*** This is a love story, a romantic thriller, and a stand-alone (no cliff-hanger). Warning: Graphic sex and violence. Age 18+ only ***
His name was Joshua Carter. Now it’s whatever she wants it to be.
She is a Deliverer.
She lures young men and delivers them to be sold. She delivers the strikes that enforce their obedience. She delivers the sexual training that determines their purchase … determines their purchase price.
As long as she delivers, the arrangement that protects her family will hold.
Delivering is all she knows.
The one thing she can’t deliver is a captive from slavery.
Until him.
And her stubborn slave thinks he can deliver her…from herself.
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The story was a bit disturbing on some levels but considering the subject matter that is not surprising. Otherwise, the connection between the characters is wonderful, sweet and sympathetic, and the sex is hot! The antagonist, Van, was a scary addition and Liv’s hate/love/hate/fear relationship with Van made his role as “the bad guy” ambiguous (which I’m sure was the point, since the next book is about Van’s story). There were a couple of things later in the story that were a bit unrealistic… I don’t see Liv being as “normal” seeming as she was by the end and, though the sex was good, I don’t see a woman abused the way Liv was being as interested in some of the acts she and Josh participate in as portrayed in the story. It’s nice to think that love conquers all, but it usually takes a very long time in situations like those depicted in this book. However, those small things did not take away from my enjoyment of this story.
If you enjoy a dark romance with strong characters and great chemistry then this is a must-read for you…
Josh is 21 years old. He’s a star football player, a devout Christian, and going to school to become a minister. He works hard on his family’s farm and his life is written in stone. Or is it? See, Josh is being watched. He fits the criteria that someone is looking for. He fulfills all the requirements. And life as he knows it disappears along with him.
She was stolen innocence, following the rules of monsters. Somewhere along the way, she’d become one.
I’m probably of the minority, but I absolutely hated Liv. HATED HER!! Usually I can hope that an author can redeem a character, but I didn’t want to hope with this one. I didn’t want to like her. For all of her problems and the facts of her circumstances, I felt no sympathy. She’s a monster looking for what? Compassion? Understanding? Eff that!
I figure that she and Josh end up together although she spends a heck of a lot of sexual time with Van (whom I want to know more about), but if dreams really did come true, Josh would use her for survival and freedom and kill her.
“It’s ugly in there, decayed by lies and shame, endlessly bleeding for all the lives I’ve ruined. You’re the eighth reason I don’t deserve affection.”
I’m glad that Liv and I could agree on something. Josh was everything! I loved how easily he acknowledged his love of pain and how it forged a connection to this captor. I didn’t love how easily he fell for her, but this IS a romance, so what did I really expect? It was a bit different reading a captive/captor story with the captive being male, but I think the author did an incredible job with it. I had the same capacity for compassion for Josh as I would for a female captive.
“Gives me chills, Liv. Every damned time. Your beauty isn’t just an experience for the eyes. It breathes through the ears and evokes a reaction so consummating it claims the soul.”
At 52%, even with all of the revelations about Liv, I had more sympathy for Van than for her. I’m not saying Van is a nice guy or anything, obviously, but I can tell he’s only made the best choices with horrific options. With the amount of information we receive by the end of the book, I’m even more eager to find out more details about this dude. Part of me wishes that he and Liv could have worked things out, but I understand why it’s impossible. It’s just that they’ve both done horrible things and deserve each other. Knowing that Van survived the gun shot wound inflicted by Liv made my day. I need to know how he survived and how he achieves his own happy ending. This broken man needs some redemption!
And then there’s Josh… the man who definitely owned my heart in this story, right from the beginning.
“I can feel you.” He leaned back, inhaled deeply. “Inside me. Everywhere. You own me. You will always own me, and I will walk through hell to keep it that way.” Eyes on the road, her breath shivered from her lungs, cracking her voice. “You own me, too.” “I know.” He pinned her with those mesmerizing pale eyes.
This man…
“I stand here without rope or chains, Liv, tethered to you by my own will.” His blood beat with the ferocity of his words. “I won’t be free until you are.”
