Review: Shattered.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 28, 2013
Gabriel watches Noelle. He watches her as she sips her coffee, while she works, at home in her kitchen. He watches her. He wants her. He wanted to break her.Noelle is just your average woman. She is a school teacher living with very little in the way of luxury, but that is all about to change when a handsome stranger walks into her life. She is drawn to him, unsure if it is his good looks, that damning smile or some other unseen thing that pulls her to him. But she gives in.The attraction is instant, but Gabriel is holding back. He must confess some dark secrets before he can move forward with her. Noelle is suddenly thrown into a relationship with a man that is the anonymous lead singer of Darkness Falls and man that has a deep need to control. She has never had much experience with sex. But Gabriel is bound to push her to the edge of her limits to expose her to the darkest parts of her mind.As she is opened up to his lifestyle, a place where the lines are blurred between pain, pleasure, reward and punishment - she see's that this man seeking such control is horribly broken. As he confesses his darkest secrets, she knows he is utterly broken. Damaged. Fixing him might be impossible, he may not want to be fixed but she wants to find a way to save this man. Give him the forgiveness, absolution, redemption he needs"My soul was nothing but an ink stain of consequence.You made me Canute, the foolish man,Trying to turn back the rolling tide of your dark.And I drowned.I drowned.But I drown no more.For she walks with me on the razor's edgeWhere love has blurred the difference between right and wrong.She is the last bastion against the rolling dark,The prophet to your blooded sea.I am no longer your boy king.I am the gatekeeper, I AM the gateAnd. as long as she holds the keys to my soul,I will drown no more.I will drown no more."To say that this was just a glimpse into a dark place is an understatement. A man who is seeking control of others because he had no control over what happened to him. A man seeking peace for himself by giving his demons to someone else to carry. He will break her to save himself. He will find his salvation by finding the one person who breaking will be his damnation.To say this book destroyed me is an understatement. This was not expected - this shattered me with one knock on a door. With three words written on the top of a page. A statement. A truth. Three words that brought me to my knees.This book dives into the dark world of BDSM when a man uses this as a coping mechanism for his own pain rather than for a place to find pleasure. He will use and abuse his control - her willingness to please him.This story will rock you and haunt you. This left me feeling a tightness in my throat and even after hours of trying to sort out my own emotions I am still broken. I knew this had a twist that was going to be difficult to take, I had no idea what that was going to be, but even in trying to prepare myself by not becoming too attached to Gabriel and Noelle - I couldn't help it. He draws you in. They are captivating when it is just them, the banter, the love, the light - even in the dark places you are drawn to them. But you just can't help but let them in...so when it happens, you have no escape.Ivory Quinn wrote a wonderful story that will enchant you and break you.