Unfortunately I DNFed about halfway through because the plot was getting lost in all the smut scenes and im just not very interested in that, i am a little disappointed was good and interesting but didn't expect to get the same sex scene over and over, it got quite boring .. and the description was a little too silly and kept me out of the book for those. The main plot to me deserved more attention and would've made the sex scene more appealing if i cared about what was happening

As much as I wanted to enjoy this book, I couldn't really get into the writing. There was nothing wrong with it per see, just not my style. Thank you for letting me read it early.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

What a unique read!

Horror meets gothic romance and I am living for it!

First of all, huge trigger warning: the main character suffers from anorexia. It’s a major plot in the story so if you are sensitive to this topic, I would definitely avoid this book.

I honestly couldn’t wrap my head around how someone could take something as cutesy as romance and creepy horror and blend them together. These two topics should not go together and yet they do in this book and it works perfectly! I was equally spooked and feeling the love.

The setting of the story really had me feeling like I was in a gothic film. Beautifully detailed and descriptive. I seriously felt like I was walking through the dark corridors of the manner.

The characters were full of depth and personality. Even the maids seemed to jump off the page.

The spice in this book is mild for a MFF but I’m not mad at it. There is definitely detail but it was pretty tame compared to what I’m used to. I personally think the author focused more on the connections between the characters rather than having them go at it like rabbits so that’s a plus.

If you aren’t into overly descriptive spice, this is definitely right up your alley.

I would recommend to anyone who loves horror and romance equally. This was a perfect blend of the two genres and I think enthusiasts of both would really enjoy it!

I loved this book! It felt like a fairy tale I hadn't heard before with lots of spice. The FMC is so tender and interesting and her dynamic with the MMC is fraught but keeps on giving. I highly recommend to anyone looking for a sweet story to steal your heart.

This was weird and addictive at the same time. It was very dark, gore and disturbing to the core. I enjoy the concept/premise of the book where it revolves royalty, darkest secret, gothic mansion and polymorous (MFF) relationship. I think most of these are quite new to me and I never read this kind of story. The rarity of it intrigues me!

I love the writing and I think author done a good job to make it more engaging for a reader. I would say I never know the word "peace" when I read this book cuz every part make me a little anxious especially when it comes to Branwell and Belle scene. I love the idea of the darkest secret of gothic mansion and I really enjoyed it but seems the story got dragged a little bit and I believe there are quite plot holes in some scenes which I really appreciates to know about it especially when in comes to Florence and Velveteen

Last but not least, It is an enjoyable read and If you looking for REAL GOTHIC kind of story, this is the best. Thank @netgalley and Publisher for the Arcs in exchange of honest review!

Alyssa Page’s Lady Hell is a mesmerizing blend of gothic horror and psychological suspense, steeped in eerie atmosphere and unrelenting dread. With its crumbling manor, haunted whispers, and a heroine trapped in a waking nightmare, this novel is a must-read for fans of Crimson Peak and Rebecca.

Belle’s marriage to Bramwell Hellthorne should have been her salvation, an escape from loneliness. Instead, it plunges her into a dark and twisted world where reality bends, secrets fester, and the very walls seem alive with malevolence. As her sister succumbs to a terrifying demonic possession after visiting the estate, Belle begins to question everything she thought she knew—about faith, the supernatural, and the enigmatic man she married. With bloodstained walls, ghostly music, and a portrait that refuses to stay in place, Hellthorne Manor is as much a character as any living soul in the novel, its mysteries unraveling with chilling precision.

Page’s writing is lush and immersive, weaving a tale that is as hypnotic as it is horrifying. The slow-burning tension builds masterfully, keeping the reader unsettled as Belle’s descent into the manor’s secrets becomes inescapable. The psychological complexity of the story elevates it beyond simple ghostly frights—this is a tale of power, control, and the blurred line between love and entrapment.

Lady Hell is an atmospheric, bone-chilling gothic horror that lingers long after the final page. With haunting imagery, a suffocating sense of doom, and a protagonist caught in a web of dark revelations, it’s the kind of novel that demands to be read with the lights on.

Lady Hell by Alyssa Page follows the story of Belle, a young woman from a poor village, and her arranged marriage to the mysterious Bramwell Hellthorne. We get to experience Belle's new life as Lady Hellthorne in a beautiful and eerie gothic manor where not everything is as it seems.

