Destroyed by Pepper Winters

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publication Date: March 4th 2014
POV: Alternating - First-person, Past tense.
Smut-O-Meter: 7 out of 10
My Rating: 3 out of 5

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She has a secret.

I’m complicated. Not broken or ruined or running from a past I can’t face. Just complicated.

I thought my life couldn’t get any more tangled in deceit and confusion. But I hadn’t met him. I hadn't realized how far I could fall or what I'd do to get free.

He has a secret.

I’ve never pretended to be good or deserving. I chase who I want, do what I want, act how I want.

I didn’t have time to lust after a woman I had no right to lust after. I told myself to shut up and stay hidden. But then she tried to run. I’d tasted what she could offer me and damned if I would let her go.

One secret destroys them.

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This book wasn't really what I expected. Its not really the kind of 'dark' that I was thinking of. Its more what I would call 'gritty'. 'Dark' when in combination with romance usually means twisted and psychological. But this was mostly just violent, like some biker romances.

I was really interested in Roan, aka Fox, in the beginning. I love tortured heroes and Roan is nothing if not tortured. He was raised as an assassin in Russia from a young age, and has a lot of behaviour conditioning and brainwashing that he has to fight all the time. There are certain triggers that tell him to kill, and he has to try to fight it, to not hurt the people around him. Its daily, hourly torture for Roan and he has turned to hurting himself to control it. Getting people to beat the crap out of him or cutting can clear his head for a few hours. He is definitely the most tortured hero I have ever read about.

But it eventually became too much. Its a bit far fetched and unbelievable. Not only Roan's behaviour, but his relationship with Hazel. Roan has never been attracted to a woman before, it was bred out of him as an assassin. But for some reason the moment he laid eyes on Hazel he couldn't look away. Its the kind of thing I can usually let slide in a PNR because there are supernatural forces at work, bringing them together. But not in a contemporary. And the fact that he could touch her without flipping out and he couldn't touch anyone else. How he felt like she was his cure. The same goes for Clara. It felt too supernatural. Like there was something greater directing their lives. It was just too much of a coincidence.

The book was pretty long and it just went on and on and on about Roan's problems. And his relationship with Hazel kept going back and forth. One minute she hates him, then she loves him, then she hates him, then she loves him. It was stretched out way too much. I know he is hard to live with, but either love him or don't. Make up your mind and then live with it! She made me so mad in the epilogue. The freaking epilogue! After everything is supposed to be settled and hunky-dory, she flipping changes her mind again and tried to kick him out! Jeez! I couldn't believe she would do that to him after everything they had been through. I know she was just trying to protect someone, but that is not how you treat someone you supposedly love. Especially when it was her fault! She is the one who kept pushing him to do it. If he had actually hurt him, she would have had only herself to blame. But it is not the first time she pushed him too far. Jeez, she never learned. Roan said more than once that she forgave him too often. Maybe she forgave him more than Roan thought he deserved, but she did not forgive him as often as I think someone she loves deserves.

They concept was interesting and overall I like Roan, but this story did not reach its potential IMO. Still recommended for fans of violent heroes.

“My heart cracked, splintered, shattered in my chest. And I knew without a doubt I would love Roan until I died.”