My Savior… Or My Ruin?One night, and my entire life went up in flames. All because of him. Jafar. As my world burned down around me, he offered me a choice. Walk away with nothing but my freedom… Or rise to his challenge and win my fortune back.I bargained.I lost. Now Jafar owns me, and even as my mind rails against his rules, my body loves the punishments he deals out when I break them.But a … deals out when I break them.
But a gilded cage is still a prison, I’ll do anything to obtain my freedom.
Even betray the man I’m falling for.
Content Warning: This book contains depictions of consensual non-consent.
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Katee has rewritten the Disney Aladdin tale with sexy Jafar as hero in Desperate Measures. If you love a good villainous hero where Jafar and Jasmine get it together, this one is the book for you.
The Jafar x Jasmine book I was craving in my soul!!
I’ve desperately been raking over my words here trying to be fair, unbiased, yet share my open, honest opinion about this book. In an unusual desperate measure of my own, I’ve decided to post a super short comment type review separate from a longer detailed one.
Review #1: If you enjoy numerous, lengthy, very graphic sex club type behavior (meaning erotic smexy scenes involving sharing/public voyeurism), you may not blink an eye at the smex factor here. Most of it involves Jasmine, the heroine, being introduced to this world by Jafar, the hero. Some of the participants are sex club members Jafar has had sex with before. There is an intriguing mafia backdrop theme, but I felt it kept getting interrupted with the smex factor. You’ll have to decide for yourself if a leading lady who has lead a rather sheltered life is capable of all of this plus the unusual way the tables get turned at the end. The questionable consent sex scene right at the start may go either way for you, as well.
Review #2: As a huge fan of the mafia romance series The O’Malley’s, this author’s new releases always register on my potential romantic read radar. Those jaw dropping, handsome, bad boy goodfellas were one woman type men when it came to their leading lady love interest. No one put their hands on their woman, folks, in any way, shape, or form. They were alpha to the max and equally possessive. This time around that was clearly not the case. I think a “sharing/sex club” content warning would have been appropriate here. Yeah, this book took a turn I was not expecting. So much so I actually went back and reread the synopsis just to be sure I didn’t miss such a disclaimer. No, it wasn’t even hinted at. So here is your chance to decide for yourself what you like or prefer to avoid in your romantic reads.
In my opinion, what was included was substance at times taking a backseat to overly numerous, lengthy, very graphic smex scenes with all different types of combos (F/F, M/F, F/F/M) all of which involved the heroine in one body position or another. I must admit the latter may or may not have happened because by the time the hero was likely joining in…I was out the door. I starting skimming over those scenes searching for focus to shift and stay back on the main couple exclusively. Some of the participants are sex club partners of the hero, btw. Yeah, knowing he’s been OTT kinky in a sex club with the same people involved in these sexcapades was another element I wasn’t expecting.
The opening scenario which involved a questionable case of 100% consent may mess with your limitations, as well. There are some “Daddy” and “Baby Girl” nicknames thrown back and forth between these two. Again, you’ll be the judge if you find that creepy or amusing.
The ending definitely turned the tide here, but I’m not overly certain I could see that happening for a long list of reasons I can’t go into or I’ll likely give away some major spoilers. Just know I felt it made a hero, who has been built up to be unstoppable, seem rather complacent.
Title: Desperate Measures, Series: Wicked Villains (Book 1), Author: Katee Robert, Pages: 215, cliffhanger twist type ending, public voyeurism, very erotic with “sharing”, FF, M/F, possible F/F/M content, mob violence, OM wants her, h has sex with H’s sex club partners.
(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review. There is no affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/PR firm.)
This book is so sexy, so dirty, so hot. I loved every word. I want to read it again and again. I’ve always loved the villains and Jafar is beyond delicious. Fantastic story!
Now, this is a version of the story that I could get behind.
I have never been a fan of Disney movies. Being forced to watch them when my kids were small was like a 10th level of purgatory to me. However, had they been like this then maybe I would have changed my mind because I will take an anti-hero over Prince Charming ANY day of the week.
This book surprised me. There was a level of depth that I was really surprised by. This was not just some cheesy thrown together story. It was very well thought out. The characters were nothing like the originals. I appreciated that they felt real including their actions, behaviors, and emotions. It made the story feel authentic.
OMG!!! I didn’t know I needed this book in my life until I read it, but I really, really needed it!
When Jafar sneeks into Jasmine’s room late at night, she can’t help but ask for his help. He’s her only hope to escape marrying Ali, the man her father sold her to. Turns out she no longer has to worry about Ali, since Jafar has staged a coup and overthrew her father. Which means everything that was her father’s is now his. Including her. He agrees to give her her freedom, but not her inheritance. How can she have one without the other? So he gives her a choice: if she can make it to the front door before he catches her, she can be free and have her inheritance. So she runs. But a part of her wants to be catched. Which she is. And now she’s his…
I loved their story so much! I’m not usually a big fan of BDSM, but the way the author did it, I just loved it! Jasmine’s clearly a submissive and Jafar is only too happy to dominate her. But the way he does it is so well written, it didn’t make me cringe once. And, obviously, what starts as a purely physical relationship evolves into so much more. Oh, and I loved the ending so much…
There is also the whole setting of The Underworld, Hades’ club where anything is possible, and where we get to meet some of characters I’m assuming will be protagonists of the next books in the series. I cannot wait!
If I had to chose one word to describe this book it would be: HOT!
