The Heartstone Saga: Book 1: Empath Rising

I very much enjoyed this book! In the past few weeks I have read the Good Intentions series, the Daniel Black series, and Wild Wastes; all of which have similar themes to Empath Rising and all of which I enjoyed. If you enjoyed any or all of those then I can almost guarantee you will like this book. For those mamono fans out there this book is also for you!General Impressions:Let’s be honest; a lot of people would consider this a guilty pleasure. The author acknowledges that it is smut, but I only agree with that to a certain extent. If you took all the smut out I would still have enjoyed this book. The smut just enhanced the experience for me. Unlike some of the other books I mentioned, there is not much action in this one. This is closer to a slice of life harem fantasy with a few short, but well written action scenes. In place of the action though there is quite a bit of wit that on more than one occasion took me by surprise and had me laughing out loud.Characters:I am probably not a great judge of whether characters have depth or not, but I can say that a big determination of my enjoyment of a story is if I can empathize (not being cheeky) with the characters. If I can put myself in their shoes and see where they are coming from then I really start to care about them. I cared about all of the characters in this book. While several of the monster girls do fall partly into common stereotypes/tropes they often do act in ways I wasn’t expecting and I do think the author made them his own. I loved the little touches like pack/herd animals engaging in social grooming, wolfen thumping a leg when happy, or minotaurs making various cow type sounds to convey emotion. I was also happy to see that even though there is some of the typical “harem head can do no wrong” theme his girls also don’t see him as perfect. They do at times get upset, disagree with him, or call him on things.Plot:So yes, this is an erotic harem story and contains a lot of what you might expect such a story to contain. In a blurb at the end of the book the cat…er…author even says he likes his smut, but likes to have a decent plot as well! Well he succeeded (maybe too well) and I found myself starting to read through the smutty parts faster to get back to the plot. There are hints at an overarching plot, secrets to be learned, and much more to come (heh). This gives the book more depth and combined with the lovable characters I just couldn’t put it down. I am a slow reader, but I finished it in two nights.Another reviewer mentioned that the love scenes were well integrated into the story and didn’t seem forced. I completely agree. I would also like to add that compared to other similarly themed books I have read that include “sexy time”, this author doesn’t pull any punches in the detail of the love scenes. I respect him for that. Other authors try to make the love scenes into some type of beautiful flowery poem of an experience. Not this author! It is real, it is often dirty/messy, and even though some of the acts aren’t always to my preference it is all still quite hot! That is not to say that it is vulgar and there is also some humor to be had in the love scenes which adds to the realism and enjoyment.Thoughts/Suggestions:The author/cat said he would be reading all of these reviews and would appreciate thoughts. This next section is supposed to be just that, my thoughts. Let me reiterate that I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to more! Nothing that follows is meant to be taken as being overly critical, but instead my own musings.I thought there were perhaps a few to many love scenes or perhaps they were a little too long. It felt at times like there was a lot of sex, a small bit of plot, and then a lot of sex again. I would liken it to the Daniel Black series if you replaced his crafting scenes with love scenes instead. I suppose this comes down to what you are primarily looking for from this book/series though. I personally want plot first and then some steamy sex scenes here and there to enhance the relationships. On the other hand I was a little disappointed with the Daniel Black series in this regard. There were some decent sex scenes in the first book, but it seemed to mostly peter (heh, can’t help myself) out. So I suppose my preference falls somewhere in between the two series. If it just ends up taking more books to finish the plot due to so much hanky panky going on then I won’t really mind in the end (provided the plot does get finished).***MINOR SPOILERS*** Next two paragraphs.Another reviewer mentioned he was worried about too many girls being added to the harem. That in such a case there wouldn’t be enough time spent with each girl anymore. I think this is a valid concern though I got the impression at the end of the book that no more girls were likely to be added. I am worried that the opposite might be true as well. For me at least it seems like part of the enjoyment is always wondering which monster girl might be added to the harem next? Virtually any non-bonded girl seems like she would be fair game. I am worried that we went from one girl for half the book or more to having several added in the last half or even the last third of the book. Now it seems the harem is full and we may have lost one of the major plot devices going forward. If I had to choose I would rather still see a girl or two added down the line, but make it far enough apart in the plot to try to prevent the over-population of the harem. Then we, the readers, will still be left anticipating if every new girl that is introduced might be added.This next bit may just be me being picky so take it with a grain of salt. I also have this issue with several of the books I mentioned at the beginning so maybe it is just a common and accepted practice. I thought that the “love” between Nameless and his girls took hold a bit fast. I have no qualms with the girls falling unconditionally in love with him once bonded. I mean that is the point of the bond to begin with right and this is meant to have a smutty side which that facilitates. At least Nameless and Milly had a few days together before he started saying he loved her. I have been quite smitten with a girl or two in the past after just a few days with them, but I just can’t see throwing around a word like “love” carelessly. He seemed to be in love with Erika and Nina right from the start. Now maybe this is part of him being an Empath? He did pretty much see into the core of their beings. Or maybe the feelings he gets through the bond also become his own in return? I guess my suggestion would have been to either have some more time pass after each girl joins the harem before Nameless starts saying he loves them or to explain by what device his sudden (almost instant love) developed. The author of Wild Wastes often just mentions that some weeks or months have passed and gives a quick summary of the events that passed. That seems a reasonable enough device that doesn’t take a lot of text to intimate at a growing relationship. Again, personal opinion.***END SPOILERS***I don’t want to end on criticism so let me say that I will buy the next book without hesitation. If as the author says he starts to “crank 2 or 3 of these bitches out a year” I can see that I am going to be losing some sleep as I couldn’t put this one down. It was always just “30 minutes more” and then all of the sudden it is 2 AM. I wish him a long and prolific career (and a speedy release of the next book). Would it help if I threw in a can of tuna or three?

