by Rue Volley
Series: Devil's Gate Trilogy #1
Pub. Date: April 12, 2015
Publisher: Hot Ink Press
Pages: 225
Format: eARC
Source: Author
My Rating:
Sultry Scale:
Curiosity can be a dangerous thing. In Abigail Watson's case, it nearly ended her life.
After a brush with death, Abigail is reminded of just how short life can be...then she meets Jack Landon, the mysterious heir to the Landon fortune and her savior from a certain death. Jack's needs are very defined, and his ability to seduce with ease draws Abigail into his dark world. One taste of him on her lips and she is consumed with a desire, a willingness to submit and let him take the gift that she has protected for so long.
This book made me ranty. Like, really ranty. There were just too many TSTL moments. So here is my warning, this review will be full of ranty spoilers, read at your own risk. I still have not figured out how to do spoiler tags on the blog, so I don't know how to hide spoilers (but I will make them a light gray so maybe they aren't so noticeable).
Let's start with the blurb, the "brush with death" was so anti-climactic as to be a non-issue. But this paves the way for Abigail, the uber-naive 23 y/o virgin to come into closer contact with Jack, the dark and depraved billionaire. A little reminiscent of FSOG here. Honestly it was the heroine that I had such an issue with - she was just such a doormat! And stupidly naive and weak. Let's look at some of her stupidly stellar moments here: (spoiler)
Then we have Jack, the illusive rich boy. He really came off as a huge douche. They would be together then all of a sudden he would turn cold and distant and she wouldn't hear from him for weeks or months, which necessitates Abigail chasing after him like a sad puppy. Between him, his whack job of a family, and his (spoiler) need to taste blood before he could get off, I just couldn't get behind Jack as a hero. Nothing about the relationship felt genuine. Plus there was this weird three-way instalove with Abigail to Jack and Sam to Abigail, that just didn't make sense. (spoiler) I mean Sam has not seen Abigail for years, since high school, but he is in love with her? I can usually tolerate instalove but it was too extreme in these situations.
She has dinner with Jack and he hints that he likes pain with his pleasure. This opens up such a window to the virgin's soul that for the next 3 weeks she can't eat and her school work suffers. She accompanies him to a charity auction hosted by his family where his mother is wearing a nearly-sheer dress. She hears moans coming from behind curtains. Then gets the bright idea that she will volunteer herself to be bid on - not realizing this is a sex slave auction! She gets hit in the head with a door and gets a concussion. The doctor tells her that a side effect of a concussion is that she may turn into a horny beast. Good lord, I have had 8 concussions and never once I have ever been told about or got that side effect!
So for me, the most interesting aspect of the book was all of the batshit crazy people. First we have Rose, who has been in a mental hospital for years, (spoiler) but then she shows up at the end like: "SURPRISE! Your mom got me miracle meds and I am all fixed now and I love you and you love me and we can live together all happy ever after!" But by far the most interesting character was Jack's dad, (spoiler) who is so bananas they fake his death and stow him in a penthouse mental ward, diagnosed with borderline schizophrenia mixed with some bi-polar and manic depressive states. And (spoiler) like father like son, Jack has already been diagnosed with the same issue and is on medication for it.
The cliffhanger combined with the crazy people and demented family has piqued my interest enough that I will read (or at least skim) the next book to find out what happens. I just hope Abigail matures and stops being such a doormat.
I received an free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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