Kim's Blog

Kim's Blog

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Corrupted - Book Review



Synopsis

I am going to marry a monster. 
He is my everything. 
He manipulates people for fun. He takes over their lives, consuming them. He dominates and crushes, ruling them, claiming their souls. No one can survive the games of Damon Hunt. 

Before now. Before me.

I am Ella Knight. I am corrupted. My sister was a victim of Damon's games.  It’s my turn to play now. 
Damon Hunt has been my sole focus, my everything for three years, since my sister’s death. I'll manipulate him. I'll take over his life, consuming and crushing him. I am going to take away his soul. Damon Hunt will not survive my games. I will win.

I hope.

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PROLOGUE

February 12th 2014

I look down at Cory and feel nothing; no joy at breaking him, no happiness at succeeding, and certainly no sadness over lost love. I don’t really remember feelings nowadays. Love isn’t real. It hurts people. It’s a word used too often without meaning. I have no time for love. I am empty. A single vessel floating around a universe of nothing. I have no reason to feel anymore. No real reason.
The weeping man before me brings no emotions out in me. They never do, they’re just collateral damage. They’re all the same - easy to please, easy to hurt, full of broken promises. The world would be better off without men in it.
I didn’t need to ruin Cory. I was ready when I left Scott. Cory just happened to catch my eye at the right time. Or wrong time, depending on how you look at it. I want to laugh at his pathetic display of weakness. Crying over a break up? Disgusting. Love sucks, get over it already!
“You’re weak. Nothing but a pathetic piece of shit.” I snarl.
“I don’t understand. Why? What’s changed since this morning?” his eyes plead with me. This is the part I like. Seeing how far I can push them. “Baby, I love you.”
“You think you love me after three months?” I laugh and shake my head. “You were easy.”
“I do. You know I do. You feel the same, you said you loved me. Why did you fuck him?” I can see the doubt set in as he looks up at me. I smile. Stupid man.
“I’ve never loved you. It was all a game. You were a game.” He sucks in a shocked gasp. “I saw you the night before in the bar. You’d cheated on your girlfriend, but you were still trying to make her feel bad for your actions. After you got caught. Like it was her fault your dick slipped into the redhead. I had to have you then.”
I walk to him and crouch down so we’re eye level. “It took one flash of leg to get your attention. One smile to get a drink. Three days for you to say you were sorry for the first time. By day eight you told me you loved me.” I tilt my head to the side to look at the poor excuse of a man I’ve been shacked up with for the past three months.
“Why are you doing this?” he cries as his head drops forward, shoulders hutched over in defeat.
“Because I can.” I snap. “You tried to manipulate a vulnerable woman. You used love to hurt her. I couldn’t let you get away with that, you needed to feel the pain you caused your ex.”
“So this has all been revenge for Carol?” Cory asks in an incredulous voice.
“No. I’ve never spoken to Carol before. This was about more than just your ex, Cory. It was about the man you are. What you represent. I knew on day five that you would be the easiest. A few words in your ear and you believed my words over a fourteen year friendship. Never put hoes before bros, it’s a known fact. That friendship took twelve days to break. Twelve days as opposed to fourteen years?” I laugh at his stupidity, shaking my head. “Pathetic.”
“Tony didn’t?”
“Tony certainly did. Just not the way I told you.” I’m ready to leave. I stand and move to collect my bag from the kitchen table. “I never needed anything from you. I don’t need anything from anyone.  All that money you’ve given me, I didn’t need any of it. I just needed to see how hard you would try to keep me.”
“Why?” realisation is finally sinking in. He sounds broken. 
“Why? Why? Because I lost everything. All because of a man like you.” I shout at him before calming my voice. “Your dad never touched me, you know?” a sob tears from his throat, raw pain. “Sure, he grabbed my arm and made those marks but only after I told him I was using you. Good thing mummy dearest believed him.”
“You bitch.” he cries, looking torn up. Yes, he’s too broken to even stand up to me. I walk to stand in front of him.
“I am a bitch. I don’t feel. I don’t love. I hate. I only hate. I hate you.” I grab a hand full of his brown hair, squeezing it into a fist then pulling his head back so he’s looking at me. “I would say it’s been fun but you’re the same as the rest of them. A lying, cheating, lousy lay. Have fun trying to build bridges.” I push away from him, stride to the door, and exit, leaving it to slam behind me.
I smile as the cold, February air stings my face. The winter sun is shining bright. It’s deceiving. Like me, beauty surrounded by nothing but bitterness. It takes nothing but a smile to lure men in.
I use them.
I manipulate them.
I break them.
That’s the best part, leaving them broken with nothing and no one left. I had everything taken away from me because of one man. The Demon.
Damon Hunt.
Damon is a hunter. He preys on innocent women. He breaks them, tears them apart until they have nothing more left to give.
It’s time for the hunter to be hunted.  



