Some things were worth the punishment. Garin was one. When I opened my eyes, I was in a cell, my body covered in bruises.Not a jail.I’d been kidnapped and imprisoned.I wasn’t alone. I shared the cell with Garin Woods, the man I’d loved since I was a kid.The man I couldn’t be with because of the secret. A man who would kill me if he found out what that secret was.Someone wanted to torture me.… kill me if he found out what that secret was.
Someone wanted to torture me.
Torture us.
One of us deserved it.
It wasn’t Garin.more
I was told by a friend that I absolutely had to read this book. Then because it took me more than 5 minutes to reply, she bought it for me. Or she was really eager for me to read it…
Now I’m eager for you to read it! I started this book having read the blurb. I learned some important info. But what you think you know, what you think happened, and where this is going, they will all change multiple times before it’s over. Over…hmmm, not sure it will ever be over.
Trapped in her worst nightmare, facing demons she tried to bury, Kyle is in Hell. Guilty eats her alive, tortures her, and keeps away from the one man she has ever loved. Now they are trapped in her Hell and it’s all her fault.
There are so many questions I want to tease your mind with. So many things I want to mention to make sure you pay attention…
But I’m evil and love watching people squirm through good books, so squirm away. Prisoned is everything you wished it was but better!
FYI, there is a sequel coming out soon. So read quickly and get a buddy to vent to, you will need it!
Reviewed for the Sweet Spot Sisterhood
Prisoned, that title right there… Is it everything you imagined it to be? Or is it truly an imagination? This book drew me in from page one and had me hooked till the last page.
Kyle and Garin have been friends forever…growing up in The Heart, you figure out quickly who your true friends are… Till one night, that one night between Kyle and Garin it was special and special in more than 1 way!!
How long must a person suffer for being the innocent bystander? Is it worth giving up your entire life to just get by… can pain, torture, love, death, memories… all be forced out of a person? Which makes a person break the quickest? Does the person break or does the person take what is happening, to prevent others from going through what they have?
Then comes the ending……
What a ride, What a ride!!! Twists and Turns…oh my!
#BookBistroBlogApproved
Wow!!! Marni Mann never disappoints in her psychological twisted dramas. This book hooks you from the 1st page. Couldn’t put it down.
Marni Mann blew my mind with this book! From the moment I started reading this book it grabbed my attention and didn’t let go until I finished it, and even then I spent half the day replaying everything I took in from this book in my mind on repeat. I haven’t had a book mindf@@k me in this manner in such a long time. I’m still having a hard time coming up with the words to tell how this dark romance was the perfect balance of Heaven and hell, sex and hate, trust and betrayal. It felt so real as her words marinated in my brain as I took them all in.
This book is not for those that are sensitive to subject matter because Kyle was imprisoned and things did happen to her. Some may not be able to deal with any of it or the emotions it’ll bring, so take this warning for what you will. If you love the dark romance books this definitely worth the read. Marni Mann, I will definitely be reading more from you!
I loved the plot. The characters were great except for the wishy washy heroine. She was weak. Super weak. I guess she needed to be that way, but I don’t think she needed to be as weak as she was. Other than that, great story.
Audio Review:
Prisoned is a dark and twisted with a complex plot. A different story that isn’t close to anything I ever listened/read. Told in dual pov a second chance mafia romance standalone novel.The characters jump through hoops till the end to get their hea. I loved getting a prologue and the timeline history which it flows easy. A intriguing & suspenseful listen about two childhood best friends meeting up again.
Narator Aaron Shedlock is the perfect choice for a dark story narator. However, in this case the story is told in dual pov and the naration by one narator is a bit of a disappointment. Aaron is perfect for the male pov but I wish a female was chosen to narrate the female parts especially since alot of the story is told in the female’s pov. Aaron’s inflection is very deep and gravely which is great for this performance.
Enjoyed every page
Very intense plot line. Highly erotic especially if one of your fantasies is to be abducted.
I could not put this book down. Every time I said to myself “okay that’s it go to bed I just had to read a little bit more” It was entertaining, and witty but there was a twist! I didn’t expect that. I loved this book!
What a wonderful, sexy thriller. It kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Loved how it kept me guessing the entire time, wondering… what was real and what was a dream.
I expected more from this book… In the end I was left with far too many questions and disappointed in the outcome of the book.
Mann’s writing has an uncanny knack of keeping me on my toes, and Prisoned was no exception. Although I’m not a lover of dark romance, my curiosity was as such that I couldn’t put it down. Be warned, this intense read rife with shockers is hauntingly suspenseful.
The author transported me into the lives of three youngsters who had little more than their love for each other. A whirlwind incident becomes a life-changer and is by no means easy to read. But what would occur later made me question whether, in all its vagueness, there was a hint of truth lurking around the corner. At the time, it seemed very real to me.
