Sinmaker: The Colony Carnivale

The Colony Carnivale #14

by Juliet Ravencroft

Emily

The Carnival holds all the secrets and tells no lies.

This morning that's all people are talking about.

Red tents

Gold lights.

Rumor has it you should go after dark.

I wasn't planning to.

Until the invitation appeared on my desk.

I thought it was a joke, a prank.

Boy was I wrong.

The man in the black hat looks at me like he can see my soul.

I was invited.

I was chosen.

Whatever the man sees when he looks at me..

I'm certain I don't want him to stop.

******

The Colony Carnivale

They say The Colony Carnivale appears without warning—rolling into forgotten towns under blood-red skies, offering laughter, lights, and salvation for the bored and broken. But beneath the painted tents, hides a different sin, each act a different obsession. Lust. Power. Revenge. Fear. The Carnivale feeds on it all—and so do the souls trapped inside..

The games are rigged, the prizes are cursed, and the performers aren’t quite human. So buy your ticket, brave the insanity, and pray the lights go out after you do. Because once you enter, the show owns you.

Welcome to The Colony Carnivale—where the fun never dies, it just screams louder.

185 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 14, 2026

Reviews

[Melissa Keifer]

Absolutely Amazing I loved this story and the play on the 7 deadly sins. And be warned this story will pull at your heartstrings... F. Dario is all I'm gunna say!!!

As always CHECK YOUR TRIGGERS Y'ALL SERIOUSLY

[Curt Dunnam]

"Sinmaker" by Juliet Ravencroft is a 4-star erotic horror! Emily works as an accountant at an exclusive sex club when she receives an invitation to the Colony Carnivale. Believing it came from her boss, she decides to take advantage of the opportunity. Riven runs a booth where he guesses the guests' weight, which you know can't be the whole story at the Colony Carnivale. The winners get to claim their prize behind the velvet curtain.

The author has a unique writing style where there is actually very little dialogue, and the story unfolds through the thoughts of the main characters and the actions taking place around them. There is so much detail that it is easy to picture everything that is happening. While Emily and Riven are the main characters, the room and the way it responds to what is happening are just as important to the story. I particularly enjoyed the interesting way the seven deadly sins were incorporated into the story. While this one isn't gory, it is just as disturbing as anything I've read so far.

Can't wait to see what dark and twisted tale the Colony Carnivale offers up next!

Thanks to Juliet Ravencroft for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC and share my honest review.

[Neapolitan670 📚🖤]

This one was intensive in more ways than one 🤭

Emily, receives an invite to the Carnivale thinking it’s from her boss. Once there she is drawn to a booth, Riven knows she’s the one to finalise his debt. What transpires through the velvet curtain at the back of the booth is not a settlement, it’s a transgression. I simply won’t give you more than this, it’s a book you definitely have to read to understand.

For me Juliet did a fantastic job in her descriptiveness of what is happening, her narrative ensuring the reader feels all that takes place. It’s like it burrows into you as you read, the complexity of the situation, the intensity of that room and the foreboding keeps you glued to the pages. I can’t wait to read where Juliet will take this.

Spice | 🩸 play | Submission | Controlling behaviour | Manipulation | Erotic Horror

[Ravin Rose]

Sinmaker pulls you straight through the canvas into a dark, intense, and atmospheric world of erotic horror! The story follows Emily, a relatable protagonist who accepts a mysterious Carnivale invitation thinking it's from her boss, only to find herself drawn to a booth with Riven a man bound by a contract who needs one final soul to set himself free.

What happens behind that velvet curtain isn't a simple debt settlement it’s a quiet, dangerous surrender that burrows straight into you. The man in the black hat creates an instant, chilling pull, and Juliet’s immaculate descriptive imagery keeps the tension humming between the red tents and gold lights. It is intimate, haunting, and intensely thrilling another unmissable entry in the series

[Aimee C]

When Emily finds an invitation to the Colony Carnivale on her desk, she pockets it not really believing she'll go.Step right up Riven says her prize is right behind the curtain.She can feel it in her bones something isnt right with this. Is she truly starving to be consumed? Talk about getting screwed by the room seriously. All Riven really needed to do was collect.

[Rachel Browning]

Another dark and twisted addition to The Colony Carnivale Series! “Sinmaker” by Juliet Ravencroft is story #14, and this one is full of manipulation, lust, and darkness and is a seriously twisted erotic horror. This series is so unhinged and I’m loving it!