Desperate Measures is an erotic masterpiece. It’s the kinky tale of Jasmine and Jafar. I must admit I loved where the author took this story, criminal enterprise as the backdrop, sheltered, innocent heroine, villainous hero, a bit of danger and a lot of hot sex scenes made for an awesome reading experience. I enjoyed it and cannot wait to see who’s story is next.
Copy provided by author
Katee Robert is a genius. She has taken the children’s tale of Aladdin and twisted it in the most delicious ways. Jasmine is now the “princess” of a mafia boss, and Jafar has become her sin and her salvation all wrapped into a hot and sexy package. I hate to give away too much of the plot, since it’s so much fun to experience it as it happens. I will say that I am not typically a fan of mafia-based romances (with the exception of Ms. Robert’s awesome O’Malley series – check it out!), and I’m also not a big fan of daddy kink. But I just could not get enough of this book. It’s that good. I have said it before and will say it again, Katee Robert has a way of writing that just sucks you in and won’t let go. Her stories are always engrossing, and her characters are multi-dimensional. I fell in love with both Jasmine and Jafar and only wish that Ms. Robert will revisit them. I can’t recommend this book enough. Ms. Robert has created a whole new world, and it’s enchanting and hot as hell.
***5 Stars***
I’m a huge fan of retellings/stories based on fairytales/myths/legends, so when Katee Robert announced that she was going to go a step further and shake things up by twisting things around a bit and giving the villains a chance at a HEA, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the series and she did not disappoint! This was dark, smexy, funny and filled with all kinds of goodness that had me wanting more even when there were no more words to read!
I adored Jafar and Jasmine. Jasmine was all kinds of calculating alpha AF male goodness and had a brand of ‘evil’ I could definitely get behind. And while his heart may lean more towards the darker side, that heart also felt more than anyone could imagine. Jasmine is one of those characters whose evolution was one I enjoyed. She is all kinds of sassy and has a penchant for pushing limits, at least as far as she was able to, but she was also a strong woman and watching as she finally grabbed hold of that strength and made it her own was a lot of fun.
Jafar and Jasmine’s journey to their HEA was all kinds of explosive and smexy. It was apparent from the start that their chemistry was nuclear and to watch as they both fought the pull they felt towards each other was a lot of fun and when they finally stopped fighting it..well, that’s when things definitely got a lot more interesting. I loved their bantering and how they saw more in each other than they did themselves and ended up being exactly what the other never knew they needed.
This really was a great read. I loved how the author twisted things up and made these well known characters her own and the world she has created where they all play is one I loved getting lost in. As for the supporting cast of characters, the teases we got of all of them only made me want to get them all better, but the one who intrigued me the most was Tink and I cannot wait to get my hands on her story, but I have no problem waiting for it since Hades, Meg and Hercules (is it a bad thing that I keep chanting ‘Hercules, Hercules’ in my head like they do in the animated movie??) are up next and I cannot wait to see how this one plays out!
~ Copy provided by the author via Patreon & voluntarily reviewed ~
3.5 stars—DESPERATE MEASURES is the first instalment in Katee Robert’s contemporary, adult WICKED VILLAINS romance story line-an erotic retelling of Aladdin. This is twenty-five year old Jasmine Sarraf, and Jafar’s story line.
WARNING: DESPERATE MEASURES contains scenes of M/F and F/F sexual situations, discipline, bondage, sex club acts, and questionable consent, that may not be suitable for all readers.
Told from dual first person points of view (Jasmine and Jafar) DESPERATE MEASURES follows in the wake of Balthazar Sarraf’s murder, a murder that resulted in his second in command, Jafar, taking over the family business including ownership of Balthazar’s daughter Jasmine Sarraf. Jasmine Sarraf has lead a sheltered life; a princess in a gilded cage where she had no rights, no privileges, and no freedom. From one prison to another, Jasmine enters into an strained, erotic relationship with Jafar, the man with whom she will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between Jafar and Jasmine, and the potential fall-out as Jasmine struggles with her place in Jafar’s life; and the possibility that she will go from prisoner to slave when her father’s enemy demands payment in full.
DESPERATE MEASURES is a highly sexual, erotic look at a Dom/sub relationship; an enemies to lovers romance between two people who have lusted after one another for a number of years. A story of power and control; of betrayal and revenge; of discipline, threats, domination and rule. Jasmine calls Jafar ‘Daddy’, and discovers that she is more at home in the sex dungeons than she could ever imagined.
I have no idea what is going on in Ms. Robert’s head but I totally love and approve.
Wicked Villains are the fairy tales that your mother never shared because she kept that little fantasy to herself. It truly is wicked, but you end up loving it.
Desperate Measures kicks off the series with Jafar and Jasmine, and what a start! It’s slightly twisted, extremely sexy, and deliciously dirty. Reading this will make you step out of your comfort zone, and you need to embrace it so you can love it. With that being said, put away wherever you knew about these characters from aside and read the story with a clear mind. Again, this is not the wholesome tale you knew. The plot is a refreshing spin on these tales and it’s nothing of what you’ll expect. Especially Jafar. His dominance piqued and ignited Jasmine’s curiosity. Which makes their relationship so chemical and somewhat taboo. Yet, I feel that Jasmine represents so many of us. A woman caged by society. A woman underestimated by others. A woman that needs to be seen for who she truly is.
I won’t detail the plot, I feel it’s elemental to how the story develops and unfolds. Particularly when you meet the characters, not just the main ones but the supporting ones, and the upcoming ones. It’s a good indication just where this series is going and I’m excited about this. Desperate Measures has officially hooked and sunk me. Actually, it ruined me (in the best way possible) for future fair tales. I highly recommend you join the Wicked side… there’s sexiness here that you don’t want to miss.