Title: Master Over You: A Dark Romance Novel
Author: Cerys Du Lys, Ethan Winters
Release Date: October 20th
Synopsis:
There’s a monster in every closet, and I’m in yours
My name is Noah. I’m not a nice person. This isn’t cupcakes and candyland, love.
I’ll take you, break you, and offer you to the highest bidder without a second thought. You’re mine now. It’s business, nothing personal. You wouldn’t understand, and I’m not going to explain it. Sorry, love, you don’t mean a thing to me.
Just know that there’s a monster in every closet, and I’m in yours.
Author Note – This dark romance novel contains themes that may be discomforting to some people. If you are sensitive to depictions of violence, then this book is not recommended for you.
(Ethan Winters official debut release co-authored with USA Today bestselling author Cerys du Lys)
Man’s POV = Ethan, Woman’s POV = Cerys
There is a light at the end of every dark tunnel, no matter how dim it may seem.
I don't hate women, alright. I don't like them much, but I try not to think about it. I just don't care either way. If they've got their shit together and know their place, then I'm content. I kidnap them, I train them, and eventually they become better. That's how it's supposed to work, at least. I'm skipping a step at the end, but I'm not involved with that. I can't be. I'm too good at everything else. It's impossible for me to be good at that, too.
The point here is, Angeline needs to back the fuck up and re-evaluate what's going on and who she's dealing with. In fact, I'm going to show her right now. Whether I'm drugged or not, she's made a big mistake.
I jerk my body up, intending to slam my cast into the side of her head, grab her throat, and pull her onto the bed with me. I'm going to straddle her and strangle her. I don't know what I'll do after that. Maybe I'll fuck her after she loses consciousness. Maybe I'll kill her. That might be a bad idea, because I don't know where the fuck I am, but I'm beyond caring at the moment.I start to jerk upwards, then I fall back to the bed. I am chained. Angeline chained me to the fucking bed. I can feel the weight of fetters digging into my stomach and my chest and my other arm and my legs. She left one arm free, the one with a cast, but that's it. What the fuck am I supposed to do with one arm? She's too far away for me to hit her, and I overestimated myself in my drugged state, anyways. I can't move fast enough. If I wasn't chained, I might be able to overcome my sluggishness with strength, but I'm not and I can't.
Fuck you, Angeline. Just fuck you.
She smiles at me sweetly. I think she must be amused, because I sure would be if I were her, but she doesn't look it. Her eyes are soft and impassive, just staring at me. I don't like how she looks at me. It's like she's fucking obsessed or something.
"Are you hungry?" she asks. "I have soup for you."
"I don't know how the fuck you expect me to eat it," I say.
"I will feed you."
At that, she gets up and goes to the bedside table. I can't even see the fucking bedside table. Where the fuck is that rain coming from, too? This room is driving me crazy.
I strain my head to the side, because at least that's not chained to the bed. There's a window, and it's raining outside. Then I realize it's raining twice. There's two rain sounds. I keep turning my head to the side, enough to see Angeline picking up a tray with a bowl of soup. Next to the tray is some white circle art box thing. It looks fancy, and just looking at it pisses me off.
There's a speaker on the front of the box, or that's what it looks like. The sound is coming from that. It's some ambient noise machine, spouting rain and wind chimes at me.
"Can you turn that shit off?" I ask her. Why am I asking her anything. Turn the fucking noise machine off, Angeline. Do it, bitch.
"It is relaxing," she says. "It will calm you."
"Mistress Angeline," she says, correcting me.
"Fuck off."
She thrusts a spoon into the soup and lifts it up once it's full, then slams it against my mouth. Thank fucking God it's not hot anymore, but I'm pissed that she just splashed warm chicken noodle soup all over my face.
"I thought you said you were going to feed me," I say. "What the fuck was that about?"
"Noah, you are incorrigible and rude."
"You fucking kidnapped me. You bit me. You slammed my head against a fucking wall. What the fuck do you want from me, love?"
"Open," she orders me, "your mouth."
Fuck her. Fuck her and her fucking soup and this whole fucking thing. She can go to fucking hell.
Except I'm hungry, so I open my mouth, but seriously, fuck her.
