***
It is recommended to read after Deliver, but it can be read as a stand-alone. Warning: Graphic sex and violence. Age 18+ only.
***Her life is like a prison cell.
A self-made, to-hell-with-the-free-world existence that locks from the inside.Stop judging. Her agoraphobia doesn’t define her. It simply keeps her safe.He belongs in a prison cell.The 6×8, make-me-your-b*tch variety that locks from … only.
Stop judging. Her agoraphobia doesn’t define her. It simply keeps her safe.
He belongs in a prison cell.
The 6×8, make-me-your-b*tch variety that locks from the outside.
But he’s free. To hunt. To take. To break.
And he just found a sexy new toy.
Capturing her is the easy part. Her f*cked-up mind, however, makes him question everything he does next.
But he’s a determined bastard. If all goes his way, this will hurt like hell.
more
If you never thought you could feel anything other than loathing or pity for Van Quiso, you obviously haven’t read Vanquish yet. I will admit Deliver gave me a picture of all I needed to know about this deeply f*cked up individual. Or so I thought…The only pity I felt towards Van was when he was shot trying to make amends in Deliver. But Vanquish, oh boy, Vanquish will have you run the entire gamut of emotions.
Vanquish will have you hating, despising, confused, and even dare I say it…liking. You might even stray as far as admiring, appreciating, or gasp…falling for Van.
It might be Stockholm Syndrome or it might even be genuine affection- the only way you will know is picking it up and reading the world through the devil’s eyes.
Vanquish is a great story and a wild ride but you MUST have read Deliver to even understand an inkling of what is going on. It is not a stand alone. It is however a stand out. Of all the books you read this year, I guarantee you will have a hard time forgetting it. If you are like me you will carve the rest in the series too.
reviewed for Sweet Spot Sisterhood
Damn,this one blew my mind! Just when i thought i had Van figured out,he shows a depth,a heart,that i didn’t expect from him. When he stumbles across Amber in his stalking of Liv,she captures his attention. And soon enough,he can only think of her…..in his house,under his control. She’s even more fucked up than he is and peeling back her layers,he starts caring…. But is he strong enough,and is she strong enough,to deal with what fucked them up? I even grew to like Van!
Ohhhh goodness anyone that reads my reviews knows that I love a good dark messed up read. This is one of those, in the first book I didn’t really like Van but in this book he shows he can love. It may be a messed up how he came about this love but damn I’m so happy for him. Amber was a strong messed up person but I loved her. She was just what Van needed as much as Van was just what she needed. All together a dark, messed up, wonderful book !!!! I was given this book as an ARC!!!! YAY ME!!!! Thank you Pam Godwin for letting me read and continue this journey !!!
This is Van’s story and it was…unexpected.
Left for dead at the end of Deliver, he’s back, and a year later, we finally get to meet the real Van Quiso. I honestly didn’t hold out much hope that Pam Godwin could in any way redeem the harsh and twisted antihero, but I confess I closed my kindle happy that his demons were ‘vanquished’.
A puppet, used in a cog of a human trafficking ring, Van is cruel and unfeeling, and after a year, still obsessed with Liv, I won’t address that reference because you must read Deliver first, but Liv has something that Van wants, and he’s determined to make her believe he’s worthy enough to have it.
A surprise encounter with Amber and suddenly his path is clear, but is it? Amber is more broken than Van, but together….hmmm. Well, like I said, unexpected.
I’ve never encountered, or had to deal with anyone who’s struggled with our MC’s issues, but kudos to the author for the amount of research needed to even tell the stories in this series. After reading Deliver (book 1) I was reluctant to go straight into Vanquish, because Deliver was so difficult to read at times, but to anyone reading my review, do it, read Vanquish immediately after Deliver, I’m delighted to finally have Van’s backstory and even happier to release all that pent up anger I was harboring for him! If you’re not a Pam Godwin fan this series will change that, I highly recommend you take this journey with her!
Pam Goodwin writes like no one else! This book was all that and more…if I could share with you a quote from Vanquish that will stay with me forever it comes from Van speaking… “Darling, my hands and your a$$ are meant to be together. Don’t f**k with destiny.” This is my kind of man here! Pick up your copy today!!!
Vanquish is book two in the series following Van who I grew to adore after reading his story. There was hints and foreshadowing in the way his character and personality is in book one that he tugged on my heart strings.
Again PLEASE LOOK AT THE TW, Van as in book one has an obsession with Liv, though he’s had to learn to be without her after the events in the first book. However while his habits HAVENT changed, he is outside Liv’s house always watching until he comes across Amber. Liv’s neighbor who’s also the damaged girl next door. Both souls are damaged and in a toxic way they heal each other in a way that frees them of there past. Amber didn’t know she was also healing him in a way and did it almost subconsciously
If you’d asked me if I’d ever love a book about human trafficking, I’d have said hard no–I tried hard enough with Pepper Winters and Anna Zaires.
