I didn't know her name... But I took her anyway. She was supposed to belong to another man. Now she’s mine. Her big doe eyes and full, lush lips pleaded with me to take her. I couldn't just walk away. That monster made her his slave. Hurt and broken, all I wanted to do was save her. I'll protect her. I'll show her what love really is. I'll remind every inch of her body that it can feel so good... I don't care if HE wants her back. She belongs to me. And I'll fight to show her what she's truly worth.
Blurb: I didn't know her name... But I took her anyway. She was supposed to belong to another man. Now she’s mine. Her big doe eyes and full, lush lips pleaded with me to take her. I couldn't just walk away. That monster made her his slave. Hurt and broken, all I wanted to do was save her. I'll protect her. I'll show her what love really is. I'll remind every inch of her body that it can feel so good... I don't care if HE wants her back. She belongs to me. And I'll fight to show her what she's truly worth.
3.5 Stars I am not really a fan of dark romances but this story was not too bad. While I enjoyed this story I would have to say it wasn’t very realistic and it is definitely an insta love story. I did shake my head at some of the actions of the characters, especially those from Redd and Bijou. I absolutely would not forgive her father, they both let him off the hook way too easily. Safety This book is completely safe. Bijou went through two years of pain and suffering but it is never shown or overly talked about. Nothing is mentioned about Redd’s past sexual history. I would have liked to see them use condoms though with the situation they were in. Other than the fact that is was highly unrealistic I enjoyed the story. It was fast paced and Redd really wasn’t as bad as he thought he was.
I had the pleasure to voluntarily read and review an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
This was my first book by this author and I must say I was impressed. Even though this was not the finished copy of the book, the writing was so good and the misspellings were very minimal. I can only imagine that once this book is actually released it will be amazing!
I was drawn in from the beginning of this book. It is definitely a dark read. The theme behind this book is not for the faint of heart, it really touches on some touchy subjects. The main character is so strong. Her will to survive and not break was so great. Bijou was just a young woman when she was taken into captivity and for years she endureed various counts of horrible treatments, always asking herself why but never really knowing the answer. That is until a thief comes into her life, changing things drastically.
Redd was a very interesting character. You were not really sure how to take him, whether you loved or hated him. He was a good man who did bad things, a man who wanted to be better but just did not know how to quit. In the end this was his greatest downfall and his greatest blessing.
The reason for my three star rating is simply because the instalove hit just a little to hard for me. Usually I am all for it but it just seemed to happen way to fast for my liking in this particular book. Especially when I think about someone who had experienced what Bijou went through. It would take more than a day and even weeks, hell even years to get past that.
Overall though, I was really impressed by this book. The writing was spot on, the story line was great, and the thrill of what would happen next had me on the edge of my seat the entire book.
**ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review**
“She wouldn’t be here with me if she really wanted to die.”
Provocative, dark and all kinds of hot, Leah Holt pulls you in and spits you out with enough bruises to scar you both inside and out in her latest novel, Redd.
Diablo takes what he wants without a second thought of the carnage he leaves behind. That’s exactly how Bijou ends up in his unforgiving hands. She’s a payment for a debt owed and that means she belongs to him to do whatever he desires. And Diablo loves his toys.
Bijou was snatched from a life she soon realised she had taken for granted. She now belongs to someone else. She doesn’t have a say, she’s just there to do whatever she is told.
I was fascinated by how Leah Holt managed to draw me in from the first page and how she transformed a broken human into a character you end up rooting for with everything you’ve got. She writes real and strong characters and that make everything that much better.
Redd is the mysterious, under the radar character you don’t see coming and at the same time you are not sure if you want him to turn around or keep going forward. He manages to get himself entangled with something he probably shouldn’t. But he doesn’t end up regretting anything and he isn’t exactly hard to stay mad at.
The story is certainly filled with dark and gets you quite angry, sometimes at everyone and sometimes at the situation but everything has a purpose and in the end it all becomes clear.
“Help me, help her. Let’s make this go away for ever.”
Certainly worth five-gripping-stars!
**Review by Angelique, Late Night Reviewer for Up All Night w/ Books**
I absolutely loved this book. Leah did an amazing job writing this one. Absolutely loved Redd and Bijou. Bijou is so strong through everything that she deals with. I absolutely love her character. She gets kidnapped and Redd finds her not knowing that she is even there to begin with. That is when the story gets interesting. I love being able to read about how their connection grows and how Redd is willing to do anything to save her and his sister. This was a very well written story with amazing characters. The chemistry is amazing between these characters. Enjoyable and gripping with great suspense from the beginning to the end.