I have no idea if my hopes and dreams will ever be realized, but I want to see more of these people in the books to come. I know I’ll be getting more Van (WOO HOO!!), but I want everyone together. I want Van to get his forgiveness from Liv, that these two work through everything and settle into some sort of friendship. I’d love to see them with their daughter, in a future of peace. I want, I want, I want. Now let’s see if anything I want is out there.
This was….this was…Just WOW! I loved this! Liv,she is só strong,having to do what she needs to keep her loved ones alive. And Josh…he is só strong in his belief that,even though she kidnapped him to become a slave,there ís good in her. Van….i don’t want to talk about that man! That sadistic,evil….I know there’s a story to him becoming who he is,but…is that an excuse? I know i háve to read the rest of this series,i know i need to know about what else happens!
Wow Deliver was intense, dark and gripping. This storyline was different and had me cringing at times yet I was hooked from beginning to end and could not put it down.
The novel evoked a range of emotions, it was scary and heart-breaking while steamy and hopeful, yet through it all Deliver was an extremely well-written story.
Liv and Joshua had such intense chemistry inspite of the situation they were in. These characters were flawed yet well-developed and you will be rooting for them in no time.
Filled with twists and turns I was not expecting, this novel kept me at the edge of my seat and I loved every moment of it. Deliver was a fantastic read and I would highly recommend it to all lovers of dark romance.
Dark, really dark and not for the faint hearted, but what a dark and delicious story this is. Great characters in Liv our feisty but vulnerable leading lady with a great back story and Josh all American college football star. Great characters great story what’s not to love? Five stars from me
What a book!!
Why am I only reading this book and author now. It was sooo good in a crazy way. It had me on the edge of my seat throughout the whole thing. I wasn’t sure if I was goin to be able to deal with this book. When I read what it was about. But I couldn’t put it down. The writing was so good and the story was done so well.
Liv is one hard woman. The things this girl has had to deal with is crazy. She has gone through so much in the seven years she was been held. Her story is so sad through this book but even dealing with the bad stuff she can see a tiny bit of light at the end. Her mind and body as been through so much. I don’t know she isn’t crazy. Dealing with Van and the feelings she has for him it mad. I couldn’t deal with him but having what means the most to her held against her she has no choice until Josh. But even he doesn’t make it easy for her.
Josh is not your typical hero. He’s not a bad boy or manwhore. It’s is pure in every way. But this guy is strong and super stubborn. No matter what was thrown at him he didn’t care he would fight it. Even if the things happening went against everything he stood for. Liv was meant to be the devil. The things she did should of had him hating her but he couldnt seem to find it in him to hate her one lil bit. All he wanted to do was save her. He just didn’t know how he could do it.
This story is amazing. Like I said I was lil nervous which I always am with dark romance. The funny thing is I always end up luvin them. This book did test me in parts. But I luvd Josh he was amazing throughout this whole book. He could of been such a different guy but he wasnt. I luvd seeing the relationship grow between him and Liv. I didn’t think it could go anywhere in parts but by the end I was happy. One thing this book had was so many twists and turns. Even at the end I was still shocked. Overall I luvd it and I would highly recommended it I can’t wait to read more from this series and author.
Pam , I wanna live in your brain
This is my first book by pam godwin. And first about a female domme. The story is very intricate and superbly intense. I’m a bit of scaredy cat and I DO read dark books but I take breathers. This book had me deep breathing every two pages. Joshua stole my heart with his purity, tenacity and maturity. Van Quiso I hated with a passion ,which will soon change to love in book 2 , HOW ??
I tell you in another review. Anyway , the star is Liv.
What a brave , damaged, broken angel of a person . Beautiful character written so sensitively by pam, I cry for her and smile for her. I wanna hug her and hide her and protect her , but when Joshua steps in and does all that , im so happy
Amazing , MUST read 10 book. I fell in love with pam’s writing skills and got 3 of her books tout suite
4.5 stars of that really did just happen…
At first I wasn’t even sure I could read it. Deliver has some seriously dark situations that may cause even those that think they are hardened to get nauseous or nervous. But my desire to know exactly what happens pulled me deeper into a world I fear.
