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Snow and Ash #4
Five O'Clock Shadow
This dark romance novel contains mature situations and sensitive subject matter, and contains triggers some readers may find discomforting. It is a work of fiction and is intended for adult readers 18 and older.
Aspiring ballerina Amelia Wester’s privileged life fell apart on her 13th birthday when the Yellowstone volcano blew and ended civilization as she knew it. Five years later, she struggles for survival in the bombed-out ruins of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her only friend is a feral cat named Charlie. A life of isolation is her only defense against falling prey to the cannibal element as well as from the other survivors, who are just as desperate as she is to claim the last scraps of food.
Jackson Martell is a security guard at a mysterious place in the mountains of North Carolina known only as The Arc. Five years after the fall of civilization, he’s sent with a group of others to kill off the cannibal inhabitants that now populate Charlotte, NC. A former Cornell student, he dreams of using this assignment to prove himself and rise above the level of glorified security guard. When he spies a young dancer, her graceful performance amongst the shelled-out ruins strikes something deep inside him. Kill her? Not possible. His fascination soon becomes an obsession, and Amelia gains a stalker.
If Amelia can’t remain hidden from the soldiers, the cannibals, and the other survivors, her life will be a short one. If Jackson can’t control his obsession with Amelia, he’ll screw up his one chance at gaining a better future. But fire is fire, and fate is fate, and the stalker and his prey may not be able to resist a future that will destroy them both.
Aspiring ballerina Amelia Wester’s privileged life fell apart on her 13th birthday when the Yellowstone volcano blew and ended civilization as she knew it. Five years later, she struggles for survival in the bombed-out ruins of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her only friend is a feral cat named Charlie. A life of isolation is her only defense against falling prey to the cannibal element as well as from the other survivors, who are just as desperate as she is to claim the last scraps of food.
Jackson Martell is a security guard at a mysterious place in the mountains of North Carolina known only as The Arc. Five years after the fall of civilization, he’s sent with a group of others to kill off the cannibal inhabitants that now populate Charlotte, NC. A former Cornell student, he dreams of using this assignment to prove himself and rise above the level of glorified security guard. When he spies a young dancer, her graceful performance amongst the shelled-out ruins strikes something deep inside him. Kill her? Not possible. His fascination soon becomes an obsession, and Amelia gains a stalker.
If Amelia can’t remain hidden from the soldiers, the cannibals, and the other survivors, her life will be a short one. If Jackson can’t control his obsession with Amelia, he’ll screw up his one chance at gaining a better future. But fire is fire, and fate is fate, and the stalker and his prey may not be able to resist a future that will destroy them both.
269 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2016
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June 24, 2022
A post-apocalyptic dark romance with a deranged stalker who kidnaps and non-cons a sweet survivor? This story was insanity and right up my alley 😍.
This book is part of a series, but the entire thing was self-contained and could just be read by itself. This is the tale of Amelia, a sweet innocent virgin who also happens to be a ballerina (hitting every trope for a naive ingenue you can imagine).
But Amelia is not just a useless damsel in distress. Amelia has been surviving on her own ever since she was 13 years old and the apocalypse happened. The only company she has is Charlie, a cat that saved her by feeding her rats when she was a starving child 🥺🐀. Learning from this feline parent, Amelia becomes the master of rat hunting.
"I get it; I’m not educated. I know lots of useful things like how to throw a knife and how to shoot a crossbow. I can kill and spit a rodent like no one’s business."
Basically, Amelia has Tarzan's backstory, except with more starvation and rodent consumption.
Amelia lives her life day by day, avoiding the "tainted ones" (cannibal survivors) while practicing ballet in abandoned buildings and trying not to starve to death.
This is where our "hero," Jackson, comes in. Jackson is a soldier who works for Arc (basically the organization of rich people who have military power and took over after the apocalypse). He's under orders to go and cleanse the area Amelia lives in of cannibal survivors, and they are to shoot all survivors on sight. Jackson sees this as his opportunity to get a promotion. He ends up stumbling on the abandoned building that Amelia is practicing ballet in, and is captivated by her at first sight. He is unable to shoot her and allows her escape.
Sounds sweet and cute, right?