I went in expecting to absolutely fall in love with this book, but I was let down unfortunately. The descriptive writing was beautiful and left readers so engrossed in the gothic environment. The more scarier and unsettling scenes were written so well and I felt genuinely uncomfortable (in the best way) many times!! I just felt that the plot was not consistent and left me with many questions and wanting more.

There is a huge supernatural element to this story, which was often overlooked and overshadowed by the love story, which often infuriated. Blood dripping from the walls, creepy paintings that should not be there, literal evil dead girls, yet everyone just moved on so casually from these literal horrors and got on with having their threesomes as if nothing happened. Now don't get me wrong, I was obsessed with the poly relationship and how beautifully it was written, but why are we ignoring the big demonic elephant in the room just so I can get another sex scene, exactly the same as the last one. I wanted and needed more background and plot relating to the supernatural storyline, that in my opinion, was the main plot.

There were also time skips that often left out a lot of important information in my opinion, and important information at that. The main one was the blooming of Belle's relationship with Florence and the first few months of her new life as Mrs Blackthorne. Once the wedding was over, we skipped several months down the line to when Florence and Belle have already begun this secret relationship and Belle has began to settle into her new home. There were several time jumps that often had readers filling in gaps.

A personal opinion - Belle had everything she could have wanted and Blackthorne an ideal husband. Belle wa an insufferable character and Blackthorne deserved better.

Overall, I did enjoy this read, but it lacked a solid and fluid plot. I'll definitely be checking out the sequel to see where it all goes as I have so many unanswered questions from this book.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for and ARC of Lady Hell in an exchange for a voluntary and honest review.

📖 Summary:
Lady Hell follows Belle, a newlywed from an arranged married. She is uncomfortable with her new and strange life at Hellthorne Manor. What starts as an eerie gothic setup turns into something evil— involving demonic possession, haunted portraits, and family secrets. As Belle starts to figure out what’s really going on, the line between reality and nightmare begins to blur.

💬 Bookish Thoughts:
This book had a really strong start. The gothic horror vibes were great in the beginning, and I was really interested in the demonic possession storyline — that part genuinely creeped me out in the best way.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book didn’t work for me. After the first third, the plot felt messy and hard to follow. It felt like I was reading three different stories in one, and I couldn’t figure out where it was going.

The constant POV switches made things even more confusing — some of them happened mid-chapter, and we even got chapters from minor side characters that didn’t seem necessary. That really pulled me out of the story and was frustrating.

I also struggled with the characters. I didn’t find anyone likable which made it hard to stay invested. The writing itself felt repetitive at times, and the mix of modern language with the gothic setting didn’t really mesh for me.

📚 Final Thoughts:
I usually love gothic horror and really appreciate stories with queer rep, so I was hoping to enjoy this one more than I did. There were pieces I liked in the beginning, but overall, it didn’t come together for me. I’m giving it 2 stars because the premise had potential, but the execution wasn’t quite there. One thing I want to specifically call out is that this book should have included a content warning for incest. That content is disturbing and absolutely qualifies as incest. Readers deserve to be properly warned.

⭐️ Rating: 2 stars

dnf at 47%

I should’ve looked at reviews before cuz i didn’t know this book was just smut. I liked the other aspects like the characters were interesting (stereotypical though) and when the creepy things were happening I was really enjoying it. The world also seemed very built up and interesting. I just couldn’t do the spice anymore, what fully made me stop was “kitten” as a pet name. That’s just too cringy for me

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book! I cannot wait to add this to my home library! This is the type of book that I would love to see turned into a movie. I loved the very naughty gothic horror feel. Plus the god is woman and witchy vibe. The only beef I had is that I wish there was more explanation as to why Bramwell was not interested in physical intimacy at all. At first I thought he may have had a thing with Ly, but that wasn’t it. Was his character asexual? Did his mom screw him up? Other than that, I loved this book! I can’t wait to read the next installment!

Lady hell is an MFF horror/romance that follows Belle who marries Lord Bramwell and is whisked off to live in his gothic manor. There she meets his cousin and her husbands best friend and quickly a romance blossoms between the three. But little do they know that there is more to Lord Bramwell than meets the eyes and he is playing with forces that are more powerful than any of them can imagine.

I really enjoyed this book, the world building was excellent but not over the top.
As a fan of gothic horror he gothic vibes in this are so great, everything from the gothic manor to the vibrant red garden.

The body horror in this freaked me out so deeply, mixed in with the overwhelming sense of dread that came with just being present in that house and I found myself rushing to figure out the story and to see what was going to happen next! I don't think I'll ever look at a painting the same way again!

