Author: Chelley St. Clair
Publisher: Chelley St. Clair
Publication Date: October 2022
Genre: Dark Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN
Description: The only thing darker than the waters of the Louisiana bayou are the secrets it holds. I’d know—I’ve buried more than a few myself.
She was supposed to be one of them.
I was the boy who never had a chance, an orphan recruited by the devil himself, until the family I never knew gave me something to live for.
Then my brother brought her home—the rich politician’s daughter, a real-life fairytale princess who had no place in our world. We were oil and water, and making her leave became my mission, ’til the little tag-along ended up in my passenger’s seat driving cross-country. That’s when we discovered a common thread… something that ran soul deep. Something hard to resist.
But no one I cared about was safe, and when she left, I made her promise never to come back.
Turns out, she lied.
Now the devil who claimed my future wants her, as well, and when I’m faced with a choice, who will come out alive?
The demons who own me?
The family who loves me?
Or the girl I wasn’t supposed to fall for?
Only the bayou knows…
And its secrets die here.
My Thoughts: Before reading this book, if someone had asked me if I knew what the dark romance genre entailed, I would not have had a clue. This genre typically involves morally corrupt characters with a focus on violence and danger. In a dark romance story, you will get characters who are broken, anti-social, lost and sometimes appear to be beyond redemption. They are strong willed and have learned to survive, usually by keeping to themselves and relying only on their own instincts. Trust is not easily given by these characters and everyone who comes into their world has to work hard to earn it. Silas Montgomery is such a character. He has had to rely on his own wits to survive, trying to stay one step ahead of the people he works for to protect the family he loves. He has had to perform the most heinous and unspeakable acts and he struck me as someone who has lost his soul.
Where Silas is all darkness, Ivy is Summer is light. She is best friends with Silas’s little brother and before meeting Silas, she thought of Grady as her soul mate. Growing up in a powerful political family, she has never been allowed to forget she is expected to perform her duty to her family. Like Silas, she is surrounded by people who would use her as a pawn for their own gain.
Silas and Ivy are like oil and water. Their obvious differences in their backgrounds is just the beginning. Silas makes it very clear he doesn’t like Ivy and doesn’t want her around and she feels the same way. Watching them interact with one another over the course of a road trip was wonderful as without realizing it, Silas begins to slowly drop his guard around Ivy and she can begin to see him behind the mask he wears for everyone else.
The darkness surrounding this story and these characters was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. This story is filled with numerous triggers, so be prepared. Even knowing about the triggers in advance, this story still gutted me and left me bleeding on the floor. This story also had me laughing out loud and blushing furiously like a virgin on her wedding night, so yes, I am now a fan of this author’s writing and of this genre.
My Final Verdict: This story was intricately carved and twisted with complex characters that drew me in and took me completely by surprise. Mixed in with the darkness and outside of the violence surrounding these characters, there’s love, healing, friendship and forgiveness. I highly recommend this book to readers of all romance genres, especially those who love the intensity and moral ambiguity that dark romances bring.
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