... we very quickly learn that Jackson is a complete psycho and has a tendency to fixate on and stalk women. Before the apocalypse 6 years ago, he had a track record of obsessing over girls, getting his fill of them sexually (consensual or otherwise 💀), getting a restraining order on him, then moving on to the next target.
It's been 6 long years of him not having a new stalking victim, because there are slim pickings after the apocalypse 😔. Jackson then decides to court Amelia in the way he knows best. He follows her everywhere secretly, breaks into her shelter to spy on her and kiss her in her sleep, reads her diary, fills his house with pornographic paintings of her giving him blowjobs, and leaves spiked Pepsi for her to drink so he can roofie her and keep her captive as his personal sex slave.
It tastes like riding in a car, bright electric lights, and a mother’s love. I let it settle on my tongue, absorb it into every crevice, and I let my teeth bathe in it. When I swallow, it only takes a moment before the tears come. I set the cup down, and for a brief second I can’t let it go.
The Pepsi calls to me.
“It was the Pepsi,” he says quietly. His voice is husky, rough, like the words scrape against his throat. “Tough to get, by the way. But I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist it.”
Y'all, I was dying at how this man's villainous speech from the shadows is about the irresistability of Pepsi 🤣💀. Someone give a call to Pepsi headquarters and tell them to give this author a sponsorship, because she making Pepsi sound like the nectar of the Gods here.
After succeeding with the old tried and true pepsi bait, Amelia is bound and kept captive, forced to give Jackson blowjobs in exchange for food. Because this is her only other contact with a human and he's feeding her food, she takes it surprisingly well.
"I don’t want to be alone anymore. I want him to come back even if it means swallowing his sperm."
Who said romance is dead? 🥰
He also ties her up, gives her water, and refuses to let her pee unless she begs him to fuck her.
“I’m going out with the guys. If I come back and find you’ve wet the bed, I’ll beat you within an inch of your life.”
Horror spiders up my back as I eye the large cup of water I just downed.
He also comes out with the most romantic and loving commentary.
“Wow. I have to say, Amelia, that’s the most erotic piss I’ve ever seen.”
Ladies, search no more. I present to you the p e r f e c t man 👏.
When Jackson finally rapes Amelia in exchange for finding her cat, he's thrilled she's a virgin because she has no one to compare him with, so he can convince her that all his depraved kinks are totally normal. He also plans on killing her after he gets bored of her, so Amelia is literally fucking for her life 💀. Luckily, she is an eager learner and gives him mind blowing porn style orgasms.
She cups my balls. This must be instinctive because I never told her to. If she keeps this up, I’ll be done in two minutes.
[...]God, I love owning a slave.
But this relationship is give and take. Amelia asks for guidance and sex ed from Jackson, and he obliges like the gentleman he is:
“You were a virgin. It always hurts the first time.”
“Why?”
“It’s how you’re made. You’re only supposed to have one man, and letting him breech you is your gift to him. It’s how you show him you’re pure.”
I frown. I particularly remember it being okay to sleep with several men, as long as you were in love with them.
I love this asshole and his psycho, unapologetic bullshit 🤣🤣.
Jackson and Amelia enjoy this sex slave relationship, and Amelia finds herself actually meaning it when Jackson demands for her to tell him she loves him. But their "relationship" gets complicated when Arc takes an interest in finding Amelia and extracting knowledge from her...
The heroine, Amelia:
Even though she was very naive in some ways, it was not annoying to me. She was mostly naive when it came to sex, which actually made more sense in this story. Amelia was left to survive on her own since 13 years old, kept away from other humans in order to not get cannibalized by them, and was barely surviving. It also made sense why she fell for Jackson despite his evil rapist ways.
Even though Jackson was an evil serial rapist, Amelia seemed very self aware that she liked his rough dirty ways, so kudos to her for owning up to her kinks 🙃.
“You actually like that shit?”
“There’s something wrong with you, Jackson.”
[...]“I don’t care, though. I want you to conquer me. Give me every sick, twisted thing you’ve got. It’s the only thing that will save me.”
