“Laced with danger and intrigue, Manipulate obliterates the idea that there is only one true love.” ~ NYT bestselling author Aleatha RomigTula Gomez is in the most ruthless prison in Latin America. She only drove to Mexico to help her sister. She did nothing wrong. But her quiet life changed in an instant. To survive the violent, cartel-controlled prison where men blend with women, she pledges … cartel-controlled prison where men blend with women, she pledges her loyalty to the notorious leader in exchange for the one thing she needs most.
Protection.
When she agrees to seduce the suspicious new inmates, Martin Lockwood and Ricky Saldivar, she doesn’t expect to enjoy it. Sure, they’re gorgeous, irresistibly alpha, and insanely talented with their hands and mouths. But they’re the enemy. She can’t fall for them.
Torn between her cartel loyalties and two men who want her as deeply as they want each other, she questions who is manipulating whom. Her search for answers leads to a passionate ménage, a soul-crushing secret, and an impossible choice.
DELIVER series (HEAs with no cliffhangers – must be read in order):
Deliver #1
Vanquish #2
Disclaim #3
Devastate #4
Take #5
Manipulate #6
Unshackle #7
Dominate #8
Complicate #9
more
The dark romance series from Pam Godwin returns with Manipulate, the story of Ricky and Martin’s attempt to take down the La Rocha Cartel and their child sex trafficking ring. As two of the former sex slaves known as the Freedom Fighters, they get themselves thrown in to Jaulaso, the most violent prison in Mexico.
The story doesn’t start with Ricky and Martin though. Petula Gomez gets a cryptic call from her sister in Mexico with a plea for help, and she leaves Arizona on what she thinks is a day trip. Arrested and thrown into Jaulaso, she’s tortured until she’s taken under the wing of an older man at the prison who happens to be the head of the cartel.
Things are very bleak for Petula until Ricky and Martin show up reminding her of the USA and making her long for physical closeness. They find solace in each other, and over their time together secrets are revealed that could kill them all. It’s the love between them that may save them.
This series is very dark and the charm is that the characters find redemption for their sins and someone to love along the way. There are plenty of villains in Manipulate and I thought it is the darkest so far in this series. I actually had moments where I wondered if I could finish because the tension and fear was so pronounced that I had a to take a break. Be warned that the prison life depicted in Manipulate does not sugar coat any aspect. It’s a tough read content-wise and the love story between Ricky, Martin and Tula doesn’t make up for any of the darkness at all.
Manipulate is very heavy on violence and sex, some loving and most of it not so much. The writing is excellent and the story well-crafted, but the subject matter is very hard to take in Manipulate, at least it was for me. Your mileage may vary, as they say. It’s a story that will definitely poke at my brain for a few days so I’m giving this four stars with a trigger warning for sexual violence.
Holy Hell!!!!! This was absolutely outstanding and Pam Godwin has done it again! I was not completely sure what to expect with the sixth installment of the Deliver series and I was completely blown away! The relationship between Martin and Ricky and then between Tula, Martin, and Ricky are some of the best written words I have read. There are so many twists and turns, as well as action and extremely hot scenes. I recommend this and the entire Deliver series!
Oh my. Starting a new Pam Godwin book always has me anxious and giddy all at once – especially with this series. You just never know what you are going to get with her intricately woven dark stories – and that’s exactly she has become one of my absolute favorite authors out there. I just love her evil mastermind!
That being said, nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught that rained down on me – same with Tula: Nothing could have prepared her for Ricky and Martin …
Gosh, I can’t even describe my excitement when I learned MANIPULATE would be MMF – or MFM at the very least. What I got was basically all my favorite things delivered in one intense, dark book. Intrigue. Suspense. Mystery. A prison story. Angst. Danger. M on M action. Filled to the brim with triggers. And hotness. Holy hell, the hotness!! And that deprived darkness … what a combination. I got chills, seriously!
This all wouldn’t have worked for me, if the connection and intimacy between the three of them had been off – but thankfully, it wasn’t. These three belong together, they live and breathe their love, it’s powerful – and seeps through every written word. It was beauty within all that darkness that was this prison.
