Aestas Book Blog

Book Review – Games of the Heart (The Burg #4) by Kristen Ashley

September 21, 2012 by Aestas · 3 Comments

“We’re gonna explore this and I hope to God that feelin’ I got is not wrong because I tried time and again to make it feel wrong but all it ever felt was right.”

Buy GAMES OF THE HEART (Kindle)

SO. MUCH. EPIC. SWOON!!! Yet another GORGEOUS, touching, heart warming story about love and family. Seriously, Kristen Ashley can do no wrong! Every time I start one of her books, its like I instantly relax and am at peace and every time I finish one of her books, I am left with the absolute most happy, full feeling. It literally gives me shivers of joy.

Dusty has loved Mike her whole life. But as the little sister of his high school girlfriend, they didn’t exactly have a fairy tale start. Towards the end of high school though, Dusty suddenly went off the rails and left town the moment she was free of school. No one understood why, not her family, not Mike, not anyone… But this was over 20 years ago. Now, when tragedy hits her family, Dusty returns to the ‘Burg and while everyone else seems to blame Dusty for her rebellion when she left town, Mike can’t help but wonder if there wasn’t more to her story than she’s letting on. Mike himself hasn’t had the easiest time of it. After going through an ugly divorce, he is now very wary of trusting anyone in a relationship. And after fighting for full custody of two wonderful kids, he has kept almost every relationship he’s had at arm’s length…. until Dusty 🙂

I have to say that I loved a lot of characters in this book, but my first love actually has to go to Dusty. She was an AWESOME heroine. I. Love. Dusty. There I said it. I still like guys, all the way, but Dusty would be my girl-crush if I were to have one. She was just so laidback and yet totally together! She was upfront about she was and wasn’t afraid to hide her thoughts, feelings or opinions. Totally 100% open. She didn’t hold anything back, told it as she saw it, didn’t back down for anything, wasn’t afraid to stand on her own and a heart of pure gold.

“I was me. I thought what I thought. I liked what I liked. Life was exhausting enough with all the ups and downs and bullshit people kept trying to feed you. Expending that kind of effort for essentially no purpose seemed a ridiculous waste of energy.“

Mike Haines. Another gorgeous swoony Alpha cop. He was thoughtful, HOT, creative in bed and an amazingly swoony macho Dad. “…bossy, alpha, and badass in a good guy up way up top, bad boy underneath…” I totally loved everything about him. I loved that he called her Angel. I loved how safe he made her feel in every possible way. She was a strong, independent woman, but everyone loves the feeling of knowing that someone is 100% there to have their back. I loved that he held her when she cried, but respected her opinions, that he would stand up to her but also wasn’t afraid to admit he screwed up and was wrong. He messed a few things up in the beginning, but his reasons were understandable. His ex took away any trust he had. But he was able to own up to being as ass and any guy who can deliver a heart felt apology that spans a few pages is pretty awesome in my eyes…. He was through and through an Alpha, so he definitely had his bossy, in control moments. But they were in the sweetest way that made my heart melt.

“Are you asking me to marry you, honey?”
“No, I’m tellin’ you by the end of this year you’ll be wearing my rings, bearing my name, and probably, pregnant with my baby.”

The depth of his love, attention and devotion for his kids just made me clutch at my heart and swoon. It was just gorgeous to read. He really was the perfect Dad.

I also loved that right off the bat, Dusty and Mike were FUNCTIONAL!! Yes, with several screw ups, but I loved the way they worked it out. Gah, nothing makes me smile more than a couple who is open and honest with each other – no bullshit, no games, no beating around the bush, who are willing to compromise and do everything in their power to make things work.

“Dreams don’t happen and that’s it. You have to feed them and keep them alive…. I’m not going to be ninety years old, looking back on my life and regretting that I gave up that dream.”
“We’re gonna explore this and I hope to God that feelin’ I got is not wrong because I tried time and again to make it feel wrong but all it ever felt was right.”

