Harper left me to rot in jail for a crime that she committed. I was put away for five years. During that time, there was only one thing that got me through the night – the desire to get even.It was all too easy to kidnap her. She’s now locked away in my basement awaiting her punishment. I intend to find out by any means necessary why she lied. If that means hurting her, so be it. She’s put me … put me through more than any man should have to cope with in a lifetime, so a little payback is only fair.
If she were my only problem, life would be peachy, but my parents are giving me hell. They’re trying to force me into marriage, and wriggling out of that will be a full-time job.
I’ll get what I want, eventually. Everyone has a breaking point – and Harper will be getting close to hers shortly. That’s a promise.
more
This story is intense, dark, powerful, erotic and, at times, gut-wrenchingly emotional. Once I started reading there was absolutely no chance I was going to put this down. Not even when I was sat on a fairly busy tram on my way to work with some guy possibly reading over my shoulder and judging me for the absolute (and delightfully so) filth that I was reading. Mind you at least that embarrassment took my mind of whether he was also breathing Covid-19 germs on me.
So much happens in this book, we get to meet Gabriel, we find out about Harper’s past, Brandt has more revelations than the bible and we end on cliffhanger that I’m only bearing because the final instalment is already out! If I had to describe the book in one word I’d probably settle on depraved, but a good kind of depraved that some of us with very twisted mores seem to enjoy.
Harper is the toughest heroine, she never lost her will to protect Brandt even at the cost of her own life and sanity. She withstood batterings both physical and emotional and still came back for more. Well not so much as came back as was dragged back and locked up but – eh – semantics. Brandt really is quite a sweetie deep down, a sweetie with a sadistic streak a mile wide, but also with a good heart… somewhere.
Gabriel though, Gabriel is in a league of his own and you really don’t want to be on the opposing side because he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. It’s rather quite bad news for Harper that the other side is exactly where she is. It wasn’t too bad when it was the other side of some steel bars, but Gabriel isn’t the kind of man to let that stop him, because as far as he is concerned Harper is a rival and she needs to suffer.
The sexy scenes really shouldn’t have been so erotic given the very dubiousness of their consensuality, but that’s the way (a-huh a-huh) I like it. There’s only one thing worse than being sexually tormented by a psychopath and that’s being sexually tormented by a psychopath who is so hot and sexy he’d melt your panties, if you were fortunate to be wearing any in the first place.
There were parts that made me giggle, and parts that had me wiping away a tear or two, and of course there were parts that had me hot and bothered by their sheer eroticism. The writing, plot, characterisation and pace were executed to an incredibly high standard, creating a book that held me spellbound from start to finish.
This is book two in the Enemies to Lovers Series by C.P. Mandara. It takes us further into the extremely frustrating anger felt by Brandt toward Harper for her horrendous lies that forced him into an almost unbearable prison sentence that he endured for five long years.
Due to some parental pressure, Brandt is forced to enlist the services of Gabriel, a prison “buddy,” who taught him how to survive his incarceration. Gabriel’s personality frightened the hell out of me. He personified evil hatred, retribution, dominance and forced submission. Will Gabriel’s severe influence enable Harper to confess her motivation for embroiling Brandt in a crime that warranted him into an undeserved prison sentence?
First, I must say that I have NEVER read a story by Ms. Mandara that has not catapulted my emotions into heretofore unknown depths of excitement, fear and anticipation. Beautiful Torture is no different. While I am a bit terrified, yet totally enthusiastic by the thought of book 3, I cannot wait for it.
Continuing without interruption in the timeline, Harper Wilkinson is Brandt Browning’s captive. Believing she is reason for his wrongful 5-year prison incarceration, Brandt is prepared to torture a confession out of Harper and has brought in reinforcement with Gabriel Rodriguez. As such, Harper’s painful past continues to close-in on her and she must decide what is the lesser evil before her worst nightmare comes to fruition.
As the story begins, Brandt is at his breaking point with Harper and Gabriel is willing to do whatever it takes to extract the truth from her. While Gabriel’s methods are much darker and effective, Harper soon realizes this is not a game. Her options are to escape or endure, but she doesn’t expect to witness the sexual tension between Brandt and Gabriel, which adds a delicious dimension to the plot.
In starting this second book of the series, I was hopeful the route taken would be darker and erotic, and this one didn’t disappoint. With Harper and Brandt sharing such a longstanding attraction and his anger toward her, the chemistry is palpable. Added to the combustion is Gabriel and Brandt. I have high hopes there will certain scenes to come. As for Harper, I like how she owns her plight and though she made some poor decisions, she also had limited options.
Overall, the suspenseful and erotic dynamics in Beautiful Torture kept me intrigued and I am curious to see just how this trio fares in the next book, Beautiful Tyrant.
The second book in the series. This is not a standalone, you need to have read the previous book Beautiful Tears otherwise it makes no sense.
The book starts right off where Beautiful tears ended and everything is taken up a notch or two. Oh what I am saying, it goes up a whole lot of notches. The mysterious Gabriel enters the story and takes center stage. He is definitely something, that is for sure and I can tell you I will never look at a bar of chocolate the same way.
More of Harper’s past is told and it is not a pretty story.
This book is a rollercoaster of action and some very intense moment and emotions.
I want the next book right now.