I suspected that Garin had a good idea why Kyle, his childhood sweetheart, left the way she did. Therefore his course of action to get to the bottom of it all confused me even more. Mann cracked his character. I didn’t want to fall head of heels for this guy whose lack of a moral compass is nothing less than daunting. But I couldn’t help myself. Demanding, protective and utterly gorgeous, finding a sprinkling of light in his darkness was a challenge.
Kyle made a raw deal and is suffering the consequences. A smitten of closure is on the horizon; however, I never expected the price she’d have to pay for keeping a secret so close to her heart so devastating. When she and Garin meet up after years apart, I felt the tense atmosphere between them. And to say their undeniable chemistry is mind-blowing would be putting it mildly.
I clung to little clues entwined in the story, hoping they’d help me suss the plot out. Eventually, when I thought I had the loose ends neatly tied up, I realised how wrong I was. Will two lovers forced into a situation against their will have their happy ending? What is the truth, the lie even? You’ll only find out the outcome by reading this thriller-cum-erotic romance with a difference.
Not only did emotional and tangible punches knock me for six, but the sensation of not being able to get off this trainwreck was painfully distressing. Mann mustered up all the feels in a before and after narrative from a dual perspective with no compunction, and I loved it! Bravo!
Prisoned by Marni Mann was dark, gritty and captivating. I can’t believe I waited so long to dive into this series! Narrated by Aaron Shedlock, we delve into Kyle and Garin’s story. Friends as children, they went down separate paths. When they reunite, they then find themselves prisoners. Why? What secrets are they hiding? The story was full of twists and turns as we see the steamy chemistry between Kyle and Garin as the push and pull between heightens. How will it all end?
Listened and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy listening!
This story is full of twists and turns. I’m probably too impatient and so I was infuriated, being teased again and again and not being given the information I wanted until about 80% in— and by this point I’d already guessed it correctly. If this were an ebook, I would have “cheated” and read ahead just to find out and then have gone back to the beginning.
This is one dark story— so dark that I didn’t expect it not to end with a HEA. I was very happily mistaken! Anthony got what he deserved, and that makes the story end in one satisfyingly high note.
Aaron Shedlock did a terrific job narrating, I just think it would have been better if there was a female narrator to read Kyle’s chapters.
Prisoned is a second-chance contemporary mafia romance written in dual POV. It’s an angsty standalone that ends with a HEA and deals with sensitive subjects some may find triggering. No cliffhanger, no cheating.
I received this book at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review.
Prisoned by Marni Mann is a dark romance filled with suspense and twists and turns throughout. It is a gripping story about two childhood friends Garin and Kyle.
I listened to the audio and found myself not wanting to stop, although it was out of my comfort zone. The story is told from both of their points of view, however, it was one narrator. I though the narrator did a good job and was a great choice.
Garin and Kyle’s lives drift apart after tragedy occurs and Kyle moves away. Brought back together after another tragedy and they reunite. The events that occur after will leave you mind spinning and wondering what is real and what is not and what really happened?
This book is very dark and sometimes listening to it was tough but in the end I really did like it. There were some difficult scenes too, and a few times I felt my heart beating in my chest.
Dark romance and Marni at their finest!
Of all the books of Marni Mann’s I found this to be her darkest one. Dark, dangerous and surreal. I at the end was with Kyle in respect to what happened or didn’t happen or did it? Was she and Garin put through that or was it her guilt manifesting. I wonder this and than Garin says something that makes you think it was real.
This book is up there with Seductive shadows when it comes to the allure and sensual encounters. We see to people who crawled out of a dark place of a past to succeed. Only they succeed in different ways. One is still under the thumb of the past and the other embraces the past darkness and uses it to come out better.
Garin makes no apologies for where he came from or where he is now. He is loyal and rough. He is sexy as sin as well. His heart was broken long ago by the girl he sees as the brightness in his world. suddenly they are thrust back in each others world. He needs answers and retribution. She needs to free herself from guilt.
Kyle is mired in guilt. She left her childhood and became what she wanted to be but it wasn’t hers to enjoy. She was prisoned in so many ways. Prisoned in her mind, in her guilt and in her life. She was stuck in the mired past and feeling the walls suffocate her. Suddenly her past comes back up and all is exposed.
Her and Garin are now in a situation that she is to become reacquainted with him and the times are sweet and demanding. We are brought into some very hellish situations that will have your hair on end. You see the sacrifices made and feel the anger, fear and guilt of the past and here and now come up. Above it all we see love. the love that Garin and Kyle have felt for each other always.
Marni Mann has written a book that has moments where you question yourself and whether what you read happened or just in an allusion. where the darkness filters into your pours and makes you feel fear and cold wash over you as you wonder who will survive. We see some hope and light with the love and second chance given to Garin and Kyle but is there a catch to it. Was it a setup? the writing keeps you in knots and twisting in the wind as you go through hell and back with these characters hoping the light will come back.