To keep things spoiler-free, I will stop right here. Just know this: MANIPULATE is that type of book you will want to inhale but want to last forever in equal measure – it’s that good! Book six cannot come soon enough!
Wow! Pam Godwin is a Dar Goddess! Her writing sucks me in and doesn’t let up until the very end!
Tula Gomez is a Spanish teacher. She loves her quiet life until she gets a call from her sister Vera that she’s in trouble and needs her help. Tula jumps in her Jeep and heads to Mexico where her sister is. When she gets there she’s nowhere to be found. As she’s making her way back to the states she’s arrested and sentenced to 5 years in the worst prison in Mexico. Area 3 is where she is moved to. Her first day there is tragic to say the least. She has to learn how to survive. During a riot she makes friends with an old man who after saving his life finds out is the head of the La Rocha Cartel, Hector. She must make friends with him to survive and they form a sort of bond. He protects her and she begins working for the cartel.
Martin Lockwood and Ricky Saldivar are part of the Freedom Fighters. A group of vigilante ex slaves fighting against sex trafficking. Ricky has always been in Love with Martin but Martin doesn’t seem to hold the same feelings… or so we think!
They get into the prison Tula is at under false documentation to find out answers on how to take down the La Rocha cartel. They were not expecting Tula. Tula is sent to distract the gringos and find out who they are working for. Martin and Ricky want to get close to her to find the answers they are looking for. They begin to form a bond and bring on the steaminess! Holy smokes the 3 months they are together is HOT!! They totally fall in love with each other!
After 3 months their time is up and they have to leave the prison. How will Tula survive without them after all the secrets she’s uncovered about Hector and his cartel and the love she’s found with not one but 2 men? And where is her sister?
I’m so desperate for the next book! I can’t wait! I love Pam’s books and it always leaves me yearning for more and more!!!
WOW!!! What a story this one was! I believe these 3 characters are the most damaged of this series. They each have a story to tell that will bring tears to your eyes.
Starting off with Tula landing in prison…her welcoming gift was shocking to say the least! Cringe worthy at its finest. 5 years to spend behind the bars of this prison is no laughing matter. Finding a way to survive each day becomes a daunting task for even the strongest person.
Martin and Ricky are the new inmates and my god they are beautiful. A sight for someone losing their grasp on how to survive in prison.
When the three of these inmates build a relationship, it doesn’t come easy, that’s for sure, will this relationship survive in the real world. Outside the walls of the prison?
Let me prepare you…you WILL need a couple pairs of sham-wow undies, while reading this book! Its dirty… Its raw…Its prison time doing the dirty.
The Freedom Fighters are back at it in this 6th book of the Deliver series. Each book can be read as a standalone but why do that? Start at the beginning reading Deliver and devour each one! This is a Fantastic Series!
Another dark, disturbing, thought-provoking, poignant, and bitterly beautiful addition to the Deliver series.
This book was that desired combination of needing to race to the end to know everything immediately, and never wanting it to end.
These books are standalones, but there’s so many reasons you need to start at the start. I’m sure one of them is to build you up to face some of the horrors in this world slowly. The first chapter in this one was brutal. And in so many ways, it kind of set the tone of the book early.
Human trafficking is such a difficult topic to read about, even in a fictionalized setting. Because while this particular story, and the characters’ stories within might just be that – stories, there are so many real people in this world whose stories are not fiction, but the stuff of nightmares. Even if I wanted to shut my mind off to that reality, Pam’s writing makes it impossible. Some of the scenes in this one are absolutely, horrifyingly heart-stopping. I would challenge anyone to read them and not feel anger and impotence.
And then, impossibly almost, the opposite end of that spectrum – love. Love in an unforgivable, ugly, destitute place. The last place anyone would ever expect to find it. With the most unlikely of partners, all of whom carry their own scars and haunting pasts. What’s even more remarkable is that the early encounters are laced with distrust and secrets, but the strength of forging a real connection runs deeper than even the strongest loyalties.
And man, I wish I could talk about the elephant in the room. The gentle, kind ally that Tula finds in an unlikely older man, and all of the revelations that brings. But some things are best left observed first-hand.