The soothing part of this story is the romance between Belle, Flo and Lyren, the three of them have a very deep connection and they have some very well written erotic moments that are really beautiful.

I can't wait to read the next instalment of this book and see what is going to happen next! It was an excellent read.

I really wanted to like Lady Hell. The premise intrigued me, and I was hoping for a dark, gothic horror experience, but unfortunately, the book didn't quite hit the mark for me.

The story is told from a third-person perspective, but it frequently alternates focus between various characters. While I typically enjoy a multi-perspective narrative, the transitions here felt jarring and rushed at times. The quick jumps between characters often left me disoriented and broke the flow of the story. At moments, it even seemed like the narrative strayed from the established third-person perspective, which further disrupted the reading experience.

Additionally, the tone of the book leaned more toward romance than horror, which was a real disappointment given my initial expectations. While romance can certainly be a compelling element in a gothic horror novel, it overshadowed the darker, eerie atmosphere I was hoping for.

All in all, Lady Hell just didn't deliver the gothic horror experience I had anticipated. While the writing had potential, the pacing and genre shift ultimately left me unsatisfied.

A big thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC of this book.

This was so atmospheric!! From the first page, I was hooked.

Also I love love loved the rep - it was so satisfying watching the characters' bonds unfold alongside the Gothic background. WOW.

This book started off really strong with some very creepy scenes (which is why I'm giving it more than one star) and then....it basically stopped. Literally the synopsis covered the first 25%, and that's it. I honestly felt like I was reading two different books. The creepy elements happened and then the characters just went on about their days. In one scene, the main character is fleeing a haunting and then randomly falls into a sex scene with no further discussion of the haunting.

The book also randomly hops between POVs, from paragraph to paragraph, which was really confusing. It also hops between several storyline, none really discussed in depth, and none I really cared about. I also felt like the characters kept changing with no real explanation, and I didn't buy it at all.

Also, why do we suddenly want to have empathy for Bram's awful parents?

This was an almost DNF several times, and I kind of wish I'd stopped after the really creepy hauntings at the beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

We follow the young woman Belle as she journeys to her new home and possible new start. Her arranged marriage to Bramwell Hellthorne may not be just as it appears, the man holds a myriad of secrets close to the chest. Eerie happenings seem to occur around every turn; and when her own sister is possessed following a visit to the manor, Belle—and her pair of lovers—must garner a strength she didn't know she had to survive.

Will she become just another secret hidden within the walls?

This is a speedy read, I knocked this one out fairly fast during a chronic illness flare-up thanks to the shorter chapters. We have the facets of the subgenre that do go beyond simple set-dressing or aesthetics, yet I wish we leaned more into the gritty, gruesomeness of horror. There are many types of horror, as well as, levels of confort for readers; yet for me I think the story would have been more successful taking some scenes a step or two farther.

One facet of this book I found less than successful was the pov usage. We bounce between characters at times from paragraph to paragraph, which is a bit off-putting and confusing. I understand the desire to showcase the cast's emotions as events take a turn for the worse, yet there could have been other ways to show that which were more fluid and cohesive. The constant "purring" verb choice for dialog was also a bit irksome to be honest. Perhaps one more round of edits—to the book as a whole—focused on readability and word usage would be helpful here?

If you want a Gothic Romance that's creepy without toeing the line of the extreme subgenre or that is straight up erotica, perhaps considering giving this a go!

Ultimately, this story wasn't quite for me, but if you tend to be a Romance reader rather than Horror fanatic, I'm sure you'll have a better time. I think this was a case of misplaced expectations... also I don't like pregnancy plot lines so that whole thing was a mess I couldn't stand to read.

✨Lady Hell✨

Firstly I'd like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

Unfortunately, this was a struggle for me to get through. I really, really wanted to like this more than I did but I considered dnf-ing multiple times.

It's told from a third person perspective which I enjoy however it jumped perspective a bit too many times; we would get the insight into someone's thoughts but this would change to another person's thoughts rather quickly. Then later on, the writing style breaks it's rules by revealing that a character was evil; but the entirety of the story has been spent telling the audience what everyone's thoughts are, so wouldn't we have known he's evil beforehand?

It felt like I was reading two different stories; one part was an awesome Victorian horror, and the other a sweet love story between two women and a man. In this instance, the two stories did not mesh for me and I found myself quite irritated with the FMC.

