If I should die before I wake…Then my soul is Caesar’s to take. He pulls me down, he lifts me up.And then he leaves me in the muck.If I should fall before I fly…Then they know it was the fault of mine. He taught me better, he led the way.I just didn’t know how to stay.And if I should not gain his heart…Fuck that, he made me this way. Curled my thoughts and twisted me. He belongs to me, … Curled my thoughts and twisted me.
He belongs to me, forever.
WARNING: This book is DARK. So dark, I barely found my way writing it. Know this. Understand it. Believe it. It’s one long warning from beginning to end, but the love found between the pages is everlasting. This is NOT a conventional couple, and they don’t come together with rainbows and silver linings. There’s pain. There’s violence. There’s blood. You have been warned. Please … Please, walk away if a filthy dark story isn’t right for you. You will find no softness here. But if you like it so dark the sun won’t make you feel warm again, then you’ve found the right place, and Caesar is waiting.
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5 AH-MAZING STARS!!
I can’t even get into it without spoiling it for y’all. It was delicious, hawt and just what I needed!!
van·quish
[ˈvaNGkwiSH]
1. to conquer or subdue by superior force, as in battle.
2. to defeat in any contest or conflict; be victorious over.
3. to overcome or overpower.
The title is so befitting of this story in more ways than one. Caesar’s desire to conquer Ashlyn, and Ashlyn’s will to overcome her life’s circumstance. Breaking her is part of the game, loving her may be what breaks him.
~ ‘I was the past he tried to run away from, and he was my future I could not stomach, and yet we could not escape the other.’ ~
Caesar is a special kind of asshole. He is wildly destructive, dangerously insane, and a complete raging lunatic. He does some pretty offensive and heinous things, particularly to Ashlyn. His darkness calls to her and her’s relishes in every little demoralizing act he dispenses.
I loved the dark within this story for the shapes that came out of the shadows, and the light that shone through in the way of a black knight wrapped in blood and vengeance slaying demons as he went. I appreciated the struggle and the strength of the characters that were not destroyed by the weight of the tragedy, but were reinforced by not having given in.
~ ‘The man of my dreams. He loved me, hurt me, cared for me, and was darker than my night, so I could know what it was to have the light.’ ~
Vanquished is superbly conceived and meticulously woven. It is depraved and sinister with ample amounts of raw, rough, and angry sexual situations. This is a darker than dark romance and I revelled in it.
Even though the author warns us, this book is definitely a dark romance. It takes dark to levels I did not think possible. I freely admit that I was glued to each page. Ashley is a victim of her circumstances. It all began in her childhood and molded her into a person who craves what scares most of us to even think about. Caesar is a victim as well but you better not tell him that as it will get you killed. It is not surprising that they come together. What is surprising is that I wanted them to embrace their love, even in the dark and sinister way they did so. Just like watching a horror story that you want to close your eyes from but have to see what happens, this book is a page-turner. There is suspense, action, and very dark romance. If violence triggers you, this is not the story for you. It speaks to some very negative aspects of humanity in a way that is not something that makes killing someone, not a bad idea. That is what is scary. The story is captivating, dark, and in a very dark way, romantic.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Vanquished by LeTeisha Newton is a super dark love story. I can not really say romance because I think it was more need of each other rather than a romance. Lots of triggers in this one so I would strongly suggest you know what you are getting into.
Ashlyn and Caesar are both so broken and come from worlds that are completely abusive and just down right evil. Caesar is ruthless, dark, twisted and broken but Ashlyn gets to him without even really meaning to.
Good read!! Super dark!
Texas Hugs and Happy Reading!
“Maybe we were both trapped in the makings of our prisons, ones that didn’t have physical ties but kept us locked away.”
I love dark romances, but two things that bother me a lot with these types of stories are that it’s either incomplete (rushed) or the initial personalities of the characters are unrecognizable after a while. I was really happy that that was NOT the case with Vanquished. I am really picky with my dark romances, and it takes a lot to keep me interested from start until finish. LeTeisha did an incredible job in doing that. It was also unpredictable and I loved the unexpected things that happened, because it kept me on my toes. I was intrigued by both Ashlyn and Caesar. They were both so complicated and knew nothing but evil. I have a thing for villains and Caesar definitely fit the bill. He was ruthless, dark, twisted and broken.
“I didn’t imagine a knight in brilliant golden armor riding in to save the day. No, not me. I saw a black knight, wrapped in blood and vengeance, not promising me life but the easy peace in the end.”
He did some really messed up things to Ashlyn and others. Ashlyn herself had a much worse past than him, and my heart broke for her. I really wanted her to be okay in the end. After all she has been through, she goes through more horrific things in the present. She is completely broken and doesn’t know how to live. What I loved most about this book is that the author stayed true to the characters. She was very consistent and everything fit perfectly together. I also loved seeing the fighter in Ash peeking through at times. Even though she was completely destroyed, there was still something in her holding on to life. Vanquished is a great dark romance and I hate saying goodbye to these characters. I am curious to see how the characters will grow further, so the only thing missing was an epilogue. I have this author on my radar and I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
PS: Ash and Caesar are a very unconventional couple and there are very dark and twisted scenes!
