Review: Can't Get Enough of This Dark Series!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 1, 2014
Boy oh boy, you think you have seen it all in Madeleine Abducted and then in Joseph Fallen, but The Estate is a monster that just keeps growing.  While Madeline Abducted set the frame work for The Estate series, Joseph Fallen gives us the background and Hope Restrained catches us up with the goings on at The Estate now.  This review will contain spoilers of both above mentioned books, so go read them and come back.Aaron and Maddy are now taking over The Estate after Joseph's demise (which was fantastic by the way), with Xander and Jason by their sides.  The Estate is a huge organization, so there are still some rogue members following the ways of Joseph, not appreciating Aaron taking all of their fun away. Caught in the middle of this war within The Estate are Hope and Honor Delacroix, Hope on the outside and unfortunately Honor on the inside.Hope Delacroix was raised from a child to be a killer, her instincts rival that of the executioner himself, so therefore she is selected to take out Aaron Carmichael. Hope knows she will not be able to just knock on the door of The Estate and be let in, so she also has to be on the inside to get to Aaron.  Needless to say, Aaron and Xander are as tight as two brothers that aren't brothers can be, Xander has Aaron's back and Hope is caught.Now that she is inside the mansion, Aaron has made her Xander's problem, they need to know who sent her and why, using whatever needs necessary to get the information.  Aaron and Xander were raised in the mansion, so it is no surprise when Xander resorts to what he does to get Hope to break.  Plus he also finds himself drawn to the warrior inside her, there is something she needs, yet doesn't know, because all she knows is death.  Hope has nothing but dark in her life, her sister is the light, and in her mind deserves to be the one to live.Xander and Hope go back and forth about giving or not giving information.  Xander is finding out she is one tough cookie and things would be easier if she would just see they are on the same side.  Hope is nothing but a warrior, doing whatever she has to do to survive as she was trained.  However Xander finds her one weakness and plays on it until Hope realizes if she ever wants to see her sister again, she needs him to do it.While Aaron Carmichael is the executioner, Xander is the light. Aaron lives for the kill as well as Hope, it is what they were trained to be.  Until this book we really didn't see how much Xander does for Aaron's mindset, keeping him from turning into the only father he ever knew.  Hope has the same darkness as Aaron, and it just so happens that Xander can be her light as well.  This was my favorite quote from Xander to Hope about her darkness:His smile was barely visible in the low light of the space. “No, my tortured beauty, I won’t let that happen. If she is gone, then I will just have to hold on to you and Aaron both.”The book is as dark and gritty as the other two, as members of The Estate is still dealing with abusing women.  I worry about Aaron in parts of this book, he tends to go a bit Joseph on people, but with Xander round hopefully that never happens.  Unfortunately, The Estate is still standing, but with new members seeking vengeance to help see it and what it represents burn to the ground.  This has quickly become one of my favorite dark series, each book giving us more and more inside to the workings of the mansion from hell.