Monday, August 4, 2014

BOOK REVIEW: Twist Me by Anna Zaires

The next stop on this book blog’s tropical vacation is to a little unknown island somewhere in the Pacific. You may not come willingly, but you will come. Be forewarned, this escape just got darker.  

Twist Me by Anna Zaires
 5+ Stars

At a club with her friend one night is where almost eighteen year old Nora Leston first comes face to face with the gorgeous, dark, and mysterious man who sparks something inside her that she has never felt before and yet frightens her at the same time. Both of her instincts about him are correct; he will become her kidnapper and her lover.

As some of the disclaimers on the book point out, this is not your traditional, happy, feel good romance. Far from it. Yet despite the brutal beginnings of their relationship the story is a page-turner from the time Nora is abducted. The story (told solely from Nora’s perspective) takes Nora and the reader to a secluded tropical island where captivity is also paradise, pain is also pleasure, and the line between foe and friend blurs away.

Twist Me is dark extended vacation where Nora discovers the exotic beauty of the island and the man who possess it.  Julian, her kidnapper, is a man with secrets and over the course of Nora’s sojourn the secrets are revealed to her and the reader.  But the two are not alone; not only is Julian an enigma but so is the woman, Beth, who assists with her captivity.  By the time the three inhabit the island like a new version of Three’s Company, all perceptions of  evil, confinement, safety, sanity, love, and loyalty have been twisted. Wait, how did I get here? Both Nora and the reader might ask, but the journey is dark and delicious, sometimes shocking, and possibly not for the faint of heart.
"When he's like this, his charm is a living thing, drawing me in, making me forget the truth of my situation. On the back of my mind, I know that none of this is real—that this sense of connection, this camaraderie is nothing more than a mirage—but with each day that passes, it starts to matter less and less. In a strange way, I feel like I'm two people: the woman who's falling in love with the gorgeous, ruthless killer sitting at the the breakfast table and the one who's observing the whole thing with a sense of horror and disbelief."
 Has Nora fallen for her captor and does he love her back? Or is it simply Stockholm Syndrome and Julian is incapable of love? Why has Julian brought Nora here? Where exactly is the island? How dangerous is Julian? Why is Beth so loyal to him? How will Nora escape her tropical prison? Will she even escape it if given the chance?  The twists just keep coming.

There isn't a cliffhanger, per say, but there is more to the story to come in the sequel, Keep Me. (Coming September 2014)  If you like dark, unconventional, romantic stories where everything isn't black and white, this one is a must read!

You can find Twist Me at the following:

Update: Keep Me released 9/30/14. Click HERE for book review and buy links. 
For the blog's 9/29/14 interview with Anna Zaires, click HERE.


Book #3, Hold Me: Book Review & Buy links, click HERE

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