She guides a spoonful of soup past my lips, and tips it into my mouth. I chew on the soft noodles and chicken, then swallow. She feeds me like that a few times, over and over again. She looks pleased as fuck with herself right now, but it's just in her lips. Her fucking eyes, they look so out of place, like she's blind. She's not, though, she just doesn't seem to look at anything, doesn't seem to see it.
Maybe I can reason with her. Maybe I can try something different. She's a female, so I think it'll work.
I have to say that this book is quite difficult for me to review. On one hand it was written very well and in a captivating and intriguing way. On the other hand the story was a bit too brutal at times for my tastes. I simply had to leave the book every once in a while and distract myself with something else. I feel obliged to mention that I do enjoy dark romance but this story is the most twisted one I've ever read. I can probably only compare it to Fragile Truths by D.H. Sidebottom and R.M. James. The main difference though, is that this is not a dark erotica story. In a way it is more of a dark love story. But trust me, it is not what you expect.
The characters are quite interesting. They are definitely intriguing and they can make you hate them or love them in the blink of an eye. Probably, only with the exception of Chastity. She was really just driving me nuts with all her childish behavior and some kind of a twisted logic probably due to her inexperience. Noah and Angeline on the other hand are her exact opposites. They are dominant and strong with really dark pasts and probably even darker demons. And quite a twisted way to interact with each other. At least until there are no secrets between them. I have to say that I was really wondering about the reasoning behind Angeline's actions, her conflicting emotions and Noah's reaction to everything happening to him. I had probably a 100 different scenarios in my head but I definitely didn't expect the revelations in the end of the story. It was really heartbreaking and it explained a lot about both their characters and chosen "profession".
The extended scenes included in the book are incredibly heartbreaking and difficult to read but in a different way than the main story. They are not necessary for understanding the main story but they help us see Noah and Angeline in a completely different light. The scenes show in depth the reasoning behind their choices, the hell of their past and what made them the people they are. For me, the extended content helped me to understand Noah and Angeline, to look at the book from a completely different point of view.In a few words, the story is intriguing and captivating but it is definitely not for everyone. I would recommend it only if you enjoy dark stories and even then you should be prepared. It is difficult to read but it will definitely make you think and probably give you a new perspective on some things, once you finish the book. It has quite a few unexpected twists and the revelations done in the end will leave your head spinning. And if you start reading, then don't skip the extended scenes ;)
Cerys Du Lys:
Cerys is a USA Today Bestselling Author. She has charted on numerous best sellers and hot new release
lists internationally and with multiple books.
Cerys lives in the Greater Boston area in a small town in New Hampshire. She spends her days writing, reading books, learning, and working. And maybe sometimes she flirts with the mailman. Some of her most favorite activities involve understanding and learning about emotions and relationships.
She adores pondering sexual sensuality, as well. Most of her writing delves into this in some way, exploring reactions and relationships between different people. While she enjoys writing steamy romance, her goal is to give you substance and intrigue with your sexy scenes. Every story she writes has a delightful plot along with the more devious and delicious scenes we all want to read.
She prefers romance stories with a little mystery and suspense and the occasional romantic thriller. While many of her novels happen in a contemporary setting, she occasionally dabbles in fantasy and paranormal romance.
Ethan Winters
Ethan is a gentleman, an author, a lover, and occasionally a rake, a cad, and a dom, but only if you've been good (punishing good girls is more entertaining than punishing the naughty ones). He lives in the Greater Boston area in a small town in New Hampshire where he grew up.
He has a penchant for exploring and traveling, with a passion for the unique and interesting. His interests include reading, exercising, laying on the beach, spanking (good girls), romancing, smiling, going for walks that lead to nowhere, hiking, bondage, and one day he would love to travel to Alaska.
His writing delves into the human experience, with a preference towards a psychological thriller twist. He loves mystery, dark romance, and suspense. While some of his writing may be twisted, he believes in romantic true love, above all things. His books include raw, real emotions, good and bad. He believes there is a light at the end of every dark tunnel, and his writing hopes to encompass that.
He loves happy endings, kissing, and a focus on the ordinary turned extraordinary.
I'm glad you liked it, even if it's a bit different at times =)
ReplyDeleteGood luck to everyone in the giveaway, too! <3
Haha, that excerpt! That's one of my favorite parts. Poor Noah. Angeline really had it out for him...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this :)
So hard to pick a favorite lol.
ReplyDelete