Book Review - Slave by Sherri Hayes

Slave by Sherri Hayes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received this book to review from Netgalley and Smith Publicity --
The Writer's Coffee Shop. Thank you for the opportunity.

Going into this I had a preconceived idea of what the book would be about and I was completely wrong.

Slave is not a book filed with sex and BDSM playrooms. Slave is a story about a girl who has been forced into something she doesn't completely understand and someone who has the capability to save her.

I was pleasantly surprised that there would be two POV's in this book; both Brianna's and Stephan's. It helped tremendously with the story telling to really know what was going on between the two.

This book had me glued to the page and I couldn't stop turning. I felt for Brianna and her confusion on who she now was, what she could now do and how to navigate the day to day life that has changed so much in her young 18 years. At first I was thrown by her age, but I put that aside realizing that it fit the story, actually most girls forced into sexual slavery are much younger. How broken this young girl had become was heart wrenching for me. She questioned everything around her, everything being done to her but these questions weren't allowed a voice for so long, she lived in a prison in her head.

I connected with Brianna and her love of books; living inside your own head you need a little company from words on a page. I cried when she received her first punishment, I felt it right along with her.

Stephan is something else. He reluctance to buy a human being is understandable as well as is his decision to go through with the sell. He sees that Brianna is not in a good position and that he can help her. The methods he uses may not be traditional but what kind of help could he get for her that would not damage her more. I think he did what was best being in that lifestyle. Stephan has the patience of a saint and I fell in love with him for that. He just wanted to take care of her and protect her; show her that not everyone is evil, not every man wants the same thing from her and show her that she is in control even when she doubts that. She only knows who/what she has been the last 10 months, is it possible for him to change that?

I keep hearing the Lily's words that are repeated in Brianna's head
"No I was never his salve. And neither are you."


The time that Stephan devotes to Brianna is amazing. The people that he brings into her life to help her was perfect. Lily and Logan understand the lifestyle and can be there for support for Stephan and Brianna even though she doesn't realize it yet.

The end was not what I expected and I cannot wait to read Need to find out what happens next.






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Book Review - Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas

Comfort Food by Kitty Thomas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Monsters aren't supposed to be beautiful. It's the rule."

Yeah, I am giving this 5 stars, I don't think I could give it any less. I am still in a state of shock and awe having just finished this book. I think the world that Kitty Thomas has dragged me in was dark, twisted, ultimately fucked up (no better way to say it) but at the same dare I say "magical" and beautiful for lack of a better word. I think I may have a tinge of Stockholm Syndrome for the story.

Comfort Food comes with a disclaimer, I suggest you read it and take it seriously.

I don't know if saying I liked this book makes me just as twisted as the story itself. It wasn't an easy read at all for the subject matter but it wasn't a book I could put down either. Once again my intellect, morals and ethics are challenged and I am made to question just what is normal and acceptable.

”Today I found something beautiful and decided to break it. I wanted to see it shatter in my hand and crumble at my feet. Her name is Emily Vargas. She’s bright and educated and stunning. Articulate. She’ll want someone to talk to her.”

Emily let her guard down, forgot what she was supposed to do and what not to do and gets kidnapped. She wakes up in darkness, blindfolded, bound to a chair and meets her captor who will not speak to her though she craves the connection. I unintentionally went method reading with this book and read it in silence. Her captor does not speak but Emily learns the language of communication she needs for survival. Is this what most of us would do? How would you know?

"Could this weak, helpless creature really be me? I'd spent the past five years giving speeches on empowerment and self-improvement and here I was, reduced to this and so quickly."

"To distract myself, to move myself out of this plane of existence and into another, one where I was free. The cell was a perfect stage, plenty of room to piroutte and tour jete across it."

The ballet dancing was almost the most disturbing part of this book for me. It had the feel of a Twilight Zone episode and made me feel as if Emily was in a music box; a figurine on a post twirling around and around as long as it was wound and the music played.

The transition from the first person to the third during anything physical was interesting. It is as if weren't happening to her and later the therapist echoes the same thoughts. I had the feeling that we were in fact reading Emily's journal that she kept mixed with the censored one for the therapist as the actual story. There were times where I had to put the book down and remind myself this was not an actual reenactment but a work of fiction. I must give kudos to the author for delivering that mind trip.

There was so much to this book that it is hard to verbalize or review without giving it all away. I walked on the dark side and thank goodness the light was there when I was done.

While the story was twisted from the beginning, the end had my jaw on the floor.

"I know you'll never be able to understand me making this choice. I know you'll all believe it was a sick mind that led me to it, that no person in their right mind would do what I've done. Maybe that's the truth of it. Or maybe I'm just stronger than you."

