THEIRS TO TAKE

Eva Webb didn't know what she'd find the night she secretly followed her fiancé. She had feared he was meeting another woman.

But it was so much worse than that. 

The man she loved betrayed and kidnapped her, packing her onto a truck destined for the black market to be sold to the highest bidder. 

But when the vehicle is ambushed, she is delivered into the hands of her fiancé's enemies: mercenary brothers who would stop at nothing to take him down.

For Gabriel and Syn Rivera, hijacking the truck and stealing its cargo was another job, another way of taking back what was stolen from them.

Discovering Eva on board was an unexpected bonus.

They now held in their grasp the one thing that could bring down an entire organization, making her a pawn in a deadly game -- a game in which she'd need their protection to survive. But that protection would come at a price.

Now captive to the brothers, Eva would learn that they have always shared their women, and she would be no exception. They would keep her safe. They would protect her. And they would make her theirs as well.

But in a world where criminals often wear two faces, where putting your trust in the wrong people can get you killed, will Eva find she has mistaken lust for love, or will this unlikely union survive?

Publisher's Note: Intended for mature readers. Over 18 only. This romantic suspense includes MFM Menage (no sexual contact between the men), graphic sexuality, spanking and other BDSM activities. If such content might offend you, please don't buy this book.

Release Date: April 21, 2015

Review copy provided by publisher through NetGalley

Nikki’s Review:

•   WARNING THIS BOOK AND REVIEW MAY HAVE SOME TRIGGERS THAT CAN BE UPSETTING TO SURVIVORS OF ABUSE

As a former primary school teacher, I always tried to start with positive feedback before heading into the murky waters of the negative. I’m going to apply that here too! I enjoyed Natasha Knight’s writing style. The story moved along well enough. The dialogue between the characters kept me interested and engaged. But, that’s about all I enjoyed about this book. I knew going in that this book was considered a “dark” romance. I’m ok with that, I’ve read many of them. But this? This wasn’t dark. It was down right horrifying.

The “heros”, and I use that term very loosely, were in the business of human trafficking. From the synopsis, I was led to believe that they were mercenaries. I know some mercenaries skate the line of the law, but these two men were nothing but repugnant abusive apes. Syn and Gabriel intercept a shipment of 13 women who are meant to be sold as sexual slaves. I know what you’re thinking. Yay the brothers are going to save them right? Nope! They sell these poor girls and pocket the money for themselves. Not all the merchandise is for sale though. They keep a little something for themselves, Eva. I was only 30% into the book and they had beaten Eva on three separate occasions. Within hours of each other. These were not erotic spankings, meant to titillate. These were holding her down while she’s begging for them not to hurt her, sobbing uncontrollably type of punishments. Syn and Gabriel used several twigs/tree branches tied together to whip her. Then they tied her to post outside and used a leather strap to beat her with, to the tune of 30 times! The punishment was so brutal that Syn had to call off Gabriel because he was going to cause serious damage. After the strapping was completed, they left her outside, restrained to the post for a long time, long enough to get a sunburn on her shoulders! This horrendous strap makes several appearances throughout the book. And then comes the rattan cane. That scene made me ache. Eva was in agony. At one point in the book, the heroine swears that she’ll never wear her hair in ponytail again, because they pull her by her hair painfully. Again, its not the kinda of “oooh this hurts but feels so good” kinda pain. This pain just plain old hurts! 

I have never read a romance novel that made me have visions of the Holocaust. Yes, you read that right, the Holocaust. The scene where the brothers make all 13 women get naked and lead them into a tent to have their vaginas shaved bare was awful. These women were scared and the humiliation was palpable. If they didn’t listen, they knew they would get a beating. Having witnessed all of Eva’s punishments, they obeyed. It was heart wrenching to read. It made me think about Jewish women being lead into concentration camps to have their heads shaved and be tattooed. The women in this story had no idea of what their futures held, except for sexual servitude to someone who bought them.

Of course at some point in the book, Eva falls head over heels in love with Syn and Gabriel, discovers that she “needs” these types of punishments, hell, she even craves them! And well, “they are only cruel on occasion”. The entire book was like a recipe for Stockholm syndrome. They kidnapped her, beat her into submission, bent her emotions to their will, made her depend on them for everything, threw her a few scraps of affection, and voila…Stockholm Syndrome! This book would have been a DNF (did not finish), but I needed to see where this whole mess was going. So I guess that’s a plus for the book. It made me want to see it through to the end.