BOOK REVIEW: Peep Show

Peep Show

Author: Isabella Starling

Pub Date: Jan 22, 2018

Synopsis: 

She's stripping.
I'm watching.
She's playing.
I'm watching.
She's mine, I'm coming...

Bebe Hall is a heartbreaker. She's the it girl of the moment, a partygirl nobody can stop in her path of self destruction. Bebe Hall isn't the star of her own story.

She's the star of mine.

My name is Miles O'Reilly. I'm a photographer. An agoraphobic. A millionaire. A womanizer. I'm confined to my apartment. I don't leave. Ever.

But when she sees me with my latest online conquest in the window of my apartment, my attention shifts to Bebe.

And once I see something I want, I don't give up until it's mine.

Forever.

Peep Show is a 90,000 word novel with themes of voyeurism and dark scenes that may be upsetting to readers. If you are brave enough, come meet Miles. He's been waiting for you.

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Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

“I had to forget, and drinking, dancing and partying, was the only way I could do it”

Bebe is an IT girl who has lost one of her best friends and has yet to come to terms.  She’s also unsure of who she is without her friend.  As result, she uses sex, alcohol and drugs as coping mechanisms.  She does not want to go back to the unsure and unnoticed girl she once was.

Miles is an obsessive agoraphobic.  He had a very bad upbringing and now, he does not leave his home and experiences life through other people.

She is spiralling and destructive.

He is obsessive and agoraphobic.

They notice each other one night when Bebe spies on Miles through her window and sees him having sex with another woman.  They saw in each other a kindred spirit.

Can an IT girl and an agoraphobic man ever make a life together? Or, will their destructive ways destroy any chance of true happiness together?

From reading some of the many reviews on the Goodreads platform, there are a great many opinions on this book that stem from outright love to not liking this book.  I believe that weather they are negative or positive reviews that this shows how well the author has written this book.  The basis of this book is mental health and addiction.  Two topics that are very much misunderstood and hard to understand unless you have lived through it.

I didn’t like these characters or the choices they made, but I don’t have to.  The story is made to be read this way.  We are meant to see their struggle and mistakes and how they rise above.  To remember that people may do awful things that we do not understand but they are human regardless and deserve our support to overcome not our condemnation.

I don’t think I’ve ever met two characters so broken and so dependent on their crutches to survive.  It was truly heartbreaking to see them destroy each other and themselves.

I believe that in their own way, they helped each other heal and overcome.  Bebe learned that she deserved more and Miles learned to actually live life.  Together, they were hot as hell.

This book was told in dual POV.  The pace was good but did lag toward the end.  I was hoping their growth, secrets and hurdles would come to light sooner and be tamed if not overcome.

I believe that Bebe needed more than his help.  She needed an intervention with a psychologist.  She was also an alcoholic and drug abuser and would have gone through something hellish while abstaining.  These issues do not resolve on the spot and some mention of that or the struggle for recovery was warranted.

This was a dark read full of triggers, bad decisions and questionable actions.  It was well written, intriguing and kept my attention.   I would not hesitate to read another book from this author.

BOOK BLITZ & REVIEW: Blood and Secrets 1

Blood & Secrets
The Calvetti Crime Family #1
Author: Rose Harper
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: May 1, 2018

BLURB

I'm dangerous. Calculated. Bloodthirsty.
The perfect motherfucking trifecta of crazy.

The name's Mateo Calvetti, and Brooklyn belongs to me.
My reach knows no bounds, and I always get what I want.
Including the little gem currently twisting my insides.

She's been promised to me since birth.
Nothing anyone says will change that.
She will be mine, whether she wants it or not.
I'm going to own her. Consume her. Fuck, I may even keep her.

Yet, something comes to light I never expected in my wildest dreams.
Blood, secrets, and lies all fall around my feet.
Carina Ricci isn’t what she claims to be.
It appears she’s just as fucked up as me.

Come on, baby, let’s make them scream.
Let’s show them what happens when you anger a King and his Queen.

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MY REVIEW

Mateo Calvetti is the eldest son and next in line to be the head of the Calvetti crime family.  His father has planned an arranged marriage for Mateo to Carina Ricci since her birth.  The reasons his father have given him for this marriage are vague and Mateo does not understand why this connection to the Ricci family is so important.  Since his father desires it however, he must follow through. 

Mateo wants his wife trained.  He demands and expects Carina to prepared to stand by him as his Queen.  She must be untouchable and cold.  He will not abide a wife who embarrasses him and his family.  He will also not accept weakness from his wife.  With this, his family has been giving money to the Ricci family in hopes that they will train Carina and ensure she is prepared to rule by his side.  Mateo has no idea what he has gotten himself into.

Carina Ricci is living a very difficult life with her parents.  She is punished for her mother’s iniquities and mistakes.  She is also being brutally trained as well emotionally abused.  As a result of this training and abuse, she has a psychotic break and forgets who she is as a person.  She remembers everything else but her self-knowledge and feelings are skewed.  Carina has no idea yet what fate has in store for her.

