Carnal Confections

by Shakir Rashaan

Caressa Sidaná is a chocolatier magnate, expanding her family’s empire into new and exciting directions. She has more than a few tempting options vying for her attention—in the boardroom and the bedroom. Unbeknownst to her, one of those plans unearths sins from her father’s past that could threaten the company’s future. Can Caressa indulge in her confections—literally and figuratively—sate her palate, and keep her company safe?

52 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 25, 2019

About the author

“Every secret of a writer’s soul, every experience of his life, every quality of his mind, is written large in his works.” ~ Virginia Wolfe

Conjurer of worlds. Sorcerer. Man. Myth. Legend. Prototype.

All of these words describe Shakir Rashaan, who has been creating mind-twisting stories and lavish worlds for well over a decade, rolling onto the national literary scene as a contributor to Z-Rated: Chocolate Flava 3 in 2012. His raw, vivid, and uncut writing style captured the attention of the Queen of Erotica herself, Zane. A year later, Shakir’s debut novel with Strebor/Atria/Simon & Schuster, The Awakening, opened to rave reviews, while the follow-up in the Nubian Underworld series, Legacy, garnered even more success, and the third installment, Tempest, helping to make the series one of the most unique and best-selling in the erotic romance genre.

Rashaan would later add to his impressive catalog with the debut of the Kink, P.I. Series in 2015, starting with Obsession and following up with Deception and Reckoning. Drawing comparisons to Walter Mosely’s Easy Rawlins series, Kink, P.I. has developed into yet another best-selling series, carving its place as a “throwback to the days of classic mystery books” in the mystery genre.

Further adding to his impressive portfolio, Rashaan was a regular blogger for USA Today’s Happy Ever After blog, where readers could find him at his “Manly Musings” personal blog, reviewing books, television shows, and movies from a man’s perspective. He wrote recaps for various shows for the STARZ Network, including The Girlfriend Experience, POWER, and Survivor’s Remorse, before the blog was retired in late 2018.

Shakir has gone on in recent years to pen a series of bestselling novels, including In Service to the Senator, a sexy political thriller surrounding an up-and-coming vice presidential candidate, The Devil’s All-American, a unique paranormal romance featuring a rising college basketball star, Unthinkable, a not-so-conventional romance set in the entertainment industry, Love, Lust & Beautiful Liars, a romantic suspense novel about an international weapons dealer who was looking to retire and enjoy his HEA, and most recently in 2021, Queen of Cambridge, part of the Queens of the Castle anthology series.

Shakir has switched gears, jumping into the young adult world, developing the Neverwraith series, a YA paranormal fantasy for Entangled Teen/Macmillan, and the South Hampton series, in addition to several other YA and New Adult projects to expand his NEBU universe. Neverwraith is his most ambitious project to date, about a teenage descendant of an ancient metahuman bloodline who searches for the truth about the death of his parents and their connection to a centuries-old blood feud over sacred texts contained inside of his native Kindara, an island nation located near the West African coast ... all while navigating high school

Shakir currently resides in suburban Atlanta with his wife, soon-to-be college graduate daughter, and a Jack-Chi named Teddy.

Reviews

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

What did I just read

I have read my fair share of short stories but this right here was the most half baked developed mess, I read in quite sometime. Like really this has to be done better and not just left so underwhelming

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 ⭐

I really don't know how so many people rated this 4/5 stars...

I've read quite a few short stories and usually they're a lot better than this. Like, A LOT better.

The spelling mistakes in this book were absolutely ridiculous and so easy to be picked up, that I'm certain no one read over this before it was published.
Then there was a scene in the private jet where they had to climb to avoid turbulence and not two sentences down, they were descending??
Then at the beginning of one chapter there was a sentence that just cut off in the middle? "Seth's confusion over bla-bla-bla and bla-bla-bla." 🙃 what about his confusion? No I formation whatsoever is being provided here.

The plot itself... What plot? 🙃 I'm all for books that have no plot but good spice but there wasn't even any spice! The one sex scene in this story was rushed and not written well at all 😪

The promise of both guys getting with the FMC was great but when they accepted it it just stops?! 🙃 Why even put the promise of two guys into this if you're not showing any progress?

All in all, very poor writing skills and details. Very disappointing read.

[Cassandra Haywood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good read by this author. The characters and plots were well developed. My attention was held from the very beginning of the book until the end. Even though this was a novella, I would love to find out how things turned out with Caressa, Marco and Seth because of the ending. It really gives you something to imagine about.
I recommend this book to read.
Cassandra H.

[Nigra · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seems to be part of a series though it’s unclear which series. There is information standing it’s “Each book is a standalone, NO cliffhangers”. However, this book is definitely unfinished. There are two male love interests but the author couldn’t make up his mind on if second man’s name was Carter or Seth.

[Lori Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

super delicious short story

I thoroughly enjoyed this short and very sweet delight. Shakir Rashaan has a way of grabbing the reader quickly so that even shorts like this are satisfying.

[Bridgett Renay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sultry Sensation

I was hooked from the beginning and it definitely did not disappoint. The strong, leading female's character was everything and I'm looking forward to reading more of Shakir's work.

[Leanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short read

I liked it. It was very different but i wanted to know what happened at the end. I kinda need more details on that but definitely not a bad read at all.

[Crystal A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book immensly!!

[Yvonne Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book left me wanting to know more. Shakir has a way with words. The erotic scenes were very tasteful and his vocabulary tantalized my brain as well as my loins.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a name like Carnal Confections you'd think it would have a good amount of spice, but spice was severely lacking. The story was pretty slow paced without much going on.

[Кат · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is only a starter story so it ends TBC ( to be continued ). It was ok but the s3x was meh.

[Lola · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf at 35%

[Vic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not enough spice or story for me.

[Zanette Easton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like this but just didn't

Something just wasn't cohesive about this story. It seemed choppy and as if the reader came in not knowing things I was expected to know. The h was cold and arrogant and I felt I couldn't understand who the Hero was as the two men equally didn't fit in the story.

[Claira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good introduction, but where is the rest of the story? There are many storylines left open. What happened to the uncle? What about the lady that the chocolate company is partnering with? I have many questions.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.