Title: Illicit Angels.
Author: Alicia Taylor.
Genre: Dark Romantic Suspense.
Release date: August 15th 2015.
Synopsis:
Eternity Rivera had a fairy tale life until one fateful night intruders stormed her home, destroying it and her parents in their passing, leaving her and her baby sister behind. With the help of her uncle, she soon learns that life moves on, until a monster comes lurking into her room at night. When she finally makes the decision to change her life for the better, Eternity is hit with another life-altering blow. Sometimes life is cruel and unkind and kicks you up the arse, leading you down a dark path you want nothing to do with. Sometimes we don't have a choice.
Ryke Justice has lived his life in purgatory for the last ten years, but to him, it’s just another day in the office. They don't call him Justice for no reason; you mess with the boss and you're messing with him. Justice will come and you won't even be expecting it. That is until an Angel finally turns his head and becomes the envy of every girl there. She ignites his desires, stirring his black soul back to life, but is she strong enough to withstand his monster?
Can Eternity save Justice from himself? Can Ryke finally give into his deepest darkest desires? Has his monster finally met his mate?
Choices will be made, Justice will be served, and things are about to get hot. It's time to go to the dark side.
Welcome to Illicit Angels.
Warning! This book isn’t your typical romance. It’s dark, dirty, and dangerous. This series contains dark subject matter, including sexual abuse, kidnapping, torture, rape and murder. 18+ only.
This story is part of a six part series, each approx. 50-60k words in length.
Purchase Links:
I was looking forward to see what Alicia had done with her first solo book.
I was really surprised and not in a bad way. This book is the type of book that pulls you in from the first page and has a grip on you that will not let go until you have finished.
We follow Eternity, a girl who at first had a sheltered life and then at the age of 14 years old, everything shatters around her. Losing her parents is an event that tears at her soul, but she becomes strong and looks after her younger sister.
You would think that after the event of loosing her parents, things couldn't get any worse, but they do. You feel for her as her life is changed for the worse and it is all out of her control. Forced into a world that she has never even contemplated existed. She doesn't lose any of her fight, and this might very well be a blessing in disguise.
Ryke Justice is a man who is so lost, so troubled, there are two sides to him.
You really do not mess with a man like him and it is a death wish that will come true.
Ryke meets Eternity and there is something about her that calms and soothes him. They seem to be made for each other.
Alicia has written a book where it is dark as well as dirty, and by no means a fluffy romance.
It contains certain themes that may be triggers for some, so beware of this before reading.
I loved reading every minute of this book and Alicia has written a read that keeps you interested as well surprising you at certain points.
A fantastic solo debut book, a storyline that is easy to follow and flows beautifully.
I look forward to the next book, as I really really, really need to know what happens next.
****Arc received via Obsessed by Books ******
"Lost in that moment - when I stare into their eyes as their soul slips away and they take their last breath - is my aphrodisiac. Causing hurt feeds my monster. We bask in their blood. Each scream is my medication."
What happens when you are discarded from your perfect and privileged life and have to claw your self through each night just to survive till the break of the dawn. When the one person you trusted to keep you safe turns into the monster that now haunts your dreams? To be able to see an end of the horror as your eighteenth birthday fast approaches having scraped your way to expending freedom for the ordeal to begin anew and the reality is ...the horrors have only just begun. Meet Eternity who's charmed life shatters at fourteen when someone enters her home and kills her parents. Having had the rules drilled into her by her parents she follows the protocol and asks her Uncle for help. Almost four years on and Eternity has endured far more than most. As she bides her time, taking the abuse nightly until she can legally walk away as an adult and be sole guardian for her sister the past comes back to haunt her.
Sold. Into a world a rich and deprived world. A promise when she was only fourteen she is now nothing more than a broken promise that should have been wiped out on that fateful night. She has become an Angel. Follow the rules or be punished. Be available, be alluring and most of all please the highest bidder no matter the cost of your soul. No longer allowed to think without permission, just a walking fantasy for men that are powerful, wealthy and most of all hunger for all things illicit. This is Eternity's new life, after suffering her "training" at her Uncle's hand nothing can prepare her for the next six months. Her status a new angel means she is there to learn, to be forged into the perfect sexual fantasy by fear, pain and total control. The flames of anger, injustice and pain are hard to extinguish, deals made and broken crush her young girl dreams and she must find the strength to survive, to "Accept it. Like it. Live it." Yet the man with the wolf eyes calls to her in this living hell. He appears to be her solace, but will he make this Angel fall?
