My body belonged to me once. Not anymore.He planned this before I even knew his name. He made the life I’ve always known vanish as if it never existed, and now I’m his helpless captive, forced to play my part in his sadistic fantasy.It could have been a fairytale… A wealthy, handsome Duke sweeps a poor orphan girl from America off her feet and brings her to a beautiful estate hidden away in the … estate hidden away in the English countryside.
But this isn’t the Victorian era, and I’m not Richard Payne’s bride or his guest. I’m his prisoner.
I know it is all a sick, twisted game. But what I know doesn’t matter. My delusions will be cured by pain and punishment and nothing will stop him from using me as shamefully as he pleases.
I’m his ward now. Perhaps one day soon he’ll have made me forget I was ever anything else…
Publisher’s Note: Ward includes spankings, rough sexual scenes, intense and humiliating punishments, and strong D/s themes. If such material offends you, please don’t buy this book.
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The mind of Zoe Blake is absolute genius!
A mad and twisted billionaire, Richard, basically kidnapped a young actress.
The things poor Elizabeth endured will boggle the mind.
This is a wicked page turner that will leave you wanting more.
I am truly honored to be on this amazing ladies ARC Team.
I love really dark, twisted, cringy, creepy romance. But this book may have topped them all and made me a fan of Zoe Blake. Richard is obsessed with Elizabeth, but the lengths that he goes through to process her is unfathomable. He creates an entire world set in the Victorian era complete with manor house, servants, horse drawn transportation, and an asylum with doctors and nurses. This is one intense crazy read that will leave t you as unsettled as Lizzy.
I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving my honest review.
WOW!!!! WTF did I just read??!?!? OMG!!! My mind is utterly blown!!! Ward by Zoe Blake has left me reeling!!! Dark and twisted, disturbing, yet I couldn’t stop reading. I was held captive just as Lizzie was.
Fantastic storyline that escalates and spins out of control quickly. The whole time I was reading I couldn’t stop. It was utter madness, and I devoured the sick and twisted story word by word. No other author tells the sick and depraved quite like Zoe Blake. I can’t wait to see where this story takes us next!!
** Before you go ANY further I feel I must warn you, this book is extremely intense with very dark themes, ducon situations, BDSM moments that ride the knife’s edge between pleasure and pain. Don’t read it if any of that may offend you or say I didn’t warn you (cuz I did ) **
Still with me, okay. Now for the good stuff. Let me tell you, this story blew me away with the whole plot of it all. I kept thinking “How did her wickedly dark mind come up with this?” I am still boggled by it. How about a little insight to it?
Elizabeth is cast as the lead in a Victorian play in London funded by Richard, a Duke. Or is she really the ward off the Duke in the Victorian 1800s and she is really having a mental breakdown? Or is the Duke concocting an elaborate ruse to break Elizabeth’s mind and turn her into his perfect little Victorian doll????
It’s such a dark and twisted story. There are parts that made me writh in my seat with the kinkiness of it. It is truly a story that has you feeling like you fell down the rabbit hole with the character. It’s not for the faint of heart and there is not HEA here. There is just Obsession.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Zoe Blake brings a dark fantasy to life! Through her richly developed characters and their situations, the reader is both repelled and intrigued to follow the story until the end. A wonderfully written and horrifyingly captivating read!
Oh my “Lord”!!
Ummmm, holy cr*p!!! Mind blowing, intense, twisted, raw, carnal, sadistic, controling and manipulative Richard will do anything to keep his “Elizabeth” in his ideal time and “world”. Swinging between realities and sanity which world will win? Be prepared!
Oh. My. God! This is was my first time I read a book of Zoe Blake,and it don’t be the last.
This book is definitely dark and twisted, with a definite hint of cruelty and mind games.I don’t know if to call it love or just pure madness on what Richard feels for Elizabeth.This book will have you turning page after page like madness just to read it and see if Elizabeth breaks.
I fall in love with Elizabeth with all her strength as she fights to determine what is real and what isn’t .
If you love dark romance this book was amazing adventure and craziness. I enjoy to read this book so much.thank you zoe.
OMG! what the hell did i just read? this was the most awesome mind bending story i have ever read. it left me not knowing what to think other then that Lizzie is one hell of a strong woman to live thru this repeatedly her mind shattering again and again only to find herself again. i cant say that if i was put in that situation i would know up from down or right from left. i think i would have just thrown in the towel long ago and just rolled with it. this book has left me with so many questions….I hope Zoe Blake revisits this world and this couple again and we hear more about it, and maybe some of my questions will be answered.
if you love unique, and truly mind bending books with many twists and turns that you won’t see coming i highly suggest you drop everything and go get this book! fall in hate/love with Richard in all his arrogant, commanding, and dominate ways. fall in love with Lizzie in all her strength and confusion as she fights to determine what is real and what isn’t and most importantly of all finding and remembering herself.
