Title: Where Darkness Lies
Author: Bella Jewel
Series: Criminals Of The Ocean
Format: E Book
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Release Date: December 16 2014
Acquired: Netgalley
Genre: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9781612184910
Where To Find: B&N|Amazon|Goodreads|Librarything
Synopsis (Goodreads)
Dimitri wants only one thing: revenge. His stepfather, Hendrix, has caused him nothing but pain and heartache. At last Dimitri can take something—someone—important to Hendrix and make him pay: Jess.
Jess is feisty and strong headed. Her past haunts her and connects her to the dangerously dark Dimitri in an unexpected way. Dimitri keeps his secrets locked deep inside, and Jess is drawn to this broken man like no one before.
With little to cling to besides their haunting pasts, both could have been doomed to lives spent raging against the darkness that holds them prisoner. Instead, it seems that as their pain draws them closer together, it is their desire that will set them free.
My Review
Where Darkness Lies is the second book in the latest series by Bella Jewel. Some months ago the first book was released and we saw the major players, in this story, which continues off from where the first book left off...which was a cliffhanger of sorts. We have Dimitri who is the son of Hendrix (hero of first book), and has some abandonment issues with his father. Dimitri has gone through hell when he was a teenager and there is one man on his mission for revenge...Hendrix. So Dimitri kidnaps Jess right in front of him. Jess has suffered her own hellish past, but Hendrix saved her and showed her a new way of living, and has been like the father she always dreamed of having. Now she is kidnapped, having no idea what Dimitri is really capable of...a man that makes her quiver in fear, but at the same time she feels a certain spark with him, one that she can't explain. Dimitri and Jess start to learn of each other and the importance of trust in a relationship, and soon that trust is to be tested in ways that they can't even imagine....
What a story!!! I just fell in love with this story...I honestly didn't know what would happen in this one. I recently fell in love with Bella Jewel, and I love a good pirate romance...and this one has a contemporary feel to it, which was different but was quite exciting and felt fresh in different ways. This story is very intense and dramatic at times, and had me on the edge of my seat...and I will be honest, it kept me up all night reading it!! Which doesn't happen too often anymore, but this story was one I have been anxiously waiting for ever since I read the first book.
The characters in the story are pretty dynamic and full of depth in their characters. There were some things I just didn't see until revealed. Dimitri, is a man bent on revenge for some pretty horrid things done to him in his past, and he blames his father for it, even though Hendrix had no clue about it. We see how Dimitri really struggled with this both emotionally and mentally. He is quite a powerful man, and surely can fight in a ring...whew he could definitely heat the room by about 10 degrees or more. I wouldn't mind having that man at my mercy, he is sexy and steamy HOT!! Despite his past, he knows how to give a girl a good time, but he also has his own issues and there is only one woman that can truly handle him, a woman that can't have sex. Jess has a horrid past, and has been sexually abused, and has never had a positive experience when it comes to the bedroom...she stays far away from it..until she finds herself at the mercy of Dimitri and she feels desire for the first time in her life. We see Jess grow as a character, and learn the meaning of trust especially when it comes to intimacy. Despite the fact that Dimitri is really rough around the edges, he changes around Jess...he is gentle at times and I enjoyed how he handles her past and the trauma and, and enjoyed how the emotional intimacy of this couple really comes through and they help each other heal from their pasts.
This story is quite intense at times, in every way.. If I had to pick my favorite aspect it would be the balance of emotional and physical intimacy that is put in this story, and Bella Jewel creates a gem of a story that captured by heart and attention. Very memorable and I found it to be packed with just about everything I love in a romance with this level of intensity. I do warn, it is not a light hearted romance...its full of tough issues and can get gritty and rough at times...but also it has it soft moments that wins your heart, there is so much about this story I adored. I loved the dynamics, the winning love story, and the real world issues that are brought to light, that create a love story to never forget. A JEWEL OF A READ!!
Favorite Quotes
I gasp. Its doing that.
He slides a finger down my cheek.
"It should make tingles break out on your skin."
My entire body prickles.
"It should make everything come alive, until you can think of nothing else but having that person's lips on yours."
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"I never said I wanted Prince Charming. Hell, I never even said I wanted the bad guy. I just want honesty, Dimi. I want to know why I'm still here talking to you, when I had the chance to run"
He walks toward me until he stops in front of me. He looks down at me, his blue eyes intense. "You tell me," he breathes "Why didn't you run?"
I shake my head, staring at him through blurred vision.
"Because I can see beyond what everyone else sees. I can see the side to you that you've pushed down. I can see a part of me in you. I feel a connection when I'm with you, an understanding...but more than anything, I feel you, Dimitri. With everything I am."
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"I'm going to take you home later." he rasps. "And show you exactly how much I love that sweet body, but right now, we have company so I'm goin' to kiss you...just because."
"Just because why?" I breathe.
He leans down, pressing his lips across mine so tenderly it causes shivers to break out over my body They go right down to my toes. He strokes my hair as he deepens the kiss, taking me with everything he is.
"Because," he murmurs, kissing a trail up my cheeks. "You're my everything and you changed my world, Jessie. That's enough of a reason to kiss you every day, for the rest of your life."
My Rating
5 Blossoms
Heat Level
Steamy
Series Order
Enslaved By The Ocean (1)
Where Darkness Lies (2)
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