Friday, February 26, 2016

review || COUNSELLOR { blog tour } by Celia Aaron


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Celia Aaron | September 28, 2015 | Dark, Erotic Romance
Acquisition, book 1
★★★★★

SOURCE: XPRESSO BOOK TOURS

In the heart of Louisiana, the most powerful people in the South live behind elegant gates, mossy trees, and pleasant masks. Once every ten years, the pretense falls away and a tournament is held to determine who will rule them. The Acquisition is a crucible for the Southern nobility, a love letter written to a time when barbarism was enshrined as law. 

Now, Sinclair Vinemont is in the running to claim the prize. There is only one way to win, and he has the key to do it — Stella Rousseau, his Acquisition. To save her father, Stella has agreed to become Sinclair's slave for one year. Though she is at the mercy of the cold, treacherous Vinemont, Stella will not go willingly into darkness. 

As Sinclair and Stella battle against each other and the clock, only one thing is certain: The Acquisition always ends in blood. 

Full disclosure: This book is a dark romance with elements of slavery, violence, BDSM, and super-hot sex. It is the first of a series and ends on a cliffhanger. If you're good with these caveats, enjoy.

{ about celia aaron } .

Celia Aaron is the self-publishing pseudonym of a published romance and erotica author. She loves to write stories with hot heroes and heroines that are twisty and often dark. Thanks for reading.

Sign up for my newsletter at aaronerotica.com to get information on new releases. (I would never spam you or sell your info, just send you book news and goodies sometimes). ;)

You can find me on:
Twitter: @AaronErotica
Facebook: facebook.com/aaronerotica
Instagram: celia_aaron

{ review } .

So this is one of those books that you can't say a whole lot in the review without giving a lot away. However, I will say this --

  • This is a great dark read. 
  • I rather loved that while there's a step-brother romance brewing in the pages (spoiler alert -- it will come around again in the next book), it is not the focus in the least bit.
  • Our lead male is a great lead male -- and complex. I loved seeing his thoughts, especially when he begins to battle desire and want. He has his moments of dark comedy, too, which I loved.
  • Our lead female is a great lead female -- she's strong, feisty, independent... She puts her chin up and deals, tries saving another character, becomes a good friend for Teddy... All at the same time, she's confused and in the dark.
  • This 'acquisition' concept... This is like Hunger Games meets sexual slavery. So different and intense. Yet as a reader, you still have questions. We don't get the full answer about what all of this entails. We're almost as in the dark as Stella.
At that moment in front of the fire, I wanted the fairy tale. I wanted to be her knight instead of her demon. --Sinclair

Sin and Stella... These two battle emotions all while trying to fight for what they need to fight for -- him his rightful place in society, and she, her un-acceptance for what life has thrown her. She tries to play the game back, even, further showing how hard she'll fight.

Her fear was back. I needed it. I ate it up. It reminded me of what I needed to do, what I had to do. Even so, it tore at my heart, leaving a part of me shredded and raw... --Sinclair

Because we are left with questions -- we only go through one trial, after all, I immediately bought book two, and immediately devoured it. So I have some more answers, but still... 

I needed her eventual downfall to be spectacular. I needed to win. --Sinclair

Oh my goodness. Probably my favorite dark read of the year thus far.

*I will be posting my review on the blog this weekend. You can cheat at find it at goodreads, though...

for other reviews & tour goodies,

{ giveaway } .

1 comment:

  1. This sounds awesome! I love dark reads and this sounds like one not to miss! Great review! :)

    ReplyDelete