We Were One Once by Willow Madison

We Were One Once by Willow Madison

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★★

Overall rating: 5.0

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

*****5 "That is INSANE" Stars*****

Willow Madison is a "new to me" author, and has thrown me right into stalkerville! She's good. She's really, really good!

It's hard to review this story without giving too much away, but I'll try!

"She's obviously crazy. Obviously broken."

Grace has been terribly abused in her past, which has left her with many emotional scars. Her only option was to try and outrun all of it.

She is a very unique character to me, I don't think I've read one quite as screwed up as this poor girl is.

"Breaking a woman is easy once you apply simple mindfuck techniques"

Simon takes women, breaks them, trains them, and sells them. It's who he is and he makes no apologies for it. He has spotted Grace, and he wants her, and in his line of work, he always gets what he wants. He's a hard character to get a read on, one minute he excites me, the next I hate him. But all wrapped up around that box of crazy is someone with a story that I want to learn more about.

Miles... now if you think what I've said here about Grace and Simon is crazy, well, just wait until you meet Miles.

"I have a plan for us, my love. A way that we can be together always. Would you like that?"

Miles is the man left behind, and he wants Grace back. She's elusive but he has the money to find her and bring her home.

And that cliffhanger! Damn! Just. Damn. This book is full of the dark and crazy, and I loved it! I can't wait to read We Were One Once Book 2!

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Distorted Hope by Marissa Honeycutt

Distorted Hope by Marissa Honeycutt

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★
Story: ★
Characters: ★

Overall rating: 1.6

As much as I love Marissa Honeycutt's books, this one was a letdown for me.

I couldn't connect with the characters, Kyra just annoyed me. And if you've been kidnapped by a psycho who works for another psycho, why would you care if they thought you were pretty or not?

"You're gonna be a sex slave." "me? a sex slave? who would want to have sex with me? my body is not attractive!"

Really? *THAT* is what she's worried about? That her body isn't attractive?

It was dialogue such as that that made me want to throw my Kindle across the room, and I'll admit to basically skimming this book from Chapter 9 on. I'd read a few pages and do something else, like read another book, then come back to this one. Thus the reason it took me forever to read.

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Relentless by Bonny Capps

Relentless by Bonny Capps

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★

Overall rating: 4.0

****4 "Walk on the dark side" stars****

The final book in the Killer series by Bonny Capps tells the story of Gabe's grandson, Milo, the last of the Thibault line.

It's been a long journey from Gabe and Amelia to Gabriel and Dani and now to Milo, a.k.a. "M", and Adriana. This book begins twenty-five years after Gabriel ended, twenty-five years after Milo was stolen from Gabriel and Dani.

Milo is deep and dark. He looks like his father, Gabriel, with blonde hair and green eyes and the Thibault gene pool is at it's strongest in Milo. He is a killer with over 900 kills, he's got a lot of blood on his hands and makes no apologies for it.

"She understands my darkness, because now she's such a huge part of it. She's not an angel. She's a devil, just like me. She's the epitome of my affections, and I don't go giving that shit to nobody."

He's happy living his life without the ties of any relationship. Women are meant to be used, abused, fucked, and then just move on. Don't look back, don't get involved. That was his motto.

Until Adriana.

"'I'm your whore...your little kitten,' I whisper."

"I hate to love him, and I love to hate him. Our relationship is a double edged sword."

Adriana works at a club that her father owns called "Beau". She's a dancer and it's not by choice. Her father has total control over her. And he's a totally asshat. He uses her beauty to pull in the customers night after night into the Beau. She has black hair and very pale skin, earning her the nickname, "Living Dead Girl", and once her gray eyes clash with Milo's green ones, it's over for both of them.

Their "non-relationship relationship" is tumultuous at best and it's hard to say too much as I don't want to give anything away. This is one of those "end of series" books that you must experience for yourself to get the full value of the ride.

And the ending... damn, what an ending. I didn't see any of it coming, it actually made me choke up.

Bonny, you did to me again..

But seriously, that was.......

Loved it!

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Dangerous Ties by J.L. Beck

Dangerous Ties by J.L. Beck

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★
Story: ★★★
Characters: ★★★

Overall rating: 3.0

This book had the potential to be so much more than it was. Everything felt so rushed. If the author had turned this into something other than a short story, and took time to develop the characters, it *could* have been so much more.

