“I want to be a good man. In every aspect of my life I’m a model citizen except when it comes to you.”Once upon a time, he was her everything—protector, best friend, hero. She looked up to him and trusted him with her life. In one selfish move, he ruined everything and broke her in the process. It’s been five years and the moment she hoped to avoid is here. She’s about to come face to face with … to come face to face with her step-brother, Jesse Sampson, corrupt idol and her personal nightmare.
She’s going to show him how little he affects her. She’ll never let him back in.
…But he has other plans.
Author’s Note: This is a dark, taboo romance novel with triggers and mature themes that may make some readers uncomfortable.
more
This is a perfect taboo story which is very intense and exceeds the boundary of propriety. The plot is very strong and the characters holds a grudge of admiration especially the “corrupt idol”, yes, he is disturbing and psychotic.
“You don’t understand why I get you on your back every chance I have? Why I’ll take you in a car? Why gas stations and even our parents in a room down the hall doesn’t matter to me? I don’t care what’s proper and normal. I need you.”
I took my sweet ass time to pick this book, after earning a book slap I really enjoyed this book mostly because the author didn’t hold back.
I’m impressed by how Jesse is created. He is mad, possessive,and dangerous. His obsession for Violet is boderline crazy. The first scene of Violet and Jesse in the car had me gobsmacked. That was only the first dose of insanity.
‘He was her boogie man, the monster under the bed, and yet here he was in broad daylight. He had been so cruel and heartless, ignoring her wants for his own gratification. He turned her idealistic future into ash and cast dark shadows over everything she did. She had no drive or ambition, couldn’t hold down a job, and had a hard time connecting with people. She didn’t do commitment and found it hard to trust anyone. How could she after what she experienced with Jesse? She hadn’t been able to shrug off the past and move on as he had.’
Violet ran away after what happened that one day when Jesse turned berserk. He was her step-brother and protector, until he turned into an object of her nighmares. Many actions of Jesse are irredeemable. My brain likes his sick obsession and the sex was disturbingly hot.
Violet wasn’t my favoured heroine, she could be more outdone. She did put resistance and I wish that was more developed. This story focuses more on flashbacks and Jesse’s obsession for Violet. The story can be labelled dark for the psychological madness. And finally the ending was horrible, the cliffhanger was worst. I’m happy there will be another book but my hope is dashed because there is still no news of the next book. I highly recommend this to taboo readers.
I don’t even know what to say, there is so much rape in book, and it’s a cliffhanger. The stepbrother rapes her again and again and she still somehow loves him.. and it’s now even that erotic sort of rape.. it’s disgusting. If the author actually wants to make her books a success she should write the second part asap.. because based on this book which is absolutely shit, people are never going to buy her work in the future.
Okay so first, not a romance. I’d say sexual thriller at best. Content aside, it’s in third person and that kills romance for me personally. The characters are strong for the way they’re written, they’re written exactly as they’re supposed to be. The plot…well I’m not sure. Usually the resolution is the end game but, there wasn’t one. I’m extremely confused.
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!
Again not a romance, not even a dark one, this is just a non consensual and highly dysfunctional relationship between abuser and victim. There’s no character redemption, don’t no reconciliation, and honestly no HEA which is why I really don’t get the ‘romance’ label. The book doesn’t exactly end.
They get caught together and when Violet tries to tell her truth Jesse again steam rolls her and protects his secret. He then forces her to accept that they’ll get married and she’ll travel with him while he’s AGAIN raping her. That’s it. Literally no real ending. Not them actually getting married, not her actually forgiving him, nada.
I’d give this book 4 stars in the appropriate genre and with an actual ending. The book has potential to be great in the right audiences. I got through it and liked most of it but dang, the ending really killed it for me.
EDITED AFTER AUTHORS NOTE
There’s an authors note that pops up AFTER the review box where it’s indicated this is the beginning of a series. My review still stands but that clears up a few things. I’m curious about the rest of the series should it continue.
This book was dark, depraved, and I absolutely loved it.
Violet ran from home, trying to escape her life there. She floundered in Utah, failing at school, jobs, and love. She is requested to come home. Now she must face her demons, and Jesse. Her family is falling apart, and all her nightmares come back to her.
Corrupt Idol has triggers so please heed the warning.
I can’t wait for the second book!
It’s hard to believe that this is a debut novel. Wow!!! This story was simplistic yet commanded my attention from beginning to end. Basically the story is about two people who separate, the hero leaves for the military after he’s out of school and the heroine moves far away to get away from home and some bad memories between her and her stepbrother, in order to start a new life. They haven’t seen each other in 6 years but when their mother becomes ill, they must both return home to be there for their family while their mom is sick. The heroine and hero constantly fight, and there’s no shying away from this-the hero takes what he wants, when he wants- but deep down- he is passionately in love with the heroine, despite all her rebuffs and fighting.
There was an unexpected emotional layer to the story that I did not expect, and I think that made all the difference in showing why the hero behaves as he does, and the heroine comes to see him in a somewhat different light by the end of the story, however this story is not going to be for everyone because it has several dubcon ( as well as) noncon scenes, it also references some moments that occurred in high school, but doesn’t divulge many details, so you sort of get a picture that these two characters have had a rocky relationship for many years but have managed to avoid each other for 6 years until an illness in their family brings them both home to face one another again.
This story packs A LOT of heat, I’m talking about your kindle or paperback copy is going to start sparking from all the fire contained within these pages! Also, there’s no tiptoeing around the fact that the hero is a guy who takes what he wants and doesn’t take no for an answer. Not many romance stories will go that route, and I was surprised being that this is the writer’s debut novel, that the author took a chance and wrote the story she wanted, something that isn’t for everyone but dares to create a hero who readers will love to hate and hate to love, but will most likely have you cheering him on by the end, despite his “take what he wants now” nature. Yet at the end of the day, this is a forbidden love story laced with pain and has that emotional undertone to keep things interesting. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to reading more stories written by this author, and hopefully we get another book based on these two characters. Bravo! 🙂
4.5 stars
I feel like my soul might burn in Hell if I say this, but I LOVED this book! Right away, from chapter 1, it was nothing like what I was expecting. I was hooked. And that lasted right up until the last page. There were times, especially at the beginning when I was put off by what I was reading, as there was a lot of noncon happening. But I was so curious to see how things would play out, that I kept going. There is a bit of a cliffhanger, but only in the sense that their story isn’t complete. There was a nice wrap up to what was going on, enough that if you wanted to stop, you could. But I don’t! I need book 2!