Begging For It (Asking for it #2) by Lilah Pace ~ #bookreview @BerkleyRomance @SignetEclipse #darkromance

Begging for It (Asking for It #2)

by Lilah Pace

The provocative author of Asking for It once again explores the dark side of erotic obsession, and the secrets that make it as dangerous as it is irresistible.

Some secrets should only be shared in the dark.

Jonah and Vivienne’s erotic bond—living out raw scenarios of captivity and force—began as no-strings sex between strangers who shared the same desires. Now the intimacy between them is turning into love, but it’s a love built on fantasies so extreme that exploring them makes guilt inescapable. But the risks they're taking are far more dangerous than they'd imagined.

A stalker is terrorizing the city, and one of Jonah’s ex-lovers names him as a potential suspect to the police. Standing by a man under suspicion could cost Vivienne everything. But when Jonah’s stepfather takes advantage of the scandal to seize control of the Marks family fortune, Vivienne is drawn into her lover’s broken family and twisted past. Only then will she learn how dark the truth really is...

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Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Berkley | Penguin Group

Genre: Adult Dark Romance with warnings for content

Part 2 of 2

My Begging For It Review ...

It's about accepting that we're both twisted as fuck and the only way we'll ever work this out is together.

 First, let's start with, that's it felt like forever since we get to read this book, waiting to see what happens with Jonah and Vivienne.  Second, this book is not for the faint of heart with its explicit content, but it's still beautifully crafted with its story telling.  This is NOT your typical romance novel.  If you are expecting hearts, roses and unicorns, then this is NOT the series for you.  It's dark, real, hard and raw but yet still hopeful, loving and beautiful, while also filled with kink and suspense.

It is a must that you read Asking For It first, as it helps you understand the why and how of what is behind Vivienne & Jonah's issues.

What happened to him was stranger, and maybe even sicker.  We've traveled parallel paths, he and I.  We were betrayed by those who should have protected us.  We've fought for our sanity and won.  We've dealt with the dark desires spun from our worst secrets and found ultimate pleasure in them, together. 

After finding out Vivienne's truth, Jonah's torn and conflicted, causing all kinds of hurt for the both of them.  But what they do know, is that their feelings for each other a very real and very strong.

"I want to work on it, but-that's my truth, that's where I am.  If you can't be with me until I'm over it . . .  Jonah, that's going to be a long time."

"It's like-like you stopped seeing me as me.  Now you can only see me as a victim"

"You don't get to make me whole,"  I say.  "You have to take me as I am, or we're lost."

Healthy left me behind a long time ago.

Vivienne not only needs this relationship, she wants it, but it's a tough go to convince Jonah to get back on board. 

"My therapist says totally normal, mentally healthy people are as fictional as the unicorn.  We're all bent.  Just in different ways."

As Vivienne and Jonah start to mend their relationship, Jonah's past comes back to haunt him.

"Sometimes there are secrets we keep to protect other people.  But sometimes there are secrets we have to tell to protect ourselves."

With his past coming to the forefront it causes all of Jonah's demons to emerge.

She meant that when people push beyond their boundaries, we have to discover what lies on the other side.

With his demons at the surface, Jonah has to face so much more, but will Vivienne get on board with his new needs?

But I feel so cheated, so deprived, and even angry . . . (Whatever happened to the notion of compromise?  Oh, Vivienne, still so much to learn)

For this broken duo, they have a lot of growing to do, and a large uphill journey to help them deal with their pasts.

"I was the one who came to you.  The one who thought we could live out opposite sides of a fantasy without any repercussions. What a goddammed fool I was."

Even though the content is rough and hard for some to swallow, it's still a story worth telling.  It's profound and beautiful.  Where we get to feel their pain and hardships.  We follow along with them and watch them heal and grow.

" . . . We don't get all better; we don't fix everything that's broken.  We just learn how to work around the broken bits.  How to do the best we can with what we have, and who we are."

Is this book for everyone?  No, absolutely not.  If you can handle the content, then this is a great book and series.  Where we get to see the characters struggles and see them move forward to a new place.  For most we forget that our pasts define us but that doesn't mean we have to be stuck there.  Instead we can take our past and grow and reform to something different.  Not new, but different.  We can't change or forget the past but how we react or respond to a situation is the ONLY thing we have in our control.  Lilah Pace captures this point eloquently.  Great book. Great series.  I don't know if this was supposed to be a duo or a larger series, but there's so much potential for more from this couple or many of the other characters.  Fingers crossed there will be more. 



4.5 Eloquent yet raw thumbs up!

. 5

Lauren

 

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