I am a Master.
You must know this fact to understand my story.
I capture women.
I break them down.
And I rebuild them.
If they are lucky, they are sold into the professional hands of another Master. If they are less fortunate, they are buried beneath the ground, never to be thought of again.
I lust for the control, I demand absolute submission and my body yearns to warp the minds of those I train.
Power is the only thing I’ll ever need and I am addicted to the feeling of ultimate control.
I am wealthy, good-looking, educated and charming.
And I am - in no way - a good man.
I do not want love.
I do not want kindness.
She thought she could change me by giving me the two things I knew I never wanted.
She was wrong.
The first thought that entered my head when I saw Her Master's Courtesan was it sounded a bit like another series I read and loved, which I didn’t mind, that book messed with my head and by the end I wanted to be Caleb’s kitten. So wrong, I felt sick but loved it. So bring on this book!
Once I started I had two things in mind… Holy heck this is going to be way more twisted than I thought, and I had a feeling I was going to be completely sucked in, bye bye sleep. The last thought was right, it took me under five hours to read and I didn’t go to sleep until after one in the morning. Tried to go to sleep I should say, I couldn’t get my brain to shut down once I finished.
Aiden Oliver is a Master. A master at kidnapping and breaking women to be slaves to the rich and needy. They don’t call the women slaves they call them Courtesan, I guess to make themselves feel better about what their doing to these young ladies. It’s nowhere near BDSM; in those relationships the women can use safe words and live a pretty normal life. Courtesan’s are used for whatever their masters desire, no safe words, no getting an opinion in what is going to happen, it just happens. For the most part the men and women in their secret society take care of their Courtesans but there is knowledge that some are a little too rough on them which makes them go through Courtesans very fast.
Rebecca just so happens to fit a certain type that one of Aiden’s clients is looking for. Poor Rebecca didn’t suspect a thing when Aiden befriended her at an art gallery. Rebecca is an art student and is very fascinated by a certain piece she can’t turn away from. Aiden figured since this piece caught her attention this might be easier than he thought… he thought wrong. Rebecca wasn’t his typical catch, he wasn’t able to mold her as quickly as he’s use to, and that is where the story takes us… down the path of Rebecca learning her role of a Courtesan or dying while rebelling against Aiden.
Oh this damn story had me all over the place! It’s dark and twisted and it will mess with your head! I LOVED IT, I really did, not sure what that says about me, but yes I enjoyed it. There were times during the story that I was rooting for Aiden to change to become something besides the monster he portrays but then there was parts that I had pure hatred towards him and knew he was the monster he is made out to be. Rebecca drove me nuts at times, I hated her reasoning on certain things but then again I never have - and pray to God I never will be - in the situation she is put in. This story had me guessing until the end, it honestly didn’t go the way I figured it would. I thought once we got to a certain scene I knew what was going to happen and then BAM, it did a freaking turn. The ending had my head spinning, WHAT THE HELL! Let's just say Aiden is good, so damn good that is why he is called Master! This line sums him up:
“I played the game well and, as usual, I walked away the winner of the ultimate mind fuck”.
This is a book I will recommend to my friends who I know will enjoy it! It’s a mind fuck, so be ready!!
*Received an ARC for an honest review*
Let me start by apologizing for how damn long this review is - it's really not normal for me....SORRY!
So
it has been almost two weeks since I read the last page of Her Master's
Courtesan. Normally I do a review right after I've read a book, or
even as I'm reading I'm piecing it together - while it is fresh in my
mind. However, I not only didn't do that here, I simply couldn't. In
fact I've been piecing this together for about a
week now trying to find the words to describe this frighteningly
delicious book. When it comes to the romance genre I've slowly learned
what I can and can't handle and sometimes I'm surprised by what I can.
I'm not completely sure that this is one of those times but I can't say
with certainty that it is not either.
When I first started reading this I immediately started thinking of another series that I love that has similar themes. With that in the back of my mind I figured I could absolutely handle whatever came my way in HMC. The thing is, this is not that series and I don't really think in the end you can even compare. HMC stands on its own.
From the very first page it is clear who Aiden is, what he does, what he's willing to do and that he has no problem with it...in fact he enjoys his "job", as a Master, very much and the money that he makes doing it. He enjoys the process, the power and the control. There are no romantic notions for Aiden of what could be with any of the women he kidnaps to train as a "slave" or "Courtesan"; there are no longings of a happily ever after, no "what if"s or "could be"s. This is also something he's explicitly clear about. And yet no matter how dark and twisty a story may be when it falls into any subgenre of romance you naturally assume that your Hero eventually dreams, longs and does all within his power to have those things with the heroine. In HMC, you'd be dangerously WRONG...and yet Aiden IS a Hero...a dark, twisted, fuck with your mind, break you, bend you and piece you back together by his will alone Hero. How is that possible? I don't know...it just is.