Each time I read the newest in this series, I wonder if I could ever pick just one favourite. Or a favourite couple, or character. And I can’t. Because each time I read any of the others, that will be my favourite. They’re all so well written, share so much common ground, but are so distinctly different and unique to each other. They deal with hard issues, they show the depraved darkness humans are capable of bestowing on each other. But ultimately, the message I come away with always is that light can outweigh and overpower darkness. And that love will always win.
Ever since reading the previous book Take, I have been on pins and needles to read Ricky and Martin’s story. I have to be honest though, I was a tad bit disappointed when I found out that there was gonna be a lady between these two hot men. Everyone knows how much I love my MM books 😉 No worries though.. I still got mine 😛
Thankfully, my disappointment didn’t last too long, since Talu was a pretty amazing heroine. I love how strong she was … and believe me she needed to be. This is a pretty dark series and this book is no exception. Right from the start, Tula is subjected to the most horrible of crimes…by those who are supposed to protect !!!
In a flash, she went from being a law-abiding English teacher to being an inmate in one of Mexico’s most dreaded prisons…and all in the name of sisterly love.
In order to survive, she is forced to say goodbye to her former self and become cold and vacant.
To survive, she needed to become like them.
She makes a move that saves her life…but it also forces her to become part of the La Rocha Cartel…. the one her mother always warned her to stay away from. Being a teeny tiny woman in a prison full of (horny) dangerous men…she doesn’t have much of a choice though. So she says goodbye to the Tula of old.
She wasn’t prepared for Ricky (and) Martin though…then again…who would have been Yowza !!
Martin and Ricky are two of Van’s former (sex) victims and are now part of a group fighting the good fight, and trying to stop as many sex traffickers as they possibly can. They volunteered to be locked up for three months to try and take down the La Rocha Cartel from the inside.
It’s no secret that these boys are really close…closer than is normal for best friends and if it were up to Ricky, they would be even closer 😛 But Martin doesn’t seem interested in Ricky…or any other man (or woman) for that matter. So Ricky has almost given up…almost.
Thankfully Ricky is not a quitter because thanks to a little help from Tula, he is about to find out just how much Martin really wants him….and her. This book was HOT… !!
It was also chock full of triggers and the angst was slapping me in the face from beginning to end.
This was definitely one of my favorites in the series, though Van will always be top dog for me. He had a really nice part in this one as well…which made me a very happy camper.
I also want to give some credit to a certain character I started out hating with a vengeance, but who earned my forgiveness …and even a bit of my respect 😉
I highly recommend this series !!!
Pam Godwin is truly a magician with words. She writes amazingly dark and dangerous stories and her Deliver series has been one of my all time faves. Manipulate is nothing less than I’d expect and far exceeded my hopes! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the m/f/m in this story. Tula, Ricky, and Martin find something that’s truly beautiful in the most godawful of places.
This story grabbed my attention and didn’t let go. It was truly a dark, gritty read full of emotional upheaval and absolutely flippin’ fantastic! If you gravitate to the raw, dark and dirty you have GOT to get ahold of Pam Godwin!
5 fabulous stars
A good girl can find herself in the wrong place at the wrong time across the border … imprisoned in notorious, drug cartel-controlled Jualaso Prison … and in a real trial-by-fire to stay alive. This book takes you to the brink of freefall.
Manipulate rocked me good. Tula, an American school teacher crosses the border on a mission to help her troublesome sister, only to be mistaken as a member of a drug cartel and sent to Jaulaso Prison – where the infamous La Rocha cartel thrives and inmates come to rot. How will a gorgeous, slip of a girl – the only woman in the cartel’s Area 3 — ever survive alone? Will she find trust in a menage that none of them saw coming? Who’s manipulating whom and will anyone come out of this alive? Ruthless danger, action, sizzling chemistry, hot sex, and an MM (Ricky and Martin) on a completely other plane gripped me to the end.
In true Godwin fashion, a series of events triggers toward the end that turns Tula into the bad*** I knew she really was for a thrilling conclusion with nonstop action and reveals. “Ricky Martin” stole the show … but Tula brought the big finish.
I was captivated from the beginning, and left with a major book hangover when it was over. Manipulate was unpredictable and left you on the edge of your seat. Petula, Ricky, and Martin are in insatiable trio that I couldn’t get enough of. The romance was hot, the dark parts were gritty and raw, and overall, it was fantastic.
