“Please, don’t leave me here.”Those were the last, tearful words Gina Castillo spoke to me thirteen years ago. It killed me to go, but I was getting sucked further and further into a criminal lifestyle. I wanted more for myself. For her. So I left for the Army, knowing she’d be better off without me.Now I’m back: a better, stronger man, and Gina has grown into a beautiful woman. One who despises … woman. One who despises me.
Soon I discover that all the truths I thought I left behind had been lies, and that my leaving caused nothing but heartache and destruction. Now, I have to find a way to earn the forgiveness of the woman I’m coming to love.
When my boss, and fellow Dominant, assigns me to be the bodyguard to a submissive, every protective instinct inside me rises. Especially when it turns out to be Gina I’m protecting. There’s nothing I won’t do for her, including destroy the enemy who threatens us both.
*this book contains sensitive subject matter that may be difficult for some readers.
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This book is low on the BDSM but heavy on the romantic suspense and I absolutely love it. When you read everything that happened to Gina as a young girl, your heart hurts for her. But along the she grows stronger until the darkness from the past comes back. Leo is determined to be there this time. This book was amazing. I think everyone will absolutely love this.
Childhood best friends Gina and Leo are finally reunited after being separated for thirteen years, only now she won’t give him the time of day. Leo is shocked and horrified when he finds out what happened to her while he was away—the friend he thought would protect and take care of her made her life hell.
Absolution is more of a second chance romance than anything else. There’s hardly any BDSM, so readers who aren’t into that might enjoy this as well. The writing is cohesive and the story is entertaining.
Absolution is a second chance, romantic suspense written in dual first person POV. It involves characters with substance use disorder and sexual violence. It ends with a HEA. No cliffhanger, no cheating.
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Wow! I hardly have words to describe this. It’s somewhat dark with some BDSM aspects but the story….the story just gets to you. Gina has a lot to get through and once Leo comes back into her life, it’s hard for her. There is some misunderstandings they need to get through but I love that he is her Dom and the love and care he takes with her is just the sweetest. You will have a hell of a ride with this.
I thought this was a great read! The potentially triggering subject matter was excellently handled and portrayed throughout the story and very well developed for being a fairly quick read! I loved these characters and highly recommend this book!
OMG. This will be a difficult review to write, because, I don’t want to give anything away! What a powerful suspenseful story! Gina, Leo and Gideon were in the same foster home as kids. No strong role models. No one to guide them, but the criminals surrounding them. Leo does not want to end up like his dad, in and out of prison. At eighteen, he enlists. Distraught Gina is left behind. So much happens in the course of eight years. When Gina bumps into Leo again, can she forgive him for not having taken her with him? This was an emotional story for me in so many ways. I was rooting for healing the characters I fell in love with and wanted the bad to get their due. Forget turn the other cheek. What happened? Well, I can’t tell you. No spoilers, remember! This is a novel I recommend reading. Wonderfully executed story!
The prologue to this book establishes that something devastating has happened, but the full extent of that devastation is appalling when revealed. As always in an LK Shaw book, the characters make the book. Leo is shattered at the level of hate Gina feels for him; Gina’s struggles with her past with Leo, with her past with Gideon, and with her recovery are all portrayed with empathy. The D/s aspect is more in Leo and Gina’s relationship than in the club, but the club is a vital element in the story, as is the power exchange. I could have read about Gina and Leo for days, and I was honestly sad when the story ended, although not with how it ended. In a nutshell, for me, this was a story that showed pure evil being stopped, with one of the strongest and most courageous female characters I’ve read recently, and with the background of the Club Eden characters we already know, and, of course, Leo himself.
I received a free copy of this book. This review was posted voluntarily.
Gina has clawed her way up from the depths of hell to where she is today. She’s gotten good at hiding the abuse she went through in the past until Leo shows back up in her life. Leo….the only man she has ever loved but at the moment hates with a passion. Leo never forgot her but he had to leave and thought he had left her in good hands!! This might be a short story but it is packed with so much emotion and feelings. You instantly get sucked right into the story. The hate/love Gina feels for Leo comes through the pages and you can’t put it down. When Leo finds out what happened to her after he left, he is plagued with guilt and is determined to protect her. But she’s also keeping another secret. And who is Jacob and what is HIS role in Gina’s life? Ms. Shaw has a knack for writing someone who seems to be bad but then makes you feel a bit sorry for him. When her past shows up and takes her, Leo and Jacob must work together to get her back. I loved, loved, loved this story and I now want Jacob to get his own story. Once again, LK Shaw has written a book that made me fall for the characters!!! I kind of want Pierce’s story also!! LOL Get the book!
Absolution is a slow-burning, intense, and heart-wrenching romance.
Gina has some deep, dark scars and secrets that she has kept hidden from her closest friends. She uses BDSM to manage her symptoms, but when a part of her past threatens to rip everything apart, she finds help from the last person she expected… or wanted.
What happens when the life you think you left behind was a pack of lies told by someone who envied you?
For Leo, the Gina in the here and now is not the one whom he left behind when he escaped and joined the military, entrusting her in his friends hand. For Gina, being left behind was the start of the end for her, and she has no good thought in mind when it comes to Leo.
However when the reason she ran, suddenly finds her and starts threatening her again, her Boss assigns Leo to her for added protection. But as she tells him about her past and what the so called friend did to her, Leo’s eyes are opened and he makes it his mission to earn her forgiveness as well as a chance back into her heart.
Be wary when reading this books as it features some scenes which may trigger abuse survivors as well as drug addiction.
Omg. This book and author absolutely blew me away!! This author has an emotional, over the top hard topic book that will bring you to your knees!! I applaud this author for wiring this story and all the twists and turns the characters have to face. The suspense, addiction, emotions, and devotion will gut you.
I absolutely loved the devotion between characters and their friends. When you realize you have family that isn’t blood, you can thrive!! I would highly recommend this book to any romance lover that enjoys suspense, steaminess, and a touch of bdsm.
Leo and Gina’s story starts in such a state time in their life. They are thrown together u see unfortunate circumstances. As time passes, their feelings grow hard towards each other, but there is so many understandings and mystery, you be hanging on for dear life. A must read so you can find out what is going on.
When Leo left all those years ago to enlist, he thought he had left behind protection for Gina. Unfortunately, that protection turned out to be the opposite. And now Gina is facing that demon from her past, and Leo has taken it upon himself to be her protector. Leo. The man who broke her when left her behind in hell. The man she hates. It’s enough to make her turn back to old vices. But perhaps she can face those demons and come out the better for it, with Leo’s help. That is, if she’ll let Leo back in to her life, in to her heart.
Absolution is the kind of BDSM romance I like best – scenes that aren’t too hardcore, with emotional complexities and substance, wonderful, lovable characters, and serious chemistry. Leo and Gina are a fabulous couple and the secondary characters are just as interesting. I can’t wait to read as more Doms and subs fall in love in Club Eden.
Gina has had a ladder to climb to get out of the bowels of hell.
Addiction is a disease that most people don’t understand.
Unless you are an addict or have a family member who is, you have no idea what the person goes thru.
Without the support system Gina has, I doubt she would have made it.
The pills would have done her in.
Leo being the Dominant he is, has the patience she and he are going to need to get thru the withdrawals and continue in a life of sobriety.
Great book and even though it a Club Eden book, it is not all about the Club and D/s lifestyle.