It's also nice that Amelia still had her badass moments, and she managed to ensure that her lovely stalker / captor survived to become her husband by bartering with Arc workers. Woman's gotta save her hubby 💅. She was also a sweetie, selflessly helping others when she could, and I thought it was cute how easily impressed she was with Jackson's culinary "genius":
He’s a way better cook than I am, so I’ve gotten used to waiting in the chair while he prepares dinner. He proves this when he splits the potatoes open and pops a slice of cheese into each.
To be fair, it's not exactly hard to impress someone who got by eating spit roasted rats.
The "hero," Jackson:
Jackson was a craaaazy asshole. It was fun to read his depraved and delusional thoughts. I wasn't super keen on the idea the heroine wasn't the first girl he's stalked and obsessed over, but it wasn't done so distastefully to the point where I disliked him. I liked that this was the first time he stalked and kept a girl captive, and the story mentioned that this time's obsession was more intense. I also liked how possessive and jealous he was over Amelia, when imagining detailed pornographic scenarios of her and imaginary OM:
"Any man shoots his load in my girl, I’ll kill him."
So romantic 🥰.
I found myself liking it a lot more when he was less apologetic. It's a shame he mellowed out so much near the end and felt so guilty. I guess the author felt uncomfortable giving him a HEA if he was as unhinged as he was in the beginning 🥲. Only thing I really could've done without was this right at the end:
“You would have chained some girl in your basement.”
He nods. “When I was younger I stalked girls, and if they were stupid enough to fall for me I fucked the shit out of them, but I never actually took one. It would have happened eventually. I’m ruled by my cock, and I need to be master.”
Why, author??? It's basically admitting that he would have eventually settled down and kidnapped some other girl eventually, instead of it just being the heroine who was special enough for him to make an exception for 😫. Why drop this bomb right at the end?
Sigh. Other than this, I really enjoyed reading this crazy ass book. Highly recommend it for those that want to read about a villainous unhinged "hero" who gets away with raping the heroine and even gets rewarded for impregnating her 👀. Because vile villains need some loving, too ❤.
Safety:
* Heroine is a VERY naive virgin. Never been kissed or did anything sexual.
* Hero definitely not a virgin. Had ex girlfriends and other women he stalked and got obsessed with, even raping some. He never kept any of them captive like he did with the heroine.
* No cheating.
* RAPE AND NON CON. The hero rapes the heroine a lot, although she enjoys it after the first time. Hero also slaps the heroine after raping her for no reason, because he crazyyy.
* No OM drama. Hero at first gets very jealous when he hears her talk about Charlie, but later finds out it's the cat. Hero is also batshit insane and works himself up into a jealous frenzy over nonexistent OM.
* No OW drama. It's been 6 years since the hero had another stalking obsession. His last ones were before the apocalypse when the world was normal. He does mention that none of the previous obsessions were as intense as the one he felt for the heroine.
* No condoms or protection.
* HEA with the heroine pregnant. No epilogue.
This book is part of a series, but the entire thing was self-contained and could just be read by itself. This is the tale of Amelia, a sweet innocent virgin who also happens to be a ballerina (hitting every trope for a naive ingenue you can imagine).
But Amelia is not just a useless damsel in distress. Amelia has been surviving on her own ever since she was 13 years old and the apocalypse happened. The only company she has is Charlie, a cat that saved her by feeding her rats when she was a starving child 🥺🐀. Learning from this feline parent, Amelia becomes the master of rat hunting.
"I get it; I’m not educated. I know lots of useful things like how to throw a knife and how to shoot a crossbow. I can kill and spit a rodent like no one’s business."
Basically, Amelia has Tarzan's backstory, except with more starvation and rodent consumption.
Amelia lives her life day by day, avoiding the "tainted ones" (cannibal survivors) while practicing ballet in abandoned buildings and trying not to starve to death.
This is where our "hero," Jackson, comes in. Jackson is a soldier who works for Arc (basically the organization of rich people who have military power and took over after the apocalypse). He's under orders to go and cleanse the area Amelia lives in of cannibal survivors, and they are to shoot all survivors on sight. Jackson sees this as his opportunity to get a promotion. He ends up stumbling on the abandoned building that Amelia is practicing ballet in, and is captivated by her at first sight. He is unable to shoot her and allows her escape.
Sounds sweet and cute, right?
