Justice failed, but revenge is sweet… Six years ago, Declan lost his wife and unborn child to a heinous crime, and the man responsible was let off on a technicality. He’s spent six years planning his revenge, and denied the pleasure of destroying the long-dead murderer, he’s turned his attention to the man’s daughter. She’ll pay for her father’s sins, and revenge will be sweet.
After a lifetime of disappointments, Katriona shouldn’t be surprised when the vacation she’s supposedly won ends up making her a captive to Declan, a man she’s never forgotten—a man now determined to claim her and use her in his twisted pursuit of vengeance. Knowing his intentions, it shouldn’t be difficult to fight him, but with his every touch, and every mark he leaves on her as a sign of his possession, she falls deeper under his spell and into the darkness inside her.
Pleasure is nice, but pain is even sweeter, and love is the ultimate agony…
This novel has content some readers might find objectionable. It is a dark romance with dark themes. If that isn’t your preferred reading material, this probably isn’t the book for you. If you like a possessive, deeply (emotionally) scarred alpha male with revenge on his mind and the dark urge to possess his woman in every way possible, spend some time with Declan. He’s pretty sweet deep down…very deep down.
The blurb sums this book up rather perfectly as to plot. An obsessed man kidnaps the daughter of the man that killed his wife and unborn child several years after the incident. Is his obsession hate? Lust? Love? All of the above?
It's a short read that flows & paces well. No boring lulls for sure.
There's a lot of kinkyfuckery in this one. I would guesstimate the book is probably 70% sexual and 30% plot.
The whole kidnap and enslave her as a sexual/ baby making machine is flowered up by him being otherwise "Sweet" & by her having a crush/obsession of her own with him.
There are quite few triggers in this book. So do proceed with caution.
As far as my own personal tastes in dark romance, I had two main issues:
1. I personally didn't care for HOW the initial chapters played out. While her inner dialogue and body respond to him sexually, her actual dialogue is protesting and saying no. It's a rape'esc grey area. I certainly didn't get the impression that he would've abided if she said "No" and he felt she meant it. I dont know?!?! Very iffy line there.
2. The way this was written c/o the dead wife was also off putting. The female MC started out as a replacement for what he lost, a wife and child. The author wanted readers to buy a hearts and flowers HEA, but she didn't make enough effort to turn this around to where the female MC had her own unique place in his life based solely on her own personal being vs. her being "the replacement" and the daughter of the man that took his wife and child. Bottom line... I didn't get enough to buy into the love here
2 1/2 stars. From the blurb I expected to really like this story. There are some people who will l love it and some people who should not read it, I fall somewhere in between. People with triggers (dubious consent, extreme bdsm) should beware of the content.
SPOILERS ********************************
Back story: Declan's wife and unborn daughter were murdered by Kat's father. She was just 16 at the time and her father got off on a technicality. She attended the trial everyday not for her father but for Declan, who she was drawn to. 6 years later she has graduated from college, been accepted on scholarship to art school and won a free island getaway. She arrives to find she is alone on the island with Declan. He intends to keep her and breed her. In his words, he now owns her and this will be his way to revenge himself (her father died in a drunk driving accident not long after the trial). Declan begins his seduction and Kat becomes his willing victim.
This is dark, as the description says. Declan is no Christian Grey who just wants to pinken her skin. He loves seeing her bottom black and blue, biting her all over her body and even the bruises on her neck caused by him choking her during sex. Kat simultaneously embraces their f***ked up relationship (her words) and despises herself for being excited by the things he does to her. Still planning to escape him even as she falls under his spell.
There are some pretty good sex scenes that are very emotional and some that disturbed me, still the main think I couldn't get around was him choking her. All I could think of is how many times that can go wrong and they were alone on this island where medical help would not be available. In addition, there is very little tenderness between them though he is not cruel or a monster. Still, when he describes how he used to fantasize about choking the life out of her it was too much for me. The bdsm didn't really bother me but the breath control and having Kat ask him to do it to her while feeling ashamed and humiliated doing so were turn offs.