If you’d asked me if I’d ever go for a dark romance with sex torture where the woman was the torturer, I’d have said no. Then good old Pam went and proved me wrong with Deliver, and I figured I was a Pam fan and a convert for life–then this book happened.
Van Quiso, (a name I never got past because in my head his name was Queso and then he was just Van Cheese) was so twisted in the first book that I was really curious to see HOW IN GOD’S NAME Pam would turn around this crazy stalker guy with a doll fetish.
I’m not sure she managed it for me. Don’t get me wrong, Pam Godwin is an incredibly talented writer. She spins a good yarn and I love her way with words, but something about this particular story left me on edge enough that I didn’t have any interest in continuing to read on in the series. I really liked the FMC. She had a lot of issues. Agoraphobia, body image, OCD, vaginal shame, you name it, and Pam handled it with a confidence and sensitivity and honesty that felt extremely authentic to me.
She actually also managed to make me okay with kidnapping because honestly, Amber needed to be kidnapped. She’d carved out a corner of the world and declared it her cave and she wasn’t going to leave it. She paced her house, and sexed up the delivery guy so she didn’t have to walk outside, and she spent her days miserable and alone, cleaning and exercising and starving herself. She needed the power to overcontrol taken away from her so that she could actually live. Some of my favorite scenes involved Van literally dumping cheerios on the ground and having sex with her in the mess because it felt like it was actually what she needed.
As I’m writing this I’m thinking oh, no, make it a 5 star. So now I need to think about what didn’t work for me. The doll thing. The friends with Liv thing. I didn’t really want to go back and deal with Liv. It felt like she should be left in his past so he could move on.
I think that’s the part that didn’t land for me–I believed that Amber needed Van, I’m not sure I ever believed that Van needed Amber or that he didn’t still have a thing for Liv.
Let me start off by stating that although Vanquish is a standalone book, it will genuinely help you to fully understand and appreciate Van if you have read Deliver first.
I knew at the ending of Deliver when Van gave Liv that money that there was another side to him. In Vanquish we discover not only how really great he is, but we also learn a lot about his childhood which explains so much about his personality and actions. Van had an extremely unfair and terrible past. His mother was a drug using prostitute whom he loved but was never shown those feelings in return. His story is really sad and heartbreaking.
Vanquish starts out with Van’s POV of the shooting incident with Liv. Fast forward a year and we have Van sneaking around and trying to figure out a way to connect with Liv in order to see Livana. By accident and luck, he stumbles upon Amber and is immediately drawn to her beauty and intrigued by her actions. It doesn’t take him long to discover some of her issues. She’s severely OCD and also suffers from agoraphobia among other things. He wants Amber. She helps ease his mind from his desire to get Liv back, but more importantly, what could be better than making her his when she’s afraid to leave and go outside. What begins as him planning to train Amber to be his submissive and reliant upon him, becomes more. He wants to help her and realizes he has feelings for her he didn’t expect.
Amber can’t understand how her body wants the man who’s taken her. But one minute he pushes all her limits, and the next he hugs and holds her. Amber knows Van has secrets. She knows he has done some terrible things and that unforgivable acts have happened to him throughout his life. However, more importantly she knows he has a goodness inside. For the first time that she can remember, she’s with someone who makes her feel wanted and cherished.
Van and Amber could not have been more perfect for each other. Her issues are crazy and Van is so funny sometimes with his responses. He is that take me or leave me kind of man who says what he feels when he feels it. They are both broken individuals, but together they’re whole. Being able to see this side of Van was such a gift.
This is a story of acceptance and forgiveness. It’s one of hope and healing. It’s one of believing in yourself and not giving up. But best of all, it’s one of happy endings. I loved it.
4.5 stars!!
I wasn’t sure that i would like Van’s book because I hated him but of course Pam Godwin is magic and she has the power to me love an unlikeable character. I really enjoyed this love story with Amber. Amber was such an awesome character and seeing her overcome her demons was so great. I can’t wait for book 3!
The author has turned a gritty subject into a wonderful story. Couldn’t wait to read the next book in the series. Such tragic characters you can’t help falling for.
I absolutely loved this book. This is 2nd one I’ve read of Pam and new to her. So glad I did
Absolutely LOVED Vanquish and LOVE Van Quiso. Van certaintly redeemed himself in this book and I couldn’t help but fall helplessly in love with him as much as Amber did. Although not quiet as dark as some of the others I have read but Pam Godwin made me feel Amber’s fears and pain as she struggled with the agoraphobia.
Vanquish is a dark romance story, it is the second book of the Deliver series. You will love this gripping of a book much more than the first!!
Van is someone you despise in the first book due to his sex trafficking, rape and obsessive ways.
In this book you will love him so much more, I love how Pam has written his character, which he hasn’t changed of his obsessive , stalking and controlling ways. I really loved reading his POV as you get to see more of his crazy mind and understand him much more.
