Review: Thrilling, dark, erotic romance with suspense and a great twist.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 29, 2013
This book was Impossible to put down! Claudia was a woman with many secrets. Put into foster care after the death of her parents at the age of thirteen, we were bestowed with a bits and pieces of information that hinted at a very dark life at the hands of her stepmother and stepbrother. She hasn't had a relationship since her early college days, she hasn't read for pleasure or followed popular TV shows for years. She carries unimaginable guilt on her shoulders and has hardened her heart to everyone she's ever met. She has no friends, no one who would miss her. Even her colleagues at work don't know much about her except when to expect her at work. Summed up, her life was and still is dull. She was no shrinking violet and had no problem throwing barbed comments back at her captors. Foolish? Perhaps, but I liked seeing her feisty side come out every once in a while. The more time she spent with Sean, the more she learned about him, and what she saw, she liked. Surely a man who had a shelf full of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones and books on carpentry couldn't be all that bad, right? Then she decided to snoop around his room and discovered his  "goody drawer",  and everything changed. I loved that she spent time working things out in her mind. Questions I had while reading this story were either answered or addressed by her.Sean was both hero and anti-hero. He didn't want any harm to come to Claudia, but he also couldn't allow her to leave. Aside from being attracted to her beauty and her courage, he was also drawn to the vulnerability he saw bubble up from time to time. He knew something about pain, anguish and guilt. But that is where the similarities end. He's had a few tastes of the burning passion between them, and he wants more, but he know he shouldn't. It wouldn't be fair to take advantage of her and her situation. Until she finds a secret he meant to keep from her. He has a wild kinky side. Surely a woman like Claudia would never want to be dominated so harshly?Together, Sean and Claudia are the perfect protagonists for this particular story. While she has made it her life to heal and take care of people, Sean is the complete opposite. With him there's anger, pain and danger but also surprisingly moments of absolute tenderness.  This story was about so much more than just a woman who may or may not be suffering from a case of Stockholm Syndrome, and a man who could exploit her vulnerability to satisfy his needs. But when she finds the ultimate release under his domination, all her walls come down. And that, more than anything, scares the crap out of her. I felt her pain and uncertainty between fight or flight, and that one moment with Sean in the park had me close to tears. But the real surprise was the ending - when she finds out the truth about Sean. And that is why I said they were perfect characters for this story. Her history and his present are on a collision course with disaster. In my opinion, that made for some fantastic drama that I can't wait to see carry over into book two.Grab this book if you like a story with some really hot scenes toeing the line of darkness and danger, and a hint of romance. Yes, this story ends on a cliffhanger, but I'm more than willing to wait for their story to continue.