Deliver has a seriously impressive meaning that filters through the entire story. A thread that ties it all together. It’s intense and may make you question your own mental state. It is quite possibly a huge twist of fate that I stumbled on this book but I intend to devour all the others in the series.
I can’t even say I “enjoyed” it because it’s completely the wrong word to describe this book but the only one simple enough to convey the point. Deliver will leave you with a mixed bag of emotions and more questions.
If you are like me, your mind will be spinning. Your heart will be a confused version of happy. But you will need everything mapped out and hopefully Vanquish will help with that.
Reviewed for Sweet Spot Sisterhood
Good lord is this one dirty, deviant and just plain wrong! I love Pam’s words. I’ve loved every book I’ve read by her. But this series was put on the back burner, while I mustered the courage to read it. If it wasn’t suggested by a friend that we read it together, it might still be there. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy read and it wasn’t. Honestly, I almost gave up, more than once during the first half of the book. The subject matter is just that disturbing and one that I always have a difficult time tackling. I am ecstatic that I didn’t give up and if not for my fabulous book-buddy holding my my hand through the difficult moments, I might have.
I love how Pam’s writing always takes me to places I didn’t know I wanted to go. She sheds light into places that would normally linger only in the darkness. Deliver will drag you to the darkest depths of human kind and through a series of twists and brilliant writing, deliver you out the other side with new perception of what good and evil really are.
As dark as it gets, don’t give up. The light is coming.
A friend and I decided to do a buddy read on this one because neither of us were sure we’d survive it without a hand to hold. At 25% I was ready to give up on this story, so dark and depraved, I couldn’t even fathom how the author survived doing the research to write this, fortunately my friend was a bit further in than I was after our first night and we talked ourselves down from the ledge and decided to give it one more night. By the end of night 2 I was 79% in and didn’t want to stop…it’s that good.
Are there really monsters like this walking among us?
How far would you go to protect those you love?
What will you do to survive?
You think it’s only black and white, good and evil? Think again.
You think you know who the bad guys are? Think again.
You think you have this all figured out? Not even close.
The layers of light and dark in this story are indescribable. I was blind-sided more than once by the plot twists. I was once again, thanks to the way Pam Godwin has mastered her craft, transported into an emotional whirlpool of fear and despair, shock and sadness, until she finally let me fill my lungs with faith and hope and love, yes, love. Amazing.
There are two more books in this series, which I will no doubt be reading, but Deliver is going to stick with me for a while, I think I need a breather.
This was my first full length novel by Pam Godwin but I knew she wrote beautifully before this. I went into this story with an open mind. I knew it would be different then what I usually read and I knew it contained some hard and at times disturbing content. I think an author has to be very brave to tackle a story, a series, like this but still manage to completely seduce you into her story. That’s what this book did for me.
From the minute I started reading Deliver I felt the twisted story in my gut. It starts so dark and ominous with mystery and fear embedded in the pages. We meet Liv and Van and realize very quickly that their relationship is so intensely complicated. We learn of what they do together and how they do it; kidnapping, training, and delivering. They are the villians, or so we are led to believe. Liv is complex. She is a victim of some of the worst things you could ever imagine. She has hardened her heart and become who she has needed to be to survive. The next victim is Joshua Carter, football star and aspiring man of God, he is good and he is stolen from the night while helping a girl stranded on the side of the road. The girl who turns into his worst nightmare and Mistress. Now he must also whatever it takes to survive. He is such an amazing and admirable character. I loved him instantly because he has a heart that is loved by many and is also so brave. Determined and almost fearless at times. He soothes the soul of the lost girl and slowing their story changes and unfolds into passion, trust, and survival.
