I own and read these books separately. This is one of my favorite series to date from this author. They kept me on the edge of my seat from page one to the very end. The wait between books (which wasn't long considering) almost broke me. I am excited for new people to discover this series and these amazing characters.

Once a Myth
And she is back...

When I first got back into reading for pleasure and not just as a requirement for my degree, this was one of the first authors I discovered. I read each book of the Indebted series as it came out. I would find myself dreaming about them and feeling like I was going through withdrawals as if her words were the most powerful drug, and they were. Even years later, no other book has impacted me the way that Jethro And Nila did... Until this book. This book is truly sublime. I should have been prepared but I wasn't.

The characters, the world-building, and the storyline took this to a level I can hardly even put words to on how magnificent it is. It is not an easy subject matter, and yet, I devoured it because of how well the author wrote it making the depravity of the circumstance enticing. There is nothing romantic about Human trafficking. However, it was written in such a way that I found myself compelled to try and understand the how's and why's someone would do this, how they rationalize it, and or find empathy and understand watching someone come to terms with the why's and how's of why they were taken and how to not break in this situation.

I admired Elanor. Sweet Lord, did I ever. I liked seeing a small glimpse of her in the beginning with another favorite from a different series and seeing how they differed. Her resilience and fire were remarkable. This isn't like most human trafficking horrors that one would think of. This was technically paradise but only if paradise came with the price of losing one's soul. Sully. Sweet Lord. I am not sure how this author can make someone who is has created this "paradise" be so reprehensible and so enticing at the same time. There is a lot to this character and I cannot wait to see where this will go in the future books. I fully immersed myself in both of these characters' heads and tried to see what and how they tick and adapt. There is so much chemistry here as well as animosity showing that there is indeed a fine line between love and hate.

I won't get into any spoilers of the story but will say that this subject matter alone is a trigger. However, there is not the usual way or circumstance that one expects to see in this type of subject. There is "free will" so to speak if that makes sense. It ends on a whopper of a cliffhanger. I generally stay away from serial cliffhanger books because this author almost broke me when I first discovered her. However, this was too good to pass up. Luckily, each book of this 5 book series comes out once a month after this release. I recommend this book and series to anyone that likes Dark 1000%

If I could give this book/series more than 5 stars I would and it is only the second book.

One of the things that I love about books is their ability to transpose me to a different time and place and their ability to make me feel a maelstrom of emotions. Sometimes they make me cry, sometimes they offer me hope, and sometimes they show me that not everything is black and white. In the case of this book (and the first), they show all of the above and then some.

This author takes all of that and more and transcends time and place. Her characters are visceral. They are dynamic. They are something ugly juxtaposed with beautiful, light versus dark, and complex versus simple. In a nutshell, they are otherworldly. She creates worlds that even amidst the darkness and sensitive subject matter that is the foundation for her stories it leaves me both uncomfortable and entranced.

In this book, it is all that and more. This book picked up right where the other left off, which was a WHOPPER of a cliffhanger. Knowing this was a book being released every month, I dived in knowing that this would sting when she would leave me hanging. It did and more. I thought my guess had been correct in what I thought had happened. However, I am not sure anymore. There are things that make it seem one way and then there are others that lead me to believe another thing. What sorcery is this that the author can do this? Whatever it is I am a willing participant because even though not having the answers that I want I will still subject myself to the pain because it is worth it to be enmeshed in this author's words, characters, and worlds.

The push and pull in these characters is like nothing I have ever read before. In this book, I had a better understanding of Sully. I still think his career choice and who is is and how he came to know Elanor is repugnant but in this book getting to see why he is the way he is and why he holds so little regard to humans was an integral piece of the puzzle. I look forward to seeing more layers of the story unfolding to see how this man balances the dichotomy of a savior and a captor. I knew in the first book that Elanor was a force to be reckoned with but, sweet holy titfire, she blew me away with this one. There was one particular scene where she spoke about something which had previously been unable to have a voice for decades, towards the end of the book, that completely unraveled me. Her compassion that she understood that and felt empathy. GAME CHANGER.

These characters both offer something to each other and to me the reader. They show that there is beauty in pain and that not everything is what appears on the outside. This is not a Stockholm syndrome type of connection. This is a connection of souls coming together as if they were predestined. It is kismet and gives me reasons to keep searching for the mellifluous sublime. No one can do what this author does and is often the reason that she is the first person mentioned when someone is looking for a dark romance book.

I did have a few concerns over the end because the timeline of certain contracts wouldn't be the same. That isn't giving a spoiler just something that I stood out to me in regards to the math of this entire scenario. That being said, This book ends on another WHOPPER of a cliffhanger. I cannot wait to see what is going to happen because holy jumping Hannah... April 24th seems so far away. I cannot recommend this series or author enough.


Third a Kiss
Just take my money. All. OF. IT.

Sweet Holy Titfire.

Gobsmacked. Dumbstruck. Astonished. Amazed. Flabbergasted. Aroused. I am not sure how many other ways or words I can say that describe how I felt after finishing this book. I don't know how she does it but every time, she expands on her world-building and takes it a step higher. EVERY. TIME. I knew this book that it would be good, after all, she wrote it, but I had no idea that it would be this good. Truly sublime.

Thie book picks up where the previous one left off, and if you haven't read it, then know it left me on bated breath because where it ended was on a whopper of a cliffhanger. I was not prepared for what was going to happen when Sully got a taste of his own medicine, literally in this case. It was brutal and animalistic and it was PERFECT. I loved gaining more insight into Sully and what makes him tick. There were a few huge surprises there. However, the biggest surprise came from Elanor once again. I am amazed at how logical she is, even in times that she should be angry and or running for her life. Her empathetic nature is beautiful to see and is often one that is rarely seen in the real world let alone in fiction. There is a certain mystique and magnetism that draws me to her, almost as if she truly is a Goddess rather than a mere mortal. Sully never stood a chance against her.

Both of these characters seem to balance something in each other, almost as if the universe and fates had created them for each other. There is a part of me that felt like regardless of the circumstance and the how or why Jinx came to be part of Sully's world, that they would have met eventually because their pull was that magnetic. I take comfort in that because I cannot see this as only someone falling in love with their "captor" but rather, It was a love predestined in the stars.

After finishing this book, I again was left with a whopping book hangover and wanting to both simultaneously scream that May now seems like forever away and cry that this part of the story was over. It was beautiful, poignant, heartbreaking, raw, intense, and stunningly perfect. This cliffy stung a little (as per usual) because I know it is going to really hurt after what this book offered and that it probably won't feel better until book five because book four will be the destruction before the aftermath. That really stings because I am not sure that my heart can hurt like that for two months. I rarely can handle cliffhanger books because the wait not only kills me but because I am worried that I will forget a pivotal detail. However, with this author's series of books, I never forget which makes this anguish of ending on a cliffhanger worth it as well as makes it more than a tad bittersweet. Kudos, to this author for knocking my socks off. ( )