Comfort Food is not an easy read, nor is it a romance. The disclaimer is a true warning. If you read it and feel a sense of dread and uneasiness, do not read it. If you like the challenge and the depth of the psyche that can make a person do what Master and Emily both do, read it.



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Book Review: Captive in the Dark by CJ Roberts

Captive in the Dark by CJ Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Each story wanted, no-needed-to reveal a human fragility, a human bondage which tied people to the things they did and to be the person they held in their heads. Those stories were something true and sometimes horrific but people were people and the parts didn't just tell the whole story."

I added Captive in the Dark to be TBR list but was worried about reading it; thinking it might take me too deep into the darkness and I would need a support group to make it through. I decided to peek at it and skim a few pages but after reading the first few lines this book had me hooked and lost. Falling in to the story chills crawled up my spine and goose bumps covered my skin as I got deeper and darker into this twisted tale.

Caleb is not what I was expecting at all. He frightened me for what he was capable of doing, what he had done and what he will do but I was so conflicted by his behavior. I am not sure if I wanted to see the softer side even thought it added an extra layer to him. He was easier to categorize without it. I wanted a monster in this story and I got one but there were more monsters hidden where we couldn’t see them.

Olivia is a strong willed yet naive girl. Her stubborn actions earn her punishment along with admiration from her Master; the one who wants to break her but the one she wants comfort from. Her being captive in the dark, not knowing what was going to happen, yet as the reader you know, reminded me of classic Hitchcock films. The viewer always knew the score while they players were unaware.

I will not give a repeat synopsis of this book, if you are willing to take a chance and open your mind I suggest you read it. If you are looking for a fairy tale or a light BDSM book I suggest you look elsewhere.

Captive in the Dark is a mind trip; an intense and gripping read that will challenge you and have you question what is right and wrong. What is acceptable behavior and what can be tolerated? It will have you asking yourself if there is such a thing as redemption for the truly wicked regardless of what led them to evil.

Captive in the Dark does not shock or disturb you for the sheer value of doing so because it can. The author weaves and intelligent story that will make you think while you are reading and long after. I am more than anxious to read the sequel, Seduced in the Dark, to continue on this dark adventure and finally know the conclusion of this twisted story.


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Dragonflies

Among many things in my life that I am obsessed with, insects are one of them. Dragonflies hold a special place in my psyche. I am not obsessed in a Trekkie kind of way, I am obsessed in the way that while they fascinate me with their beauty, they also scare the crap out of me. I am not a fan of insects, even beautiful Dragonflies.

Point in fact: one morning say, about 10 years ago I was watering my garden before heading to work. I enjoyed this task in the early morning as it relaxed me and prepared me for the onslaught of name calling awaiting me at the Cashiers window at the local community college where I worked. Upon completing my task, the Pug and I walked around the corner to the front door of my house and I stalled. There on the screen to the door I needed to open was a big beautiful Dragonfly. Did I say big? I mean absolutely HUGE. It was a reddish purplish color, it was beautiful and it wasn’t moving. I thought that maybe it sensed my gargantuan figure approaching and it would fly off towards my head, I would scream and run, but all would be right with the world. Or possibly we could communicate by telepathy and he could hear my chanting of “please fly away, please fly away.” But it didn’t move. I tried taking the broom from the porch to shoo it away, but it wouldn’t budge. I was trapped. This insect, beautiful as it was, but insect none the less was fixed upon my screen, just inches away from the handle, a handle there was no way in hell I was attempting to touch with those legs and wings and eyeballs so close, no way! I decided I would just go around to the back door to get inside, maybe jiggle the screen from the inside and off Senor Dragonfly would go, no dice, the back door was locked. I was good at being consistent and locking my doors from the unsightly burglars that may want to steal by beautiful turntable or my aging arthritic Pug.

Back to the front yard I peered around the corner to the front door; he was still there. I racked my brain for ways to get him off the screen, the hose! I could lightly spray the bugger and he would fly away. Well, I did, he did, but he flew straight towards me and then, with his Dragonfly ability, flew directly back to his spot on the screen. I don’t know, maybe with the desert heat, even in the early morning, he found solace and peace on my screen, but he wasn’t moving. His place on my screen was as solid as Gibraltar.

After several attempts and roughly a half hour gone by, he decided he had enough of this strange creature messing with his meditation and finally left. It still took me several minutes to muster up the courage to walk to the front door. When I finally got in with a running start I was shaking my shirt and hair just to make sure he didn’t come back and hitch a ride as revenge for the numerous showers.

I was late to work that morning. This was before everyone and their child had a cell phone, so I couldn’t call in to let them know that I was stranded and to send the hunky firemen from Station 33 for help. I just got in my car and drove straight there. I arrived to work traumatized, but managed to make it through the day. To this day, when I hear the buzzing of insect wings or see a flash of purple and red out of the corner of my eye I duck and cover and pray my door screens are free and clear.