This really was a complex story. I didn’t want to love it at first because the first quarter of the book has many cringe worthy moments. Hard to stomach manipulation and torture. But I also couldn’t put this book down. There was so much after the first big climax and it changes drastically. I wanted to hate Liv and couldn’t. I wanted to hate Van and couldn’t. They are driven by more than the man who controls their every move. It was amazing to see Liv’s motives unfold. So many twists. Lots of cheer worthy moments. And an ending that makes up for all the sadness and madness that these characters were put through.
I couldn’t put this book down. I needed to get to that amazing ending. I can’t wait to read more!
TW: Rape, Violence, Sex Trafficking, Explicit Sexual Content, Crude Language, Psychological Torment and BDSM.
Pam still is one of my insta-buy authors. I either absolutely love and obsess about the things she writes for days or I run out of words to describe how I feel about it. This is one of those cases.
I am just diving into this 9 book series with the intention of going all the way to the end, since I was kindly provided with an Advance Readers Copy for the final 3 books in the deliver series. Her impeccable writing is present here more than ever, I think this was one of those “it’s not you, it’s me” scenarios.
I think the sex trafficking setting made it really hard for me to connect with the characters, it was way more brutal than I expected. The darker side of the dark side. If you don’t have the stomach for rape scenes, this book or this series might not be your thing. I did enjoy most of the characters, the dialogues were excellent as usual, and she added a bit of a mystery to keep us going.
I hear this book is actually the weakest in the entire series, so I am excited to be surprised and change my mind as I read along. However I did not connect and fell in love with the main couple in this book the same way I did with her dark notes and lessons in sin. I blame the setting, teacher-student is my thing, slave master – not so much.
I am actually glad we get to explore different characters in every book, I honestly would not feel excited to read about these two again. Pam’s execution is still very much present in this book and I adore the way she writes, this story and these characters just weren’t for me.
This was such an AMAZING Erotic Dark Romance read that oh my GAWD, it was hard to read at times with the way Pam Godwin written it so beautifully and detailed.
Liv is the Deliver in the Human Trafficking operations herself and Van are forced to do. Her target is a twenty something virgin boy that is straight but needs to hate women for his Master and she finds the perfect one. Enters Josh and immediately they have the instant attraction towards one another so it’s not hard to lure him in with Liv’s beauty.
When I first started this I thought to myself, what did I get myself into? But I knew that Pam would deliver a suspenseful, mind-bending story and I was not wrong. Joshua Carter is a good man. He plays football, goes to school, works his family’s farm and takes care of his parents. He is so good, he plans on becoming a minister which his parents have drummed into him since childhood. But there is a darkness to Josh, a darkness he is unwilling to face or confront. Liv is a victim of circumstances and those circumstances have turned her into the monster she is today. There is something about Josh though that causes a hiccup in her life and now all she can think about is how she might be able to save him. Steamy as heck and some very nice surprise twists that make all the darkness worthwhile in the end. This book is NOT for everyone and there are some definite difficult moments to read.
Deliver is one of the best dark captive romance books that I have ever read. Everything about this book is extremely dark, twisted, disturbing, suspenseful, and a total mindfuck. I can’t even describe how much I loved this book even though it has many triggers. The entire story got me hooked from the beginning till the end.
Now, what makes this book so interesting, is that the heroine was the captor. This type of trope was rarely written, which makes it so much engaging than ever. I seriously loved the connection between Joshua & Liv. The way they slowly bonded throughout the captivity was intense yet emotional at the same time. All the mixed emotions that I felt throughout my whole reading proved how well written this book truly is.
Overall, this book is completely enjoyable, and I don’t mind rereading it over and over again. If you’re a fan of captive dark romance, then you don’t want to miss out on this story. It will bring you to one of the darkest parts of the fictional world which will probably make you question your sanity. Therefore, I highly recommend to all dark romance lovers out there to try out this book because it’s absolutely worth it.
As this series is coming to an end in March of 2021.. I decided that I needed a refresher of Deliver and Oh my gah, this book brought forth so many fond memories of Josh.