And their sexy times were shiver-enducingly hooottttt. He may be a good guy on the outside but he had a fuckhot dirty side too. *faints*

“Thus commenced me learning something new about my childhood crush, good guy, excellent father, responsible citizen, courageous cop Mike Haines.
He could get dirty.”

And SQUEEEE!!! To make the book even more awesome than it already was, we are treated to a secondary romance on the side as Dusty’s nephew, Fin, and Mike’s daughter, Clarisse fall in crazy beautiful love. Its TOTALLY sweet and adorable! Fin stole my heart. I loved how tender and patient, supportive and protective he was. He was gorgeous, natural up and coming Alpha who totally ‘got’ everything that came with being one – the respect, the loyalty, the responsibility and of course, falling hard for his girl … and Rees was a beautiful, yet quiet girl who adored utterly him. What wonderful characters. All of them have gone through deep pain and are in need healing and seeing them all find support, love and family in each other… oh, it just made me melt!!

Honestly, I just wanted to highlight every piece of dialogue the kids were involved in. Absolutely brilliant!!

Said by Mike’s son: “its true. Totally. He’s a guy. He’s single. He’s tall. Trust me, girls all like tall guys, I know this for a fact. And Dad’s tall. And girls tell me he’s hot.” He grinned and finished, “I wouldn’t know, seein’ as I’m a guy but I look like him and I’m smokin’ hot so he’s gotta be hot.” LOL

I gotta say, there is just something about Kristen Ashley’s writing style – the words she chooses, the way she uses them, that just touches my heart SO deeply. Its not just the emotional scenes, its everything. Its because she gets that its a macho guy dad thing to for Mike to stand and hold his arm high on the door to let everyone pass underneath – little, subtle things like that. Her words just make my heart feel full. I don’t know how else to say it but it just feels full to bursting every single time I read one of her books.

And oh. my. gosh. the CAMEOS in this book are off the wall!!! We have scenes with Colt, Cal, Tanner, Mike, and Merry all together. Some beautiful little snippets of Vi & Cal. And a lot of changing perspectives. That isn’t to say that this book isn’t focused, because it totally is, but the little snippets of all the different POVs allow you to more full understand where everyone is at so much better.

And I have to give a little shout-out to Rivera. He’s another utterly swoony cop friend of Dusty’s who honestly made me squee or laugh in every single scene he was in. I’d love to read his back story one day.

“You got the touch, bro, layin’ her shit out then talkin’ Dusty around in a night, cementin’ that shit by sendin’ her flowers. One day, my woman is plotting your murder. Next day, I get asked why she doesn’t get any flowers… Fuck, your killin’ me. I haven’t bought Jerra flowers since I pissed her off when we were datin’ and fell asleep durin’ some crappy-ass movie she forced me to take her to sayin’ that movie was Hollywood’s version of us. How could I fall asleep watching the story of us, she asks. And, bro, if that was us, we are borin’ as shit.”

The pace of the book is very even and calm, but in a way that totally keeps you engaged in the story. It very character driven, and much less focused on intense action or thriller-y bad guys. It still has a whopper of a scary moment at the classic 90% mark where my heart stopped completely. Actually, it felt like whole world stopped, but I figured if I said that, you guys would just think I was being over dramatic. I’m not. I swear. It totally stopped. Buuuut, then the EPILOGUE… majorly swoony!!! Tied up ALL the loose ends, had a beeeeaaauuuutiful HEA for both couples and left me with a huge smile on my face.

Honestly, I don’t know why but I was kind of reluctant to start this series… for some crazy unknown reason (which I am now kicking myself for), I thought that maybe I wouldn’t like this series as much as the others. But I’m tempted to say its actually my fav of all the KA series I’ve read so far. Well, Rock Chick is another fav, but still, this one would definitely be tied. Its absolutely GORGEOUS and if you are for any reason holding off like I did, go go go and start them!! 😀

Unfortunately, I am now at the end of the books that are available in this series, but I KNOW I’ll be dropping anything and everything for book 5 when it comes out. I’m utterly addicted 😀

Rating: 5 stars!!