I've read alot of books and alot of genres, somehow I got into erotic lit recently. Mostly on Amazon so I've read some good and bad. I wasn't gonna leave a review cause of the shame factor, but after reading a few in the erolit genres, I feel compelled single out this series for its storytelling as well as its steamyness.There are some books out there that are straight up bimbo porn, crude for the sake of seeming dirty, instead of just lazy writing. A lot of the stories out feel more like a stunted man's, fulfilled teenage fantasies. This book and series have characters you feel for, a world you're invested in. It's real storytelling, but more than that, it is mutha nuckin Hot! Its more than the descriptions, and fetishes, its the relationships between the individual characters that fuel fire. That being said! This author's steamy scenes read much better than the usual fluff out there, it feels more authentic and revels in the sex and fun, instead of just wish fulfillment. These stories have a good balance of story and steam, and if i ever need to recommend a erolit to anyone it would be this book

A good read. There is less character development in favor of sex scenes, but this was not supposed to be a work on par with Leon Tosltoy in the first place.That said, the individual characters were entertaining to read about. The supporting roles were well filled with an engaging cast, particularly the former Adventurer/farmer.(Spoiler)That brings up a point, however. The main character (called Nameless) wears an *unbreakable* necklace/choker with the heart of his girlfriend/partner on it. While this is an interesting manner in which to depict how fragile a girl's heard can be, the farmer apparently no longer has a minotauresque character/partner. What happens to the necklace of Nameless when what happened to the farmer happens to him?Also, what happened to the heartstones of the other four characters in the story? There was a fairly big deal made from the condition/placement of the butterfly and the minotaur, but of all the characters, only Milly's heartstone is actually given a specific resting place. Something that important -- important enough to be the title of the entire series, likely should have a better explanation, not something deferred to the next book.On the plus side, most of the book reads well; both entertaining and engaging for the guest to Mr. Bradford's world. The minor logic loopholes are negligible, compared to the whimsical tale. It even dips into the potential ramifications of this kind of world, without being overly grotesque; which I appreciate.Looking forward to the next book. Alert added, if possible.

This book was terrific. So often with 'erotica' authors jam in the sex with no thoughts as to the general plot and structure, "I'm doing laundry and look, no pants!" that sort of thing. This book wasn't like that at all. It was an actual story, and a very good one at that. An emotional tale that weaved sex into the plot seamlessly. The characters were believable and lovable. The world is fun to read about. I wouldn't even classify it as erotica. It's so well written, it's fallen neatly into the fantasy-romance category.It's funny, moments of comedy that made me laugh out loud, it's sweet, the author develops his characters well, actually spending time on each and giving us a reason to care about every one. The only thing that jarred me out of a pure fantasy mindset with this book was the very rapid addition of a great many SPOILER wives before the end of the first book.But since it's self-described smut, that's not necessarily a detractor.To summarise: The writing is perfect, a few grammar errors, but who cares when the prose are this flowing? Plot excellect, characters fleshed out and lovable. World building outstanding, further books will give more detail, I trust. Setting terrific, stable, pleasant with a hint of obstacles to overcome in a world where good wins and bad gets beaten to a pulp by sexy monster girls.I can't wait for the second book because the dedication at the beginning of this one was quite right. This guy's awesome.Keep writing Mr Bradford!

OH what not to say about this book and series. The book is well paced and the characters are brilliant and you really want read on. The adult content is well placed in the story line and well thought out in relation to the characters. In the end you want the characters to succeed. A great first book and the rest of the series does not disappoint overall the series is a gem that I will wait patiently for book 5 of the series to arrive.

Well I was pleasantly surprised about this book. It was a harem book like manga, however apart from the naughty stuff the actual story was very interesting and really really good.Characters are fleshed out nicely and with wonderful supporting characters the story flowed well.Recommend this as its has emotional and deep psyche analysis of characters but not really heavy so doesn't feel like its arduous to read.Please buy and enjoy.

Sure there is a bit of mature sexual content in it but it does not detract from the story nor does everything revolve around itOver the course of reading Empath rising I wholeheartedly enjoyed myself with a flurry of emotions and I will gladly support future installments

As a very avid reader of fantasy and lately of the erotic kind, I can say without a doubt that this books and its successor are the best I have ever read in this genre, they are both unique and well-written, with a superb combination of story, humor, erotic and adventure. I can't wait to read book nr 3 and even though I got them for free with kindle unlimited, I bought them both to support the author and keep them forever to reread again and again.