While touching on the basis of human sex trafficking, Pam introduced me to a whole new level of antiheroes. Liv has lived the passed seven years in fear by being controlled by her partner-in-crime, Van and their mysterious overlord. Trafficking humans to meet the demands of a buyer keeps her family safe, but her world is turned upside down by the capture of her latest victim.
Josh is a well-known college football player who is saving himself, on behalf of his parents, for a lifelong commitment to the lord. It just so happens that his virginity doesn’t go unnoticed, and his innocent and well defined features capture the attention of Liv Reed.
My head is still soaring from all the love and redemption that this story held. I expected to be emotionally destroyed by the captivity, rape and abuse, but there was so much more that overweighed the trauma and kept me holding out for hope. Expect to be pushed to your limits and rattled to your core, because Pam blew my mind with this book that I didn’t even see the plot twist coming during my first go around. You’ll need to read these books in order to get a full understanding of the other installments. Quite honestly, I’m glad I didn’t miss out on this riveting and suspenseful read and I’m ready to jump head first into Vanquish, which picks up on the continuation of this story. Don’t worry, guys.. you’ll be happy to know that there isn’t a cliffhanger. You still get an HEA to look forward to with each book in the series.
I listened to the audiobook along with my reread and the experience was so much more surreal. Abby Craden and Teddy Hamilton put on a fabulous performance and I highly recommend these narrators for future reference.
To put the cherry on top, you can download this book for free. So one-click this book right now for a knock-you-off-your-feet experience.
**Beware of the triggers, this book may or may not be for you.**
SO…I probably would have said that a power exchange romance that trended toward femdom wasn’t really inside my…romance-reading ouvre.
I’d have been wrong.
This book…is…beautifully written. It’s scary. It’s intense. She tortures the shit out of the MMC, and I loved it. It pushed my borders, it challenged my expectations. It was surprising and shocking and a wild ride.
A truly memorable novel.
WOW! What a really great book. Yes, it had its dark elements, but to me it was a story about Liv and Josh falling in love. Liv is a deliverer. She kidnaps older teens, trains them to be submissive and then sells them. She knew the minute she picked Josh as her next victim that he would be different and that she wanted him for herself. Van is the other deliverer, and he and Liv share a secret that you learn fairly quickly. Josh is a star football player at the local college and studying to be a minister and always sees the best in people. He quickly works out that Liv is hiding something and that’s she’s doing what she has to for a reason, and not because she wants to. He decides he’s going to get through to Liv and refuses to be broken.
Josh is a very strong character and you’ll love him instantly. He helps Liv and gives her the strength to make decisions she wouldn’t otherwise make. Liv was broken and you just wanted to heal her. Van will have you hating him, then confused, sad and surprised. There are a number of twists with this story that you don’t expect or see coming. Surprises that will keep happening right up to the very end. It’s a rollercoaster ride for your emotions and so good.
The next book in this series is Vanquish which is Van’s story. I enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to the next one.
Let me start this review off by saying that @theinfinitereaderr has been begging me to read this for MONTHS.
Let me then say, I’m so mad at myself for NOT reading this sooner. As you guys know, I’m obsessed with @pamgodwinauthor and in my eyes she can do no wrong.
I was somewhat iffy about this book only because of the topic, but let me tell you. Pam did such an amazing job at broaching the topic of trafficking.
I’m not going to spoil anything but this book ends in a totally different way than I expected (in true Pam fashion) and I loved it! I loved the development of Liv and Josh and their relationship. I loved the twists and turns and the mystery of everything.
I highly recommend this book for any of my dark romance lovers out there.
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Liv and Joshuas story is gripping. The first thing you need to know about this book is that It is about a female sex trafficker and her male prey. Is there anything Pam cannot make original and her own. Every trope she writes she brings something new and original to it. This book is a bit of a slow starter but once I got sucked into it I loved it. I loved all the reasoning behind the characters actions and their romance was amazing and I cannot wait to continue this series and find out more about Van.
Another fantastic read from Pam and I cannot recommend enough for my dark romance lovers and captive trope obsessed readers.