And the heroine of HMC? Rebecca? She's not at all as she seems. She will shock you. Does she try to convince Aiden of a love I'm not even fully sure she believes in, so he'll keep her with him as his Courtesan instead of selling her off to the man waiting on her delivery? Of course she does. Who wouldn't in her situation...even broken and hopeless it's part of the human condition, an innate drive, to survive. I think for Rebecca it's a matter of not just staying alive but existing with the lesser of two evils. With Aiden she knows the rules, even when she's breaking them. He's clear with her that her new "Master" may not be like him - a strict rule follower and cruel punisher - that some buyers have twisted proclivities and once she is out of his training it's up to a Courtesan's new Master as to the treatment they receive in their new life. May not sound like Aiden is the lesser evil but trust me he is. The man can wield some serious pain and misery but also dole out an intensity of pleasure that breaks you all the same. I think that is something Rebecca learns and latches to in her training as she submits and rebels all at the same time. There is a moment where she says she loves him - in fact she out right tells Aiden she loves him - and I believe it with every fiber of my being. Do I believe it because I to want her with the lesser of the two evils too or because I know it's true? Again, I don't know, but it is how it is.
When I first started reading this I immediately started thinking of another series that I love that has similar themes. With that in the back of my mind I figured I could absolutely handle whatever came my way in HMC. The thing is, this is not that series and I don't really think in the end you can even compare. HMC stands on its own.
From the very first page it is clear who Aiden is, what he does, what he's willing to do and that he has no problem with it...in fact he enjoys his "job", as a Master, very much and the money that he makes doing it. He enjoys the process, the power and the control. There are no romantic notions for Aiden of what could be with any of the women he kidnaps to train as a "slave" or "Courtesan"; there are no longings of a happily ever after, no "what if"s or "could be"s. This is also something he's explicitly clear about. And yet no matter how dark and twisty a story may be when it falls into any subgenre of romance you naturally assume that your Hero eventually dreams, longs and does all within his power to have those things with the heroine. In HMC, you'd be dangerously WRONG...and yet Aiden IS a Hero...a dark, twisted, fuck with your mind, break you, bend you and piece you back together by his will alone Hero. How is that possible? I don't know...it just is.
And the heroine of HMC? Rebecca? She's not at all as she seems. She will shock you. Does she try to convince Aiden of a love I'm not even fully sure she believes in, so he'll keep her with him as his Courtesan instead of selling her off to the man waiting on her delivery? Of course she does. Who wouldn't in her situation...even broken and hopeless it's part of the human condition, an innate drive, to survive. I think for Rebecca it's a matter of not just staying alive but existing with the lesser of two evils. With Aiden she knows the rules, even when she's breaking them. He's clear with her that her new "Master" may not be like him - a strict rule follower and cruel punisher - that some buyers have twisted proclivities and once she is out of his training it's up to a Courtesan's new Master as to the treatment they receive in their new life. May not sound like Aiden is the lesser evil but trust me he is. The man can wield some serious pain and misery but also dole out an intensity of pleasure that breaks you all the same. I think that is something Rebecca learns and latches to in her training as she submits and rebels all at the same time. There is a moment where she says she loves him - in fact she out right tells Aiden she loves him - and I believe it with every fiber of my being. Do I believe it because I to want her with the lesser of the two evils too or because I know it's true? Again, I don't know, but it is how it is.
*removed*
I
will warn you that this book is extremely dark. Some may not have the
issues that I did but I was down right nauseous at some of the acts
described; and at one point I put the book down never intending to go
back to it. I was completely broken by the mind fuck that Aiden pulled
over on Rebecca. I was in tears and just couldn't go forward. The
thing is, you find yourself so deep in and invested that it's almost as
if you are Rebecca. When she finds comfort in a soothing touch from
Aiden so do you. When she fears a punishment so do you. You begin to
be accustomed and accepting of her captivity as she
does. That's incredibly difficult to stomach when every part of you
screams that you know it's wrong. It doesn't matter what your brain and
heart tell you or that this is a work of fiction, you can't help but
react; and not always in the way you would think you would.
*removed*
I
will say that HMC does have a HEA...albeit untraditional. Lily did an
amazing job captivating me and luring me into this twisted world of
Masters and their slaves. It was and still is fairly distressing...when
you enjoy a book with themes like this it makes you question yourself.
I think though, that that is part of what makes HMC such a ___________
read.
It takes you out side your comfort zone, it throws the things that you
know to be wrong in your face and makes you accept them, understand them
and believe in the rules of the pleasure and pain game. That's pretty
fucked up that an author can do that to you, but it's also an
exceptional gift.
If
you don't mind dark erotica and darker themes of masters and captives
definitely give HMC a chance. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
If you want to read the removed sections of my review head on over to
Goodreads ----> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/859038967?book_show_action=false
and check it out...yes there is more to that long ass review! ;)
Lily White is a dark writer who likes to dabble on the taboo side of eroticism. Most of the time she can be found wandering around aimlessly while her mind is stuck in some twisted power play between two characters in her head. You may recognize her in public by the confused expression, random mumbling, and occasional giggle while thinking up a scene. Lily’s favorite things in life are reading, thinking about reading, buying books for reading….and writing. Her other secret pleasure is meeting with her plot editor in public to discuss her books and watching the shocked expressions of the people around her that don’t realize she’s talking about a book. When Lily is not reading, writing, wandering or freaking out innocent bystanders, she’s sleeping.
Love this book too- it actually gave me a nightmare one day but I think it's a well written book that stays with you even after you've done.
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