Buy GAMES OF THE HEART (Kindle)

** SERIES READING ORDER **

#1 FOR YOU (Colt & Feb) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#2 AT PEACE (Joe & Vi) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#3 GOLDEN TRAIL (Layne & Rocky) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#4 GAMES OF THE HEART (Miky & Dusty) — Buy for Kindle | My Review

#5 THE PROMISE (Benny & Frankie — Buy for Kindle | My Review

Book Review – Futures and Frosting (Chocolate Lovers #2) by Tara Sivec

September 16, 2012 by Aestas · 3 Comments

Buy FUTURES AND FROSTING on KINDLE (Amazon)

4 stars

I don’t think any author has ever made me laugh as hard as Tara Sivec has in. my. life!!

I’m pretty sure I laughed more in a single page of this book than I have in the whole of most other books (and yes, I’m talking about the funny ones). I cried, snorted and howled with laughter (dignity be damned) and honestly, my cheeks still hurt from grinning.

Seriously, even the table of contents had me smiling:

Chapter 8: The Incredible Shrinking Penis
Chapter 14: Porn and Snozzberries
Chapter 15: Just Say No to Necrophelia
Chapter 16: Son of a Face Turd

This book starts off right after the end of book 1, Seduction and Snacks. Claire, Carter, and their hilariously adorable, smart mouthed 4-year-old son Gavin are living together and dealing with the realities of a HEA…. you know, like having to put up with each other snoring at 5am 😛 … we’ve all been there lol.

“I have a dream.
And in this dream I’m under the covers in bed, just a few scant inches away from Carter’s body. I stare at his prone form lying next to me, the greenish-blue glow from the alarm clock on the bedside table providing just enough illumination for me to see the shallow rise and fall of his chest. The sheet is draped low over his hips as he sleeps peacefully with one arm flung over his eyes and the other resting on his taut, naked stomach. I slide my body ever so slowly across the bed, careful not to disturb him, until I’m so close I can feel the heat from his skin warming me from head to toe. I pull my arms out from under the sheet and my hands reach out towards him. I connect with his smooth, muscular chest, slide my fingers up his body, and…choke the ever living shit out of him.”

At the same time they are dealing with figuring each other and their feelings for each other out. Despite loving each other very deeply, they each have insecurities and things they need to work out. Their journey towards that is filled with toilet seat battles (involving superglue and penises… ’nuff said), drunken Facebook status (all I’m gonna say is “Spitters are Quitters“), pot cookies, ring bearer pillow fights… oh my gosh the hilarity just goes on and on.

“Whoa dude… You just said f-u-c-k in front of the Virgin Mary. Show some respect,” Drew scolds.
“What’s a virgin?” Gavin asks…
“Uh, it’s a kind of chicken,” I stammer. “Very rare. No one talks about it.”

Its a pretty short read – I’d have finished it in one sitting if I didn’t start it at 2am. I found a few parts a little over the top, and there were a few moments when I really just wanted to lock Claire and Carter in a closet together until they talked about their feelings, but it was never in doubt how crazy they both were about each other and for that (and the never ending laughs) I loved the ride. Not to mention that apart from the majority of the book that had me doubled over with laughter, there are also some beautiful “awwww” moments that made me sigh dreamily. Who knew beer pong could be so swoony?!

Carter should definitely be added to the list of men who should be cloned and distributed…. just sayin’ 😛

“I love both of you exactly the way you are. I love that you have no filter, and I adore that Gavin can make grown men cry. There is not one thing I would change about either of you, and if anyone doesn’t like it, they can kiss my ass. You guys are my life and my family now. Nothing else matters.”

