Everything about Fiona is forbidden.
She’s a party girl with dark desires.
She’s beautiful, irresponsible, irresistible.
She’s my patient.
I’m her therapist.
I’m past past wanting her. Past possessing her. Past bedding her or protecting her.
I’m willing to be self-destructive, negligent, brave, audacious, and stronger than I ever believed possible.
She’s blunt force trauma to the heart.
And … force trauma to the heart.
And she calls another man Master.
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Sensitive readers should be aware that this book gets a little dark. There’s pain with the sex, and one character treats our main character terribly.
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If you’ve read KICK and/or USE from the Perdition Series, they are in here. The second half of the book is BREAK, which is the end of Fiona Drazen’s story. There’s a link right in front where you can click to get right to Break.
This book is an entire story, from inception to epilogue. Standalone. End of.
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Forbidden is the bundled version of CD Reiss’ Perdition series. I started the series when it was initially published. The series was to contain three statements: Kick, Use, Break. Lucky you—the series is now published in its entirety as a standalone novel!
Kick is the first part of Forbidden, and it excellently sets up the story and frames the main characters. Our favorite red-headed party girl wakes in a prestigious psych hospital with no memory of what happened the night she stabbed her boyfriend. She is raw, crass, vulnerable, feral, and scared.
The plot felt thick and sluggish like Fiona coming out of her drug and alcohol haze. Much of the novella involves Fiona recalling things of her near and distant past as she begins her psych evaluation and therapy. C.D. Reiss’ characters are intense, wicked, and misguided; the setting is claustrophobic and confining. Readers easily become Fiona’s inmates instead of her observers.
Use is the second part of Forbidden. It is just as incredible as Kick. The research and detail that goes into her writing makes her stories more vivid and realistic.
Use is raw and edgy. Flashbacks, hypnosis and returned memories are very interesting tools for telling this tale. The pace of the book is frenetic and hot. At times I felt as embroiled in the manic emotions of the Westonwood patients as they were.
The conclusion of Forbidden is titled Break. Fiona is like a paint splatter on a Jackson Pollock painting. She was raw before she entered Westonwood, and the atrocities she encounters while under their care have left her utterly broken. Her edges are frayed. Fiona’s self-hatred is brazenly apparent. Her feelings of unworthiness have driven every decision she has made in the past. Will she let continue to see herself in the same way or will she take the advice of Dr. Elliot Chapman and find a new way to describe herself?
Fiona is a white-hot mess. Her emotional baggage is weighing her down and the tide is rising. Her vulnerability and her inner spirit make her attractive to both her hot psychiatrist and her gorgeous long-time dom/boyfriend. Both of these men want Fiona to get better, but the path they think she needs to take is wildly different.
The men in Fiona’s life are complete opposites. Deacon, Fiona’s longtime Dom/boyfriend, is dark and brooding. He is not a man to be crossed. He is handsome, confident, and ruthless. He loves Fiona deeply and sees it as his responsibility to keep her on track and out of trouble. He’s the sort of man that readers should want Fiona to be done with, but I found his strength and his dedication to Fiona quite appealing.
“I don’t know what I care about besides you.”
Elliot Chapman gave up his planned career in the seminary to become a therapist. His compassion for people, his sexual fantasies, and Fiona’s wantonness push him into an untenable and unethical situation. He wants to help her get better. He wants her to see her self-worth and make positive changes in her life. He wants to participate in the sexual kink that Fiona describes in their sessions. Elliot first appears as Fiona’s guardian angel, but I felt like his fantasies about his patient to be just as selfish as Deacon’s method for helping Fiona.
“How far was I willing to go?”
Ultimately, Fiona is the heroine, as it should be, and she finds a new path.
“I was loved by a team of smart, screwed, comically-inclined vigilantes. But I was loved.”
I loved how masterfully C.D. Reiss weaves in details of her other books into each of her stories about the large and obscenely wealthy Drazen family. Forbidden takes place (or at least starts off) about sixteen years prior to the Songs of Submission series, while the Songs of Corruption series takes place concurrent to the Songs of Submission series. In each series, various Drazen family members have roles, and each of the series has beamed the spotlight on one of the siblings. I love Margie Drazen—the family fixer—she loves her siblings deeply and will do absolutely anything for them.
I was surprised by so many things in the conclusion of Forbidden. The role Debbie plays in Fiona’s life (we’re first introduced to Debbie in the Songs of Submission series) was not at all expected; I was blown away! I anticipated that both Deacon and Elliot would “fight” over Fiona, and I was dumbfounded by the resolution. It was not at all what I anticipated. Whether I expected plot points or was shocked by them, each page had me riveted and my heart pounding.
Forbidden can be a tough read. The mature, dark content will not appeal to some, but if you read this story more as a woman’s journey away from a self-destructive life, you’ll appreciate the glorious, rich details and character development CD Reiss’ intricate storytelling.
OMG!! I thought Fifty Shades was intensive but Forbidden proved me wrong. It was intense and similar to what real people go through similar situations. I absolutely loved it.
So good i read it twice
I really don’t know how to rate this.