[Charlene's Bookish Archives]

Chosen, seen, and utterly undone, pure Carnivale perfection

Juliet Ravencroft pulls you straight through the canvas and into the shadows with Sinmaker, and I never wanted to leave.

Emily’s voice feels so real, so relatable, just someone curious, a little wary, until the invitation lands and everything shifts. From “that’s all people are talking about” to I was chosen… the pull is instant and irresistible.

That man in the black hat? Chills. The way he looks at her, like he can see right through her, and instead of running, she doesn’t want him to stop. That quiet, dangerous surrender is exactly what makes this series so addictive. The tension thrums beneath every line: the red tents, the gold lights, the knowledge that the Carnivale doesn’t lie… and it never asks twice.

It’s intimate, haunting, and charged with that delicious, dark electricity only the Colony Carnivale delivers. You feel Emily’s heartbeat alongside your own, the curiosity, the fear, the undeniable thrill of being seen when no one ever has before.

Another unmissable entry in a series that just keeps getting better. Step through the gates, you were meant to. 💀✨

[Jess Goudie]

🖤🎪 ARC REVIEW 🎪🖤

📖 Skinmaker
Colony Carnival — Book #14
✍️ Juliet Ravencroft

💀 Jess’s Skeleton Rating:

💀💀💀💀 — Twisted, addictive and impossible to put down! 🎪🖤

⚠️ PLEASE READ ALL TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING! ⚠️
The Colony Carnival has NO limits, so make sure you know exactly what you're stepping into before entering. 🎪💀

💭 My Thoughts

The invite that changed EVERYTHING... 🎟️

Emily was crushing HARD on her boss, Kade. So when an invitation appeared, she thought it was from him...

Yeah... it DEFINITELY wasn't. 👀😂

And that's where things get interesting.

Emily and Riven's story completely pulled me in. Their story had me hooked, and once I started reading, I could NOT put it down!

Skinmaker felt like the perfect addition to the Colony Carnival series — dark, twisted, addictive and exactly the kind of story I've come to expect when stepping back inside those Carnival gates. 🤡🎪

Fourteen books in and somehow I'm STILL willingly walking further into this completely unhinged world. 😂🖤

14 DOWN... 17 TO GO! 💀🎪

And we all know by now...

🎪 THE CARNIVAL WON'T LET YOU GO UNTIL THEY SAY YOU CAN. 🎪

#Skinmaker #JulietRavencroft #ColonyCarnival #ARCReview #JesssSkeletonRating

[AJ Robertson]

Now, this was an absolutely truly interesting read. There were so many things going on, and the imagery described was immaculate. Emily is just going through life one step at a time. Working in a place rooted in feeding your desires, but she never feeds hers. Riven is stuck in a contract, which I'd honestly love to learn more about its origin. He needs one last soul to set himself free. Emily finds an invitation to the Carnivale but unknown who the sender is. She prepares herself, thinking it's the one man she wants inviting her. Carnivale attracts those who need and want. Emily is just the latest to accept the invitation willingly.

"Dario understood measurement before he understood mercy."

"The kind of decision women in horror movies make five minutes before they end up skinned and hanging from trees."

"Potential deviation from standard acquisition protocol."

"Maybe I had it backward. Maybe real control is knowing exactly what you want and being willing to ask for it."

[Villanerareads]

✨ ARC Disclaimer ✨

Yes, this was an ARC.

No, my standards didn't magically disappear.

As always, these thoughts are completely my own. 🖤

Well... October is off to a bloody good start.

I really loved this one. It was a little different from some of the other Carnival books, leaning much more into the erotic side of horror, and I had a great time with it.

The story follows Emily, a repressed accountant for a sex club, and Riven, a man bound by a contract. That's all I'm saying because I don't do spoiler reviews. 😌

This book was sexy, smutty, and so easy to fly through. It was a nice change of pace from all the gore. Not that I'm complaining, I love the gore, but it was nice to have something a little different while still feeling like it belonged in the Carnival.

Overall, this was another fantastic addition to the series, and I'll happily take more books like this.