 Excerpt 


“Ella,” he rasps. “You’re gonna fuckin’ kill me. Sweet Jesus, baby.” He closes the distance between us in two strides. When he’s close enough, his hands grip on my hips and pull me into him. Our bodies clash, my blood ignites. Need washes through me. Damon’s scent envelopes me, he smells pure male. My chest heaves as I look up into his eyes, my breasts brushing against his chest with every inhale. “I can see everything, beauty. Every fucking thing. The rounded globes of your perfect arse, the mound of your pussy, the dimples at the back of your knees.” His hands move down to grip my arse cheeks. He squeezes roughly before pulling me into his hard cock. I moan as the move hits the perfect spot. “God, I need to keep you.”







Sweeter Excerpt 
“Morning,” he whispers into my neck as he nuzzles. I gasp at the soft stroke of his tongue on my neck. “I can smell you. I’ll have your scent stuck in my head all day. I need a taste.” He sucks my earlobe into his mouth as he nibbles me. “Just one taste. I have to have one taste.” The huskiness of his desire filled voice makes my knees weak. I melt into his body, letting the feelings he’s evoking within me take over.











I was gifted Corrupted and in return I am writing an honest review.  This books starts out with Ella Knight seeking revenge on her sister’s life that was lost 3 years ago.  Ella’s sister Lydia took her own life after she was devastated by Damon Hunt, a master manipulator of all women.  Lydia fell in love, fast and hard in fact.  Lydia kept a diary on her life with Damon and once Ella finds and reads this diary she realizes the extent of Damon’s betrayal, how badly he treated her and so Ella has decided to seek revenge on Damon for causing Lydia’s death.  Ella researches Damon’s life and watches him waiting to put herself in his path, and once she does Damon becomes completely taken by her.  Falling for every one of her tricks.  Wanting to keep her, but yet Damon still has another woman that wants him and for some unknown reason he can’t leave her behind and move forward with Ella.  Now while I enjoyed this book and will probably be reading the next one in the series because I have to know how things went and what Ella has in store for Damon next.  I also found the plot a little one sided though, unless this is the Author’s intent to keep the reader interested so they will want the next book.  But I found one part of the book to be too unbelievable.  I won’t put anymore spoilers out there than I already have, but I will say this book was well written for the most part, and I really did like it.  I look forward to seeing the growth of the writing skills of these 2 authors in future books.  The plot was certainly a good one, I just wished there would have been more mystery to this story, more than just the revenge plot.  I am giving this book 4 out of 5 stars.   




Purchase Links 



Author Bio's


Alicia Taylor is 28, lives in Derbyshire in the UK with her husband and two step-daughters.
Corrupted is her debut novel which she cowrites with Natalie Townson. This is book one in the Manipulation Trilogy.
Her love of reading led to blogging which led to this - dipping her toes in the indie author pool.

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Natalie Townson is 31, a mother of one beautiful little boy and lives in Gloucester in the UK with her Husband.
Corrupted is her debut novel that is a book one of the manipulation trilogy, that she co writes with Alicia Taylor. She is currently working on book two of the series which is nearly complete.

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