adaptive romance you will uncover in your reading exploits, but its a story that will entrench you in its grasp and is utterly memorable!
That sounds like a book that I would probably like.