OMG!!! Manipulation has never felt so good!!! I know I already said that about the previous book, but this one is my new favorite of the series!
That’s simple, there are stories you never want to reach the end of, and Manipulate is one of them.
At turn dangerous, sensual, gruesome, raw and sweet, Ricky, Tula and Martin’s story had my head spinning with the depth of their emotions.
I felt for everyone of them, hurting with them, sharing their heartache and their losses. I fought their demons and smiled at their intimacy.
Tula is such a resilient woman! Her metamorphosis from the sweet English teacher she was into the confident, lethal and determined inmate was incredible. Between the intense damaged Martin and the charming and laid-back Ricky, she both stood her ground and submitted to their seduction. The author mastered the balance of this incredible trio. Their complicity, the longing and the frustration they dealt in their relationship is one I rarely felt.
What a book…dark, gritty, the atmosphere completely kept me on the edge of my seat whereas the expiration time had me biting my nails. Until I couldn’t hold back the tears…
4 “she’s the one we’ve been waiting for” stars
*Just a reminder, although these books are standalones, they are interconnected and a continuation of a story, so they MUST be read in order*
Holy moly, Pam unleashed some dark and crazy torture scenes in this one, so grab a stiff drink and prepare to be shocked, lol, but also prepare for a really beautiful love story.
Tula Gomez has been framed, sentenced to prison in one of the worst prisons in Mexico for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, all while trying to bail he sister out of another jam. Her life in prison is rough and she’s showed she is strong by surviving but she’s about to be tested in a different way when Ricky and Martin show up!
Ricky and Martin are part of the “freedom fighters,” former captives of Van Quiso and Liv Reed, trying to slowly decimate the sex slave trade ring that once sealed their fate. They are planted as drug traffickers in Jaulaso prison to try and get close to Hector La Rocha, who they think is at the top of the chain in the sex slave operation they are trying to take down. The person who seems to be closest to Hector is Tula, the only women in Area Three, a portion of the prison controlled by La Rocha cartel. If you remember, Ricky has been in love with Martin for ages, but Martin has always shut him down over not ruining their fantastic friendship…Ricky just assumed Martin wasn’t in to men, but has he been wrong about that? Tula is immediately fascinated by the two men and Hector encourages her to get close to them to find out if they are spies. What ensues is the beginning of a beautiful love story between the three set in one of the harshest environment’s on the planet. Only Pam could give us the tender moments and emotional revelations with this backdrop and make it seem authentic, make it work well for the characters and the story. But don’t be fooled, there’s much more bloodshed and shocking revelations left to come!
I enjoyed the story between Tula and Ricky Martin (that always made me laugh!) and it was certainly hot but yet tinged with darkness due to Martin’s past. My only complaint was I felt the overall progression of the story took a bit of a backseat to their love story until the last 25% and then bam, wowza, what an ending! Definitely curious to find out where the story is going with the next round of characters! On a side note, the beginning scenes with Amber and Van…thank you, thank you for including them Pam, I’ll take all the Van I can get!
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it, if you like dark romance you are doing yourself a disservice by not starting this series ASAP, it’s one of the best dark romance series I have ever read! Deliver is still free, so check it out today!!!
This series just keeps getting better and better!
A sister that tries to come to the aid of her younger sibling only to be caught up in a case of mistaken identity, two sexy as sin freedom fighters that do what they have to to get put in the same jail as their mark. On top of that, add suspense, tension for days (steamy and otherwise), old secrets that are revealed a heartbreaking goodbye, and a line that is FINALLY crossed and you have a book that keeps you turning the pages no matter how early you have to wake up the next day because it’s just that good.
4.5 Stars!
Tula Gomez is enjoying her normal, quiet life in Arizona when she gets a call from her sister needing help. Worried she’s in trouble, she drives to check on her in Mexico. That’s when her entire life is forever changed. She’s now trying to survive in the most ruthless, dangerous prison in Latin America. Terrified and stuck in a world of violence, fear, and uncertainty, she’s forced to give her loyalty to the most brutal drug cartel in Mexico in exchange for her protection. Manipulated into a life of crime, she was in too deep. She’d hardened and learned to keep to herself with no attachments. Then two new inmates show up named Martin Lockwood and Ricky Saldivar. They are suspicious, and she agrees to seduce them to gain information. These new arrivals are the sexiest men she’s ever seen, and soon she can’t help fantasizing about them.
