Fawn Bailey

It says that this is the first book of the series, and technically it is, but you really need the prequel to understand what's going on in this story. It's a quick read, and it will give you the background of Harlow and Thorn.

Harlow is a ballerina. She's worked so hard to be where she is. On the night of her biggest performance when she's getting plaudits and huge ballet companies are looking at her, she disappears.

Thorn has been watching Harlow, just waiting for it to be time to take her. Ever since he saw her the first time, he knew that she was going to be his. When it came time, he took her to the Mansion. That way she could be trained to be the perfect woman for him.

Poor Harlow. Her emotions get all kinds of played with. Her initial punishment is horrifying. She tries to stay strong the whole time, but there are people outside of Thorn who have their own motives when it comes to Harlow. I feel sorry for her. This is a dark story, with a lot of dark goings-on, but it is such a good one. I can't wait for the next part so that I can find out what's going on with all the various threads.… (mere)

OMG. This book is the second one in the series, third if you are picky and count the prequel. And it just keeps getting better. If by better you mean darker, and I really do. This is just an awesome story and I just don't even know how the author is going to finish it off. The ending was just... ARGH!

Harlow, AKA Rose, is now settling into her position as Thorn's favorite. The problem is that he's holding back and Pia is still being an evil b-word. She tries to get in between them and is enabling Carina, who lives in a world of delusion. While Rose is falling in love with Thorn and is addicted to him, she's also afraid of what's going on and still wants to run away.

Thorn doesn't want to lose Rose or break her. The problem is that he's not sure what to do. He knows that she's hiding something, and he's afraid that means he's going to lose her, and he absolutely can't do that.

This book. Man. Rose and Thorn are electric together. I think that if they ever become partners, they will be a force to be reckoned with. Of course, that pre-supposes that they have dealt with Pia and Carina, those cows. I do think that Rose and Thorn mostly get tighter through the book, so we'll see what happens.

The one thing that I'm positively positive about? I need the next book RIGHT NOW!… (mere)

I had to take a couple of days to process this one. I'm not sure why, exactly, but there was just something about it that pulled at my mind and twisted my feelings and meant that I had to needed to let it settle under my skin and let it breathe before I could even handle it. Fawn Bailey wrote a series that is so beautiful and so wrong that it's right.

Rose and Thorn are ready for their final choice. Thorn has asked her his big question and she has given him her answer. They are sure that they are going to be together forever, but there are outside events which conspire against them. Both Pia and Carina are unhappy with the current state of affairs, but for different reasons. Pia, at least, has valid reasons. Carina is just cuckoo for cocoa puffs.

I felt just about every emotion there was to feel when I was reading this. There may or may not have been a tear or two. Thorn was so wrong to do things the way that he did, but is he right too because of the results that he got? I don't know. It's a conundrum and one that I'm pretty sure that I will think about every time I read this book. I'll be reading it a lot because I really enjoyed the series.

… (mere)