And I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Tara for adding my blog to the list of acknowledgments at the front of the book. I totally squeed out loud when I saw it. You rock!!!!

Buy FUTURES AND FROSTING on KINDLE (Amazon)

CASTING:

Carter –> Click here
and the Carter runner-up –> Click here
Claire –> Click here

Book Review – Seduced In The Dark (The Dark Duet #2) by CJ Roberts

September 15, 2012 by Aestas · 9 Comments

**This is a SPOILER-FREE review**

5 DARK, EMOTIONALLY MINDFUCKING STARS!!!!!!

“Some stories aren’t black and white…”

W.O.W. This series blew me away. I can barely process thought after reading this book.

CJ Roberts has written an outstanding novel with a twisted and yet beautiful love story, multi-layered, complex characters that will test the boundaries of your heart and mind, a plot that will captivate and disturb you but at the same time leave you unable to turn away, and a raw, gritty, brutal world of betrayal, revenge, honor, lust, and love. It seduced me and it sickened me. I felt emotionally drained, utterly mindfucked and yet, ultimately, somehow completely at peace. Definitely one of top favorite reads of the year.

This book is INTENSE!! It is raw, deeply disturbing and dark, and yet strangely heart warming despite my reading most of it with my heart lodged firmly in my throat. This book stripped my emotions bare. My heart ached to the point of physical pain, and my mind was toyed with to the point where I could barely trust anything I was thinking.

It is a sweeping, epic, emotional rollercoaster full of unexpected twists and turns. This is a book about the world of sex-trafficking – there are instances of abuse, rape, slavery, BDSM (for real though – no safe word, no consent, no way out). There is no way to sugar-coat that and the author never shies away from telling it exactly how it is. In many ways, I found what happened in this book more disturbing than the first one. Sometimes I would just sit there with my hand over my mouth after scenes going ‘Oh. My. God. Did I really just read that?!” …. and yet at the same time this book opened my heart and mind to things I never thought I could possibly accept.

This book starts off four months after the end of book 1, Captive in the Dark. I won’t say anything about the plot because honestly, anything I say would spoil WAY too much. Suffice it to say, that I LOVED the ending. That alone, should tell you all you need to know about it 🙂 This book has lots of perspectives and lots of timelines but primarily, we have a dual story line told through a mix of memories that fill in the blanks of events in the past 4 months, as well as a present day story line. And, just like with book 1, we have both Livvie and Caleb’s POVs as well as a new one I’ll let you find out about on your own.

The story builds. And I mean, it BUILDS. Towards the final 75% I honestly felt like I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. I just sat there with tears in my eyes watching all the pieces of this intricate, horrific, heart wrenching story come together. By the end, I was pretty much just sobbing uncontrollably. It was the perfect ending. My heart felt battered and bruised but I was just so incredibly happy.

Livvie had grown a lot in this book. I loved her in book 1, but she blew me away in book 2. Her inner strength and the depth of her understanding and compassion was absolutely beautiful. Her uncrushable spirit was what got me through reading some of the darker scenes. She saw Caleb for who he really was. And she knew what she really felt for him. She saw the man behind the monster and was perceptive, forgiving and caring enough to understand why he was the way he was.

“I wanted Caleb. I knew it was stupid. I knew he was a terrible person, who’d done terrible things. I knew he didn’t deserve me or my love. I didn’t care. During the course of our time together, I’d fall in love with my captor. I ‘d fallen in love with his smell and his taste; his smile, kindness, and yes, even his cruelty because I knew it was a part of him.
I wanted him to know. I wanted him to know everything and I wanted it to mean something to him. I wanted him to choose me and accept me. I wanted him to leave everything behind and love me.”

Caleb, Caleb, Caleb… the “monster with a heart of gold” … He is pretty much the epitome of a conflicted, deeply tortured character with possibly one of THE most horrific and heart breaking back stories I’ve ever read. He was cruel, but yet kind; brutal, and yet caring… and his journey was him finding out which side of him was more dominant – the man inside, or the monster he showed the world?