Redd This is a dark, emotional, powerful read revolving around Bijou and Redd. Bijou is a young woman stolen from her family and home in the middle of the night and held against her will by a very powerful and dangerous mob boss. Redd is a thief and stumbles across the captive Bijou during a heist. Oh my word the twist and turns of this revolving around her , her family, the captures and Redd's past are amazing and thrilling! Are Redd and Bijou entitled to a happy ever after or will their pasts catch up!? I was offered an Arc for an honest review . ~~Michele McMullen ~~
I tried, I mean I really tried but once I got to the 50% with nothing really substantial to keep me motivated and also lack of connection with characters I bailed! There was a lot of descriptive in the head talking and not much actual interaction going on for my likes....BORING!!!! This was for me, was bad:( I didn't even bother skipping to the end, I had no care what ended up happening! I am obviously in the minority here and again, my own personal feelings.
Bijou had gone to bed one night only to wake with someone in her room. Before she could scream she had a wet cloth over her face causing her to lose consciousness. When she awoke, she had no idea where she was, only that she was tied up and blind folded. Over two years she is still in the hands of her captor. Physically, emotionally, and mentally abused every way humanly possible, scars on the inside as well as the outside, she is only allowed to talk when it is demanded of her. She's gathered from small conversations overheard she was taken as payment owed by her father to Diablo, head of the Mafia that had moved into their town. After all this time, she remembers her name was Bijou. Now, she is nothing and no one … for all intent purposes, Diablo kills her one way or another on a daily basis. Redd became a thief at the age of sixteen when his drunk father wouldn't take responsibility for what he and his sister needed. The convenience store only netted a couple hundred dollars but paid the electric bill and put food on the table. He felt bad at first, but with each job it became easier until he received a call asking for help. Now he would make the heist for a client, turn it over, get out and get paid. He promised himself he would retire after the last heist but as luck would have it her overheard two men in a bar discussing a jewel worth $50,000 they would be guarding. The only problem Redd had was he had made himself a rule not to steal from someone's home. Now the weight of the heist was battling with his self imposed rule. By his reckoning and the conversation, whatever this was didn't really belong to whoever it was anyway so, his ego convinced him he was doing just one more heist and then this would be over. Or would it? Leah Holt has once again shown her vast talent at finding a way for her words to take a reader and immerse them into the emotion of her characters. This story is filled with a plethora of them and I was on a rollercoaster with twists and turns not only from the emotional angst but with the plot. Everything just flowed together and pieces fitting together like a master puzzle. Bijou, Redd and even Vicki will make you feel like you're going through everything with them. What surprised me most, there is a character I had really despised throughout the book until the end when it took another twist and had no choice to admit it was misplaced. That's when you know an author has exceeded your expectations. Great job!
I've read Leah Holt before and I thoroughly enjoy her work. Every so often, I am given the chance to read and review her work and having read Leah's work, I always take the time to review for this author. Redd, like everything I have read in the past, is well written and extremely enjoyable. You will be entertained and not want to put down the book. I like that Leah's books are so hot while still containing an actual story. Don't get me wrong, smut has it's purposes, and so does dark romance... it just depends on what mode you are in when you pick up a book. I usually prefer a meatier book. Usually, I skip a novella in favor of something that you get to know and love the characters, the world, etc. that an author takes the time to build for us. With Redd, there is not a world to build like in a Sci-Fi but building the characters takes the place of building a world and I enjoyed the character's we meet, predominantly Bijou and Redd.
Redd is a dark romance, so if you are jumping into the book expecting nonstop sex, this is the wrong book for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a darker romance, with some down right sizzling scenes between the hero and heroine, and a story that will keep you reading long into the night... you can not go wrong in picking up Redd. This book is not what I would classify as a fast read, you have a full story, prologue, chapters, etc to navigate through. It's intense based on the subject matter but don't let that stop you from reading it. Neither too dark, nor a sugary sweet read, Redd is a great middle ground.
Redd does start off a little slowly, but after you've finished the book, you'll appreciate the time Leah Holt spent laying the groundwork for Diablo's diabolical torture of Bijou. Honestly, at first I thought I wasn't going to like the story, but by the end, I had to give Leah Holt more credit. I know better then to jump to conclusions based on a chapter or two, and Redd reminded me of that. When you've read an author and know they produce quality work, you have to push through and trust their methods. I had forgotten that when I was reading the first few chapters. Overall, I would give this book 4 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and think you will too.
Intent on getting out of the game of thievery, Redd overhears two guys in a bar talking about a ‘jewel’ they have to keep watch over. A jewel worth over $50,000. Despite his promise to live a straight life, he figures there’s no harm in one last final job. But when Redd comes across a woman, rather than a jewel, he makes a spontaneous decision to take her instead, putting him in much more danger than he could ever imagine.