Ryke is the Illicit Angels very own brand of Justice. Dealing with anyone that breaks the rules or steps out of line Justice deals in blood, death and pain. His turbulent eyes reflecting his battle to calm the raging beast that demands the screams of anyone that dares to stand against him. Like a warrior of old he swaggers headlong into danger and emerges victorious and his boss uses his skills to maximum effect. Recognising his Angel, the broken promise of almost four years ago, Justice must abide by the club rules. Stepping up to train her and protect her as much as he can from the lifestyle she has awoken to, can he resist her for six months? His monster inside wants to feast on her fears and play with her whilst fiercely protecting her from anyone else but Ryke is battling his own demons from the past, searching for redemption in Eternity's battle to survive. Can she calm both the man and the beast? Can she survive his darkness?
This amazing first in the series is wickedly dark and brutal. Opening with blood and ending in a most magnificent cliffhanger revelation I enjoyed every word. Never shying away from the grim reality of the sex trade, abuse and non consensual acts at times I was reading between my fingers. But the scenes although are graphic are never over the top nor there just for shock value. Well written, dramatic and wonderfully descriptive I feel like I have run my finger tips over the carved Angels, walked through the corridors and sat down to watch the show. Eternity is strong and courageous, fighting to save her sister throughout. Ryke is a haunted man, his past has a right hold of him and he battled constantly with the beast that shares his body. Learning about him slowly through the one permitted question per day is captivating, slowly stripping back his layers. I need more!
A four and a half star #ShowMeYourBrave read.
Excerpt:
“Welcome,
Eternity.” His voice has a deep baritone, and it seems to vibrate deep in my
bones. “Please come and take a seat.” His tone holds no room for argument and I
find my feet taking me to sit in the chair across from him before my brain
registers the motion. “I’m going to tell you how things work here. I don’t want
you to speak. You will hear me out, and I will answer any questions you have
after I’ve finished. Do you understand?” I nod my head, too afraid to speak.
This man is pure evil. It emanates from him in dark clouds, covering me in
shadows. He seems to loom over me but that’s impossible; he’s five feet away
from me.
“I’m going to
tell you a story. This is your story. When I’ve finished it, you will
understand what we expect of you. Okay?” At my nod, he begins my story. “A long
time ago, your father approached me. He made a deal with me, and you were the
promise. You became club property, but this deal had conditions. I accepted all
your father’s conditions and everything was running smoothly. That was, until
you fucking disappeared. Vanished into thin air,” he says. Black Eyes takes a
deep breath through his nose, and his jaw clenches tightly. “That deal was
broken the minute you went underground. When you resurfaced, I came for what
was mine.”
I try to
process his words. If what he’s saying is the truth, then Carlos was right. My
daddy did sell me. But he thinks I’ve been underground, whatever that means. If
it means what I think it does, then he is crazy. This isn’t some mob story.
This is my life.
“What was–” I
don’t get to finish my question. Black Eyes stands, knocking his leather seat
back against the wall. He slams his hands on his desk, and the noise bounces
around the room, echoing. I hold my breath and wait for him to speak.
“I said you
speak when I’ve fucking finished. You said you understood. If you don’t, little
girl, then I will make you understand. I’ll fucking gag you. Keep your mouth
shut, otherwise I’ll make you. We clear?” he growls. His voice rises, anger
lacing his words. My breath hitches, but I remain silent. “Good girl,” he says
in a calmer voice. “Illicit Angels is exactly what it implies in the title.
Rich men pay an exorbitant amount of money to fuck beautiful girls – beautiful
Angels, to be more precise. It’s indecent. It’s immoral. It’s illicit.”
“Rich men buy
their way in but, occasionally, we allow a promise. A promise is a sale. We get
the gift of a new girl. They gain entry. When a promise is broken, we end that
promise. A long time ago, you should have been taken out. Wiped out,” he
hisses. “You disappeared before that could happen. Now that you’re back in our
clutches and I can see your potential, there are a few choices to make,
Eternity. You see, I want that promise back, but a new deal had to be struck. I
can’t just take a promise back. It would be bad for business. In this life, you
should already be dead.”