“He had told her he wasn’t her Prince Charming, but what he hasn’t said, was he wished he could be. Once upon a time, he may have been… normal. Before he had been stolen, before the beatings and the rapes and the killing – he could have been something different than what he was.”

“He didn’t like the feelings running through him…. trying to find the exact moment in which he’d lost control and fallen under the spell of the woman who was supposed to be his captive.”

There were many, MANY times when I questioned whether or not anything he could ever do could possibly redeem him in my eyes. There were times I hated him, utterly and completely, with every fiber of my being. But then his tenderness would hit my heart so deep, I knew I just couldn’t stop myself from loving him.

His journey in this book was heart breaking as he struggled between being true to his heart and being true to the intense loyalty he felt for the man that raised him. I got caught up in his struggle – at times I wanted to believe in him and he made me fall in love with his humanity – with the tender, caring, side of him that he couldn’t hide from Livvie despite his best efforts, but then the harsh, brutal switch from that to cold hearted trainer would rip my heart out and I’d spiral back into confusion, betrayal and uncertainty.

Its hard because you find yourself genuinely, honestly, full-heartedly sympathizing with someone involved in human trafficking and murder. But at the same time, you have to consider that he too was violated, for years. It was what he grew up with and the only world he knew. Nothing of what he does is out of outright cruelty. But the tricky part is that that isn’t a justification, but it still makes you question everything you are feeling. Its very thought provoking. Can there ever be redemption for violation? There is no black and white answer.

“Every time I think you’re coming around, every time I let myself hope, you crush me. You rip everything out! Sometimes I think I fucking hate you. Sometimes I know I hate you. And Still! Still, Caleb – I love you. I put my faith in you. I believe you when you say its going to be alright.”

“Live for me, Kitten. Be all those things you’d never be with me. Go to school. Meet a normal boy and fall in love. Forget me.” *SOB*

There were times when I’d swoon over how much I wanted them to find a way out of their horrible situation and just end up happily together, and then at other times, the reality of their world, of what was actually happening would just jolt into me and make me sick to my stomach. And yet… against every piece of sane judgement in my mind, I desperately, with all my freaking heart, wanted them to be together.

CJ Roberts is an absolutely BRILLIANT and phenomenally talented author. Her words just seep into your soul dragging you right into the story. They make you question everything you thought you were sure about and leave hungry for more. The writing style is captivating and enthralling, and the flow of the story is perfect. It opened my mind more than any book I’ve ever read and I know this is one of those stories that has left a mark on my heart and will not be forgotten.

If you can maintain an open mind, this is one of THOSE amazing series that will stay with you long after you close the pages of the book.

This is absolutely NOT a stand-alone. YOU MUST READ BOOK 1, CAPTIVE IN THE DARK, FIRST!!!!

CASTING

Click here

** SERIES READING ORDER **

Book #1: CAPTIVE IN THE DARK
Buy for Kindle| Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2: SEDUCED IN THE DARK
Buy for Kindle| Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #3: EPILOGUE
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book Review – Love Unrehearsed (Love #2) by Tina Reber

September 14, 2012 by Aestas · 9 Comments

5++ HUGE SWOONY STARS!!!!!

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. *dreamy sigh* Pure, heart-melting perfection!!!

“You’re my world, babe. Mine. Not theirs. They can have me, but they can’t have you, too…. I meant it when I said forever… You are it for me… The me that is standing in front of you right now is not the same me that’s out there in the spotlight… They only get the outside, not the inside. That’s for you.“

This book made my heart deeply happy and left me thoroughly contented and elated. A huge reason why I loved it was that it had one of THE MOST FUNCTIONAL relationships I’ve ever read in it. It was SO refreshing to read a whole book about a functional, totally-in-love couple. I was blissfully wrapped up in their world with the HUGEST grin on my face while reading most of the book 😀

Right from the start, I easily slipped back into Ryan and Taryn’s world. Even though it had been quite a while since I read book 1, Love Unscripted, I had no problem instantly reconnecting with the characters and realizing just how much I had missed them.