Redd was an ideal mix of dangerous and sweetness. He was realistically conflicted about what he was going to do with Bijou, so he lost his temper at times, but quickly followed up with the necessary comfort she needed. Bijou was Diablo’s slave for over two years, but she’s not as broken as I’d expected. She’s strong and resilient, but sometimes too strong. I was a bit surprised how easily she let Redd touch her intimately, especially after being endlessly raped and tortured for two years.
My main issue with the book was how undeveloped Diablo was and how easily Bijou recovered. There were very few scenes with Diablo and I just didn’t get enough from them to understand Bijou’s fear of him. But what he apparently put Bijou through seemed pretty severe and traumatizing, so the fact that she so easily reintegrated into society and let any man touch her… it wasn’t realistic and minimized the seriousness of her situation. Redd was perfect, and with just a few adjustments and a little added darkness, the plot would’ve been, too.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC for an honest review. This was the first book I have read by this author and I am excited to tell you about this book. The story begins as a young, innocent girl gets taken by a sadistic criminal. Bijou was taken from her family to pay for a debt her father incurred. Diablo, the criminal has Bijou for two years, and the acts that he did with Bijou are horrendous.
One night, another criminal stumbles into a bar. He overheard two guys talking about a jewel worth $50,000. Redd is a smart criminal, having performed theft for several years, and planning his heists would take a lot of time. But the chance to get a jewel worth that much was too good to turn away. So he didn’t plan his actions. He followed the guys from the bar, snuck into the house and began searching for the jewel. When he stumbled upon Bijou, held captive in a small closet, he reacted on a primal level to get her out of the house.
The story unfolds from there, with love kindling between the two characters. Bijou is wary of Redd and all he wants to do is keep her safe. As they spend more time together, love blooms and eventually they decide to end the fear.
I enjoyed this book and my only criticism would be that the final act went too quickly. All the angst and build up was great, but the last scenes were too short. Appreciate the opportunity to read this author and this book and would definitely recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I recieved an ARC of this book. Let me just tell you i was blown away. Bijou is a girl, given away to pay off a debt. Redd is a criminal. Redd overhears 2 men talking about a Jewel worth a lot of money they have to go protect for the night. Redd is instantly drawn in with no clue what he’s getting himself into. Bijou has been a hostage of Diablo and living in this environment for 2 years before this man sweeps in and saves her. Redd has no idea what he is getting himself into by taking Bijou from her little closet and saving her. He doesn’t understand the consequences of what he has done. Bijou tells him exactly what’s going to happen but that doesn’t stop him from growing feelings and protecting her. They had the most messed up start and somehow overcome everything and have an awesome ending. Im hoping that there is a few more books. This book will suck you in and spit you out. It will make you sad and angry happy and pissed off. What good book doesn’t though! Thank you for the great read.
It's definitely no a dark romance although it starts as such.
The storyline needs improvement because as it is now is weak, rushed and very superficial. The events are not convincing and believable. For the supposed horror Biju experienced the rest of the book, after prologue, was disproportionately cheesy and too sweet. Biju irritated me at some point I thought her reactions and dealing with Redd's story of events was childish.
The characters were not well developed and without depth. For an accomplished thief Redd was reckless in his decisions. Really ?! rob a mansion on the spur of the moment, just because he overhears a conversation in a bar??!! Not clever at all.
Overall the story is underdeveloped, weak and not gripping, very predictable without sparks of excitement. The characters follow with similar comments. They are mono-dimensional, quite bland. Could not really care much about their fate.
I'm sorry to be critical but that's honest opinion that will help create better stories in the future.
I received this book as an arc for an honest review. The book is due out on 2nd March and this is what I thought of it. I didn't get a background story with this book so I didn't know what to expect and because of that I couldn't settle in to it at first. The main character's are redd and bijou he's a their and she is a girl bound by family circumstance. The horrors bijou had to injure at the hands of an evil man almost broke her as she released she was a possession to him to due as he willed . An long comes a thief thinking he can do one last job only to find something else to change the course of his life. Together they try to find love against the odds of both their pasts. It's the first book by this author that I have read and think I will come b a co to this book in the future it was a good read.
If you’re new to “dark and twisty” then this book might be for you. If you love a good dark and twisty, then this book will let you down. It has the bones and characters to be an epically good book but falls short of the mark. Diablo (the villain) wasn’t fleshed out quite enough. We didn’t get to see into him enough, and we didn’t get to experience enough of the two years he spent with Bijou. Also, Bijou, kidnapped, tortured, raped Bijou suddenly jumps in the arms of another man the day after she escapes? It just didn’t gel. Redd, complicated, good hearted, greedy, Redd. I love this character. This book just needed some tweaking and it could have been SOO good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I love dark twisted books so for me this was more level medium with a good bit at the beginning and the rest dealing with the fallout. I liked how when things seemed a bit unrealistic the author acknowledged and explained what the characters were thinking and feeling. I loved Bijou and Redd. So broken in so many pieces but fit snugly back together in each other’s arms. Their broken pieces just fit. A great book. I’d recommend especially if you like dark enough to make it through the squirmy but well done start.
