Broken: A Dark Romance (The Last Kiss)

This story is exactly what you would expect from the title and the blurb. I almost dropped a star for the sheer predictability and the fact that it crossed a line for me. BUT I reminded myself that my line was pure bias (at least in the realm of fiction) my own ethic, if you will, and this story isn't condoning the behavior, just illustrating it. So it wouldn't be fair for me to leave a lower review purely because of my own tastes. Just be warned - the warning is absolutely true. Mature, semi-hardcore dark romance readers only. (I'll explain more on that in a bit.) Briefly, Angel (because I honestly can't recall her name) sees something she shouldn't and gets caught by some very bad men. One man, Kade, who catches her eye right away, is bad enough to take her as a hostage, to train her to become a sex slave against her will. Well, mostly against it. Things are not as they seem though, and Kade is not quite as bad as he appears. The writing was good, pacing great, and the plot well planned and executed. If I got bored, it was because of the predictable aspects, not pacing. Admittedly, it took me a while to finish this, because it felt cookie-cutter to me. As in there are just so many BDSM books trying to one-up each other on the market right now, so this felt like just another to me. I feel like I've read it a few times before, at least the interpersonal relationship between the 2 MCs was rote, and rife with the usual abuse and lack of respect for another human being, deeply disturbing misogynistic themes, and shameful objectification of women. But the woman finds it sexy because she had a naughty fantasy once, thus making it okay. Again, it plays on this bad boy is really bad, he's a tortured soul (who gets off on torture), but has a heart of gold. The men take pleasure in hurting women, punishing them for arbitrary mistakes, abusing them, raping them (except at the last second he asks if she's cool with it, despite the obvious precariousness of saying 'no' to him in her situation, thereby making it concensual), kidnapping them, having zero regard for their autonomy and dehumanizing them to a despicable degree. The GOOD thing about this story is that the author at least acknowledged much of that and addressed it. The bad thing is that when it wasn't just being subtly condoned, it was being overtly glorified as scintillating and foregivable, so long as he's really super sorry and says that he 'loves' you. Do you have any idea how many battered women couldn't count how many times their 'bad boys' apologized profusely, claimed their undying love and devotion, then turned around and repeated the abuse? Probably most of them. So I take issue with these men who lie, lie, lie (as Kade did ), vowing safety, protection, monogamy, etc. And then when they don't come through, the chick is like, 'well, I liked it in the end, so it's okay.' Or he apologized, or whatever. She never takes him to task for his lies and indescretions, just decided that since she "loves" him, it's okay. What the bleep?!? Yup, so that bothered me. Can you tell. :-) But alas, Ms. Winters knows her audience pretty well, I would say. She wrote just enough bad to be titillating and just enough good to be acceptable or justifiable. In the end, she wrapped up her story with a sense of justice, the heroine finding her way and the HEA she deserved. I will at least grant that Winters didn't let all the sins go unpunished, and that, to me, is huge. So, if you're looking for a very dark, very cringe-worthy, and yet also sometimes sensual, erotic read with a decent plot and all the common ingredients for BDSM, this will suit you well.

I’m going to try my very best to write a review that is worthy of the words written by author Willow Winters in Broken. I’m not going to go over the usual details of the story. Instead, what I’m going to do, hopefully, is make sure that the words I write leave you feeling just a fraction of what the story did for me. I want you to feel the awe before even reading it. That’s what this book did to me. It left me in awe. This is truly stunning work. As an avid reader such as myself, a pure romantic at heart, I believe that everyone deserves love. Even those who appear to be monsters. I’d like to think we are all capable of redemption and finding love with those you would least expect, even in the toughest of souls such as Kade. It’s not that often that a story comes along and breaks you down and gives you strength at the same time. One that attaches itself to you and leaves you breathless. What the author delivers here is not pretty, at all…. It’s intense, gritty, raw, believable and at times hard to read, yet, I found I could not stop reading. This is a story of survival, bravery, courage, guilt beyond measures and what you convince yourself of that needs to be done in order to stay alive. Yet, find yourself being pulled in a whole different direction altogether, leaving you questioning your own sanity. That’s what happens to Olivia after she is kidnapped and faced with the scariest of circumstances. Just remember, things are not always what they seem. You will find this story brings out all sorts of emotions. You can’t write this kind of story and not have that happen. It’s impossible. More than once, I tried to imagine myself going through what Olivia went through, as well as trying to understand why Kade did the things he did. Some of which is shocking. I'm still trying to come to grips with what happened to Kade's best friend James. Life is not black and white. Sometimes choices have to be made, tough choices, life altering choices. Choices that can leave even the hardest of men broken. This story challenges the faint of heart but I promise you, if you take the journey with Kade and Olivia, you will be glad you did. This book gives you something to think about. It’s as if the story continues, just in a different way, after you turn that last page. What would you do if faced with the same circumstances these two people faced? You’ll want to talk about it with others. At least I do. Thank you Willow Winters for writing this wonderful story that will stay with me for some time. This, in my opinion, is award winning material and puts you in a whole other league. I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book. I also purchased my own copy.

Love this author I stuck to buying collections but loving the standalone books aswell

This book is intense and dark, a story of strength and courage, survival and guilt, and did I mention DARK! This is a hard book to review without giving away too many spoilers so I will just leave you with this. Do you believe that even the worst of men deserve love? What about redemption? That is what this book will have you pondering. Olivia is kidnapped and is given to Kade by a sex trafficking ring. He is to train her into submission to prove his worth to them. Olivia tries desperately to uphold her inner strength by doing whatever she needs to do to survive Kade’s cruel and degrading training. Olivia begins to learn that some things are not as they seem and that includes her Master Kade. Kade is dark, handsome and dripping in dominance. He has his own mission aside from Olivia’s training that he’s been tasked with, something greater than him, greater than all his guilt andpain and if both of them want to survive this, they have to go into the dark together. This is one of those dark reads that makes you question your sanity for reading it, but it’s just oh so good and enthralling you just can’t stop! And to me that is what makes a good book and author. The ability to capture your audience, take them out of there comfort zone and have them feel real uninhibited emotions to me is what takes a good author to a great one.

Willow Winters owns this genre. She is one of the authors whose new releases are a no-brainer to buy. Well written, seductive, and tantalizing with just enough of an edge. This one is a little darker than her normal fare but I loved it. If you aren't entirely comfortable with submission then you should probably continue on to another title, but if you are, you will love this. Reminds me of Anthony Valletti's story, so if you liked that one, you will like this one.