From New York Times bestselling author Molly McAdams comes a powerhouse romantic suspense that will have you questioning your morals and second guessing your view on love.I live in a world few know exist. I’ve trained for this. I know what to say, what to do, and how to act. I’ve perfected the lethal calm required for this life.Now it’s time to buy my first girl. But all it takes is one look at … all it takes is one look at the brave girl who starts singing mid-auction for that calm to slip.
Briar Chapman is going to be the death of me, and I don’t care. I’ll take every day with her until that death comes, and I’ll welcome it when it does.
On the outside, Lucas Holt is what nightmares are made of. A man cloaked in darkness, with sin-filled eyes and an enticing grin. A devil so devastatingly beautiful and cruel that his very presence instills fear.
But beneath his terrifying, ever-calm exterior is an affectionate man haunted by a past that refuses to stay buried. And Lucas looks at me as though he’s finally found the only person who can make it all go away.
We’re a battle of the brightest day and the darkest night—and I want to lie in the wake of our war.
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* A review copy was provided by the author for the Blog Tour *
Wow!!! What a rollercoaster. This book was dark, raw and gritty, and so different from anything else Molly has ever written. But it was an amazing story.
This book is on a subject that might be hard for some people to read. If you aren’t a fan of a dark and slightly disturbing type story than I would suggest passing on this one. Even though I know this is a work of fiction, I also know that this type of lifestyle is really out there and it breaks my heart. There will be some parts of the story that are kind of tough to read. Although I do have to give Molly credit, she got the stories point across without being overly graphic. And I thank her for that 🙂
I thought this book was very well written. You can tell there was a lot of time and research that went into writing this book. I won’t be talking about the storyline because this is a book you have to discover on your own. Trust me you will want to experience all the twists and turns for yourself. Molly created a story that you get sucked into right from the first page. Cover to cover this book is truly perfection. I honestly can’t name anything I didn’t like about this story. I felt what the characters felt. If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. Even though this is outside the normal box for Molly McAdams….I think this is her best work yet!!!
Blackbird is a standalone novel that is told in Dual POV. I thought this was the best way to share this story. This is also the first book to Molly’s newest Redemption Series. This book is truly a story about redemption and forgiveness. I look forward to the other books to come in this series.
I apologize for the short review, but as I said before, I think every reader should experience this book oneself. And honestly my thoughts and feelings while reading this book were all over the place. I don’t think I can accurately explain my thoughts and feelings and make it all make sense.
Just know this is definitely a MUST READ!!! One for my Best of 2017 list!!!
Title: Blackbird (Redemption #1)
Author: Moly McAdams
Publisher: Jester Creations LLC
Edition: Kindle
Amount of Pages: 334
Genre: New Adult, ‘Dark’, Romance
Date Read: 15-01-2019 – 17-01-2019
Favorite Quote: “You can’t attempt to touch me with you light and not expect me to darken your soul. I’ll always try to consume your light, just as you always try to consume my dark. It’s who we are, but it won’t change who we are. It’s those pieces of colliding that make us incredible.”
Review:
This is my second buddy read with Jessica. She doesn’t like dark romances that much but I do. So when I read this blurb I was excited to read it. It how ever didn’t match my expectations. It fell flat.
It’s not that I think it’s a bad book, because it’s not. It’s definitely not that dark, especially not compared some other dark romances I read.
This book says it has 334 pages but to me it sometimes felt like 1000. I was struggling to get through it. Again not because it was bad, but it was so slow. There where allot of thoughts, allot of talk (or so it felt) but hardly any action. Hardly anything that would back up the talk and show me why. Why Lucas was so bad, dark and dangerous. He hardly showed why. Why the two of them fell in love and that it was different than stockholm syndrome, because that’s what it felt like to me.
I wanted more, I wanted anything to happen, to pick up the phase, but it didn’t.
What is this book about:
This story begins with a mix up. A case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Briar ends up being mistaken for someone else, someone that lives in an abusive home, someone that no one would miss because she had no one, and got kidnapped. She got sold at an auction and became someones property. However Briar does have parents, she has a fiance that she loves, she has people that would look for her. That is the first mistake the buyer made.
Lucas shouldn’t have bought Briar, it went against the rules his mentor thought him, but the second he saw Briar, the second she started singing he just had to have her. So he bought her. He bought her with the intent to do what he was thought to do, but can he?
The more time he spends with Briar the more he can feel his mask slipping, he can feel himself falling for her and that is a dangerous mistake to make.
What did I like about this book:
For me Lucas was the saving grace of this book. I liked him and there was depth to him. He tried to do the right thing, it might sound unbelievable since he is in the human trafficking business but believe me there is more to him than meets the eye.
In the beginning I did like Briar but I started to like her less and less throughout the story. She was all over the place, very wishy washy and her morals are way off.