The stalking leads him to someone who is easily taken advantage of, a women with agoraphobia, eating disorder and OCD. He takes her vulnerability to his power to get what he wants..
This book will keep you turning pages with the endless emotional, psychological ride!! Going inside Amber’s fears which is in her mind and Vans fear which is ‘certain’ things he wants in reality.
I recommend this book to those who love dark romance, redemption and characters with obsessive personality .
Vanquish, by Pam Godwin. Hold on to your hats you Pam Godwin faithful readers. Reading this book had me on a emotional, high octane roller coaster ride. Pam pushed her imagination beyond the unthinkable limits. She really showed her readers that she can give them a story plot complete with so much emotional, rage and dominance.
I really had to connect myself with the characters. To be able sympathize with what they are going through. As I read about Amber and her character, Pam shared Amber’s background story that is very tragic. I had to get on that emotional level with Amber while reading the story. Reading about amber’s Agoraphobia was definitely a challenge.
For the characters and me. In comes Van by mistake. He’s coming down from finding out Mr. E is his father, having a daughter and Lavina shooting him. Van had some raging issues as well. He stumbles pass Amber.
He witnesses her Agoraphobia and anxiety attacks. Van suddenly feels this overwhelming sensation that he must protect her. He needs to break her and maker her his slave. But after all what has happened with Lavina and Mr. E, Van made the decision to leave the family business, right? The writing of this saga just pulls on all the rage.
The anger. The confidence level from a human being. The feelings of needing to be loved. Wanting to be a submissive really explodes in this family drama. Can Amber overcome her Agoraphobia without the help of medication or her doctor?
What must Van except and give up to be in his daughters life as he waits to hear his name, daddy? WARNING. This book has some major trigger warnings. voluntary reviewed this ARC after receiving a free gifted copy.
Vanquish is book #2 in the Deliver series so book #1 Deliver needs to be read first! While reading Deliver I absolutely hated Van and even at the beginning of this book I still was not a fan so I wasn’t sure how he could possibly redeem himself to insure he was the villain that we will love. Hold on to your shorts because Pam definitely will sway your decision on hating Van! He doesn’t lose any of his bad boy persona but he does redeem himself and is the absolute perfect match for Amber. They both have their quirks and reservations but Pam shows how talented she is by turning her readers from hating Van to cheering him on!!
I love these characters. I felt her pain. The dark and grittiness of her stories catch me by the throat!
Vanquish is the second book in the Deliver series and honestly, I found it even better than the first book! The main characters have their problems and are messed up but are beautiful at the same time. I just love Van. Simple as that really.
This story takes a year after the events of Deliver where Van is living up to his stalker tendencies. He is such a great brooding anti-hero!
Amber also has a past she would rather forget, but her Agoraphobia isn’t going to let that happen anytime soon! The two of them are broken by pain yet are able to heal together and it is just pure magic to read; you feel as if you are there watching the story unfold. The chemistry between the two of them is fire!
Pam Godwin is truly a genius who draws you in to this dark world and although this series is relatively dark, it may potentially trigger you. But although this was a dark-ish read, it was also beautiful.
This series really does just keep improving and I can’t wait to continue reading the rest!
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Our hero Van is definitely the man you love to hate or hate to love. He’s creepy, scary and brutal but he also shows some loving tenderness in a messed up Van sort of way … lol. The heroine is a bit messed up herself. Put them together and they really did make a great couple. What started out as Van being his evil Van self turned out to be amazing for them both. They both helped each other (to an extent) with there deep underlying issues and really made each other happy. Awesome read!!
This was an ABSOLUTELY amazing read!
Seeing another side to Van, learning about his past & seeing him change made this book perfect!
I loved that Amber & Van both had so many struggles but those struggles made them perfect for each other!!
Pam Godwin is a master of dark romance!! You are seriously missing out if you haven’t started this series!!
Oh Van. Where do I even begin with you? I was drawn to you in the first book but I didn’t know why. You were a terrible person with very little redeeming qualities. Maybe it was the very few moment of tenderness you showed toward Liv. Maybe it was your level of broken that called out to me. Either way, Vanquish made me absolutely fall in love with you. Sure the beginning was rough and yes there are huge red flags when it comes to some non consensual scenes and some physical abuse. But we got passed it, and we finally got to see who you really are and it was beautiful.
The way Van constantly helps Amber with her mental illnesses, self confidence, self image, and phobias spoke to me on a real deep level. I could literally feel what Amber was feeling during her panic attacks as I’ve had quite a few of them myself. It made relating to Amber so easy for me. Godwin has such an amazing writing style. I felt all of the emotions and I just love these two as a couple.
Overall rating 5 stars
Steaminess 4 stars
*side note-I just realized I had posted this review and some others on my insta but never here so I’m finally getting my butt into gear.