... we very quickly learn that Jackson is a complete psycho and has a tendency to fixate on and stalk women. Before the apocalypse 6 years ago, he had a track record of obsessing over girls, getting his fill of them sexually (consensual or otherwise 💀), getting a restraining order on him, then moving on to the next target.
It's been 6 long years of him not having a new stalking victim, because there are slim pickings after the apocalypse 😔. Jackson then decides to court Amelia in the way he knows best. He follows her everywhere secretly, breaks into her shelter to spy on her and kiss her in her sleep, reads her diary, fills his house with pornographic paintings of her giving him blowjobs, and leaves spiked Pepsi for her to drink so he can roofie her and keep her captive as his personal sex slave.
It tastes like riding in a car, bright electric lights, and a mother’s love. I let it settle on my tongue, absorb it into every crevice, and I let my teeth bathe in it. When I swallow, it only takes a moment before the tears come. I set the cup down, and for a brief second I can’t let it go.
The Pepsi calls to me.
“It was the Pepsi,” he says quietly. His voice is husky, rough, like the words scrape against his throat. “Tough to get, by the way. But I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist it.”
Y'all, I was dying at how this man's villainous speech from the shadows is about the irresistability of Pepsi 🤣💀. Someone give a call to Pepsi headquarters and tell them to give this author a sponsorship, because she making Pepsi sound like the nectar of the Gods here.
After succeeding with the old tried and true pepsi bait, Amelia is bound and kept captive, forced to give Jackson blowjobs in exchange for food. Because this is her only other contact with a human and he's feeding her food, she takes it surprisingly well.
"I don’t want to be alone anymore. I want him to come back even if it means swallowing his sperm."
Who said romance is dead? 🥰
He also ties her up, gives her water, and refuses to let her pee unless she begs him to fuck her.
“I’m going out with the guys. If I come back and find you’ve wet the bed, I’ll beat you within an inch of your life.”
Horror spiders up my back as I eye the large cup of water I just downed.
He also comes out with the most romantic and loving commentary.
“Wow. I have to say, Amelia, that’s the most erotic piss I’ve ever seen.”
Ladies, search no more. I present to you the p e r f e c t man 👏.
When Jackson finally rapes Amelia in exchange for finding her cat, he's thrilled she's a virgin because she has no one to compare him with, so he can convince her that all his depraved kinks are totally normal. He also plans on killing her after he gets bored of her, so Amelia is literally fucking for her life 💀. Luckily, she is an eager learner and gives him mind blowing porn style orgasms.
She cups my balls. This must be instinctive because I never told her to. If she keeps this up, I’ll be done in two minutes.
[...]God, I love owning a slave.
But this relationship is give and take. Amelia asks for guidance and sex ed from Jackson, and he obliges like the gentleman he is:
“You were a virgin. It always hurts the first time.”
“Why?”
“It’s how you’re made. You’re only supposed to have one man, and letting him breech you is your gift to him. It’s how you show him you’re pure.”
I frown. I particularly remember it being okay to sleep with several men, as long as you were in love with them.
I love this asshole and his psycho, unapologetic bullshit 🤣🤣.
Jackson and Amelia enjoy this sex slave relationship, and Amelia finds herself actually meaning it when Jackson demands for her to tell him she loves him. But their "relationship" gets complicated when Arc takes an interest in finding Amelia and extracting knowledge from her...
The heroine, Amelia:
Even though she was very naive in some ways, it was not annoying to me. She was mostly naive when it came to sex, which actually made more sense in this story. Amelia was left to survive on her own since 13 years old, kept away from other humans in order to not get cannibalized by them, and was barely surviving. It also made sense why she fell for Jackson despite his evil rapist ways.
Even though Jackson was an evil serial rapist, Amelia seemed very self aware that she liked his rough dirty ways, so kudos to her for owning up to her kinks 🙃.
“You actually like that shit?”
“There’s something wrong with you, Jackson.”
[...]“I don’t care, though. I want you to conquer me. Give me every sick, twisted thing you’ve got. It’s the only thing that will save me.”
