**AUTHOR NOTE - This is NOT a BDSM Romance**
We're thirteen girls, captive, slave to our master.
A master we've never seen.
Obedience will become all we know in our shallow existence. It is the only emotion we're permitted to feel.
When we're bad, we're punished. When we're good, we're rewarded.
Our scars run deep. Yet we survive, because we have to...
because HE teaches us to.
All of us are special, we feel it with everything we are.
He has us for a reason, but it's a reason we don't know.
We've never seen his face, but we know that something deeply broken lies beneath the darkness. With every touch, with every punishment, we know it.
Then something changed.
He showed me who he truly is.
Now I want him.
I'll go against everything I know to be with him.
A monster.
My monster.
Loving him is a sin, but a sinner I am. I won't stop until I see every part of him. Even the parts he keeps locked deep down inside.
I am Number Thirteen, and this is my story.
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About the Author
Bella Jewel is an Aussie girl through and through. She spent her life in Western Australia, growing up in many different areas of the state. She now currently lives in Perth with her husband, children and mass amounts of pets. She's crazy, fun, outgoing and friendly. Writing is her passion, she started at the young age of 18 but finally got the courage up to publish, and her first novel Hell's Knights was released in August 2013.
3.5 Stars
Loving
him is a sin; of that I’m fully aware. But a sinner I am.
Whatever
preconceptions you have about this book, throw it out the window.
This is not
dark erotica.
This is not
a BDSM novel.
This did not
contain those dark elements I was expecting.
I’ve had a
little bit of time to process this story and the more I think about it, the
more disjointed I feel. It’s not necessarily bad or anything. I just think it
could’ve been more.
No one
deserves to die.
But I
did die, that day.
And in
my place, a monster was born.
We immediately
learn the cruelty that William had to endure when he was only thirteen. He was
targeted and tormented by bullies. Not only was there emotional abuse, but
those bullies also changed him physically. He was not the same after that
traumatizing encounter.
“I do
not trust, nor do I give myself to anyone. I am a simple few elements, Number
Thirteen. I am determination, I am control, and I am power. I do not mix, I do
not remove, and I do not add. I will care for you as my lover; I’ll give you
everything you need, but asking for more is pointless and a waste of both our
time.”
Thirteen women
have been taken. We don’t know the circumstances to which they lived their
lives before the abduction. Why were they taken? Where are they headed? Do
these thirteen women have a commonality? What is their purpose?
When we first
meet these women, they are only known by the number in which they have been
assigned. The women were ultimately divided up in four groups; each assigned a
different task to the household – cook, clean, chores, or whatever the Master
William desires.
This is Number
Thirteen’s story. As the story progresses, we watch her internal struggle to
find out who she was and why exactly she was chosen, especially since her group
is to serve the Master, whatever that may mean. She initially has a hard
time adjusting to her situation and often finds herself being punished for her
defiance. What she slowly learns is that Master William has an agenda for her
and for these women. He is not what he seems.
It’s in
that moment I just see him for what he is: a jagged piece of glass that can
never be glued back into its spot because it’s not perfect. It has rough edges,
even though the middle is still stunning.
I’m a
piece of gagged glass, too. Maybe together we can find a way to fit.
This story was
a bit…confusing at times. I hate to admit it, but I struggled a little bit with
this story. I kept trying to keep tabs of each girl – their look, their
mannerisms – trying to figure out what William’s ultimate goal was. It got a
bit distracting and it took a bit of time to find out what exactly he wanted.
Once I (kind of) got the gist of it, it made a little sense, but by that time
it felt a little too late, if that makes any sense. However, there were some
bright spots in the story; there were even some fist pump moments –
especially when Number Thirteen put William’s father in his place. Plus the
moments when William was finally showing his true self, not only to Number
Thirteen, but also to the rest of the women, were such a heart warming moments.
And that ending? Yea. It made me melt.
So if you’re
going to give this a shot, heed my warnings above and try not to focus on each
individual girl --- just go with it. Like I said, this had so much more
potential, but the story fell a little short.
Oh, on a side
note (and I apologize if this is spoilerish), but I was a little taken
aback that no justice was done to these bullies. I felt a little cheated. Just
sayin.
**Complimentary advanced copy was provided by author in exchange
for an honest review**
Giveaway
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