The Romance Vault

I can only start this review by saying oh my f***ing God! I've scrolled down some of the reviews on goodreads and noticed that this book is indeed rare to be honoured with the full monty five star award and for the life of me I cannot fathom why? It deserves a five star accolade and here's why......

I can only guess that this book has attracted readers because of the cursed FSOG and those readers couldn't actually handle the content...... again like other books I have read as dark as this, why can't the reader throw away their subjective when reading these dark books? It's almost as though I feel they can't go public and admit to liking such a 'mess with your head' book. It's not as if the author doesn't warn of the content, and it's that warning that actually totally drew me to reading this book and I wish potential readers would heed these warning before embarking on taking a book like this on.

Heck no I could never see myself wanting to be anyway near these kinds of situations but I cannot applaud authors enough that deliver such a depravity filled environment so powerfully. It's the shock factor, the scene building, the pain filled scenes, the humiliation and the sheer desperation that drip off the pages that the author must be undeniably congratulated for. I can only imagine the talent it must take to pull a book like this off and do it so well.

So, if we're going to liken this book to others I say shame on you for those that read it because of FSOG! God this isn't even in that field, FSOG is a ballet version of BDSM, Judgment is a Rottweiler version of BDSM, it's captivity, mind manipulation, coercion, force, rape and total submission and mostly draws on the 'S' element of BDSM. So the books I would put this in line with are, Captive in the Dark, Seduced in the Dark, The Tied Man, Undeniable for the shock factor, Underestimated for the captivity and treatment, Wanderlust for the dominance of the main character - these are to name but a few.

So a brief take on the characters, oh my squirming behind, those masters! Hateful, hurtful and totally magnetic, same goes for Tane, the Mountain Lord, this guy is one of the darkest male leads I have ever come across but I couldn't help but be mesmerised by him. Yes the inner part of me wants him to suddenly realise what a complete A-hole he is but again he's penned in such a way that you’re drawn to him in a weird way, it's almost like being compelled.

Callie aka Mischief, I love that girl, my heart bled for her and my stamina routed for her. I wanted her rebel like she was, I wanted her to be able to show them she could take everything they threw at her and remain true to herself but of course they just upped their game, total dominance is required and I felt each time a little chink of her was stolen from her.

I also loved that although this is one of the darkest books I've ever read it also had its lightness, for instance (she had to remain facing the wall):-

The door opened and I quickly snapped around to face the wall again. From behind me, a low voice drawled, "Was that movement I just saw?"

With a hint of amusement, one of the guards replied, "To be fair, she did glance at the wall once or twice."

"That's what I thought."

So if you can handle truly dark erotica, not a single flower in sight, only the devil in many forms that you will like this book and if like me you appreciate the building of the book and its deliverance then you'll love it like me. I can't wait to read Mercy and see what that has in store.