#lemonade by nina pennacchi

[rhaenyra-the-gracious]

I love to notice - I'm a writer, so I kinda know how it works - the influence of original works on certain novels/short stories. If it is modern and reciprocated, I love it even more.

I like one kind of romantic novel, where the hero is an asshole, so I notice when the writers borrow things from each other.

I just noticed a few weeks ago, that the writer of Slave for Revenge (Nina Pennacchi) was basically inspired by Anne Stuart's To Love a Dark Lord. Then came the curveball, and she (Anne) very much borrowed key elements - including a plump heroine and the hero's first name and his whole new level of assholery (the title is The Absolutely Positively Worst Man in England, Scotland and Wales) and so much more! - from Nina's Lemonade.

They read - and influence - each other for sure.

I don't know, knowing these things makes me so happy.

[tangerinecherrygal]

tw: discussion of sa and r word in romance

so i’m reading a book called Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi. I’m enjoying it so far except for a very brutal and disturbing r word scene close to the beginning of the book. I knew going in that it was in the book because I read the reviews and when I sensed I was getting to the scene I skipped and skimmed. It’s kind of disturbing that this is marketed as a romance because it really reads more like a thriller/ horror drama. I have never felt more suspense than when Christopher starts cornering Anna all the time. But anyways, there is nothing romantic about this book and it just made me feel really upset that it was tagged under romance. Imagine if I went into the book not knowing about that scene and thinking I was in for a normal historical romance.

People say younger generations are too sensitive and they didn’t need any trigger warnings, but to unexpectedly have something that graphic and violent without a warning is enough to disturb anyone- especially people who are sensitive to the topic for any reason. This isn’t a dig on the book, it just made me think of a broader problem with writers and publishers.

[yeyinde]

Seen your layla frost mention - any good dark romance books you would recommend? 👀

oh, absolutely!!! though, fair warning - my ideal dr is a horror/thriller moonlighting as a romance so! def read the warnings.

Little Dove by Layla Frost. Maximo, honestly, is my ideal mmc. cold, collected, cunning, unflappable, with a cruel and sadistic side (but never directed toward the the fmc), and wholly devoted to Juliet on a level that would probably land him in jail irl

Then, Earth Swallowed Ocean (book 1) by Shiloh Sloane

"Southern Gothic Werewolves Fight the Devil" that's it. this is the book for me. Shiloh Sloane is my favourite author. genuinely, truly. i love her writing, i love her characters. i love her for her tiktok bio alone: I write love stories whose trailers would have Ethel Cain music in ‘em. obsessed with her. i stalk her daily on insta and tiktok. but the book: it's more horror erotica than DR, but to be totally honest, this is so far up my alley, it was practically written for me. werewolves, the devil, smut, an INSANE mmc (obsessed, mean, possessive), a strong fmc, and it's set in post WW2 Appalachia. instant fave. when i die, bury me with this book.

Cracked Blue Sky (book 2) by Shiloh Sloane

features a native fmc and i know Shiloh Sloane is white, but how she shapes Howie Black Elk was pretty realistic. i loved how much she reminded me of a few cousins, aunties. love this book!!

Snuff by Bonny Capps

dark horror erotica that you absolutely should heed the warnings to. i loved it. 5*. but it does end up on several dnf lists for being brutal and disgusting. fmc goes to Russia to discover her roots, is taken by the Bratva to feature in their "passion projects" (snuff films!), but the mmc decides he wants her all to himself. if you're queasy about totally irredeemable mmcs (sadistic, vile, possessive, obsessed, cruel), then this probably is not for you, but lucky for me, i'm into that. def on my "i couldn't look my therapist in the eye for a while" collection, though.

Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi. mmc is irredeemable (cruel, vile, obsessed). historical romance (Victorian). also on the collection. Little Mouse by Emily Rose. mafia. age gap. A Stone's Throw by Stevie Sparks. age gap (dad's best friend. Scottish hero. auction. weird rich people doing weird rich people shit. God Of Vengeance by Michelle Heard. age gap. mafia. found family. i re-read the bound series this week and my favourites are Bound by Vengeance (Growl and Cora), Bound by Duty (Dante and Valentina), and Twisted Pride (Remo and Serafina). anything by Lilith Vincent. Brutal Husband is dropping in October and i cannot wait. The Devil's Vice by Mindy Paige. trauma bonding. motorcycle gang. age gap. Little Stranger by Leigh Rivers. revenge (fmc sends mmc to prison and he gets out and comes for her). insane mmc. Spectre by Shiloh Walker. kidnapping. violence. neuro-atypical fmc. Slashed by Thalia Sanchez. fmc wants to become a Final Girl. Slasher!mmc gives her just that.

also, not a romance but if you're into dark books with compelling characters, Break Her by BG Harlen was sooo good!!!! the premise is that a professional rapist is sent to break the fmc and it's such a good psychological thriller. def not for everyone though. A Beautiful Evil by Eris Belmont has no HEA but a very brutal and malicious mml. God's Eye by Ansa Reads is brutal. loved it, dgmw. but it's def not for the faint of heart.

[tellmeallaboutit]

I just finished all of your stuff and omg a dark itch has been scratched. Do you have any recommendations for something equally unsettling? I’m here to stare at the ceiling, feel uncomfortable, and feel disturbed. I feel like you’re an excellent person to ask lol

Amazing ask, thank you!

So, fan fiction-wise, I am actually drawing a blank. I was myself desperately searching for the non-con dark similar to what I write (so very plot-driven, M/F, DD:DNE, humour + horror, heavy on sadomasochism), but alas. Check my bookmarks, it's the most similar stuff I could find. If anybody has recommendations, from any fandoms, feel free to write it her (self-recs always welcome, just leave a comment here).

Now, book-wise, I have a lot of recommendations. Authors / works I heavily drew from.

Clive Barker, aka The Guy Who Invented Cenobites Main genre: horror / dark fantasy What to start with: Books of Blood, stories The Age of Desire, The Madonna, Human Remains, Jacqueline Ess: Her Will And Testament, Dread Why: Clive Barker was the pioneer of the combo horror + eroticism, horror in sex, mixture of desire and fear How do you know him already: Pinhead / Cenobites

Irvine Welsh, aka Welcome To Hell That Is Scotland Main genre: transgressive fiction What to start with: Filth, Acid House, Marabou Stock Nightmares Why: sex, drugs, addiction, crime, poverty, humour, fast-paced, disgusting protagonists, social commentary How do you know him already: Trainspotting. Choose life. Choose a career. But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?” 

Bonus recommendation if you liked HWLL:

Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi Main genre: horror / romance Why: so, plot in two words - Victorian England, a smart young lady spills lemonade on a handsome brooding gentleman. In retaliation, he stalks her, beats her up and brutally rapes her. When she was hoping he would kill her, he forces her to marry her. Yeah. I said what I said.

I have way more, tell me if that was more or less the direction you wanted!

[problematic-faves-appreciation]

It's time for another list: Books whose romance male leads...

• Didn't grovel/atone enough (or at all; not even the bare minimum).

• Wronged their lovers too badly. E.g., mistreated her for 20 years.

• Had shoddy redemption arcs.

• Were just too annoying.

• Quite monstrous (hi, Christopher Davenport).

• Were forgiven by their lovers too easily.

• The wronged heroine apologized instead. :/

The MMCs here will give you a deeper appreciation for non-romance novel redemption arcs. For instance, are you not a fan of Catra's redemption arc? Well, I bet you'll never complain about it again after reading these books.

The Worst Romance Heroes Ever List

1️⃣ Kiss From A Rose by Maya Alden

2️⃣ An Independent Wife by Linda Howard

3️⃣ This Heart of Mine by Brenda Novak

4️⃣ After Forever and Saving Forever by Jasinda Wilder

5️⃣ The Texas Ranger by Diana Palmer

6️⃣ Lightning by Danielle Steel

7️⃣ The Land Where Sinners Atone by V.F. Mason

8️⃣ Smokey by Sam Crescent

9️⃣ You Can Have Manhattan by P. Dangelico (I'll never get over the shitty cabin.)