The author perfectly captured the thrill of being in a relationship with a mega-celebrity, as well as the gritty realities that come with that world – the paparazzi, stalkers, invasion of privacy, constant media scrutiny – making Ryan and Taryn have to deal not only with their own personal life and issues, but also how all of those were seen in the public eye.

I loved how both of them learned from their mistakes. They weren’t perfect, but they both worked really freaking hard at being functional, at rationally dealing with everything and each other. It was truly a joy to read.

They had their share of issues to work through, but they worked through them so functionally that I found myself constantly wanting to just be like “f*ck yeah!!” It was like a breath of fresh air to see a couple actually talk through their issues, support each other, openly and honestly deal with things, handle things so maturely, and just love each other SO much. Their reactions, concerns, issues were all believable, understandable and I could totally sympathize with everything each of them went through.

Ryan Christensen. Definitely the sweetest and hottest Hollywood movie star to ever grace the pages of a romance novel. *swoon* *drool* *dreamy sigh* He was just so freaking HOT and PERFECT!! It melted my heart how utterly in love with Taryn he was and how completely he was devoted to her. Despite all of the pressures of his very public job, all of the gorgeous women throwing themselves at him, he always and only had eyes for Taryn.

“You’re my everything, Taryn”

Taryn was a wonderful heroine in this book. I loved that she had her own journey to go through as she dealt with the repercussions of being involved with a high-demand celebrity. I love how confidently she slipped into his world. It was daunting but she was strong and held her own and, of course, her deep love for Ryan was seriously heart warming.

I loved seeing them work through the highs and lows of the industry and the highs and lows of a relationship, supporting each other through their joys and fears and continuing to grow stronger and stronger.

I can honestly say that there is NO stupidity in this book. Seriously, you guys have NO idea how HAPPY that made me. I didn’t want to put it down – it kept me flipping the pages and totally engrossed in the story.

This book was filled with feel-good moments, emotional moments, heart racing and heart warming moments, functionality, swooniness, HOTNESS (let’s just say that now that they are traveling everywhere together, they have lots of lots of crazy hot sex and it is on FIRE!!), laugh out loud moments, moments that gave me happy shivers, and moments that made me clutch my heart and wipe my happy tears… and the ending left me with the most complete and contented feeling ever. That isn’t to say there weren’t moments of heart ache, but they were dealt with so well by the characters that it only added to the strength of the story 🙂 … and yes, there was a moment where I actually literally cried out “THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!!!!” when I was reading it right after squeeing loudly and thoroughly freaking my dog out, but I digress…

The ending was absolute PERFECTION!! I couldn’t have imagined a happier or more perfectly beautiful ending for Ryan and Taryn… after I ended it, I just sat there hugging my kindle with the biggest, silliest grin on my face. There are no loose ends, no unanswered questions, just a wonderful, heart warming HEA.

If you want a book that’s going to make you happy and swoony, this is it!! HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!

(But be sure to read book 1, Love Unscripted FIRST!!)

**I also just wanted to thank Tina Reber for giving me an ARC to review and for writing this AMAZING book 😀

CASTING:

Ryan –>Click here
Ryan and Taryn –> Click here

READING ORDER & PURCHASE LINKS (both are currently available)

Book #1: LOVE UNSCRIPTED — Kindle | Paperback
Book #2: LOVE UNREHEARSED — Kindle | Paperback

TINA REBER GIVEAWAY!!!

September 12, 2012 by Aestas · 52 Comments

>>>>> A WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED!! <<<<<
Congratulations Crystal P 😀

**SQUEEE** Soooooo, you all know how

LOVE UNREHEARSED
(the sequel to Love Unscripted) by Tina Reber

is coming out THIS FRIDAY??

