Review: Another great dark read in The Estate series!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2014
*I was given a copy of Hope Restrained for an honest review.Hope Restrained is NOT for the faint of heart. There are no flowery sentiments of affection, deep declarations of commitment, or even regular acts of love. Hope Restrained is a tale of a bleak, ruthless existence of the men who run The Estate. The Estate is a vast criminal network of nefarious activities, including the kidnapping of innocent women. The atrocities committed against women is unspeakable. However, M.S. Willis goes down that dark path with The Estate series. M.S. writing is the acknowledgement of the inhumanity that lives inside us all and the tiny vestiges of love that break through the darkness.Madeline, Abducted, the first book in this series, chronicles the kidnapping and violation of Madeline Clark. She is intended as a “gift” from Joseph Carmichael, the creator of The Estate, to his son Aaron. Aaron is appalled and must fight his fathers depraved ways to save Madeline from her eventual fate, death. Aaron battles against his father with help from his best friend in this bleak existence. Xander Black is Aaron’s right hand man. He will do anything for Aaron, including die for him. When assassin Hope Delacroix breaches The Estate with the intent of executing Aaron, she is unprepared when she meets her match in Xander. Both Hope and Xander have been brought up in criminal families. They’ve seen the worst of the worst. As Xander breaks Hope as a slave, he discovers that the dangers of past Estate victims still lurk. And that he’s found a kindred spirit in Hope.Hope Restrained is definitely a palate cleansing read. From page one you’re thrown into a world you hope doesn’t exist. The main characters are not good people. They kill, rape, and torture one another. It takes a special type of person to see through these extreme flaws and care for someone. M.S. crafts characters and a story that does the unimaginable. You care about these warped people. Writing in the third person, you get every twisted thought coming out of their minds. But you also see their humanity longing to come out. You see their suffering and you want them to survive this experience as better people. That is why I read M.S. Willis’s books. My only issue with Hope Restrained is that I wanted a little more history with Hope and her sister Honor. I didn’t connect with Honor’s character as much as I would have liked. Other than that, I really liked Hope Restrained. The reason I read dark books like this is because I enjoy the contrasting feelings of austere and optimism. This is something M.S. Willis is fantastic at! I give Hope Restrained 4 out of 5 stars!Written by Dee McGee - Booze, Bookz, and Bad Boyz