🔟 The Girl in Seat 24B by Jennifer Peel

The Top 10 Most INFURIATING 💢 Ones ⬆️

☣️ Life Without You by S.P. West

☣️ Unbreak My Heart by Nicole Jacquelyn

☣ Forever Again by Shannon Stacey

☣️ The Woman He Married by Julie N. Ford

☣️ At the Spaniard's Convenience by Margaret Mayo

☣️ Jilted by Eve Vaughn

☣️ The Divorce by Nicole Strycharz

☣️ Say You Love Me by Sabre Rose

☣️ Four Years Later by Emma Doherty

☣️ The Casanova T.L. Swan

☣️ To Catch a Countess by Patricia Grasso

☣️ Love Me Still by Maya Banks

☣️ Guilty Minds by Ariana Cane

☣️ Revenge Cake by Skyler Mason

☣️ The Illusion of Us by Krista Rica Lastella

☣ Twisted Hate by Ana Huang

☣️ Love's Tender Fury by Jennifer Wilde/T.E. Huff

☣️ All That Glitters by Linda Howard

☣️ An Innocent Wife by Richa Resa

☣️ Best Served Cold by Maya Alden

☣️ Unforgivable by Joanna Chambers

☣️ Can't Let Go by A.P. Jensen

☣️ Faithless by Skyler Mason

☣️ Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi (This book's hero, Christopher, is a straight-up monster.)

[locria-writes]

Have you read Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi? Because I feel like it would be right up your alley. This book is fuckin INSANE. Without spoiling anything, I thought it would be a mild Pride and Prejudice-esque enemies to lovers historical novel, but GIRL WAS I WRONG. Anyways, heroine gets lemonade spilled on her at a social event by our hero, and he just ignores her because he's rude AF and doesn't consider her important or beautiful enough to apologize. Heroine spills lemonade back on him as an act of petty revenge and it escalates from there into pure insanity. Christopher (our hero) is the ultimate trashman and feels like he would fit right in your wips 👀

out of curiosity, i looked it up and i'm seeing reviews that say he stays an unreformed trashman??? 👀👀👀

[novashelby]

https://www.tumblr.com/ssweetleaf/741132875606458368/not-now?source=share

this fic just gave me an idea , of an obsessive dark yandree'sh willim killick or Tommy shelby, trapped wife in the 90's trope , cat n mouse psychological manipulattion back and forth and at the end maybe female lead actually escapes , something inspired by Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi why do I feel Tommy or William killick can easily fill the male lead there...ehwee just passing ideas 💡 to people who might actually write and write them well😬✌️ maybe if you feel it sometime u can do something with it......I feel it has potential...<3

I can't write this, I'm sorry

[blurrypetals]

Lemonade by Nina Pennachi - blurrypetals review

originally posted sep. 20, 2018 - ★★★★☆

This was an incredibly strange experience overall for me. I think most of the issues come from awkward translations from Italian to English, but I'll never know for certain because I only speak one of those languages. By strange and awkward, I don't necessarily mean the events that transpired, I mean the prose. It's very, very clunky at almost all times and it's clear to me that either Pennacchi, Scott P. Sheridan, the translator, or both of them struggled with pacing, especially when it came to secrets and keeping them. I'll tell you, I would have been 1000% more invested in literally everything in this book if I had not known up front what Christopher was doing, why he wanted to do it, and all other manner of plotting and scheming until the final quarter of the novel. It would have cast a shadow over all his plans until a certain point when Anna figures it out at the same time as the reader does rather than leaving Anna, the one we're meant to identify the most with, the only one who doesn't know what's up. I also found it a little strange that suddenly, by the very end of the book, bam they're both in love with one another because there's only 30 pages left; we've got to wrap this up soon. Despite all it's flaws and the genuine discomfort I felt while reading plenty of the parts, I still had a really fun time reading its. I have to say, I've never read anything quite like it before, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that this either is or began life as a self-published work. Either way, I applaud the book's unique strangeness in a way I doubt I'd be praising many other books of its kind but I will say I won't be recommending this book to anybody I know anytime soon either.

[ar-thor]

“Of all the truths told, the most distressing are those we discover about ourselves”

Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi

[myplussizebookshelf]

Has anyone read Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi, Scott P. Sheridan? Is that really that dark?

I'm happy finding New books I never saw on my search before but reviews give a lot of trigger warnings.