Well, in all of her awesomeness, Tina Reber is going to be giving away either a NOOK or a KINDLE FIRE right here!!!

Aaaaand (yes, there’s more!!), the lucky winner will ALSO get a free copy of LOVE UNSCRIPTED!!

*Important note: This giveaway is ONLY available in the United States.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And for those of you interested in pre-ordering your copies of LOVE UNREHEARSED, click the picture below!!

Book Review – Captive In The Dark (The Dark Duet #1) by CJ Roberts

September 11, 2012 by Aestas · 18 Comments

“I wrapped my arms around him and held on as hard as I could. He was my tormentor and my solace: the creator of the dark and the light within. I didn’t care that he would undoubtedly hurt me at any moment, right now; I just needed somebody to hold me… To tell me these exact words. Its going to be okay. It wasn’t of course, I knew that. But I didn’t care, I needed the lie.”

5 MINDFUCKING STARS!!

WOW. A dark and powerful read.
UTTERLY CAPTIVATING! UTTERLY DISTURBING!

This book blew my mind. I’m seriously disturbed at how much I loved it. And yet, I think it might end up being one of my favs now. Every scene in it led to more questions, made me doubt my feelings even more. In scenarios where right and wrong seemed so incredibly and unquestionably clear cut, it it just threw all my preconceived notions right out the window and just forcibly opened my mind to more and more perspectives, more and more questions.

The writing style is seriously phenomenal and mezmerizing!!! I felt like I just wanted to highlight the whole book! It was captivating, rich, vivid, descriptive… It put me right into the character’s heads. The story flowed beautifully, the dialogue was effortless and the plot was beyond gripping. CJ Roberts is definitely one of my new favorite authors!

The book centers around Livie’s kidnapping by Caleb. As part of a complex revenge scheme twelve years in the making, he abducts her with the intent of training her as a pleasure slave and selling her into slavery to the man he is trying to take down.

When Livie wakes from a drug-enduced sleep to find herself captive, her worse nightmare is coming true. Tied to a bed, with a strange man who calls her ‘pet’ and demands she call him ‘Master’, Livie is thown into a dark, twisted world, subject to deeply erotic, deeply horrific and disturbing violations against her will. But strangest of all are the feelings she begins to have for her captor. Is there a good heart behind the monster? As the lines between captive and captor are blurred, it leaves you questioning everything you feel…..

“Your entire life is going to change. You should try to accept that, because there is no possible way to avoid it. Like it or not, fight it or don’t, your old life is over. It was over long before you woke up here.” ~Caleb

I don’t view this as a BDSM book. This isn’t BDSM as we usually see it in books, this is real life BDSM. Its not a game, its not a lifestyle, not a choice, this is LIVING in it. Its raw, gritty reality. There is no safe word, no consent, no out. The main purpose isn’t getting off, the purpose is training. End of story.

“What’s going to happen to me?” I asked quietly, almost hoping he hadn’t heard. I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer.
There was no answer – then, “Whatever I wish.”

Its just such an alarming blend of gentle and tender to harsh, brutal and controlling… and yet I was RIVITED. TO. THE. PAGE.

The author is seriously ballsy – she goes ALLLLL out in this. There is NO freaking stone left unturned… Yup, read into that ALL you want!! O_O

There were parts of the book where I was just in shock at what was happening. The purest HOLY SHIT moments you can imagine!

The whole initial concept of how easily someone can just disappear is deeply chilling. And the story starts off from Caleb’s POV. Watching him watch her, contemplate taking her. Wow. So creepy and yet captivating.

“As a slave trainer, he had trained at least a score of girls. Some were willing… Others… Coerced… But this particular slave, the one he eyed from across the busy street – she was different. She was neither willing, nor coerced, not sent to him. She was pure conquest.”