*Potential spoilers ahead*

Lady Hell follows an arranged marriage between Belle and Lord Bramwell Hellthorne, who has to marry before the age of 30 lest he be stripped of his royal title. It appears Lord Hellthorne isn't interested in intimacy (yay for Ace representation) but is happy for his wife to seek external love and comfort, whilst maintaining a platonic friendship. Does a sweet friendship between the two blossom? Sadly no.

In the meantime, we learn that as a child, Lord Hellthorne was kept in a tower away from his mother and false father because he was a product of an affair. His parents told everyone he died during birth and he was left to his own devices, being fed every evening by his mothers breast milk. On the eve of his tenth birthday, he accidentally summons a demon who takes him under her wing, giving him magical powers and presumably murdering his parents by the time he turns 18.

The demon lady returns (did she ever leave? I'm not sure) in the present time by possessing Belles sister and encouraging Lord Hellthorne to allow her to not be banished to hell. You would think a demon would have a significantly bigger part in the story but alas; she is not. I thought perhaps she would slowly corrupt the Lord using her demon ways; she does convince him to kill a priest; but the Lord apparently has gone from good to evil in a split second and is forever labeled a killer by his wife.

Belle doesn't like that her husband, who has been nothing but kind to her, may have killed someone (am I just ruined by morally grey MMCs) and I'm not entirely sure how she came to the conclusion of this though, it just sort of happens. Or maybe it is there and I missed it because I felt like I had to push through the story? The demon does reappear in the body of a bookshop keeper and gives semi cryptic messages to Belle about the Lord, so perhaps I was unable to read between the lines. Or maybe the lines were a mess.

Then, we eventually learn that Lord Hellthorne has always been evil well before the demon returned (with no indication prior, just that he's killed a few people, but what mmc hasn't). He's keeping his dead parents in the basement in a suspended state between life and death so he can torture them for eternity. But they were also terrible and kept him locked in a tower; why should I feel empathy for these terrible parents?

This story didn't really feel like it went much anywhere.

This will be a soft dnf for me at the moment. Unfortunately, the plot, or lack thereof is lost on me at 60%. Really, everything about this should be up my alley—gothic setting, arranged marriage, oil portraits coming to life, gore, possession, and a mff love situation… The plot just doesn’t seem to have a sense of where it wants to go.

Page’s Lady Hell invites readers to a luscious world governed by three Goddesses. Belle is a poor fisherman’s daughter who is reluctantly married off to Lord Hellthorne - a bid to save her family and secure the lord’s access as royalty. Horrors await her at the lord’s manor and Belle must rise to the challenge, but not without love, though she finds herself spurned by her husband.

I found the antagonists in Lady Hell thought provoking though somewhat dull - it felt like they were evil for the sake of it. I did find the true nature of these antagonists to be pleasantly surprising and look forward to further installments in this series. The writing is descriptive, immersive, and Belle is such a delight of a character.

Thank you to NetGalley and Purple Fern Publishing for the ARC!

I'm very sad, but Lady Hell just wasn't for me.

LADY HELL is a gothic victorian horror story featuring:
❆ a haunted mansion
❆ an arranged marriage
❆ sapphic love
❆ a MFF polyamorous couple
❆ demonic possession
❆ a religion featuring three Goddesses
❆ a failed exorcism

^^ I mean doesn't that sound amazing? Sadly, it just didn't work for me.

Reading this book was a horror.

First of all, the start was very rushed. It felt like one very long prologue where about a book's worth of story got smushed into about fifty pages. I didn't mind that events were glossed over, but it missed the space to let relationships develop. Belle, the main character, got into a romantic relationship with one character and a friendship with the other. The only way I know is because the narrator told me. I didn't get to see the actual relationships and see why she cared about them.

By then I also had gotten annoyed by the constant headhopping that took place. It would have made sense if the pov stuck with Belle, but instead, it wandered all over the place. I frequently got thrown off guard when I unexpectedly read a thought from another character.

Another thing that utterly frustrated me was that after the tensions rose and the horror started to come alive, it was broken again because the characters couldn't help to be so damn horny for each other. I would also hesitate to call this a romance. Although the characters said they loved each other, I only saw lust.

And lastly, the author used some words that just made me take psychic damage every time I read them, such as the repeated use of cunt, referring to the body part, the word bulbous to refer to an assortment of things and the book also had the word prick in a steamy scene, which is a sure-fire way to get me out of the mood.

Thank you NetGalley and Purple Fern Publishing for giving me access to an e-arc for review consideration. All opinions are my own.