Finoa was in love with Deacon but was it a love forever. When she had stabbed him on accident in the stables, is when her life changed. There was her time in a mental hospital when she met her doctor. Her life changes in many ways. She falls in love with her doctor. Realizes she isn’t in live with Deacon. She gives up the partying and her life makes another change. The biggest change is finding she is pregnant but not sure who the baby is. Deacon goes back to Africa. She has her baby who looks like Deacon but Elliott accepts as his own.
Whoaaaa, Fiona, you hot mess!
* Might have a few spoilers here, so read at your own risk! This is a combined review of the entire story of Fiona, all three books.
I’ve read Theresa’s, Jonathan’s, Margie’s and now Fiona’s story. I guess I read them out of order but the enjoyment factor was there in spades. Who doesn’t love CD Reiss and her dark, erotic and thrilling Drazen’s? I personally can’t get enough of them! You just know you are going get your mind twisted in knots while you try to figure out all the crazy plots, subplots and keep track of what’s happening in front of you and behind the scenes. I seriously do not know how she thinks some of this up?
I have been very curious to see what made Fiona tick since in one of these books at some point she was described as a sex addict.
So, whoaaaa..as my title states, doesn’t begin to cover what goes down in Fiona’s f’d up world. She has been a screwed up debased ‘celebutant’ partier, with not a care as to whom she got debased with, what drug she was doing at the time, or who was watching. Lived with her bdsm master, as his sex toy that he shared with other people probably willingly most of the time as he tried to unbreak her.
She is the embarrassment and shame of her family as her exploits, public persona just keeps on getting bigger, wilder and more out of control until one incident becomes the last straw. She finds herself in a mental institution with no memory of how she got there at all. It is here that the painful life and mind of Fiona Drazen is explored and brought out from multiple points of view. You have to read it to believe it and will feel like the proverbial fly on the wall as you watch it go down, from present to past and back again. You swing from disgust to sympathy as Fiona bounces from one place to another in her messed up exsistance. It’s like a train wreck and you can’t get look away. Her therapist will try and step in to help as she struggles with her growing, lustful feelings for him but also still, the other man in her life…they both want her.
Can she allow herself to be helped and reborn? Will her self destructive behavior get the best of her and those who care most about her?
Prepare yourself for Fiona, she is not for the faint of heart, but if you are a fan of Ms. Reiss, then you must know you are going on a wild ride that only her imagination will take you on. I’m not easily shocked or offended in my choice of reading material and was completely fascinated watching Fiona become stronger as this story unfolds to it’s beautiful conclusion. LOVED THIS BOOK! Love those Drazen’s
Once again CD Reiss delivers. She is one of my fave authors, if not #1.
Another great read from CD Reiss – such complex characters and challenging topics.
Has she lost her mind? What can’t she remember?
This book keeps you on your toes. Keeps you wanting more.
It’s erotically charge and has hot fuck scenes.
There’s also plenty of sexy dialogue between the Elliot and Fiona and Deacon and Fiona.
I loved this book it’s very provocative, sexy and drama filled. Fiona has an interesting life which she makes no apologies for, I love that about her if you’re going to put yourself out there own it.
Deacon and Elliot are two different types of men as she finds out maybe one is more suited to her than the other.
If you’re after a hot pet sesh read this books for you.
I just can’t get enough of the Drazen family. The Submission and Corruption series had their Drazen sibling, Jonathan and Theresa go through their problems and got out on the other side. This time it’s Fiona. She was mentioned in the other two series, but I never paid much attention to her. I only knew she was a party animal, who certainly had her issues.
I had no idea what to expect of her story, so I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading it. I was already drawn into the story and that alone from reading the first couple of pages. It was a little dark and mysterious, but I’m all for that when it’s done right, and erotic as hell. I loved how the story was constructed. How I got the answers and how it was building up towards them.
This really is a character driven book and their relationships and interactions between them. I loved Fiona’s relationship with Deacon and Elliott. How different she was with each of them. How they treated her and brought out certain and very different emotions as well as actions from her. These two men played a huge and very important role to her past and present.
Fiona’s relationship with her family also plays a central role. Even though they have their issues, they’re there for each other when it matters. No question asked.
Fiona’s story was raw, dark and deeply erotic at times. I loved how I was captured and invested in her story. There was times when I got so frustrated with her and her actions, but I just had to remember what she was dealing with in the first place. Cause it was a lot. She had addictions but she was honest about them. Never lied but only tried to show her truth. This story was compelling and exciting as hell. I love the Drazen family. For their loyalty and love for one another.
5 BadAssDirtySexyKittenStars
This review is for Break since I’ve already read and reviewed Kick and Use which where both 5 stars for me and absolutely brilliant.
5 “I am brave” stars!
Oh Fiona. What a remarkable and unforgettable character. I don’t think I’ve ever rooted for a single character as much as I did for her. What a crazy ride shes had. What a fantastic conclusion to her story. I am so happy how it turned out and I loved, loved, loved the epilogue.
Wonderfully twisted!
Sad at times!
Definitely a tough read because of the struggles of the lead character. Parts didn’t flow easily for me and some parts were hard to follow, but overall a good story.
One of the best books I’ve ever read, and I read alot