Precious Consequences

Consequences is a very dark, painful, and complex story. It is not a romance. It's a psychological thriller with lots of twists that will leave you reeling. Sensitive topics such as rape, physical abuse, and mental abuse are not glossed over and left me feeling raw. The suspense of not knowing where this story was going completed screwed with my head. At some point I even thought this book was going to be the death of me and the reason for my lack of sleep.

Claire met Anthony at the restaurant where she bartends. While she worked, they flirted and teased one another. Anthony charms her into meeting him for a drink after her shift. Thinking Anthony is joking when he offers her a job with enough money to pay off her debts, she signs a little napkin that changes her life forever. A week later, she is drugged, kidnapped, violated, and taken to Anthony's beautiful home which is now her prison. She is now at his mercy until her debt is paid in full.

“He hurt her - not just physically but also emotionally - down to her core. He had humiliated and seemed to enjoy humiliating her routinely since she arrived.”

Even though a relationship is eventually formed between Claire and Anthony, it never felt...right. The consensual sex scenes even felt wrong at times. And when Claire had to keep compartmentalizing things in order to stay sane, I continued to feel uneasy about the relationship. Because this relationship was strategically created by Anthony in the beginning, and no matter how much I would let my mind hope things could be different for them, I couldn't let go of the malicious and cruel things he kept doing to Claire. My fear for Claire was always close to the surface.

This story made me question my own limits. How can a story as disturbing and appalling as this one keep me compelled to keep going? It pushed my boundaries. Made me angry. And it was almost too painful to read at times. But, to be quite honest, not knowing where the story was going is what kept me glued to the pages!