Taken

by Natasha Knight

[Eve1972]

 

~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
I am not really a big fan of duets or series anymore, so I debated a bit on whether I wanted to sign up for this one or not. Let me just say that I am SO glad I decided to go with it because this book was all kinds of awesome. The writing was fantastic. It was a relatively short book (around two hours of reading time), so the pace was quite quick. It was told in a dual POV format. The plot was engaging, twisted, and dark. Last, it all wraps up in an "OH FUCK" cliffhanger. Thankfully book two will be released just two weeks after book one.


~HERO~
SEBASTIAN...I liked Sebastian well enough. I have been struggling a bit lately with heroes that treat their heroines like garbage and Sebastian certainly does that in spades in this book. However, it was offset with some gentler moments that helped to soften his character somewhat. I am curious to see how he acts and reacts in the next book for sure.


~HEROINE~
HELENA...I LOVED Helena. She was feisty as hell. Yes, she did things that left me scratching my head and wondering if she had a death wish. But how boring of a heroine would she have been if she just rolled over and gave in? That said, I am a little worried about what is in store for her in the next book. Especially with the predicament she landed herself in at the end of this one. 


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
This book is fairly light on secondary characters. We just have Sebastian's two other brother's, Gregory and Ethan, and of course the evil step mommy Lucinda. Out of all of them, Gregory intrigues me the most, and I can't wait to see which side he falls on.


~HEAT LEVEL~
MEDIUM...There are a good number of smokin' hot sex scenes in this one. A lot of dubious consent and punishments. A smidge of exhibitionism, and voyeurism. 


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
MEDIUM...I didn't find this one overly angsty. Of course, the heroine is not with the Scafoni family because she wants to be. So, of course, that creates a lot of angst and discord. Neither were virgins. There was a BLIP of OW drama, plus a BLIP of OM drama with one of the other brothers touching the heroine with Sebastian's consent. Although, I wouldn't call that drama per se. 


~IN THE END~
Did I enjoy it? Very much YES!    
Was it perfect? Almost. I struggled a bit with the hero and the violence. Chalk that up to the weird mood I have been in lately (lol). But like I said, it was tampered down a bit with some softness, so it was almost perfect.   
Would I recommend it? YES, definitely! 
Who would enjoy this book? I think most readers would enjoy this story. Especially those who like a good dark and twisted romance.