So, this book could have been for me, I haven't ever read a book like this before and I don't regret it but ultimately, I'm probably not a good match for this author.
This is a Dark Romance (short) story. Kat's father murders Declan's wife and unborn child and gets dismissed of all charges. 2 weeks later he dies in an accident which throws Kat (who is only 16 at the time) into foster care and robs Declan of his chance at revenge. Flash forward 6 years later and Declan has lured Kat to his private island and has plans to take out his revenge on her instead.
As far as a dark romance is involved this was successful in a lot of ways as Dark Romance is supposed to make you uncomfortable, uneasy, push the boundaries of consent, and make you wonder if you should like it or not cause is just that messed up. This succeeded in the fact it made me very uncomfortable at times. mostly it talks A LOT about him impregnating her. it really just gave me the heeby jeebies because that's definitely a first for me.
The characters for a short story had some pretty messed up histories which added to the story, but I really would have liked more character development and growth and I just didn't get to see that. Neither of them were particularly likable for me, and other than their erotic play, didn't really stand out to me.
The bdsm in this book, is the reason why I gave it four stars instead of maybe a 2 or 3. It really went all out on the toys and the aspects of D/s. Most bdsm erotica follow the same sort of path and rarely stray, this one actually went broader which I really loved.
The things that dampened this book for me however, and really should have earned it a solid 2.5, consisted of 3 things: the Grammer and spelling (really who dropped the ball on that? ), the violence towards a pregnant woman (it's maybe not what you think), and of course the timeline in which the characters "fall in love".
first up, spelling and Grammer. at one point, the author misspelled Declan's name. I groaned and moved on. Some of her sentences were like she wrote something, erased part of it, and rewrote it (I.E. He went he went to the boathouse.) It happened several times and was annoying. Lots of spelling mistakes. It's that kind of attention to detail I like to have in my books.
Point two: violence towards a pregnant woman. Now, I hate violence towards pregnant women in general. I won't watch films that depict it because I not only find it extremely distasteful and unnecessary but apalling. It's one of my bigger pet peeves. In the book it's mentioned a few times that Declan's pregnant wife was raped and murdered. It doesn't really go much into detail about it and it does help fuel the dark tense atmosphere of the book, but I wish the author would have found a different scenario then that one. It's my personal preference, it served it's purpose in the writing, I just don't care for it.
Lastly, the dreaded "I love you" at barely the end of a week. It's not realistic and if anything the characters were in a dark obsession with one another, not love. saving someone's life doesn't constitute as love, strangers save people's lives everyday and you don't hear them whisper I love yous. Having met someone once and then Internet stalk them does not mean you "know them". I can google everything I want to know about Bon Jovi right now, that doesn't mean I know him personally. it bothers me that they barely (and I mean barely) know one another a week and them fall in love. it felt cheap and gross. I would have rather the epilogue be them confessing then the bs I was presented. I get this was a short story and there wasn't much play room but it doesn't take much wording to make time go by. A week is not realistic and you shouldn't expect the readers to view it as such.
All in all it was a good book, the only thing that saved it for me was the kink, otherwise I might have tossed it out.
Declan's wife and unborn daughter have been murdered and the person that committed the crime is set free only to be killed in a drunk driving accident a couple of days later. With no one paying for the crimes committed Declan sets his anger towards Kat, the daughter of his wife's murder. Kat is under the impression that she has won a scholarship to an art school as well as an all expenses paid trip to a private island for a week little does she know that she is being set up and once she is on the private island she will be imprisoned by Declan. I want to say that stockholm syndrome played a part in this story but it really didn't Kat was undeniably attracted to Declan as she watched him at her fathers trial. But it wasn't until he kidnapped her that she faced this fact and in realizing this she also found out some other things about herself that she wasn't happy with.
This was a HOT Dark read. There is nothing gentle about the way he takes her (sexually) over and over again but there is a rainbow at the end of this storm, so enjoy the ride it's a bumpy one.
