Title: Pain
Author: Amanda Mackey
Genre: Dark Romance
Release Date: January 5, 2016 Publisher: Limitless Publishing
Life is sweet in The Sanctuary—until Lillian Harris is thrown the curveball of her life.
Lillian is perfectly happy cocooned within the lofty perimeter fence of The Sanctuary. Her Sanctuary—a vast oasis for rescued lions, tigers and elephants. The animals are her world. So when Lillian’s dad tells her a nineteen-year-old criminal who’s fresh out of prison is coming to The Sanctuary as part of a rehabilitation program, Lillian is more than a little apprehensive. She interacts with animals more than humans—and definitely not criminals.
Justice Armstrong is more arrogant than a Silverback, but something darker lurks behind his eyes...
It isn’t until Justice swaggers toward her from the parole officer’s car—pierced, confidant, and more than a little hot—Lillian knows she has her work cut out for her. His stare has the power to rob her of all thought. His words, although crude and nefarious, bring a part of her to life she never knew existed. How is this criminal suddenly turning her world upside down?
He has the power to drag her to the dark side....
Pain—his drug of choice. A vice he can’t survive without. Then he meets her—Lillian Harris. Little miss hellcat. Fiery, strong, and all woman. She challenges him at every damn turn, and watching her tame those fierce big cats...well, it just makes his need for her that much stronger.
He wants to do things to her...wicked things. She makes him crave pain in a whole new way.
When a teen with a dark past bumps heads with the feisty rescue worker, will it be love over lust—or a matter of life and death?
I knew from the moment that I read the prologue of Amanda Mackey's Pain that I was in for an all-nighter. I am a big fan of dark reads and anything with plenty of raw emotion and this book didn't disappoint. Heart broken is the only way to describe how I felt as I read the opening pages that set the scene for Justice and Lil's story.
Lil Harris, along with her father and two other volunteers Daniel and Nate, run The Sanctuary - a rescue centre for abused and neglected wild animals, specifically lions, tigers and elephants. It was her own version of paradise, so when her father informed her that he had signed them up to a rehabilitation program and that it would be up to Lil to welcome and acclimate the newly released prisoner into their way of life, she had no idea what to expect.
Justice Armstrong's life has been hell. All he has known is pain, abuse and suffering and now it is the only thing he expects from life. He needs pain to survive, it is the only thing that keeps the demons at bay. Released from prison, he is given one last chance to turn his life around. He is less than impressed about being moved from one kind of cage, only to be put into another and thinks that it is only a matter of time before he goes back to his old ways and ends up back in prison.
From the moment they lay eyes on each other they were at each others throats. Lil is use to dealing with wild, angry animals and Justice considers himself to be not much different from the lions and tigers she spends her days with. A woman with a serious alpha vibe and a take no shit personality who is also battling her own demons, and a cocky, tortured soul who trusts no one and has no interest in rehabilitating himself. What could go wrong.
Justice is volatile at best, it does't take much to set him off, but there is something about this little spit fire princess that has been forced into his life, that he can't seem to stop getting under his skin. His lust for her is undeniable, but how can a person like him ever trust or be welcome into the world of someone like her.
From the moment she caught sight of him, the attraction was undeniable, but how could Lil ever allow this criminal near her. She thought he was a nightmare - arrogant, rude and had a darkness inside of him that she knew no good could come out of . But what if the very darkness that he had inside of him was what called out to her own. Could his desire for pain be just what she needs to heal her own demons. And what would it mean for her perfect life in paradise is she lets him in.
I really enjoyed the chemistry between Lil and Justice, i'm not a fan of insta-love and while the story does take place over a short period of time, the author definitely did not make it easy on them. And holy hotness was it steamy once they let their anger give way to their lust. The secondary characters were also great and I loved how the author has used her writing to promote animal conservation. I do wish that the events near the end of the book could have been slowed down a little and more detail put into them, mostly because of how attached I felt towards Justice's character and what he had been put through. And wow! when everything crashes down around Justice...lets just say it's brutal. I could feel the lump permanently lodged in my throat from that point on until the end of the book.
★★☆ 4 Stars ☆★★
Reviewed by Carly Carter
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Amanda Mackey was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia when she was 12 years old with her family, where she has lived ever since. She has loved books since an early age and is an avid reader. This has helped lay the foundation for her writing. She's published 2 non-fiction books and has her a fiction novel titled, Instinctual out now. Instinctual is a 2 book series. Book 2 will be out Sept. 30 2014.Amanda hopes to make writing her full time career.
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Thanks for the wonderful review!
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