It's also nice that Amelia still had her badass moments, and she managed to ensure that her lovely stalker / captor survived to become her husband by bartering with Arc workers. Woman's gotta save her hubby 💅. She was also a sweetie, selflessly helping others when she could, and I thought it was cute how easily impressed she was with Jackson's culinary "genius":
He’s a way better cook than I am, so I’ve gotten used to waiting in the chair while he prepares dinner. He proves this when he splits the potatoes open and pops a slice of cheese into each.
To be fair, it's not exactly hard to impress someone who got by eating spit roasted rats.
The "hero," Jackson:
Jackson was a craaaazy asshole. It was fun to read his depraved and delusional thoughts. I wasn't super keen on the idea the heroine wasn't the first girl he's stalked and obsessed over, but it wasn't done so distastefully to the point where I disliked him. I liked that this was the first time he stalked and kept a girl captive, and the story mentioned that this time's obsession was more intense. I also liked how possessive and jealous he was over Amelia, when imagining detailed pornographic scenarios of her and imaginary OM:
"Any man shoots his load in my girl, I’ll kill him."
So romantic 🥰.
I found myself liking it a lot more when he was less apologetic. It's a shame he mellowed out so much near the end and felt so guilty. I guess the author felt uncomfortable giving him a HEA if he was as unhinged as he was in the beginning 🥲. Only thing I really could've done without was this right at the end:
“You would have chained some girl in your basement.”
He nods. “When I was younger I stalked girls, and if they were stupid enough to fall for me I fucked the shit out of them, but I never actually took one. It would have happened eventually. I’m ruled by my cock, and I need to be master.”
Why, author??? It's basically admitting that he would have eventually settled down and kidnapped some other girl eventually, instead of it just being the heroine who was special enough for him to make an exception for 😫. Why drop this bomb right at the end?
Sigh. Other than this, I really enjoyed reading this crazy ass book. Highly recommend it for those that want to read about a villainous unhinged "hero" who gets away with raping the heroine and even gets rewarded for impregnating her 👀. Because vile villains need some loving, too ❤.
Safety:
* Heroine is a VERY naive virgin. Never been kissed or did anything sexual.
* Hero definitely not a virgin. Had ex girlfriends and other women he stalked and got obsessed with, even raping some. He never kept any of them captive like he did with the heroine.
* No cheating.
* RAPE AND NON CON. The hero rapes the heroine a lot, although she enjoys it after the first time. Hero also slaps the heroine after raping her for no reason, because he crazyyy.
* No OM drama. Hero at first gets very jealous when he hears her talk about Charlie, but later finds out it's the cat. Hero is also batshit insane and works himself up into a jealous frenzy over nonexistent OM.
* No OW drama. It's been 6 years since the hero had another stalking obsession. His last ones were before the apocalypse when the world was normal. He does mention that none of the previous obsessions were as intense as the one he felt for the heroine.
* No condoms or protection.
* HEA with the heroine pregnant. No epilogue.
July 8, 2022
Even in a post apocalyptic world, we still got a former ballerina as a female lead.
Anyhoo, Yellowstone blew up and now the world is run by cannibals. And our male lead, a serial stalker, is instructed to kill any human they meet on sight.... until of course, he saw the female lead dancing away in rubbles.
First thing that I did like about this book is the setting (although we couldn't see a lot of it since our girl here is trapped most of the time inside the guy's room) and the plot (with the secret group of rich people dominating the world). However, since this book was published in 2016 and we still haven't got any new book in the series, I think we maybe never got to see the end of this series at all.
Now, let's talk about the trigger warning. Noncon/dubcon is a big part of this book. So if you find this uncomfortable to read, then might not be the best choice to pick this one up.
All in all, it was pretty dark and I did like some of the components but it just left me feeling unsatisfied in the end. If you're okay with not probably seeing the ending of this series altogether, then maybe you could try it out.
Anyhoo, Yellowstone blew up and now the world is run by cannibals. And our male lead, a serial stalker, is instructed to kill any human they meet on sight.... until of course, he saw the female lead dancing away in rubbles.
First thing that I did like about this book is the setting (although we couldn't see a lot of it since our girl here is trapped most of the time inside the guy's room) and the plot (with the secret group of rich people dominating the world). However, since this book was published in 2016 and we still haven't got any new book in the series, I think we maybe never got to see the end of this series at all.
Now, let's talk about the trigger warning. Noncon/dubcon is a big part of this book. So if you find this uncomfortable to read, then might not be the best choice to pick this one up.
