Confessions of a Book Stalker

Plot Summary

A fatal blend of revenge and desire.

After leaving her fiancé at the altar and quitting her job as a Miami cop, Beau Hayley stumbles through life, feeling only resentment. Injustice. Loss. Her mom’s death was called an accident. She’s not convinced. Grieving, she becomes numb to everything except the constant, biting pain of heartbreak and hate. She can see no light. Until she meets James Kelly, a man who seems as damaged as she is, inside and out. And yet despite his twisted, cold façade, he stimulates feelings. Pleasure. He is a respite from her own flaws. A complete mystery.

And impossible to resist.

James Kelly has only one objective. Find the men who murdered his family and kill them all very slowly. But the web of crime and deceit leads him to Beau Hayley, the daughter of the notorious detective who pursued him relentlessly until her death. Beau is not what James expected, and past the darkness that shrouds her, he finds a glimmer of light. Light is addictive. An escape. Beau might be the key to James’s mercy mission, but with dire consequences. So he has to decide—leave her breathing and risk exposing himself, or kill her and continue his mission, still unknown.

Still The Enigma

Two tortured souls playing one deadly game. But who will survive?

Trigger Warnings: Explicit sex scenes/ Violence/ Blood & Gore

Spoilers: Please note that my review might contain spoilers!

My Review

In this second dark romance written by Jodi Ellen Malpas we follow Beau’s life after her mother gets killed in a freaky car accident. After that dreadful event, Beau finds herself in a dark state of mind. She quits being a FBI agent like her mother was, breaks her engagement and moves in with her uncles and paints for a living. And that’s how she meets James Kelly. He asks her to paint this office but what he really wants is to keep her close so she doesn’t find out the truth about her mother’s death. 

It’s a vicious cycle. A continuous, torturous, dizzying merry-go-round I can’t get off. Misery.

I had some struggle feeling their chemistry, I felt it way more between Danny and Rose from the first book. I found Beau quite plain and didn’t quite connect with her.

I can’t avoid comparing James to Danny and I found Dani more complex than James and with a stronger presence in the book. 

“Well, you British have a habit of leaving a lasting impression around here.” “So I’ve heard.” He’s talking about The Brit. The Angel-faced Assassin. Savage. Merciless. Dead.

The plot was good with some interesting twists. Jodi was able to make the reader always doubt who was the guilty one and when it’s discovered I can say I wasn’t suspecting that person at all.

Highlight Moments

– Beau and James first sex scene

– Beau and Ollie’s first encounter after the breakup

– The interactions between Beau and her uncle

– The hospital scene

– Danny’s appearance

Quotes

“It makes me curious,” he whispers, returning his eyes to mine. I’m immediately hypnotized by him. Spellbound. “Because I can’t figure out if you dislike me.” A beat. A blatant beat for impact. “Or want to fuck me.”