[rhaenyra-the-gracious]

*SPOILERS AHEAD* if you want to read books by Nina Pennacchi and/or Ann Owen (her pen name), skip this post

I've read spoilers and still didn't notice at first, and I forget all the time, that Stephen Weymouth (Slave for Revenge) is homosexual and in love with Guy Spencer.

Realization before the end only came the second time, when I read the paperback. I was reading about the physical appearance of Guy, when I shook up: Waaait a minute, whose POV is that?! (Like I said I always forget about Steve's sexuality.) But then I was like Why is a guy giving a DETAILED description of another guy's half-naked body? Oh, yeah, because he's gay.

One of the first things Guy says to him is (ignore the harsh language, but I think that's also intentional - because, yeah, she didn't want to be too direct) - while they are, or were boxing:

Which is the case exactly. Steve wants him, because he's gay, and Guy won't reciprocate, this, at least, because he's heterosexual.

Also, I'll like to write about Nina's preference for Dull Boys(™). I mean Adam (Captain Swing) and Jacopo (The Prisoner in the Tower) are sharp as a knife. Still, Guy's and Christopher Davenport's (Lemonade) intelligence (especially their self-understanding) leaves much to be desired.

They both can't recognize love or think altogether to be other feelings. Christopher, in the end, realizes this, while Guy never does:

I lol'd so hard at this. Guy, sweety, that's not hate.

And Guy still doesn't realize this.

In Lemonade (as Nina Pennacchi), even Anna starts to suspect Christopher is in love with her, while he horribly mistreats her, and she basically still thinks he's an ogre.

Christopher is madly in love with her wife, from the get-go, but he doesn't know how to show his feelings, he just knows the language of revenge, manipulation and cruelness:

I'm not saying he didn't know how to be gentle, it is clear, that he is capable of it, but in the beginning, he doesn't recognize LOVE, just like Guy, only in the end (unlike Guy):

God... and I love Nina Pennacchi (or Ann Owen).

[rhaenyra-the-gracious]

What crazy rabbit hole have I just fallen into? 👀

I didn’t know what I subjected myself to when I clicked on a book on Goodreads because it kept suggesting to me, no matter what I did. I haven’t even heard about Nina Pennacchi’s name before, and Lemonade didn’t ring a bell either. Yet I inhaled the book in less than a week (it was more than 1000 pages on my Kindle), I re-read certain parts, and somehow managed to translate Captain Swing with AI (I hate AI but I was desperate) into a readable copy. There are still too many inconsistencies to be easy to read, but beggars can’t be choosers.

But what magic has she done with Slave For Revenge? Thank god it’s already translated, and let me tell you, I am hooked. They said it’s a sexual fantasy first and foremost, so I didn’t expect this good writing.

Sigh. I’ve always had a soft spot for violent and badass heroes, and so far Nina Pennacchi has done the greatest job with them. I just drink up everything she has written.

I’ve always loved romantic writers who push their boundaries, but never have seen this great work with this dedication and quality.

I just love it.

(She’s written the Slave books by the penname Ann Owen.)

[rhaenyra-the-gracious]

rules: answer + tag some people you want to get know better and/or catch up with!

tagged by @widowkills! Ty so much darling!

Favorite Color: black, purple

Last Song: Fortnight (feat. Post Malone) by Taylor Swift

Currently Reading: Lemonade by Nina Pennacchi again (the 2nd time, I've almost finished it)

Currently Watching: nothing atm, I'm still struggling with The Borgias, I love the family drama, but I can't stand the politics part, it totally turns me off; I'm waiting for the second part of Bridgerton season 3, and the second season of HOTD

Currently Craving: could I have some ice cream, please?

Coffee or Tea: COFFEEE!

I tag:

@atlantidea

@redthreadoffate

@keikomiura

@carrionsflower

@nynazenik

@aryasnow

@theroncharlize

@bloodbuzz-ohio

@yenneferschaos

@bymine

@christopherherondale

@starswerealigned

@euphcme

@stevenjames

[rhaenyra-the-gracious]

I finished re-reading my Birthday Present: the physical copy of Nina Pennacchi's (under the pen name of Ann Owen) Slave for Revenge. I think I will re-read Lemonade now. I will try to order the physical book for my name day! It's on July 11th. Until then - I'll read it on my Kindle.