I requested and received an arc copy of this book. This is my voluntary, true, and honest opinion.
I was part of the ARC for this book and asked to give an honest opinion. I had a hard time with the prologue and didn’t know if I was willing to continue. It definitely is not for the weak at heart but once the actual story started to take shape and the main male character came into play it was undoubtedly a beautiful love story. Full of heart, gut wrenching fear and payback. It is a book unlike any other I have read to date. Slavery as a price to pay for a Father’s debt, thievery leading to heroism and inevitably the boogie man dies and you get your HEA.
Wow! This is a very intense book that once you start reading you will not want to put it down to see what happens next. Redd and Bijou journey have all the emotions pack in one book with danger and twists that they will have to overcome for a happy ending. Question can two broken souls come together and get through obstacles that stand in their way to find love. You will not be disappointed to read this book and found out. Leah did an awesome job with this story and how it played out! I voluntarily received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book for my honest review.
I'd recommend Redd for fans of "medium" dark romance with some elements of mystery, but ultimately it just wasn't a great fit for me.
I paused and restarted this book a few times, which is pretty rare for me... I'm usually either invested from the start or I give up pretty quickly. Redd kept me interested enough to keep going, but I couldn't get fully invested in Redd and Bijou's relationship and I found myself getting annoyed by a particular sentence fragment stylistic choice: the many sentence fragments starting with an infinitive and often switching subjects mid-sentence.
Bijou life changes one night when she is taken from her bed by a monster. After several years of being molded into Diablo’s object, she wonders if she will ever be free again.
Then one night a thief looking for a precious jewel comes sweeping in and steals Bijou away.
But now they are both in danger and Redd has to not only worry about himself and Bijou but his little sister that he is raising.
But he has to take out the Devil before the Devil takes them all down.
I received an ARC of this book, and here is my honest opinion:
I loved this book. I didn't want to put it down, and would fall asleep at night reading it. It was that good. It kept me hooked to the story, with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, willing me to continue reading. Most of the story I didn't expect to see what was coming at the next point, which helped keep me interested. I would strongly suggest this to a friend.
Omg this book was sooo amazing the story flowed so smoothly I was flipping pages just to see what was happening next. Imagine being taken in the middle of the night not knowing who or why because that's how Bijou find's herself and it takes a thief (Redd) to find & rescue her. I can't tell you how good this book was you just have to get it and find out for yourself. Loved it so much I bought it.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book.
Bijou is taken in the middle of the night by a terrible mob boss, and is abused emotionally and physically, along with being raped and starved for two years. When Redd, a master thief, overheard two men talking about a $50,000 jewel, he has to go for it. However, what he finds is nothing like what he expected.
This book has lots of emotionally hard things that happen, but it also shows how you can overcome huge things that happen in your life. I’d recommend this book.
📚I am honestly and voluntarily reviewing an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book 📚 Leah Holt has a winner with Redd!! This is definitely dark in the beginning, but changes tones quickly. Redd and Bijou are well written, strong characters with awesome chemistry. Both their backstories were heartbreaking, but the way they persevered was incredible. Well paced, page turner, you will love this one!! Great job!
I have to say I was quite disappointed with this book. The synopsis drew me in and the story actually started strong. But I just feel that the story passed too quickly with a lack of depth to the storyline and the characters. I think the story has a lot of potential if time was taken to develop the story of why Bijou was taken, her time with Diablo as well as the follow up days after she was rescued by Reed. The story just skimmed over major plot lines so, for me, it wasn’t a great read.
OMG ! I was blown away by Bijou and Redd’s Story. It was absolutely stunning. I was was on the edge of my seat as the story unfolded. A storyline that was so intriguing that I couldn’t put it down. Totally deserves a 5 star rating. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for an awesome read.
I received an ARC of this book, and here is my honest opinion....
I liked this book, it was dark and then became lighter. I think Redd is a bad boy gone good. Bijou is a damsel in distress, needs rescuing. Redd does just that and she rescues him right back. The story is good, as I am a dirty girl, i wanted more hot sex but that's just me.
Bijou is kidnapped and kept by a dangerous evil man named Diablo. Redd happens to overhear a conversation regarding a jewel and he is a thief and just has to get his hands on it!! Little did he know what he was going to find when he broke in. Redd rescues Bijou. Very interesting story. We have a couple of broken people that are able to put themselves back together with each other.
This book was a nice change from the book I read before. Not only did it have that dark element I so love to read. It had a little kinky factor in too. I loved how after a dark time in her life the heroine doesn’t let that really define her. She’s able to find love and she’s able to deal with her past.