Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the author, Eve Rabi, for an honest review.
Genre: Adult/Fiction/Suspense/Drama
Plot: Arena, who has been abused by her husband Tom since she was eight months pregnant with their first child, has decided to flee with her two small children in the hopes of being “free”. Arena’s husband Tom is wealthy and arrogant, but also has a temper and hits Arena when she does something that Tom does not approve of. Unhappy and drained, Arena decides to leave Tom and start a new life with her kids.
But everything does not go as Arena had planned. She meets and falls in love with a man named Bear who might not be who he says he is, and deals with the repercussions of leaving Tom. Soon Arena is faced with custody battles, lies, sorrow, death, and murder. Now she must fight to be truly free of Tom and to ensure the safety of her family.
Opinion: WARNING: There is adult and sexual themes in this story. I personally am not a reader of the “erotic” genre and do not normally accept books from authors that are of that nature. However, this book only has about two overly sexual moments in it and the rest is an attention grabbing read. Think of it like this, it’s a Hollywood suspense film about abuse and murder with some sexy scenes in it. See, now it’s normal because sex sells. MOVING ON!
When Arena is just eight months pregnant with her first child, Warren, her husband Tom starts hitting her and shoving her into things. Tom is extremely wealthy, overly arrogant, and has this need to put on a show around other people that he is the most amazing and wonderful husband. When people are around, Tom makes a big production out of presenting Arena with lavish gifts and doing sweet things for her. Unfortunately, he isn’t actually like that. After Arena later becomes pregnant and has her second child, Sasha, she decides that she is going to leave Tom and take their kids with her. Arena opens a secret storage unit and starts filling it with expensive items that she purchased with Toms credit cards, so that she can later sell them for money. Eventually, Arena gets her kids away from Tom and moves into an apartment where she soon meets a man named Bear. From here the story takes off and gets very exciting. Arena is deciding if she can trust Bear, and Tom starts causing SERIOUS issues.
I read this book in half a day (don’t tell my boss 😉 ), and I don’t think I could have put it down if I tried. I have only read one other story that had domestic abuse going on in it, and it has never really been a story that I go to for a read. I mean really…it’s DEPRESSING. So when I started reading this I thought to myself: Self, just f*****g read it. So I read it, and I was actually very surprised with the direction the story went. Arena ACTUALLY removed herself and her kids from the abusive relationship, but then so many different strange and chaotic things start happening. I cannot tell you how many times I said WTF to myself as I read this book, which I think is always good if you are a reader. Whether you are saying it for good or bad reasons, the fact that the author has actually stirred some emotions in you is a PLUS. The story went from one crazy event to another, keeping me on edge and needing to know how Arena was going to fix things. I do wish the use of “baby” between Bear and Arena wasn’t repeated so much because it loses its sweetness when they say it in every sentence. The character of Arena was a bit bland for me at the beginning of the story, and I didn’t start to actually feel a personality with her towards the end when she was framing Tom. She started out being so simple and reserved, and then she turned into a sarcastic twisted character. I like to be connected with the main characters, whether I love them or I loathe them, being emotionally invested in who the story centers around is one of the most important things to me. Therefore I would have liked to see a little bit more character development with her. A GREAT thing about Eve Rabis’ writing in this book is that everything flows and keeps moving. I didn’t get bored or skip through lines once while reading, it had a nice continuous grab on me the entire time.
So if you are like me and don’t normally read this kind of story, I think you should give it a try! There is WAY more going on than some guy hitting his wife and scaring his kids because he’s a lunatic. The author keeps you both ENTHRALLED and ENTERTAINED until you finish the story and realize you must have more. But don’t you worry, there is a second book! – One Way or Another: You Will Pay.
jenacidebybibliophile 