Wednesday, May 27, 2015

ARC REVIEW - VEILED OBSESSION (His Agenda #1) by Dori Lavelle:


TITLE: Veiled Obsession
SERIES: His Agenda
SERIES PLACEMENT: #1
AUTHOR: Dori Lavelle
AGE GROUP: Adult
GENRE: Dark Romance
RELEASE DATE: May 25, 2015
PUBLISHER: Dori Lavelle
FORMAT: eBook
PAGES: Approx. 121

COPY PROVIDED BY: Author
MY GOODREADS REVIEW LINK
RATING: 4 Stars
CLIFFHANGER: Yes!

BOOK BLURB:
I cry for the man I used to know, the man I used to love…until his love killed mine.

My name is Haley Macknight, and I’m dying inside. From the outside my life is every woman’s dream. I’m married to Jude Macknight, a handsome billionaire who loves me…too much.

Once upon a time, I loved him. But that love is dead. Unwilling to let me go, I’ve become his obsession. He will stop at nothing to make sure I remain in a marriage I no longer want, inside my gilded cage.

Each day I pull away from Jude, I watch him transform into a monster. Before my eyes, he becomes a man I don’t recognize, a dangerous man. He makes it clear that I belong to him, that my life is no longer my own. If I leave, he’ll kill me. But if I stay, I’ll die a slow death.

**WARNING: Due to sexual situations and dark adult content, VEILED OBSESSION is not intended for readers under the age of 18, and anyone who is unable to read books containing the following issues: kidnapping, murder, graphic rape, and extreme abuse.**


REVIEWERS NOTE: I received this eARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.


4.5 Dark and Twisted Stars!

The Review: 
Absolutely mindblowing. Veiled Obsession is a staggering tale of one womans fall from bad to worse and the things she endured in her attempt to survive. It’s dark and scary and will definitely have you thinking well after you put it down.

Story/Characters... 
Haley finds herself in a situation where she heedlessly takes the hand of a stranger after needing rescuing from a situation that remains unclear throughout most of the book. The author gives us enough to know that she’s done something bad and Jude is there to lend his money, influence and in the end, his hand in marriage.

But their story doesn’t end with a happily ever after. Haley slowly starts to realize the man she thought she loved, the man who rescued her, the man she married and committed her life to, isn’t to be trusted and when Jude realizes she’s pulling away, he lets his hidden monster out.

These two were circling the crazy-train from the moment this story opens up and you can just tell Jude is not the savior he makes himself out to be. The more the story unfolds, the more you can see Jude’s controlling nature is more than just possessiveness. He’s mad... as in hatter. And the things we learn about him take this book from a story of abuse to a story of obsession, viciousness and betrayal.

The things Jude does are inconceivable and the author does a wonderful job pulling you in and making you feel the fear, pain and hurt Haley experiences at the hands of Jude. My heart broke, my stomach was in knots and I was frantically flipping the pages to see what would happen next.

And of course, I loved every minute of it.

As much as I enjoyed this read, there were a couple of things that held me back from giving it a full five stars. I’m not a big fan of convenient circumstances, where things just fall into place. There were at least two incidents that I thought could have gone differently in order to make the situation more believable. But other than that, the book was amazing and rich in both story and character development.

Jude turns from this man of mystery to a savagely cold monster. About fifty percent into the book, I was ready to see him get back some of the evil he was dishing out. I love dark reads and I love dark and dangerous heroes or antiheroes who have issues but make no mistake. Jude the the antagonist and no amount of money, posh suits or classy cars can cover that. He’s vile and evil and I hope when it’s all said and done, he’s as broken and tortured as the woman he turned Haley into.

As for Haley, well, she did some very stupid things. She’s brave and courageous and I loved how strong she was but I kept thinking, “girl, you’re smarter than that.” Jude was too smooth and too controlling from the moment she met him. And I totally get that she was hoping for a hero after the events that lead up to the very one that threw Jude into her path and Jude made sure he had a noose around her neck from the moment he spotted her. But when you make a deal with the devil, you pay and Jude is definitely the devil in her story.

The Wrap Up: 
I could go on and on about this read. It was just that good and I can’t wait to find out how it continues in the next installment. A past love has entered the game and I’m interested to find out if it’ll be renewed love or a bitter end. And I’m definitely interested to find out how things will play out with Jude and Haley. So excited!



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