All in all, it was pretty dark and I did like some of the components but it just left me feeling unsatisfied in the end. If you're okay with not probably seeing the ending of this series altogether, then maybe you could try it out.
June 22, 2022
3.8 stars. This is a dystopia with the tropes: dubious consent / non con, innocent heroine, obsessive stalker hero, captive. I don’t know why I haven’t heard this book mentioned more among readers who like dub con / non con or stalker reads, it's a decent one.
In this world, a volcano erupted and the ash blocked out the sun, made food scarce, and society has collapsed. I’ve read two other books in this series (all are standalones) and this is the best one. Stolen Melody has a lot of the same tropes – but to this author’s credit, she managed to make this story very different from that one.
Amelia was 13 when the apocalypse happened. She’s 19 now, but she’s been living all alone in the ruins of North Carolina since then. So, she’s resourceful, but also has a 7th grade education and is very innocent. Jackson is a soldier who was a college student before the apocalypse (so he’s probably 26 or 27, but it’s not specified). Now, he works as security for mysterious rich guy government types. He was sent to Amelia’s city to be a sniper and clear out the cannibals that are around. He seems like a regular guy at first, but it soon becomes clear that he’s unhinged. He has this compulsion of getting obsessed with women, and when he sees Amelia, she becomes his target.
He stalks her, takes her captive, and non cons her. Just like in Stolen Melody, Amelia is kind of into it. So, this isn’t a read for people who can’t read dub con and non con. But, compared to other books in that trope, it’s less harrowing than ones where the heroine is miserable the whole time.
Jackson often demands that Amelia tell him she loves him. So, unlike the hero of Stolen Melody, who was rough but not crazy, Jackson IS crazy – but, he’s capable of seeming normal to his employers. And he’s self-aware about it. I wouldn’t say he’s one of my favorite heroes, but I do think he’s the best kind of dub con / non con hero, because the trope doesn’t really work if the hero is NOT unhinged. But also, if he’s barely in touch with reality or can barely understand emotions, that’s boring. Jackson hits that perfect spot of being just psycho enough, but not too much.
Amelia is very aware that he’s “slightly nutso,” as she says, but she starts falling for him anyway. But, considering the fact that he’s her first human interaction in years, it feels natural. I didn’t feel like it made no sense, the way that some other “heroine falls for her captor” trope books do. She’s very likable – later on when she meets other people, she has a lot of backbone.
Some of her interactions with Jackson were not my jam – she’s so ignorant about sex since she hasn’t talked to people since she was 13 (and doesn’t have internet) that she has him explain what he’s doing to her. That was TOO much “virgin heroine” trope for me. But, if you like that, it’s here. Also, lot of captive / non con books don’t have much plot, but this book has an interesting plot, too, as it becomes clear that Jackson’s bosses are up to some shady stuff that ends up involving Amelia, too.
If you’re in the mood for these tropes, it’s a solid read. But, don’t read The Other Brother (another book in this series), that one is awful.
In this world, a volcano erupted and the ash blocked out the sun, made food scarce, and society has collapsed. I’ve read two other books in this series (all are standalones) and this is the best one. Stolen Melody has a lot of the same tropes – but to this author’s credit, she managed to make this story very different from that one.
Amelia was 13 when the apocalypse happened. She’s 19 now, but she’s been living all alone in the ruins of North Carolina since then. So, she’s resourceful, but also has a 7th grade education and is very innocent. Jackson is a soldier who was a college student before the apocalypse (so he’s probably 26 or 27, but it’s not specified). Now, he works as security for mysterious rich guy government types. He was sent to Amelia’s city to be a sniper and clear out the cannibals that are around. He seems like a regular guy at first, but it soon becomes clear that he’s unhinged. He has this compulsion of getting obsessed with women, and when he sees Amelia, she becomes his target.
He stalks her, takes her captive, and non cons her. Just like in Stolen Melody, Amelia is kind of into it. So, this isn’t a read for people who can’t read dub con and non con. But, compared to other books in that trope, it’s less harrowing than ones where the heroine is miserable the whole time.
