Trigger Warnings: Graphic violence, mentions of past violence, threats of rape, some sexual assualts
Way too much violence, especially violence toward the heroine, for my taste. Chapters upon chapters of abuse and violence made me almost give this book up at chapter 10. There was also huge amounts of emotional and verbal abuse thrown around. And you can forget about a meet cute - both the heroine and hero meet while being prisoners (although with different roles and privileges). That first sex scene when they were still prisoners had a very quasi-Stockholm Syndrome feeling to it that just turned my stomach. Once the couple escape (separately), there is no emotional journey that leads to growth, just a lot of PTSD that leads to still more darkness.
So the hero finds the heroine after two years and they wed within two days of re-uniting. Right....The whole marriage goes on with both of them lying and deceiving each other and when they find out some of the truths, more abuse! At this point I am seriously skimming, trying to find a redeemable character (thank goodness for Suzanne the maid and Tony the younger brother of the hero). Needless to say, I didn't buy one iota of the couple's HEA.
The writing is overly melodramatic and repetitive (if the heroine bit the inside of her cheek ONE MORE DAMN TIME I was going to throw my NOOK across the room). Also the writing is in desperate need of a better copy editor, as there is more than a few missing words and punctuation. The hero was an asshole and the heroine was a sad, pathetic doormat. 1 star for a great maid and brother-in-law.
10
2