RE Saxton is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I absolutely loved her Mafia series so when I saw this book I immediately bought it & I'm so glad I did. Kat has just graduated from College, she's an artist. She thinks she's won a trip to an island for a relaxing vacation. When she arrives on the island there is only one other person there. Declan lost his wife & unborn daughter six years ago when Kat's Dad raped & murdered them. Her Dad got off on a technicality & died a few weeks later. Kat hated her Dad & the last time she saw him or Declan was in the courtroom. Declan has turned dark & he's spent the last six years plotting revenge & becoming obsessed with Kat. She is shocked when she arrives on the island & sees Declan & even more shocked when he tells her she's not allowed to leave.
The idea of the book was really really good....I don't know but to me it was lacking that ''je ne sais quoi'' who is making you not leave a book down until you finish it, or maybe I was just bored.... Either way, I didn't like it
I am somewhat familiar with this author and was happy when I was given the chance to read and review this book I liked the plot and story line they were captivating and well written as well as the flow of events as for the characters they were interesting Kat and Declan are great charming characters to read and get to know they each had their issues their strengths their weaknesses it had a lot of anger pain revenge emotions that can enchant and an repulse to what would happen or why did it happen and even how these characters came together this is not a book for those who seek only romance and sweetness if you cant handle the hardness and cruelty of reality then do not read this because it has some sensitive issues and also hot steamy sex bdsm punishments and I would recommend this to everyone great work it helped me learn and accept a few things really charming I liked them both
Six years ago, Katriona's father kidnapped, robbed and killed Declan's wife who was pregnant with their first child. Due to a technicality, her father was released and all charges were dropped for the heinous crime he committed.
Since that day, Declan has become obsessed with owning Kat and making her pay for her father's sins. However once he has her, Declan's feelings change. He still wants to cause Kat pain, but he also wants to cause her pleasure. Kat realizes she should hate Declan for what he's doing to her. But the crush she developed on him years ago has only strengthened and with each touch he makes her feel cherished and safe for the first time in her life.
This was an okay story. It wasn't that dark at all and Declan never caused Kat any real pain at all. She's never even really scared of him. It does have a happy ending.
I really enjoyed this book. It has alot of pain behind it with what Declan has been through. But Kat has also seen her share of pain and is just trying to survive and make her life happy. When Kat is tricked into staying with Declan, sparks and anger fly and it was just off the charts hot. Can you fall for the person you are set on revenge for what her father did and can the other fall for the tyrant who has stolen her? Read to find out!
This book had a great idea and seemed to do well at explaining the feelings, the who's, what's and why's, but the ending felt rushed. The fact that she fell in love in less than two weeks makes the whole story unfathomable. However the dark sex aspect of this book was intriguing and for the most part well described.
I couldn't even really get started. The dynamic between the two main characters was ridiculous. It was like they've known each other for years rather than only spoken once six years ago. It took away from whatever the plot was supposed to be. And the language was ridiculous! Were these people English royalty or something? They sounded ridiculous.
I'm not big on the h being so indecisive. Wish she would not fight him so much or be repulsed and fight hard against him. h slept with him and yet at the end of sex she would freak out that was too much for me. H was crazy but like that he wanted her and control but protect her at the same time
I enjoyed this story it was really good a MUST read. Sexy, sweet, romantic, hot, with a little drama. I do wish it was a little darker that she would have resisted more it was tame but a sexy read
Arc review For honest review. When a hate ,love relationship grows from a past that started with the murder of his wife and unborn child from Kate's father. Declan kidnapped Kat .see how their relationship grows. What a great story a little dark romance but wow great writing.
Wow! Kat and Declan are really interesting characters. They have such a twisted relationship but it works. This is a very erotic story. I got caught up in it. Another hit for R.E. Saxton.
Your right that it's dark novel with happy ending. Really enjoyed reading this book. Declan set out for revenge only to fall for her completely. It was a good read.
This is the first time I have read her books, I really enjoyed her writing, well worth my time and money. If you like reading dark romance I recommend reading this book