BOOK: Embrace the Darkness
AUTHOR: Ashley N. Rostek
TYPE: Maura Quinn #1
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
POV: First Person (Maura)
PAGE COUNT: 435 (Kindle Edition)
PUBLICATION DATE: April 22, 2020
DATE READ: Jan 4, 2021
*(Subject to change)*
4.53
Maura Quinn - 24
Jameson Coleman - 28
Violence, Murder, Torture, Sexual Assault, Rape, Castration.
I should warn you, I'm not a good person.
I tried to be good... normal.
But the darkness can’t be suppressed forever.
Six years ago, I walked away from the family. Now, I must go back. I have no choice. But things will be different this time. I’m stronger, smarter, and I refuse to submit in a world ruled by dangerous men.
My name is Maura Quinn. I'm the Banphrionsa—Princess in my father’s dark kingdom of crime. Everyone has a story. Even the bad guy. So proceed with caution because this is my descent or my rise. It depends on how you look at it. But most of all, this is how I embrace the darkness.
Okay, POP QUIZ TIME.
Question : If you find your boyfriend (say Tom) cheating on you with one of your friends (say Tina) and badmouthing you, what would you do?
Choices :
A. Break up with him.
B. Try to mend your relationship.
C. Break up with him AND break off your friendship with Tina.
D. Shoot him in the knee, then repeatedly shoot his dick until it's in pieces then strangle and kill Tina with one of your cheating boyfriend's neck tie.
E. Give him a chance to... Wait, whhhaat?!
And the correct answer is...
DING, DING, DING! YOU GUESSED IT!
Of course, it's the one which will have every male trying to protect their prime jewels and having nightmares.
(P.S. This does not categorize as a spoiler because it literally happens in the first ten pages.)
Maura kinda reminded me of Psycho Lana in that way. There was even talk of nicknaming her Dick-Crusher. Poetic, really.
You ever reach the point of hunger where you’d stab someone for a cheeseburger? Well, gentlemen, I’m starting to feel stabby.
Was her action a little extreme? Maybe. Did I care? Absolutely Not. Because after her dick-shooting episode, we get introduced to two very fine specimens, namely Jamie and Louie.
Jameson - the brooding head enforcer of The Irish Mafia and one of Maura's best friends.
And Louie - one of the most trusted goons of Stefan Quinn, the Boss of Irish Mafia and her other snarky and beautiful best friend.
But was that all? NO.
no because as the story progresses, we also get to meet
Nicoli De Luca - the devastating rival boss of the Italian Mafia
Dean - the grumpy but hot personal bodygaurd for Maura
And Asher - the hunky lumberjack head-of-security hired to protect Maura.
Do you see why I was bewitched? But alas, it's NOT a reverse harem. (YET, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW)
Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was a magical concoction I wholeheartedly believed was the cure for bitchiness and homicidal tendencies when Aunt Flow came to visit.
I so badly wanted this to be a RH, because how can you choose between all those beautiful specimens? The correct answer is, you can't. In the first book of Maura Quinn series, we get a mostly monogamous relationship between Maura and Jamie. By 'mostly' I mean there are some OM scenes, but if I say any more, it's a spoiler for the next book. So, my lips are shut.
Embrace the Darkness was fast-paced, action-packed and full of triggers. But whew, the steam was off-the-charts. Maura was an amazing heroine, complex, strong yet with a vulnerable side. She's the kind of character that gets you to root for her even if what she's doing is totally wrong. One thing I had trouble with was 'her darkness'. It's so cliché. Basically, whenever the darkness took over, she starts to feel stabby and someone ends up dead.
My father was Stefan Quinn. He'd taught me that you could be just as intimidating on your knees. As long as you had the confidence of a king, oozed the essence and mystery of a killer, people would think twice before fucking with you.
This is a great beginning to what I’m sure is going to be a totally twisted story. Full of action, drama, passion and a stabby heroine, it was exactly my cup of tea. The end of the book was a very cruel cliff-hanger. I cannot believe that it stopped like that. Why do I do this to myself? Now I have to wait till all the books are out and god knows I have very little patience.
Embrace the Darkness is well written with fast steamy action and likeable characters. If you love a strong, take-no-shit heroine and some really good eye candy, you gotta check this out.
- ❝My father was Stefan Quinn. He'd taught me that you could be just as intimidating on your knees. As long as you had the confidence of a king, oozed the essence and mystery of a killer, people would think twice before fucking with you.❞
- ❝“If you keep mutilating penises, people are going to start calling you Dick Crusher or something,” Rourke snickered.❞
- ❝You ever reach the point of hunger where you’d stab someone for a cheeseburger? Well, gentlemen, I’m starting to feel stabby.❞
- ❝“I’m just going to say this out loud because I know we’re all thinking it. That man was so beautiful. I swear Fabio and Aphrodite bumped uglies and the result was him.” “I’m sure his boyfriend thinks so, too,” Louie laughed. Ah, there it is, ladies. The catch.❞
- ❝Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. It was a magical concoction I wholeheartedly believed was the cure for bitchiness and homicidal tendencies when Aunt Flow came to visit.❞
- ❝A part of me wanted to shut down, block out the world and let myself break or cry, anything to ease the pain. The other part of me wanted to lash out, set the world on fire, stoop to his fucking level.❞
- ❝Bring on the hot mobster on hot mobster action.❞
- ❝You asked if we could go kill someone. Skank Barbie, I think you called her? You went into vivid detail on how you wanted to kill her. Which was fucking terrifying. I don’t know what your obsession is with neck ties, but I will never wear one around you. Ever.❞
- ❝Allowing the darkest part of myself to take the reins by suppressing everything else that made up my soul took a lot out of a girl. Sure, it made things a lot easier, definitely more enjoyable when toying with the enemy. In fact, I fucking loved every minute of it, but the aftermath…when my emotions surfaced, I became unsettled.❞
Maura Quinn Series by Ashley N. Rostek
● Embrace the Darkness (Maura Quinn #1)
● Endure the Pain (Maura Quinn #2)
Ashley N. Rostek is a wife and mother by day and a writer by night. She survives on coffee, loves collecting offensive coffee mugs, and is an unashamed bibliophile.
To Ashley, there isn’t a better pastime than letting your mind escape in a good book. Her favorite genre is romance and has the overflowing bookshelf to prove it. She is a lover of love. Be it a sweet YA or a dark and lusty novel, she must read it!
Ashley’s passion is writing. She picked up the pen at seventeen and hasn’t put it down. Her debut novel is Embrace the Darkness, the first book in the Maura Quinn series.
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