[ She forgave him for buying her and holding her captive in his home, she forgave him for being a part of human trafficking but when she founds out that that is a lie, that he is working with the fbi to bring down the human trafficking ring, she gets upset because he lied to her. It gets worse, when she founds out that he was forced into a gang when he was younger, and did things to survive she is mad at him, she believes that is worse than buying humans. (hide spoiler)]
The author had an opportunity to create a dark and gritty story, to show how damaging it is and how terrifying the human trafficking business really is but she didn’t. If felt like there where allot of excuses being made to justify the change of heart in Briar. The explanation that no it’s human trafficking, not sex trafficking because that is worse while girls bought get taught lessons through rape. (Don’t worry there is no rape in this book, just mentioning of rape)
The author tried to show that Briar wasn’t suffering from stockholm syndrom with showing us other females in similar situations that where suffering from stockholm syndrom. It left a bad taste in my mouth to hear those females talk about how happy they where, that its better than where they came from and that they where excited to meet briar and that she was in the same situation as them. It’s sad that they actually thought that and that they wished that fate on someone else.
If there was more show, more action that would show me why Briar fell in love with Lucas, then I would believe that she didn’t suffer from stockholm, but for me the author didn’t manage to do that.
Overall I didn’t hate this book, it fell flat and I expected more. If it wasn’t for Lucas and his story, then I wouldn’t have given up on this book.
Rating:
2 1/2 it was decent stars
Blackbird fly away…
This story…wow!
You get a hint of the twist but get so lost in the story and the actions that it sneaks up on you. Fear for the devil…
Longing for love…
Singing for freedom…
This blackbird will have you on the edge of your seat to hear her song. The devil will have you on edge waiting for his touch. This story will have you reaching for the others in the series.
I have been a fan of Molly McAdams for a few years now. I have read all of her books. When a new one comes out I’m so excited to get my hands on it.
Blackbird is not like anything Molly McAdams has written before. She covers a subject that is not often spoken about but we all know it’s happening.
For the first few chapters of the book I honestly thought of the movie Kiss the Girls. Scenes from the movie kept flashing through my mind. Then as I went further into the story I stopped thinking of that movie and started really seeing these characters and their story.
Even though this book has a darker side to it. It is still a beautiful love story.
Briar has a mind set that I think most of us have which is you hear about these things happening around the world and you think oh that will never happen to me. Then it does happen to Briar. And she is in for a world wind of what to do and how to survive. And she also starts discovering who she is in the midst of it all.
Lucas is dark and scary and yet there is something about him that you are drawn to from the moment you meet him.
This is definitely a piece of work you do not want to miss from Molly McAdams! I’m thrilled for more of this series. This is a side of Molly we haven’t seen and it just goes to show she can probably write just about anything and it still be amazing and captures her fans and I’m sure this book will bring in a new set of fans as well
If I had to describe this story in one word I would have to say SUSPENSEFUL! This was perhaps unlike anything I have ever read from the magnificent writer known as Molly McAdams. I finished this story several days ago and yet it has taken me until now to actually sit down and write this review mainly due to the fact that it’s literally taken me days to fully process what I actually wanted to say about this beautifully captivating and intensively dark story.
When I first saw the opportunity to read and review this upcoming release I jumped at the chance without even reading the synopsis because I knew without a doubt that anything this extraordinarily talented author had written was going to be “off the charts” phenomenal…and man am I glad that I did because this dark and twisted romance was certainly one of a kind. A real diamond in the rough if you will.
The intense passion that ignites between Briar Chapman and Lucas Holt was undeniable and kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I loved how their words seemed to leap off the page and wiggle their way deep inside my heart, which in turn took over every thought and emotion I had, whole body and soul. Blackbird tells a story of one of the most hands down controversial romances I have ever read…something I never expected to give a second though about because I’ve never been a huge fan of dark romance, but I think Molly McAdams may have forever changed my mind.
I can’t wait to see what the rest of this standalone series has to offer and I truly hope that we will be seeing lots more of Briar and Lucas in the future Redemption novels yet to come!
Sometimes, I feel like I have a love – hate relationship with certain authors.
Molly McAdams is one of those authors. You see, she’s really at good at breaking my heart. Literally. The first time I experienced her writing style was when I read Taking Chances. And I was DEVASTATED.
So, I’ve learned – that when she releases a new book, I have to approach it carefully. As to make sure that neither the book or I shatter. Sometimes I sit on her books for like ever, because I honestly don’t know what to expect.
This was the case with Blackbird of the Redemption Series. The book literally sat on my kindle for AGES – and I mean a WHOLE year and some months… Don’t get me wrong, the girl can write. And I mean that in every possible way. She has a way of molding words and creating something so beautiful and precious, and then she rocks your world.
We get to meet Briar Rose Chapman – a girl who has it all. A job she loves, a fiancé whom she’s absolutely in love with, and parents that only want to use her. Unfortunately for her, certain events transpire – and those events literally turn her world upside down. Enter Lucas Holt, and I don’t even know what to say about him. Seriously. He was such a complicated man and individual. Briar always referred to him as the Devil, but deep down she knows that there is more to him than meets the eye.
This book had me on the edge of my seat. It was definitely packed with the right amount of mixed emotions that make you a blabbering fool (or at least – it did to me). The journey that these characters take is completely out of this world, but in a great way. I can’t wait to continue on to the next book in this series. I’m not sure how fast I’m going to jump onto, seeing as I’m not sure that my little heart can handle much more of Molly’s work right at this moment.