Review: Disturbing but touching
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2014
This book is extremely dark and not exactly erotica. It was very violent and more like a psychological thriller featuring lots of sexual crimes. The characters were strong and the story had me enthralled. As twisted as it was, I read with a morbid fascination. I love dark romances, but I usually steer clear of anything with BDSM because there is nothing that can turn me off quicker than a sadist, and in most stories labeled BDSM, the male lead is a sadist. That can just ruin the whole thing for me, if I can't love the male lead. But this one gets through my filters because the sadists are all portrayed as villains, and the two leads are victims in everything.Lilith Bresson is a famous artist who is commissioned to do a portrait for the rich English heiress, Blaine Albermarle. She is to stay at Blaine's exclusive private resort while she completes the portrait, which at Lilith's usual pace, could be as long as 6 months. But almost as soon as Lilith arrives she finds out that Blaine Albermarle is a completely psychotic sadist. Her "exclusive resort" is a House of Horrors where the rich and powerful come to play out their darkest desires. Blaine tries to force Lilith to participate in the festivities, hoping it will give her some leverage over her, but Lilith refuses. Blaine will not let Lilith leave the island however, and threatens to have Lilith's younger brother killed if she does. So Lilith stays to complete the portrait.Also living at Albermarle House is Finn Strachan, an angelic young man who Blaine has forced to cater to the depravities of her clients for years, with a threat to the lives of his sisters hanging over his head. Almost every night he is strung up, beaten, raped, and who knows what else. All at the whim of Blaine's clients. But now, during the day, Finn has Lilith.Blaine has forbidden Lilith from getting a "free sample" from Finn, but she doesn't stop them from spending time together. They begin to become each other's support, the only refuge in the storm. Lilith will simply check on Finn in the morning, tend to his wounds, keep his mind occupied with conversation or a walk, keep him company in his garden, which was his only refuge before Lilith. She isn't forceful, she is just there for him. Which is surprising considering what type of person she was.Before she arrived at Albermarle House, we see Lilith mouthing off and swearing at everyone she meets. She is not a nice person and she is simply rude and mean. But somehow I still liked her. Under it all she still had principles. I never would have expected her to fall for such a broken man. But Finn is simply a beautiful person, inside and out. He has incredible strength, and is a bit cheeky himself. I don't know how long he had been working for Blaine, but I think it was several years, and he is 24 in the setting of the book. But he was still alive and sane when Lilith found him. If only just barely hanging on to any will to live. Lilith saved him just in time.Most of the explicit content in this book is the violence, not the sex. There is sex, but it only feels more graphic because of its nature. It is mostly non-consensual BDSM, but it is not particularly descriptive. The amount of violence and sadism is shocking, but the actual sexual aspects are not detailed. Even the one scene between Lilith and Finn is short and vague. The violence that is added to the sexual scenes is what makes it feel all the more shocking. This is not a book that will turn you on. At least I hope not.My only complaints about this book are the fact that Blaine's business seemed very sketchy. It is obviously illegal, but I mean it didn't seem to be run that well. How could she have gotten away with these activities for so long? Also, no matter how beautiful, Finn would not have satisfied all the clients. It seems a bit far fetched that practically everyone was attracted to him.This book isn't an epic romance. The romance is slow, but strong. There are no declarations of love, no grand gesture besides risking Blaine's wrath for each other. They never once said the words "I love you", and there was only one consensual sex scene. But I loved their relationship because of their desperation. The need for each other in order to keep going for another day. For the fact that in the end, they were each other's salvation. And I am glad to see that there is a sequel that shows us how Lilith and Finn are doing now. How they are surviving. Although, it probably could have been done in an epilogue.