WOW, this book! It torn me apart, ruined me, bruised me and will haunt me. It is dark… that warning is not a lie. It is every nightmare, every pain you can think of, written into a realistic, haunting story; yet it ends in the most satisfying way, with tears in my eyes and my heart full of love, as I had bonded with these characters.
This story has a great balance to it. Just when I though I needed to step awayfrom the darknees, the pain, the author would redeem a character, or give me hope. I wanted to save Ashlyn, I wanted to give her hope, but found myself wanting her to find that for herself.
What made this story so fantastic for me was the realistic nature of the characters reactions to the issues. So many times I read about awful things happening to female characters and they just brush it off like they are inhuman. Not in this story; Ashlyn has to fight to stay sane, to contiune to breathe, to find her hope. If I was in her position, I don’t know if I would have continued to fight.
I have to give major props to this author. She has an amazing talent, and I have become a dedicated fan. If you can handle DARK, read this story, it was amazing!
My top dark book of 2017! Ever read a book that you can’t stop reading even though you know deep in your gut you shouldn’t love it so much? This is that book! Very very dark so much that you almost wish for a little light but you fall in the darkness with these characters they pull you in and won’t let you go. I’m not gonna post any spoilers it’s best to go in with a open mind and only read this if you truly love dark, sick,gritty, hard core stories! Ever since reading this I can’t get the characters out of my head. Ashlyn and Caesar open your mind to a world of pain and darkness that consumes you with every page. Will Caesar make you his pet like he did me? A must read for the dark book fans. If I could give this book 10 stars I would 5/5 stars ****Reviewed for Sweet & Spicy Read provided for a voluntarily Advanced Reader Copy of this book ****
I love dark reads, the darker the better. Vanquished is the first book I’ve read by this author and it definitely won’t be the last. It’s violent and brutal and kept me up until three in the morning unable to put it down until I was finished.
Ashlyn had a horrible childhood. She was forced to do things that I can’t even imagine. Being given to Caesar turns her already messed up life further into darkness. He’s a killer and a crime boss. Caesar is damaged and twisted and I absolutely loved him. He’s protective over Ashlyn with a fierceness even he didn’t understand. Ashlyn was the light to his darkness, yet he was able to bring out the darkness she tried to keep hidden. Her fight for survival, no matter what she endured, proved how strong a person she really was.
This book took me on a roller coaster of emotions. It’s hardcore and some of the events that happen were hard to read. It isn’t your typical love story and I soaked up every word. This is must read for dark story lovers.
First off, this is the first book I have read by this author. What an introduction! So, I read this book and found myself captivated with the story and constantly making my way back to this book as fast as possible, that is, if I absolutely had to put it down in the first place. This book is dark and scary with multiple monsters waiting in the dark to make you feel. I loved the way this was written, it was so well done and the emotional highs and low that I felt along with the characters was nothing short of awesome. If you enjoy a darker side read and have not read this author or book, I would highly recommend this one.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Vanquished is my first book by this author and I must admit I loved every dark, twisted, gritty page. When I read the blurb I thought it couldn’t be that crazy twisted but as I was reading it I realized, yes it is. Wow!! I can’t wait to read more books by this author in the future.
This is a very dark romance. This may have triggers for some. the characters are well written the story line has drama, danger and some very dark scenes.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The cover and the blurb caught my attention with this book. The author does ward readers in the blurb that this is a dark story and she was not kidding. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart and there are numerous possible triggers in this book so please be warned. If this is your genre though you are in for a delightfully dark emotional read that you shall find mesmerizing and impossible to put down once started.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
OMG! Dark and Deep!
“Vanquished” is a very dark creatively written twisted thriller that pulls such a depth of emotion from the reader that it entrenches you in this tale to the last word. This tale takes you through the horrors of an innocent young girl thrown into the world of child porn by her family, to the sinister reality of her present life. The main characters Caesar and Ashlyn are terrifying in their authenticity, depth, and raw sensuality. An excerpt from “Vanquished” sums up this tale, “With terrifying clarity, I saw what we were together. I was the past he tried to run away from, and he was my future I could not stomach, and yet we could not escape the other.” This tale is not for the faint of heart, its dark in the extreme.
I received a free copy of this book. This review was posted voluntarily
I’ll preface this by saying I gravitate toward dark reads and while this is not the darkest I’ve ever read, it does approach my limit. This is the first time I’ve encountered a heroine that doesn’t just want to be erotically tormented, she wants to be physically injured. Not my cup of tea, and I found it very hard to relate to her and the storyline but it may float your boat.
I’m a fan of LeTeisha Newton’s books and it’s well-written, so I’m giving it 4-stars despite not liking the storyline/characterizations.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The level of depravity and sheer deviance is mind boggling. This is straight out the biggest mind screw I have read in forever. I LOVED it. This author drags you down to the darkest depths that you cannot even think you will recover from or see the light.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.