But instead we have a short story that ends in a major cliffhanger and no release date as of yet for the next book.

The author, on the last page of the book, asks, "Loved it? Hated it?", I didn't hate this book, because I did see the potential in it. But I didn't "love" it either... kind of lukewarm.

"I was a lion on my first hunt, the prey within sight. All I had to do was sink my teeth into her."

I wanted to know more about Grayson, how he came to be where he was and who he was. His story sounds so tortured. The bad boy that would give just about anything to be something more.

When Grayson spots Ellie across a crowded club, he's drawn to her. He doesn't know why, he just is.

He's at the bar when she approaches him. She's decided, on this night, that she's going to be someone else. Just to do something other than work and hide. One (quick) minute later, Grayson taking her out of the club, out the back way.

"I'm going to take you back to my hotel. Fuck you. Then leave you there with the lingering feeling of my cock being inside of you wears off."

But things go horribly wrong, and next thing we know, instead of being the quick night of passion they're both looking for, circumstances put Ellie and Grayson in the position of being captor and captive.

Grayson has to kill Ellie, his own life depends on it. But can he do it? He's never hesitated before, so why is he this time? With her?

"In the end you deal with the cards you were dealt in life. I couldn't change the hand, but I could draw a new card to better my deck."

Secrets come out, lies and truths are told. Will someone die? Will Grayson and Ellie make it out alive? Who are Grayson and Ellie? You'll have to read to find out.

This book could have been more of a 3.5 or 3.75. But it needs a lot of editing work, and bit more character building. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the series. Depends if the author is going to string us along with a bunch of short stories or if she'd going to make an actual novel of Severed Ties.

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The Waning by Christina Bergling

The Waning by Christina Bergling

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★
Story: ★
Characters: ★★

Overall rating: 1.6

Ummm.. okay. What in the hell did I just spend 3 hours of my time reading?

I should have stopped after the first few chapters. The purple prose in this book is so over the top, and annoying, not to mention distracting.

So, instead of writing one of my normal reviews, stating how much I loved, or didn't love, a book, I'm going to simply move on to the next one.

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Snap by Tara Dawn

SNAP by Tara Dawn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★

Overall rating: 4.3

****4 "Crazy As Hell" Stars****

*This book contains scenes of drug use, rape, and brutality. It is intended for readers over 18. Reader discretion is advised.*

Okay I need to...

 

WOW! What a read! What a ride! Tara Dawn is a new to me author, and she can write dark and fucked up with the best of them. The warning above... and on the blurb? Heed it. Because the book has it all. In spades.

Hazel is a single woman who works at Maggie's, a bar/restaurant establishment. She works hard and rarely has any time off. But, she loves her job, and wouldn't trade it for all the days off in the world.

 

She is looking for a relationship, or someone to just spend some time with, and she meets Phil, goes on a few dates and realizes that he's not for her. She tells her best friend, Cady, that she is going to break off the budding relationship and on the forth and, in her mind, final date, things go horribly wrong.

 

She is beaten and raped, and wakes up with the blood, bruises, and scars to prove it, but has barely a memory of it; just snippets of what happened, but she knows it was Phil.

When Phil shows up at her job, and again becomes abusive, in steps Cash, the handsome stranger that was in the bar earlier watching her. Cash is her (dark) Knight in a sexy body armor, and looks delicious.

 

Cash is there for a reason, but we don't really know *what* that reason is. But we know it's not something good. Or is it?

This man is sexy, and even though he isn't there for a relationship, he can't seem to stay away from this damsel in distress. There is an instant connection between them. Like 2 halves of a whole that have finally snapped together, and he feels the need to protect her.

 

Cash knows something has happened to Hazel. Something bad. Something painful. And for some reason, he wants to help heal that pain for her. He wants to replace the bad memories with good ones, even if it's only for one night.

 

But that darkness remains, Phil is watching and lurking around. Cash and her friends Cady and Erick, no matter how much they try to keep her safe, that darkness just leaches it's way into Hazel's life.

 

And then there's the ending. Major cliffhanger. I hate major cliffhangers. Majorly. Hate. Them.

 

But I won't have too long too wait, since TAINT comes out next month (March 2016).

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