My brain swirls
with questions, but I’m frozen. Stuck in his story. What choices are there? My
daddy wanted into this club? He wanted to cheat on my mum? Why would he want to
come here? Surely, if he wanted to cheat, then he could have picked up a
mistress. He didn’t need to sell me. He chose to. Hate and hurt
ripples through my veins, hot and swift.
“You get six
months before you’re claimed, Eternity,” Black Eyes says, drawing my attention
back to him. “Six months to make a good impression. You can’t be a promise, but
you can be a new Angel. For the first month, the bidders can only look
at you and touch bare skin. The next two months, they can taste you. Give you
untold pleasure,” he says nonchalantly. Black Eyes speaks as if we’re
discussing the bloody weather, and his cool demeanour makes me want to scream. I
don’t want goddamn pleasure. “The following three months they can give and
receive pleasure. They’ll teach you how they like it and you will learn
to submit to their every demand. Their every need. At the six-month mark, they
will bid. The winning bidder will own you. You will become theirs to control,
theirs to use, theirs to do with as they damn well please. I’m sure their first
order of business will be to strip you of your virginity. That little lining
inside will make you pussy gold. They’ll pay a pretty penny for you. There is
one slight problem. Your promise wants you, and it seems he’s willing to stake
his claim now. You have six months to make your decision, Eternity. You can
persuade a bidder to want you enough to go up against Justice, or you can face
the man himself and accept your fate. Justice won’t let you go. He’ll fight
until you’re his. You have to decide which route to follow. Both will result in
you being Justice’s, but you can fight for something better. I’m not sure
you’re strong enough to withstand Justice’s darkness.”
Once he’s finished talking, he just stares at
me, captivating me with his pitch black eyes. I want to speak, but I’m not sure
if he’s testing me so I stay quiet. Black Eye’s smirks and nods his head.
“Good girl,” he
praises. It was a test! “Do you understand what is to happen over the
next six months?” I nod my head but still don’t say a word. “Do you accept these
terms?” Black clouds swamp my mind. This is all too much. I don’t want any of
this. I didn’t choose any of this, and I won’t accept it. But I’m too scared to
answer him. A chill darts down my spine when anger twists his face at my
non-response, and a frisson of fear, cold and brewing, unfurls in my stomach.
“Do. You. Accept. These. Fucking. Terms?” he spits, each word separated and
angry. When I still don’t answer, he storms around his desk to stand beside me.
I flinch, expecting a blow, but none comes. I peek up at him and find him
panting in rage. “Speak,” he growls.
“What if…” I
pause, clearing my throat. My mouth is dry and terror is overwhelming me. “What
if I don’t accept?” I ask, hesitantly. Black Eyes laughs at me, a sparkle of
delight fills his soulless gaze.
“Well, here is
your problem. I was made a promise, and that promise wasn’t fulfilled. I want
the debt paid. I was promised a daughter, and I’m going to have one. I know
Rivera has two daughters,” he drawls, pausing to let his words sink in. My eyes
widen when I get where he’s going with this. I shake my head. This can’t be
happening. “Little Nevaeh is acceptable as payment, but I thought you would
want to accept the fate your father gave you rather than subject your baby
sister to it. I’m more than happy to have Nevaeh in your place if you don’t
accept.”
“No,” I gasp.
Emotion, swift and violent, rushes through me. I’ve spent the last four years
protecting my sister. I won’t let it all be for nothing. “I’ll do it,” I weep.
“I’ll stay.”
“I thought you
might,” he replies, smugly. “Now you just have to decide if you’re going to
fight for your place or be consumed by Justice.”
“Who is
Justice?” I whisper, brokenly.
“He’s someone
who will destroy you, little girl. You’re not strong enough to be with him.
Justice will swallow you whole.”
“Why?” I choke.
“Because you
made him feel,” he empathises. “But I can see you’re not strong enough.
If you break at this point, then you are too weak to go against him.”
About the Author:
I was born and raised in the East I live with my family and mass of animals - I'm a huge family and animal lover. Writing powerful love stories and creating Alpha males with a dash of darkness has become a passion of mine, and I have many stories and characters swirling in my head that I can't wait to share with you all. Is it weird to have so many voices in my head? I'm not crazy, I promise... maybe a little bit.
Connect with me:
Addicted, book 1
For as long as I can remember, I've been a writer . . .
