Review – Destroyed by Pepper Winters

This book was hard to read, but for all of its darkness, this was a fantastic story, and I could not put it down or get it out of my head until long after I finished it. ~ Leigh, Guilty Pleasures

Description:
She has a secret.

I’m complicated. Not broken or ruined or running from a past I can’t face. Just complicated.

I thought my life couldn’t get any more tangled in deceit and confusion. But I hadn’t met him. I hadn’t realized how far I could fall or what I’d do to get free.

He has a secret.

I’ve never pretended to be good or deserving. I chase who I want, do what I want, act how I want.

I didn’t have time to lust after a woman I had no right to lust after. I told myself to shut up and stay hidden. But then she tried to run. I’d tasted what she could offer me and damned if I would let her go.

One secret destroys them.

Review copy provided for an honest review

The description of the book calls this a “Grey Romance”, as opposed to Ms. Winters’ other “Dark Erotica”. Wowzers. If this is “grey”, I’m not sure I’m ready for what is considered “darker”, because this was pretty freaking black!

Facing the inevitable loss of her young daughter, Hazel Hunter is a woman with a dark and lonely past, and an uncertain future. Drawn to a man for reasons she can’t understand, Hazel becomes enthralled with Obsidian Fox, the reclusive owner of an exclusive underground fighting club. Fox is brutal, complex and dominating. He feels a pull to Hazel that he has never felt for another woman, and struggles to understand his own feelings. While this sounds like a cliché of a plot, there was nothing about this story that was typical.

Fox is actually more of an anti-hero than a romantic figure, but I couldn’t help but care for him. He has a past that is both heartbreaking and terrifying, and as it is exposed to the reader little by little throughout the book, you gain a better understanding of what makes up this utterly flawed, confused and destroyed man.

The emotions between Fox and Hazel were raw and intense, and while I found myself thinking “Why doesn’t she walk away??”, I also wanted her to understand Fox and stay with him and help him heal. This book was hard to read, but for all of its darkness, this was a fantastic story, and I could not put it down or get it out of my head until long after I finished it. It was so different than anything I had read before, and I found myself drawn into the dark madness that made up Fox’s world. I found myself crying and wanting Hazel and Fox to find a way to work everything out, despite the fact that I could not see how that would ever be possible. I felt pity for both Fox and Hazel, while also cheering them on to find redemption.

It is difficult to describe too much of the story here without giving away anything about Fox’s history that is best read as it slowly unfolds in the book. All I can say is that this was an amazing novel that was dark, heart-wrenching and ultimately satisfying.

4.5 stars