We watch Garin and Kyle fall in love once again, learn of the sacrifices made and see second chances come about. We see Kyle find freedom and love and the way Marni Mann has this written is a beautiful operatic song in its plot and story. We get the beauty of innocence at the beginning that has the fringes of dark for survival, than we get the moment in which all falls into the abyss and the slow crawl out. The crescendo of lost love and finding it again. Of letting guilt consume you and become free of it. And in the end we get sacrifice and love rule out. The journey of our characters is sad, dark and hopeful while trying to crawl out and find a way to become free and let love back in and give you a future.
Wow … I just, wow. I feel like I took a hit of something, got completely mindf**ked, and then was rescued by my knight in shining armor. This book is twisted, erotic, deliciously messed up, darker than the sewer where the clown from IT resides, and jaw dropping. It took me about 3 months to read to be honest. It got a little too much for me sometimes and I had to walk away from it for a few days or even a week. It’s so terribly twisted that it’s a lot for your mind to take it but at the same time you read til your eyes burn cause you need to know how it plays out.
Garin … he’s definitely not a book boyfriend but he’s such a strong character than I find myself seeing photos of actors or models and thinking, yup, that could be Garin. I want to hate him but I can’t. Kyle is such a tortured soul, battling with too many demons. At the same time, you kind of want to slap her and be like JUST FREAKIN’ LET IT OUT ALREADY!! Garin and Kyle together have so much passion and lust that gets so broken. It’s a joy that they meet again but also a bleeding wound with salt poured on it too.
There’s a lot of triggers in this book so I would say to venture carefully if things like raw torture, sexual assault, physical & mental abuse bother you at all cause it’s filled with it. Marni did an amazing job writing this story, I’m so curious to check out her other reads as this was my first from her.
Wow!! Mind Boggling!!
Twistastic! A dark, gritty game of secrets and lies. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!
As soon as I read this blurb, I had to have this book. It’s classified as dark romance, and I agree wholeheartedly. It’s dark in some instances, but there’s that spark between the two main characters that can’t be denied. Set in “The Heart” of Jersey. Where poverty is common and hustling is par for the course. We meet three friends; whose lives change in a single night. Past and present told from both point of views. 12 years of guilt and secrets come to the surface in a splintering of the mind. A dark secret that could tear Kyle & Garin apart. Yet, all they have is each other, guilt, and lies.
“I was lost in a wind of dark memories and guilt, and it was all thumping inside my chest. His eyes were tearing through me, and I was losing the ability to keep it all hidden.”
So, I’m thinking I got this whole thing figured out. WELL, except the big secret, which is the key to the entire reasoning behind the capture. Come to find out, I knew nothing. But did I?? I was in deep with this tale, scratching my head and reading between every line trying to form a conclusion. I can’t say much because it’s a huge spoiler. There’s little hints thrown in, I’d grab a hold of them, then get sucker punched in believing I was wrong. You’re gonna have it all figured out, then you’re not, then you might think you do, but you won’t. I love a bumpy ride and Marni Mann gave me a golden ticket.
“But that was okay; we all had secrets. It had taken Kyle twelve years to voice hers. Maybe it would take me just as long to tell her mine.”
The story jumps from past and present. Making you fall even more in love with the hero. There’s a pull, a longing born from innocence, you’ll be cheering for the moment they finally merge. You’ll be begging for whatever forgiveness can be given. Not knowing the full story, it’s a mystery to unfold, hoping it won’t break your heart.
“It was a moment I had been waiting for most of my life, and it was finally here. And it was either the start of something monumental that would change me permanently, or it was the terrifying conclusion of our story.”
I feel like this was a unique spin on a captive story. A tad bit of horror added in. (I loved, loved the dark scenes.) But ultimately it was breaking the bars of deceit. If you like dark romance with a twist of mind fuckery, I highly recommend. I absolutely loved this from start to finish. The ending was brilliant, I was smiling from ear to ear, like there was never ending supply chocolate at my feet.
This book is about two childhood friends, Garin and Kyle, who after a horrific incident grow apart. They went from spending every day together to not seeing each other at all. They end up losing all contact and go and live their own lives. However something happens and they find themselves reunited after twelve years.
I had to get my thoughts together after I finished this book. I had so many mixed feelings. The first half of the book was really strong and very intriguing. I loved the flashbacks were we got a great view into Kyle and Garin’s friendship when they were younger. They were each other’s lifelines and they had each other’s backs. It was beautiful to read the type of friendship they had. Even though it goes back and forth between past and present, it was done perfectly and they weren’t very long.
Garin and Kyle are kidnapped during their reunion. I had two theories in mind why they were kidnapped. Towards the second half, I had a pretty good idea what was happening. I didn’t know what to think of it. The book took a whole another direction and I didn’t see it coming. This book is very dark and suspenseful. It had definitely a mindfuck element to it. It also had some very hot sex scenes! Seriously they were on FIRE.
I still don’t know how to feel about it though. There were so many horrific scenes in this book. I was shocked and I couldn’t believe what was happening. When I first finished the book I was pretty angry because I wasn’t happy with the last quarter of the book, however after cooling down I love it. I love how the author was able to extract such extreme emotions from me. I am being vague on purpose because this book is best enjoyed when you go in blind.