This book took me by surprise.  So not what I thought it would be.  It is captivating and intriguing and the world the author created pulled me in.  It is a different take on the mafia world that I enjoyed.

It is told in dual POV, flowed well and ended too quickly.

Mateo is brutal, harsh, arrogant and blood thirsty.  He believes that Carina is weak and that she knows nothing. I love how she proves him wrong over and over again

with her backbone and snark.  Not to mention their sparring and arguments.  I couldn’t believe how much she sassed back.  Put them together and they definitely will be a force to be reckoned with!

I also very much liked Dom who has been Mateo’s friend since childhood.  He is down to earth.  He helps and befriends Carina as much as he can in this new life she is living.  Dom is friendly, kind and understanding even though this is an oxymoron compared to who and what he truly is.  Surprising that.

As for Carina, there is so much more to her than meets the eye.  She’d hiding behind a lot of anger, a match just waiting to be lit.  I cannot wait to see her explode!

This book ended on a bloody cliffhanger!  I cannot wait to see how it all ends.  I’m on tenterhooks to learn more of Carina.  That is going to be interesting.  I’m SO excited and I want more!

This is a series with only the basics covered in this first book.  It is just heating up.  It has so much intrigue that there’s no question about it, I am reading the next books.  I am enthralled.  I need the next installment STAT.

I received an ARC of this book.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

AUTHOR BIO
Rose Harper is a mother of two, avid coffee drinker, and thrives on bringing tantalizing, downright shiver inducing books for her readers to devour. She’s a lover of dark, sizzling passion, and mystery filled stories with twists and turns you never see coming, yet leave you wanting more.

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REVIEW: Captive Beauty

CaptiveBeauty by Natasha Knight

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis:

Cilla

The Beast had Belle.
Killian Black has me.

How I got here doesn’t matter, even though he says it does. Says it was my choice. He doesn’t get it, though. It wasn’t ever a choice for me.

And now, he’s changing the rules.

The agreement was one month. For thirty days, I’d be his. He’s no longer satisfied with my body alone, though. He wants my soul, too. Wants every part of me. And even though I can pretend I’m safe when I lie beneath him, this man does something to me. Something wicked.

A thing that will break me.

Killian

Cilla made the choice. She offered the deal. I just took her up on it. So what if I changed the rules half-way in? I’m not apologizing for it.

See, Cilla and me, we’re the same. She’s dark. As dark as me. Something happened to her. Something bad. It damaged her.

But it’s not a hero she seeks. It’s an avenging angel. A dark knight. That, I can do. I’ll slay her dragons, but it’ll cost her, because in return, I want everything. And I’ll take it.

She’s mine.

Author’s note: Captive Beauty is a standalone romance. Think Beauty and the Beast, but twisted and dark in the best, dirtiest ways.

Review

Although Captive Beauty is referred to as “A dark Beauty and the Beast”, I am thankful that this book stands alone - separate if you will.  It is loosely based and has some very small parallels.

Killian is the Beast to Cilla’s Beauty.  He is dark, haunted and scarred.  He shoulders a lot of regret and rage.  He meets Cilla when her brother, Jones, steals drugs from him and then tries to resell it to Killian’s own men.  The crew then abducts both Jones and Cilla, who has no idea what is going on.  She was at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Once arrived at their destination, Killian’s threatens bodily harm to her brother as a form of punishment and warning.  Cilla, protective of her brother, does not want any harm to come to him.  As result, she tempts the beast by stating she will do anything to spare her brother effectively redirecting the beast’s attention and rage to her.  Intrigued, he readily agrees but, he is no hero.  For one month, he will have his Captive Beauty and everything she can possibly give – and more!

Cilla puts up a front.  She seems so confident and put together but she is not.  She has a dark and twisted past.  When she meets Killian, she is willing to put herself at the beast’s mercy.  Cilla knows she has no other recourse. She owes her brother a debt she can never repay and if she does not agree to the terms set, Jones will be severely injured.

This book touches on some dark themes but it does not delve too deeply.  It is a dark read that I enjoyed thoroughly.

Although this is a wonderful read, I believe that if Killian's relationship with his sister wouId have been explored more, it would have brought to life more of his character.  How kind and caring he once was compared to the beast he now is.  The same goes with Cilla’s past, it almost felt glossed over.  It's fair to say that I just want more of these characters.  I believe a duet would have satisfied me.  One in each of the main character’s point of view.

This aside, Natasha Knight, through her writing, makes you feel the angst, the dread and the pain these characters are going through.  The passion, the need and the want are palpable.  The push and pull of the characters was riveting.  When Killian would push, Cilla would push back.  She brought out all of the emotion in him, and he, her. 

They are evenly matched.  Killian is strong and angry.  Cilla although she seems strong is oh so fragile.  The more time Killian spends with her, the more his rage is tempered and the more he wants from his Captive Beauty.  Cilla on the other hand, slowly starts to trust Killian.  She starts to let go and hands over not only her body but her secrets as well.  She becomes stronger than she has ever been as result.  I absolutely loved this story and cannot wait to read another book by this author.