As Tula spends time with Martin and Ricky she becomes desperate for them. The desire between the three of them runs deep as they make her feel again. Their hunger is like a waking volcano, and eventually they begin a delicious menage where they become addicted to their time together. Their insatiable as they worship one another and indulge in sinful pleasure. Their connection is effortless, and she can’t explain it, but she trusts them. Soon she’s confused and torn as she becomes more and more attached to these two beautiful, mesmerizing men.
Manipulate, (Deliver book 6) by Pam Godwin is a seductive, erotic, dark romance about temptation, survival, and secrets. It’s a MMF menage full of suspense, and packed with action and sexy alpha males. The books in this series should be read in order. As usual Pam Godwin is the queen of dark romance, and wrote another amazing story that I devoured. I adore this series, and can’t wait for the next book!
Woah, that was one roller coaster of a dark read. From the opening scene, Godwin grabs you by the throat. If you have trouble with graphic violence, be careful reading, because the beginning of Manipulate is full of it. She describes it in such detail, you feel like you are part of it.
Ricky & Martin’s (I really don’t love the Ricky Martin thing) story arc has covered several books and we finally got to see it come to a satisfying conclusion. I wanted more of them, but I did love Petula and her story of survival and redemption, how she clung to her sense of self in a terrible place. Manipulate is dark and gritty romance at its best. But how can it not be dark taking place in a prison of all places?
Manipulate is the 6th book and another phenomenal addition to the Deliver series. From page one, it was intense, shocking and had me hooked until the very end. This is Ricky, Martin and Tula’s story. The characters were flawed and well-developed yet very likable and you will be invested in their story. The storyline was gritty and raw at times, filled with heart-racing action, gut-wrenching scenes, love and some of the most smoking hott M/M M/F/M scenes you will ever read.
I think Pam out did herself with this novel. It will evoke so many emotions in you with all its different twists and turns, you won’t know what to expect next.
Without a doubt, now one of my favorite books in this series Manipulate is definitely worthy of a 5 star status. I loved it and would highly recommend it to all lovers of dark romances.
Beautifully dark. Deliciously sexy. Just when I think I have read my favorite book in this series Pam goes and tops it!
Tula is a teacher living in the US but she has some serious ties to Mexico. While on a personal mission to help a family member she finds herself in more trouble than any human deserves.
Martin and Ricky meet Tula under extraordinary circumstances and through their shared secrecy begin the hottest and most dangerous relationship of their lives.
This book grabs you from the first page and never ever lets go. I hated it to end and had to make time slow just so I could savor all its decadent words.
Pam Godwin is the Queen of dark and sexy. I need more!!
Just when I think Pam has hit the pinnacle of dark delish twisted romance she gives us another book in her Deliver Series. I have been looking forward to Martin and Rickey’s story and already tried to come up with my own story for them with just the hints she peppered into the other books but she blew my expectations right out of the water.
The story takes place in an area in a Mexican prison with very little interaction with side characters however the story felt epic. This is a story about finding strength when others would have just given up. Of finally facing your inner demons and allowing people in. Of being someone’s person when they truly need it.
Tulu, Martin and Ricky as cliche as it sounds they completed each other. It was beautiful the way Ricky loved and was attracted to Martin but respected his friendship to wait for Martin to open up and work thru his trauma. This story was really a lesson in love and support.
What a sexy twisted and delicious tale this is. Don’t miss out and one click now. If you haven’t started the Deliver series yet, DELIVER, book 1, is free. I highly recommend!!!
Never read a disappointing book from Pam Godwin and Manipulate was no different! Pam givesxus all the dark and dirty we want along with a fabulous storyline! This series continues to get better and better! This MMF dark romances so captivating from the start and I feel in love with Ricky, Martin, and Tula immediately! You dont want to miss this newest addition to The Deliver Series!!!!
Note: To throughly follow the story, you must read this series in order 😉