Jackson often demands that Amelia tell him she loves him. So, unlike the hero of Stolen Melody, who was rough but not crazy, Jackson IS crazy – but, he’s capable of seeming normal to his employers. And he’s self-aware about it. I wouldn’t say he’s one of my favorite heroes, but I do think he’s the best kind of dub con / non con hero, because the trope doesn’t really work if the hero is NOT unhinged. But also, if he’s barely in touch with reality or can barely understand emotions, that’s boring. Jackson hits that perfect spot of being just psycho enough, but not too much.
Amelia is very aware that he’s “slightly nutso,” as she says, but she starts falling for him anyway. But, considering the fact that he’s her first human interaction in years, it feels natural. I didn’t feel like it made no sense, the way that some other “heroine falls for her captor” trope books do. She’s very likable – later on when she meets other people, she has a lot of backbone.
Some of her interactions with Jackson were not my jam – she’s so ignorant about sex since she hasn’t talked to people since she was 13 (and doesn’t have internet) that she has him explain what he’s doing to her. That was TOO much “virgin heroine” trope for me. But, if you like that, it’s here. Also, lot of captive / non con books don’t have much plot, but this book has an interesting plot, too, as it becomes clear that Jackson’s bosses are up to some shady stuff that ends up involving Amelia, too.
If you’re in the mood for these tropes, it’s a solid read. But, don’t read The Other Brother (another book in this series), that one is awful.
February 19, 2024
This was really fun and hot and wrong 😭
These GR reviews were not kidding. I thought they got all the good quotes but damn. I don’t read too much dystopian romance so I quite enjoyed the plot.
One thing tho
These GR reviews were not kidding. I thought they got all the good quotes but damn. I don’t read too much dystopian romance so I quite enjoyed the plot.
One thing tho
October 7, 2021
twisted love
A dark screwed up story of an obsessed, sadistic educated man falling for a fragile, naive school girl. Easily imagine them learning each other while dealing with challenges combining the obsession and a crush turned love.
A dark screwed up story of an obsessed, sadistic educated man falling for a fragile, naive school girl. Easily imagine them learning each other while dealing with challenges combining the obsession and a crush turned love.
November 1, 2016
So when the word 'dark' is thrown in with the word 'romance,' I am not all together sure what to expect, and generally, I just avoid it. For some reason, this story caught my eye and I decided to read it.....
For me, this book is uncomfortable. There were lots of trigger words rolling through my head as I read this.....rape, Stockholm syndrome, sociopath.....and it was all directed toward the main characters, Amelia and Jackson and their relationship. No, this was not a healthy modern relationship by any means, and I honestly felt uncomfortable with myself for enjoying this book, but I did. I DID!
For me, this book is uncomfortable. There were lots of trigger words rolling through my head as I read this.....rape, Stockholm syndrome, sociopath.....and it was all directed toward the main characters, Amelia and Jackson and their relationship. No, this was not a healthy modern relationship by any means, and I honestly felt uncomfortable with myself for enjoying this book, but I did. I DID!
November 29, 2016
In this next installment of the Snow and Ash series, we again have to warn the reader of possible triggers. Rape, Stockholm Syndrome, physical and verbal abuse. The usual gambit in this post-apocalyptic series.
We have Sargent Jackson Martel, and Amelia Littleton-Wester. Jackson is out hunting and exterminating cannabals, and finds Amelia, dancing. He becomes obsessed and stalks her, until he takes her. There’s plenty of sex here, and most of it violent.
If you like Dark romance and post-apocalyptic tales, this book is for you.
We have Sargent Jackson Martel, and Amelia Littleton-Wester. Jackson is out hunting and exterminating cannabals, and finds Amelia, dancing. He becomes obsessed and stalks her, until he takes her. There’s plenty of sex here, and most of it violent.
If you like Dark romance and post-apocalyptic tales, this book is for you.
October 2, 2021
Jackson and Amelia's story.
Amelia is just trying to survive on her own, she has been doing okay for the last six years. Recently she got the eye of a soldier named Jackson and he is completely obsessed with her. This is a great read and I highly recommend it!
Amelia is just trying to survive on her own, she has been doing okay for the last six years. Recently she got the eye of a soldier named Jackson and he is completely obsessed with her. This is a great read and I highly recommend it!
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