Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Release Week Review: Take (Deliver #5) by Pam Godwin


TAKE is book 5 in the DELIVER Series

Dark Romance - Anti-heroes - Sex Trafficking - Cartel

He’s a notorious crime lord, a kidnapper, and an artist. Scarification is his outlet, and he just captured a new canvas. Kate refuses to surrender beneath his blade or the cruelty in his beautiful eyes. But she’s drawn to the man inside the monster. A man who makes her ache with his touch. Who owns her with his kiss. A man who worships her as deeply as he hurts her. She can run, but there’s no escape from a bond carved in scars.


What I thought about Take
 
When Kate wakes up bound by rope and sequestered in a locked room, she knows she's been abducted yet again, only this time, she knows the identity of her captor. Tiago Badell. He's had her abducted from her job at a diner in retaliation for the rescue of another captive named Lucia.

Tiago is recovering from a barbell to the head and it takes a while for him to recover enough to meet with his new captive. When he does, he's stunned by her beauty and her fire -- mostly her fire and refusal to be submissive to him. He's intrigued but her attempts to run has her in a very bad position, until she manages to let him know her secret which intrigues Tiago even further.

What transpires next is a heady mix of rape, sadism and Stockholm syndrome. This is definitely dark romance so be forewarned that this is no sweet love story. It's dark and dirty and yet an interesting study in human nature. Tiago has the history and background to explain why he is the man he is, and that means something to Kate, who eventually sees Tiago as something more than a monster. She gets him like no other, and their relationship evolves over time into an interesting mix of sadism and love that had me mesmerized by its intensity.

There's only one problem -- Kate is not free. She is still a captive. When she's stolen by a rival, there's some seriously brutal action which I totally loved as part of the story. It's a nasty world of crime out there where people are sometimes used as currency. Betrayal is part of the normal and Tiago has learned to deal with all of it. Can he give it all up for a real chance with Kate? That is the question.

I loved Kate. She's fiery and stronger than she even gives herself credit for. Some of the situations she finds herself in are absolutely horrifying. She has strong feelings for Tiago which are in conflict with her being his captive. Pam Godwin does an amazing job of creating two characters who are so interesting and it's hard not to love both of them, in spite of their actions and past. This is what I love about this entire series -- it blurs the lines between right and wrong and good and evil in an way that is so very compelling.

I absolutely devoured this book. It made me want to go back and re-read the entire series again. And not just this series, but the Tangled Lies series as well. I love how Pam Godwin has connected these two series, and it was terrific to learn more about their connection in the later pages of the book.The ending was everything I want in a romance -- a bit of sorrow, a good dollop of angst and a final resolution that had me smiling.

Loved everything about Take and this series.


DELIVER SERIES

Each book is a different couple.
No cliffhangers. Must be read in order.

DELIVER, Book 1: FREE on all retailers

Deliver2500x1563

His name was Joshua Carter. Now it’s whatever she wants it to be. She is a Deliverer. She lures young men and delivers them to be sold. She delivers the strikes that enforce their obedience. She delivers the sexual training that determines their purchase price. As long as she delivers, the arrangement that protects her family will hold. Delivering is all she knows. The one thing she can’t deliver is a captive from slavery. Until him. And her stubborn slave thinks he can deliver her…from herself.

VANQUISH, Book 2


Her life is like a prison cell. A self-made, to-hell-with-the-free-world existence that locks from the inside. Stop judging. Her agoraphobia doesn’t define her. It simply keeps her safe. He belongs in a prison cell. The 6x8, make-me-your-bitch variety that locks from the outside. But he’s free. To hunt. To take. To break. And he just found a sexy new toy. Capturing her is the easy part. Her fucked-up mind, however, makes him question everything he does next. But he’s a determined bastard. If all goes his way, this will hurt like hell.

DISCLAIM, Book 3


Camila was seventeen when Van Quiso kidnapped her. Ten years after her escape, the shackles refuse to release her. Not while there are still slave traders preying on her city. She will stop at nothing to end them. Even if that means becoming a slave again. Returning to chains is her worst fear—and only option. They won’t know who she is or what she intends to do. She’s prepared for every complication. Except him. The one who decimated her sixteen-year-old heart. Matias is charming, gorgeous, and dangerously seductive. He’s also untrustworthy and enshrouded in secrets. After years of no contact, he finds her—on her knees, wrists bound, in the clutches of her enemy. Will he sabotage her mission by needlessly saving her? Or will he keep her in chains and never let her go?

DEVASTATE, Book 4


 “What is the price you’re willing to pay?” “Money isn’t an issue.” “I’m not talking about money.” Tate is on the hunt to find his best friend’s sister. Eleven years ago, Lucia Dias was abducted. Presumed dead. He never met her, so why does he care? Some might call his efforts noble, but his motivation is more perverse, bordering on obsession. When he follows a chilling lead to Venezuela’s Kidnap Alley, what he finds is neither a corpse nor a captive. Amid poisonous lies and crippling depravity, the price of love is devastation. And he pays. With his body, his blood, and her life.

Audiobooks

DELIVER #1: Audible
Narrated by Teddy Hamilton (Josh) and Abby Crayden (Liv)
VANQUISH #2: Audible
Narrated by Ryan West (Van) and Jo Raylan (Amber)
DISCLAIM #3: Audible
Narrated by Christian Fox (Matias) and Emma Wilder (Camila)
DEVASTATE #4:
Coming April 30 Narrated by J.F. Harding (Tate) and Tracy Marks (Lucia)
TAKE #5: Coming June

Pam Godwin

 
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Pam Godwin, lives in the Midwest with her husband, their two children, and a foulmouthed parrot. When she ran away, she traveled fourteen countries across five continents, attended three universities, and married the vocalist of her favorite rock band.

Java, tobacco, and dark romance novels are her favorite indulgences, and might be considered more unhealthy than her aversion to sleeping, eating meat, and dolls with blinking eyes.

Books by Pam Godwin

2 comments:

Northwoman said...

I'm glad you loved it. It might be too dark for me.

Anne - Books of My Heart

Trader Mare said...

Pam does an amazing job of redeeming characters that start out in a way that you can't imagine they would ever be redeemed. It's really quite skillful writing. But it does deal with human trafficking and is definitely dark and romantic at the same time? The first book in the series is free, if you think you might like to give it a try. Tangled Lies series is good too and a little bit lighter and captures Pam's writing style. Thanks for stopping by Anne!

Release Day Review: 5 stars for Holidating:Three Sizzling Holiday Romances by Sarina Bowen

  24-time USA Today bestseller Sarina Bowen's first holiday collection! Enjoy three complete holiday romances from Sarina Bowen. Yo...