[Rhiannon Cheyenne]

Sinmaker - Juliet Ravencroft

I think that this is the only book I’ve read in this series where the love story gets a happy ending. Emily was such an interesting main character as well as as Riven. And I also really like how Kade was thrown in and introduced how he gets compared to Riven. I also really like how Riven interact with Dario. I’ve seen a few characters attempt to do it. He’s done so it was nice that someone was able to succeed.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Out of 5 Stars ⭐️

🔥 / Spice Rating ☀️

# of Pages 🌙 185 Pages

Reading Dates ✨ 9/21/26 - 9/22/26

Release Date 🌟 10/14/26

Format 💫 Gifted Digital Copy

Series 🌙 The Colony Carnivale, #14

Genre/Tropes ✨ erotic horror, dark romance

Content Warning/Triggers ⭐️ unlabeled

Representation 🌙 unlabeled

Favorite Character ☀️ Emily

Favorite Line 🌟 ‘I watch her shatter’

Vibes 💫 unlabeled

Moods ⭐️ unlabeled

[Sidney]

Another great addition to @thecolonycarnivale 🎪🎡🎟️

This one was really unique. Emily gets drawn to a “Guess your weight” booth at the carnivale, and when she wins a prize, she is led behind the velvet curtain to a unique room with ribbons representing the deadly sins. Emily gets an invitation to the carnivale, and her wishes come true in the dark fantasies carried out by the room and Riven.

This one certainly was not as dark or horrifying as some of the previous books, but I loved it more than some of the others. I thought this was an interesting and unique concept and felt like just the right length. I also liked the poetic writing style of some of the scenes!

[KayCee]

When the quiet accountant goes to the Colony Carnivale anything can happen. Emily is a good girl, not very adventurous, stays to herself for the most part. So when an envelope shows up on her desk, mysteriously and with no sender, she can't help but wonder what is happening. Enter Riven, the charming "guess your weight" booth operator who gives winners exactly what they want. This book was a bit different from the rest, but I enjoyed it. The way the room was an additional character in the book was well done. ALL of the sins came to play in this book.

Step right up! Enter the Colony Carnivale at your own risk! You've been warned.

[Earth Angel]

Sinmaker by Juliet Ravencroft is another wonderful edition to The Colony Carnival Series.
Riven and Emily's story is a dark, emotional, steamy journey.
This story is beautifully written. I fell in love with the characters. I felt the deep emotional connection that connected them. The ending was perfection. 💘💝
So check those TW. And settle in for another insight to what keeps the Colony Carnival alive. With all it's delicious desires and depravity through each town.
Juliet did not disappoint. I'm actually looking forward to reading more of her books.
I highly recommend this book and this series.
Enjoy Darklings 🤗🖤

[Melissa Allen]

Book 14 of the Colony Carvivale series...
Riven you wonderfully, sexy, bad ass man! If I met you at a carnival, I would let you consume me!
Emily you sweet undercover freak! Oh my sweet girl, you should always take what you want in life!
Riven and Emily come together at the carnival in the most poetic of ways! Riven the master of the "Guess your Weight" tent is under contract with Dario, our feared Showmaster! Enter Emily and everything changes in the best ways possible. Emily is along for this journey and Riven accepts her like she is his everything! I truly did enjoy this so much! xoxo

[Patricia Clifford]

🎪ARC review🎪

Sinmaker by @julietravencroftauthor
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
I say this with every review of this series but honestly this series keeps getting better and better. I love getting introduced to all of these new characters and circus performers. New attractions, new ways to connect with people. This one was interesting and different from the rest. We didn’t venture outside of the tent but we also got to experience just the two people involved. This man or creature really didn’t know what to expect with this woman and he found his queen. I cannot wait to see what this series brings next 💥

[Bonnie James]

Sinmaker is the kind of dark read that keeps pulling you further in.
Juliet Ravencroft captures that obsessive Colony Carnivale atmosphere perfectly. The writing is immersive, the tension is constant, and the mix of erotic heat and real unease works incredibly well.
I raced through this one. Short, intense, and completely addictive. Definitely worth picking up if you enjoy your reads dark and twisted.

[Jolyn]

Book 14, what can I say? This one was an interesting take on the seven deadly sins but make it ErOtIc HoRrOr….it was spicy, it was intense, and left me questioning everything. My first take on Juliet Ravencroft and I absolutely must say the way that she described the emotion and the scenes being played out in beautiful detail, is amazing! It really helps the reader paint a picture of what is happening page after page.

[Marci Simmons]

Disclaimer: I am reading these books as a set of ARCS. Note they are dark and come with quite a bit of trigger warnings.
This was Book 14 of The Colony Carnivale. Sinmaker by Juliet Ravencroft is about Riven and Emily and like all the other books do not expect a HEA however this one did not completely end in tragedy. Once you go behind the curtain be prepared that anything can happen.

