PJ's Reviews > Tight

** spoiler alert ** 4.5 Stars

Holy Hell! My neck is so stiff and I have a tension headache from clenching my jaw tight over stress from reading this. And it's a great book and I'm so glad it wasn't longer because I couldn't have handled it. I kept checking the slider and hoping it would end soon.

As you can tell from the above, captive romances are not my thing. Maybe, stories where the Hero sweeps the heroine off her feet to a getaway and wines and dines her to win her heart. But not this sort of tragic (view spoiler)['break a girl until she is a shell of herself, then build her back up to be a slave to her Master' (hide spoiler)] love story. It just leaves me a bit squeamish. Though, I KNOW there are some books that carefully brook that line in the genre like Althea Romig's Consequences or C.J. Roberts Captive in the Dark and others which continue to languish on my 'TBR someday when I'm ready' list.

Moreover, I kinda see this as a backlash against some dark romances (view spoiler)[where girls becomes slaves and fall in love with their captor (hide spoiler)]. (I must stress, this is NOT the equivalent of or to be compared to a willing submissive making a consensual choice with her Dom in a D/s relationship.) Maybe I'm wrong, but the author does refer to these books in the story when describing the genre on a character's Kindle. The 'Beauty and the Beast' trope is ubiquitous in romance books. Some, though, draw a darker curtain on the subject. Ultimately, this particular one IS a love story.

One big issue I had, and this is a HUGE FUCKING SPOILER!!! DO NOT read on unless you're okey-dokey with that.

(view spoiler)[If she already suspected bad things in regards to her lover, especially the last time she sees him, then where does her persistent love and trust come from? Why doesn't she seethe with anguish and doubt? Maybe it's her own uncrushable spirit that she fosters that in her lover's image? I believe in her strength. Its just a bit of a conundrum I ponder as I write this review. (hide spoiler)]

Another thing, speaking of SPOILERS: PLEASE avoid reading reviews as there are several twists and it WILL SPOIL the book for you, if you aren't careful. And this is one story where you DO NOT want to know anything! I promise.

The series of After Chapters transition into a satisfying closing with an additional surprise that made me smile.

This is very close to being a 5 Star Favorite. But, again this isn't my romance genre of choice. (I'd develop ulcers.) And, there are a couple of necessary edits: some awkwardly repeating words in the same sentence and a missing negative in one sentence that threw me completely.

Others than that, I highly recommend this as a dark suspense/thriller romance if that's your thing. Meaning, I'm glad I read it, the twists are crazy, BUT, I could go for a long while without reading another book like this. So, this is a strong recommendation then, right? The book is defifinitely UNFORGETTABLE!

Quick note: I end my review on the word "unforgettable" and it's very true. I can't stop thinking about this story. In that sense, that makes it a top pick for 2015.