*arc generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
This is my first Zoe Blake read. It was a complete page-turner! The concept of this book was mind-blowing. Some people really have too much money. I don’t recall how exactly the male protagonist earned his money (I’M SICK RN, FLU), but to be honest it seemed hypocritical of his to denounce the modern world like that, as the modern ways probably helped him earn his billions! He was a solid antagonist, challenging the female protagonist HARDCORE. She didn’t sit there and take it either. As far as dark reads go, this is scorching dark. I enjoyed (wrong word choice LOL) the original ideas that were presented in the book, putting all of this effort to resemble the Victorian age and all. Additionally, although I didn’t like Richard (100% on Lizzie’s side), I found it funny how he explained why he did what he did and how he wasn’t impressed with how other bad guys did bad stuff. If you like super dark BDSM novels with an original twist to them, THIS IS FOR YOU.
This is a deliciously dark and twisted romance read that pushes the envelope with Obsession. It has all the kinks and heat but with the added psychological mind games and brutal punishments on top of it. This will keep you glued to your seat to find out what happens to Elizabeth. Will she break under Richard’s twisted love or break free. It’s a unique and undeniably dark romance read that is soo good!! Hang on tight for quite the ride.
My Rating: 4.5 stars *******
Just WOW and holy mother of god this had my head spinning at the madness that is Richard who is either obsessed or in love who knows he goes above and beyond all that is normal. What s true and what’s real in Elizabeths poor existence but I have to say she is one strong lady and needs a little break. I have never read anything like this and I read alot this story captures your attention and doesn’t let go written beautifully. Just prepare yourself for one sadistic obsessed clever man who can have anything he wants.
Delicious shivers await… I thought I knew what to expect from this author, but she demolished those expectations and set a new bar for for mind-bending darkness. This story is raw, it’s twisted, it’s addictive in how it carries the reader deeper into the abyss as each chapter unfolds. I couldn’t put it down and almost felt like I needed a mind scrub to return to reality. And in the end, isn’t that what we crave in our reading? If you can handle the dark, don’t miss this masterpiece.
Zoe Blake is a wonderfully evil, seductive, salacious writer. She takes my mind and my emotions to places I have never been before, and makes me crave it!
After the death of her parents, twenty-two year old Lizzie decides to move to London to earn a degree in costume design. While she is there, she is chosen as the lead actress in a Victorian Play produced by businessman Richard Payne. He is exceptionally mesmerized by her. She feels uncomfortable, overwhelmed and highly attracted to him.
At the conclusion of the play, during the cast party, something happens and Lizzie wakes in an Insane Asylum in Victorian Times. Duke Richard Payne is now her guardian, and he is determined to conduct himself as such. When she losses her temper or fights his authority, her punishments are immediate, painful and full of seductive dark pleasures. Because of elaborate planning, will Richard be able to convince Elizabeth that her previous life was a dream and her life as his ward the reality? Are you sure?
This is a fantastic dark read with a twist! What happens when a sadistic multi-billionaire becomes obsessed with a young actress? Richard has all the means in the world to have just about anything he wants, and his current want is Lizzie. Ms Blake has carefully created an elaborate & authentic world for Richard and Elizabeth to inhabit, set in 1895, Victorian times. Richard tries to make Lizzie happy by giving her what she wants. Her lack of gratitude sets off his sadistic streak, and punishments could take place in the Asylum. There are so many things I loved about this book: the details of their 1895 world, how Elizabeth’s personality & circumstances fit the story, the few chapter’s from Richard’s POV-enough to give a bit of insight but not enough to spoil the story. I think this was a brilliantly written piece of work which readers of the dark (not dark romance) will enjoy.
I received a copy of this book. My honest opinion is voluntarily provided.
THAT ENDING!!!!!!
Zoe Blake once again through me for a mind fuck I never saw coming…but really, i should know better!
Lizzie always wanted to be an actress. Wear the beautiful clothes and escape into another world.
Well holy crap, did she ever hit the jackpot!
Richard is hot yet creepy…those two things really shouldn’t even be in the same sentence but with him, it fits.
I have now spent the entire morning DEVOURING this book, I guess I need to go join the real world now…but I need to recuperate after this book!
How twisted can one person get?!
Well, let me tell you how, this is how!
Obsessive madness disguised as love. Cruel mind games, that will send you into a tailspin.
A brilliantly depraved kind of ownership.
This will grab you and not let you go until the end.
And even then… !
Ward by Zoe Blake
Well this isn’t a read for the faint hearted, complete with a devilishly twisted, depraved and mind shattering storyline.
Lizzie is wrenched from her life as she knows it and taken on the most intense, confusing and utterly unbelievable new life path. Unable to discern the truth from the lies, she is torn and shattered, making her the perfect project for Richard.
Richard is obsessed and obscenely wealthy, with a very unique taste in all things. Lizzie is the object of his greatest desire and he’ll go to any and all lengths to make her his.
A gripping, fast paced and spine tinglingly dark read.
Holy darkness of darkness. What a mind trip! My head is still spinning from the depths of twists and turns this story takes you on. What’s real? What’s truth? What are deceits and facades? Is anything real? Was it all the truth? Was it love or just a deep dark infactuated obsession?