Caleb… *deep breath* what a complex character. I was utterly intrigued by him. There’s a constant counterbalance between his inner thoughts and feelings (that are more purely him) and his outer actions which are clearly the result of his rigorous, brutal and intense training and conditioning. His journey in this book is so interesting because even though he is ‘technically’ the villain of this story, he’s also the victim of his own (utterly horrific) story. I think he had a lot of humanity, but most of it though had been raped or beaten away and his journey is him struggling whether or not he can and/or wants to find it again. We watch him struggle with what he wanted to do versus what he felt compelled to do. And its a complete mindfuck because, yes he is brutal, but not in the way some crazy mindless rapist would be. So I just found myself questioning things over and over and over again…

Did I like him because he was the best in this fucked up world or did I like him because of him? Is he the villain? Or is he too a victim of his own story? Should you love him? Should you hate him? I thought I might be able to love him for a while, then I was really fucking sure I hated his guts. But not hate in the sense that I want him to die. I just want him to be less brutal and then I could love him? And then, a few pages later I sympathized with him again and started to like him again. A lot … Maybe? Gosh that sounds fucked up even to me lol. Urrrrgh!!

One minute he was gentle, the next he was a monster – almost as if the inner him, deeeeep down may have been gentle, but he is just so strongly conditioned to be a monster, that it becomes dominant. I kept alternating between almost thinking I was starting to fall for him, then he would do something that just totally fucked with my mind and, just like Livie, I just had NO clue what to feel.

“Why couldn’t he just keep being an evil, soulless bastard so I knew what his role was and I knew mine? Why did he continually have to switch back from cold and unforgiving, to comforting and warm?”

I mean, I know he’s the product of seriously mindfucking so does that excuse his behavior? Prolly not, but it makes me more sympathetic to him… I think? Or not… GAH!!! Moving on… you’ll have to read it for yourself to see what you think about it.

Livie… I loved her character. I totally felt for her. I loved her spunk and her fight. She never gave up, not really. And her inner strength, despite her nightmare-ish scenario made me totally sympathetic to her. She was never stupid, never made me want to throw my Kindle at the wall. Her thoughts and actions were totally understandable and relatable.

“He had tied me – naked – to a bedpost. To suffer. And he was somewhere in the house fucking some whore’s brains out. He wasn’t thinking of me. Of the pain I was in because of him. He simply did. Not. Care. Hot tears streamed down my face.“

I alternated between finding what I was reading hot, utterly gross, utterly disturbing and then, disturbingly cute. When Caleb would do something cute or tender, I felt myself melt a little. And that just made me want to slap myself and just go ‘Gah! what’s wrong with me?! He’s a kidnapper!! He did unspeakable things to her! But… He’s really cute. Wrong wrong wrong!! Aaaaaaaaa’

“…he stood me up and pressed my head to his chest, rocking me back and forth gently. I gripped him tightly, both arms holding fast to his waist. It had become natural for me to seek shelter in his arms, even if he had just used then to hold me down and spank me….It wasn’t enough to fuck my body, he wanted to mindfuck me too. It was working.”

Both Livie and Caleb were inexplicably and wrongly (in both cases) drawn to each other and yet their feelings were also utterly undeniable. What was there was just SO. FREAKING. WRONG!!! … and yet, I just totally wanted to root for them. What is wrong with me??!!

The book was captivating and riveting from start to finish. It never dragged. It was just one scenario after another. Like Livie, you never knew what to expect. Total mind fuck.

I don’t know what else to say except if you can keep an open mind, READ THIS BOOK!!! Its absolutely AMAZING!! The ending is most definitely a cliffhanger with many unanswered questions, but the sequel is out so you can read straight through. I can’t wait to get to it in a few days… I’ve heard its even more amazing!

** SERIES READING ORDER **

Book #1: CAPTIVE IN THE DARK
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Book #2: SEDUCED IN THE DARK
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Book #3: EPILOGUE
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