With thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, I'm pleased to participate in the blog tour for:
Title: Withstanding The Enemy
Author: T.L. Mahrt
Genre: Suspense Romance
Publication Date: January 31, 2020.
Standalone Book 1 of a trilogy
Author Content Warning: Sexual content and mild domestic violence.
The Blurb:
Emma Andrews was orphaned at a young age with no family to turn to. Tired of the broken foster-care system, and believing it was her only option, she runs to a multi-millionaire with a reputation of hiring young women. It is only then that she learns what real monsters look like…
Emma uses her overactive imagination to help her get through the toughest of days. By daydreaming a life full of love and freewill, she manages her colorless prison, but even in her wildest dreams, she would have never imagined it could become a reality. That is, until she meets Chance, a man willing to lay his life down to save hers.
But what Emma doesn’t expect is to fight her own personal demons—her heart.
My Review:
I'm a fan of steamy dark romance so I enjoyed this book, there was sufficient mystery and suspense to keep the reader guessing and the scenes built tension well. I really liked Chance, the male lead, he was stable and believable.
The novel started really strongly in my view, but then sadly the heroine started showing extreme insensitivity to her love interest's feelings and I lost my empathy for her. She also started showing a level of high promiscuity which did not fit at all well with her character traits as a shy, sexually inexperienced and abused girl. The explanation of 'she thought she was dreaming' for me was also a little weak.
The set up of the novel was good, that of a vulnerable young woman held captive in the home of her billionaire and mean fiancée, who then falls in love with her bodyguard. Sadly though, the suspense the author built through the book to deliberately leave the reader guessing at the plot was overdone. I found at the end of the novel I was still confused. The mean fiancée also appeared to be truly in love with her, but then also hits her without cause, so this jarred also.
I'd give this novel three and a half stars out of five as dark romance is a sub-genre I adore and the setting was good, but the heroine's lack of morals and sensitivity alongside her ability to truly play the field of most of the men she encounters left me feeling dissatisfied, as did the overly confusing plot twists.
To end on a positive note, the male lead Chance was charismatic, desirable and someone I'd like to meet in real life.
About The Author:
T. L. Mahrt is a former business owner, where she utilized her education in cosmetology, barbering, and massage therapy for several years. She was raised on and is currently living on a farm in Nebraska, where you can find her running barefoot in the countryside with her loving husband, inspiring children, and massive dogs. After having her son, who was born with Cerebral Palsy and DYRK1A Syndrome, she made the life altering decision to stay home to care for her two children and pursue her love of writing. She has a passion for romance and poetry where her overactive imagination, along with her adventures and upbeat lifestyle drives her motivation for her writing. T. L. Mahrt has a thirst for knowledge and is currently working on her Bachelor of Applied Science in Communication Studies degree.
Follow T L Mahrt
Website: https://www.tlmahrt.com