Keep Me by Anna Zaires (Twist Me #2)

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Dark, Romance
Publication Date: September 30th 2014
POV: Alternating - First-person, Present tense
Smut-O-Meter: 10 out of 10
My Rating: Did Not Finish

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Abducted at eighteen. Held captive for 15 months.

It reads like one of those headlines. And yes, I did it. I stole her. Nora, with her long dark hair and silky skin. She’s my weakness, my obsession.

I’m not a good man. I never pretended to be one. She can love me, but she can’t change me.

I can, however, change her.

My name is Julian Esguerra, and Nora is mine to keep.

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I absolutely loved Twist Me by Anna Zaires, and I wrote it a glowing review. I had been impatiently waiting for the sequel, Keep Me, for nearly a year, and doing everything I could to help promote Anna Zaires and her books.

Twist Me was dark and uncomfortable. And although I did not enjoy the BDSM aspects, or the "hero", I was impressed by the psychology of the story, and the way that it played with my emotions.

When I began Keep Me, I still felt uncomfortable with Julian, but I figured it would pass because the story and relationship between Julian and Nora was enough to distract me from any squick factors. I continued to read but it just got worse. Everything Julian said and did disgusted me, and when he took Nora in the gym, I had had enough.

I could not see it as a 'love my captor' story anymore. No matter how I looked at it, I could not see it as a story that intended to entertain. All I saw was an abused and severely traumatized woman who was being used by a monster. I began to see all the woman stuck in abusive relationship, who stay because they think he will change, because they think it is what they deserve, because they are afraid of the consequences of leaving. I can no longer find enjoyment in the glamorization of abuse that is very real for many trapped women.

Sometime between now and when I read Twist Me, I must have experienced a paradigm shift. I cannot explain it. I have longtime enjoyed stories like this, that stir emotions both good and bad, but I think perhaps this just reached a limit I didn't know I had. I quit at 28%. But I will still be following Anna Zaires closely, and reading any more books she releases (not Hold Me, book 3). I still support her efforts and I am really looking forward to more Krinar books.