I received an advanced review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Pretty_Poisons_Dark_Romance]

Sinmaker is the 14th novella in the Colony Carnivale series. These are dare stories so check the trigger warnings if needed. This was an intense story and I had a hard time putting it down. It was also pretty spicy. Juliet Racencraoft did a great job putting details and emotion into this story. I loved following Emily's journey in the Colony Carnivale. I will be reviewing all novellas in the series and they can be found on my profile!

[Brandi]

Arc Review:

Wow what a book. Emily the FMC starts out as a quiet meek woman who’s afraid to say what she wants or take what she wants. However once she gets to the colony carnival and meets Riven that changes everything. Riven and his ribbons make her speak what she truly wants/desires. I really loved this book and how the seven deadly sins were written into it. Definitely different and so good. I felt like the it ended left it open for more about Riven and if so I am here for that.

[Kitty 💋]

✨ ARC REVIEW ✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am reading this series as a set of ARCs.
They are all part of a shared Carnivale world and do have quite a few trigger warnings, so please check these before you dive in!

This read for me was tricky to get into!
It wasn’t my favourite of the series. I tend to like a faster pace.
This authors writing is very descriptive and I can understand why others loved it so much, but it didn’t hit the spot for me.

[Jennifer Taylor]

Book 14 of The Colony Carnivale. This was an interesting addition to this shared world. Emily finds an invite to the carnivale on her desk at work. Riven runs a guess your weight tent at the carnivale. I would love to know more backstory on Riven and how he came about meeting Dario and joining the Colony.

[Martina]

Disclaimer: I'm reading these novels as a set of ARCs (The Colony Carnivale) Please note that they are dark, and come with a lot of trigger warnings!


This one took no1 place easily.
Ill come back later and edit my review when I collect myself and read few others in series. But this is the best story so far
I swear

[Cindy Penner]

Sinmaker, #14 in the Colony Carnivale series, was unlike anything I’ve read before. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and getting to know Emily and Riven. The storyline was incredibly unique and captivating, and I loved how different it was from other books I’ve read. I’m looking forward to discovering more fascinating stories like this one!

[Liz Bench]

Take the seven deadly sins, make them hot and creepy, and you have this beautiful book. Like, it was VERY steamy (well… more than steamy 😏). I had to drink water with this book. 😂

The seven deadly sins are definitely living up to their names, that's for sure. Just remember: everything in this carnival is alive, so be careful where you step. 😏🎪

[Jade Ford]

Disclaimer: I'm reading these novels as a set of ARCs! Please note that they are dark, and come with a lot of trigger warnings! I'm quite new to dark novels, and they seem to hit me one of two ways - either I have the reaction of being grossly fascinated and unable to look away (a bit like when humans see an accident and can't help but side eye), or it turns my stomach and makes me flinch - both reactions I find interesting as a reader, but I tend to prefer the horror of the first! What type of dark reader you are with your own preferences/triggers, will no doubt affect how you find each of these reads and you should always check your trigger warnings first.

This was an intriguing edition to the Carnivale world, playing on the desperate desires of one woman, and what happens when her desires are allowed to be preyed upon. I loved the feature of the seven deadly sins, and felt like it gave something new to the carnivale which is so hard to do with 31 novels of darkness/gore! The imagery was good, and a quick read. Perhaps a bit too much spice for me, but I enjoyed the themes portrayed and the way it was delivered.

[Liz Ranne]

I loved this! It's Riven & Emily's story & it was a good one! She's been crushing on her boss, but he doesn't really notice her. When she gets the invitation, she goes looking for something. What she finds is much more. Riven has been working off his debt & he figures she's the final one, but unexpected events happen & things change. Loved the spice & the story! Recommend this novella & author!

[Crystal O]

Sinmaker is number 14 and starts with Emily receiving an invitation to the carnivale, she believes it is from her boss, but she could not be more wrong.
When she arrives and she is drawn to a booth and Riven instantly knows thats Emily is the soul to finalize his debt. What transpired behind the curtain is what you must find out when you read this tale!

[Cassandra Joy Hoover]

Emily has no idea what shes getting herself into when she accepts an invite not knowing really who its from. Then she meets Riven and thats where this story gets wild . Riven is there to fufill her desires . All of them . This was another good short hot read . This colony is pretty gnarly . Im loving it .