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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Why do I keep reading these books which leave me conflicted? I should really learn from my experience.
I will be honest first of all and say I actually enjoyed this read. I thought Briar needed a bit of a backbone at times but she was brave and intelligent and was easy to like in her situation. I liked her romance with Lucas they seemed to bring out the best in one another and they certainly sparked off of the page for me.
Lucas was the stereotypical bad boy with the heart of gold. Except he wasn't a badass biker or misunderstood guy from the wrong side of the tracks. He was a bit of a criminal (and when I say a bit I mean mega criminal) and so I spent a lot of time not liking him. I totally predicted the reveal about him later on in the book and I did roll me eyes a little bit I did enjoy seeing him be conflicted about Briar the entire time until he manned up and said how he felt.
Now this is spoilery but I'm going to be hoe St, this book screamed Stockholm syndrome to me. I mean she got kidnapped and held captive by a guy who bought her at auction. I didn't get how this romance would work. It certainly involves some suspension of disbelief but when you do you get sucked into this angry romance. The power indifference even without the Captive issues did make me a little uncomfortable with the romance because Briar had to be the one to choose the romance otherwise it would have been icky but then you question her motives because of he mentioned SS. I spent a lot of time considering how I felt about captor/captive romance reading this which only made me think of The Captive Prince series.
In the end, I enjoyed this romance on a superficial enjoyable read level but recognise there are whole heaps of issues many will immediately hate. For some reason reading this kind of romance in a fantasy setting it far easier to enjoy as its removed from reality but put it in a contemporary setting and I enjoyed it but felt conflicted over it.
I will be honest first of all and say I actually enjoyed this read. I thought Briar needed a bit of a backbone at times but she was brave and intelligent and was easy to like in her situation. I liked her romance with Lucas they seemed to bring out the best in one another and they certainly sparked off of the page for me.
Lucas was the stereotypical bad boy with the heart of gold. Except he wasn't a badass biker or misunderstood guy from the wrong side of the tracks. He was a bit of a criminal (and when I say a bit I mean mega criminal) and so I spent a lot of time not liking him. I totally predicted the reveal about him later on in the book and I did roll me eyes a little bit I did enjoy seeing him be conflicted about Briar the entire time until he manned up and said how he felt.
Now this is spoilery but I'm going to be hoe St, this book screamed Stockholm syndrome to me. I mean she got kidnapped and held captive by a guy who bought her at auction. I didn't get how this romance would work. It certainly involves some suspension of disbelief but when you do you get sucked into this angry romance. The power indifference even without the Captive issues did make me a little uncomfortable with the romance because Briar had to be the one to choose the romance otherwise it would have been icky but then you question her motives because of he mentioned SS. I spent a lot of time considering how I felt about captor/captive romance reading this which only made me think of The Captive Prince series.
In the end, I enjoyed this romance on a superficial enjoyable read level but recognise there are whole heaps of issues many will immediately hate. For some reason reading this kind of romance in a fantasy setting it far easier to enjoy as its removed from reality but put it in a contemporary setting and I enjoyed it but felt conflicted over it.
Although this book is written well and the author has her signature angst and drama I just can't get behind the blatant romanticizing of sex and human trafficking. The author redeems that later in the story and it ties in with the ending but I wish she would have gone another route for the story. That is why I give this 2 stars.
Sex rings and human trafficking are not cute and the victims rarely get a happy ending. I know this is fiction but there are real victims and real stories.
I wish she would have put a note in the back about human and sex trafficking and where people could find information or donate but I didn't see any.
Sex rings and human trafficking are not cute and the victims rarely get a happy ending. I know this is fiction but there are real victims and real stories.
I wish she would have put a note in the back about human and sex trafficking and where people could find information or donate but I didn't see any.
This is my first read by Molly McAdams. It's not normally my go to type of read but it's 2018 and I want to expand my horizons which turned out to be great cause I wasn't disappointed. This book is pretty dark and if you're sensitive to mentions of possible rape, abuse, human trafficking, guns or psychological darkness, this is your warning not to read this.
The story revolves around Briar Chapman. She's got a good life going for her. She works at the local bar and she's engaged to her fiance Kyle who happens to be the son of the governor of Georgia; his mom. They're so in love and ready to be married in one week when one day a coworker of Briar's shows up basically running from her abusive father and asks Briar to cover her shift so she has time to run away. Briar, worried for her friend, agrees having no idea that the shift coverage is going to change her life forever. While working, she goes out back to dump the trash when suddenly she's grabbed, drugged and taken away. She wakes up at an auction, barely clothed, being bid on by anonymous people behind one way glass.
Enter Lucas Holt. He's one of the many men behind the one way glass. He takes one look at Briar and her ability to sing though she's terrified and decides she's the one he has to have. From there we're introduced to what will be known throughout the book as "the devil" because Lucas has a job to do. He needs to break Briar. His mentor trained him to do so. She won't be the first woman in his house and she certainly won't be the last. Or so he thought..
It's truly a dark tale filled with fear, sacrifices, love, evil, light and darkness, death and redemption. I was honestly surprised that I got into the story so much. I felt like the more I read, the more layers of the story I uncovered. There were moments where I thought I knew what was going to happen and then I'd be surprised because I was wrong. The whole book I wanted to scream that it was just another Stockholm Syndrome story but the way McAdams weaves the tell makes it much more believable than a simple case of the victim falling for her captor. The story takes place over about half a year -- 182 days and you get POV from Briar and Lucas throughout. For a first Molly McAdams book, I was pretty impressed and I definitely look forward to continuing with Firefly.
The story revolves around Briar Chapman. She's got a good life going for her. She works at the local bar and she's engaged to her fiance Kyle who happens to be the son of the governor of Georgia; his mom. They're so in love and ready to be married in one week when one day a coworker of Briar's shows up basically running from her abusive father and asks Briar to cover her shift so she has time to run away. Briar, worried for her friend, agrees having no idea that the shift coverage is going to change her life forever. While working, she goes out back to dump the trash when suddenly she's grabbed, drugged and taken away. She wakes up at an auction, barely clothed, being bid on by anonymous people behind one way glass.
Enter Lucas Holt. He's one of the many men behind the one way glass. He takes one look at Briar and her ability to sing though she's terrified and decides she's the one he has to have. From there we're introduced to what will be known throughout the book as "the devil" because Lucas has a job to do. He needs to break Briar. His mentor trained him to do so. She won't be the first woman in his house and she certainly won't be the last. Or so he thought..
It's truly a dark tale filled with fear, sacrifices, love, evil, light and darkness, death and redemption. I was honestly surprised that I got into the story so much. I felt like the more I read, the more layers of the story I uncovered. There were moments where I thought I knew what was going to happen and then I'd be surprised because I was wrong. The whole book I wanted to scream that it was just another Stockholm Syndrome story but the way McAdams weaves the tell makes it much more believable than a simple case of the victim falling for her captor. The story takes place over about half a year -- 182 days and you get POV from Briar and Lucas throughout. For a first Molly McAdams book, I was pretty impressed and I definitely look forward to continuing with Firefly.