My edition: Kindle Unlimited
Pages: 327
Series: Chapter 8 #1
Genre: Dark, Romance,
Rating: 4 stars
BR with Felicia and Alaina on Goodreads
Synopsis:
Obsession, possession, resilience, insanity…
Seeking solitude and reprieve from her past failed relationships, Elsa begins her life anew in Richmond, hoping to find the change that she so desperately needs. Things are looking up for her- a new job, new friends, a fresh start.
But Victor has different plans for her. From the moment he heard Elsa’s voice, she became next on his to-do list- his Chapter 8. A well-known and respected criminal profiler, his mind is as dark as the criminals he hunts down. It takes one to know one, after all. Under the guise of making his subjects stronger, he intends to break Elsa down using everything in his arsenal- including pleasure, pain, humiliation, and things unspeakable.
Lonely, still on the mend from a bad break-up and longing for attention- Elsa consents to an odd proposition. Initially unaware of Victor’s plans, she quickly realizes that the causal encounter she agreed to is, in fact, a cruel psychological game with no ending in sight. She may be one in a long line of test subjects for Victor; however, she can’t be broken so easily. What he puts her through only fuels the fire burning within her-a flame that begins to blaze out of control as she becomes obsessed with everything about Victor and peeling back his cruel layers in search of the real man hiding beneath his heartless facade.
In Victor’s world, there is no such thing as happily ever after, and Chapter 8 proves to be an infuriating challenger when she flips the tables on his selfish and twisted game, a game they both may end up losing their hearts and minds over.
Warning: This is neither a conventional romance nor a traditional love story. There are no hearts and flowers on the pages of this book. The heroine doesn’t always make wise choices and though I’ve tried to make her strong, she’s often times weak in the face of the fierce hero. The hero is not a knight in shining armor. He’s broken and frequently cruel, and what every woman in the real world should avoid. What’s contained within this book is fiction- dark, depraved and decadent make-believe. Contains erotic elements, uncomfortable situations, and descriptions that may trigger past memories of abuse. Intended for readers 18+.
Review:
I can not totally comprehend what I had just read. Never have I ever had a time where I didn’t know what to rate a book. Throughout the story Victor/Mr Black has mind screwed me along with his chapters. I will not lie when I say that he is the sole reason on me continuing reading this book and picking up the second. Had the whole story been in Elsa POV I would have DNFed. Not because she had weak moments, no. Because she was boring.
I haven’t been like this since I read Absolution by LP Lovell and Stevie Cole. But even then that book did not mess with my mind. This though… this thoroughly messed with my mind. I couldn’t have cared less about Elsa. I wanted to know everything that there is about Victor. I, like Elsa, was obsessed with figuring out what was going on with Victor. What kind of person he is?
The darkness about Victor drew me in and I didn’t want to stop till I found out why he was the way he was and what happened with Chapter 1 that made him like this.
Yes, I’m a sick depraved fuck, but those are traits that I’ve learned to embrace.
Victor never sugar coated what he was. He knew it and he accepted it.
I’m very back and forth with him. Do I like it or do I start to question my own sanity for which I have been to afraid to really look into and accept?
Damn you Mr. Black for making me torment myself over your actions! Damn you Victor for being so damn confusing with your feelings. You both have given me an anxiety that I have never gotten from a book before.
To be continued…
The Kansan Reader 