DARK NOTES
Genre: Dark Romance (standalone)
Author: Pam Godwin
Release Date: April 5, 2016
They call me a slut. Maybe I am.
Sometimes I do things I despise.
Sometimes men take without asking.But I have a musical gift, only a year left of high school, and a plan.
With one obstacle.Emeric Marceaux doesn’t just take.
He seizes my will power and bangs it like a dark note.
When he commands me to play, I want to give him everything.
I kneel for his punishments, tremble for his touch, and risk it all for our stolen moments.He’s my obsession, my master, my music.
And my teacher.
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This brutal man is my home. His hell is my heaven.
I’m his Ivory, and he’s my darkest note.
If there’s one thing that Pam Godwin knows, it’s how to write one seriously intense alpha. The mere name alone, Emeric Marceaux, is enough to get my motor revving. This man will give you shivers and you’ll actually feel his intensity crackling through the pages. It’s utterly delicious. He’s a dose of dangerous, with a splash of depraved, and all of it is tied around a sexual magnetism that’s so captivating, your fingers will tingle turning the pages.
Dark Notes is a standalone dark romance with a deliciously kinky element of the forbidden teacher/student. Add in the fact that Ivory is only 17 years old, and you got yourself one crazy ride of a book. But that description doesn’t even begin to do this book justice.
Ivory Westbrook is a survivor with big dreams. Being the only empowered student in one of the most elite and expensive performing arts high schools in the nation, she has a lot to prove, but her talent as a pianist is unparalleled. Unfortunately she lives in a world where money is power and she has none. She’s lived a hard life in her young years; her father is dead and her mother may as well be with her addiction to drugs. She’s survived unimaginable horrors from a tender young age, but she’s a survivor at her core. With only a year left of high school, she’s that much closer to her dream of making it into Leopold, the highest ranking college in the country. Now all she has to do to get even closer to that dream is impress her new music teacher, who just happens to be the most intense and captivating man she’s ever laid eyes on.
Things begin to simmer between the two of them at first sight, and the author does an incredible job in making the sexual tension practically palpable enough to taste. Emeric is one of the most captivating characters I’ve read in a long while. He oozes sexuality and yet there’s this edge to him that adds an element of fear that just works so well.
I didn’t expect to like Ivory as much as I did. I’m not a fan of sexual abuse issues being the go-to for heroines in dark romances, but if anyone can pull it off, it’s Pam. She’s written an incredibly broken yet persevering heroine with Ivory. She has deep rooted issues, but never once are they glossed over. It’s incredibly raw, painful and believable. You can understand her captivation with Emeric. You can completely understand why she does the things she does and craves the things she does. The author lets the rich character development paint the whole picture for the reader. Never once do you feel like you’re being told anything; you feel it right along with the characters.
While the sexual tension between Ivory and Emeric is instantaneous, that is the only instant thing in this book. The rest is the most delicious sort of slow burn. It’s almost like watching the most sexual game of cat and mouse unfold, and even though you know what the end result will ultimately be, you still can’t stop reading.
Tonight, she’ll bend for my punishment, tremble for my touch, and I’ll risk it all to show her exactly what she means to me.
So you may be asking yourself if I loved it so much, why not a 5? The reason for that is because I did find parts of the story to be too predictable for my tastes. As soon as a few particular elements were introduced, I knew straight off the bat where it would be leading and how it would end. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the entire book was that way, not at all, in fact. There are certainly enough twists and turns packed in to keep you guessing. Pam Godwin is a master of her craft and she seems to get better and better with each new book. If you’re looking for a dark romance with a bit of kink and taboo thrown in, you really can’t go wrong with this one.
Powerful.
Sparrow Raynes grew up the daughter of a drunken father who happened to work for one of the most feared men in the Boston underground. But now that man is dead, and his son who’s known to be even more ruthless is to be her husband…and she has no idea why other than it’s been arranged and her father agreed to it. So she’ll do it, but she won’t like it. In her eyes it’ll be a marriage in name only because no way can she give her heart to the devil with the steel-blue eyes that’s known as The Fixer. He’s ruthless, he’s cold-blooded, but she refused to cower from him like even the most deadly of the deadly underground seem to…
Sparrow was exactly the kind of gritty anti-hero that I needed. L.J. Shen was not afraid to stick true to her characters and pulled no punches to do so, and I respect the hell out of her for this. Yes, Troy did some things that may not sit right with some readers, but for this reader, I loved to hate it. See I love when an author takes risks to stay true to the characters and that was definitely the case here. This is no insta lust, insta-love, or insta-anything. Troy and Sparrow’s connection formed over time and it felt authentic because of that. Considering how Troy is and where he came from, I wouldn’t have bought it any other way.
L.J. spared no detail to make her story gritty and real. It was action packed, super sexy, and filled with twists and turns. It was enough to keep me at the edge of my seat the whole time and eagerly turning the pages to see what will happen next. The romance was sizzling hot and together with the plot it all came together perfectly.
My only minor quibble with the book was that it went a little much and too creative with the analogies at times. But that was such a minor thing compared to everything that I loved about it that I barely batted an eyelash at it.
I’ve been waiting for Kai’s book for a long, long time. Ever since he was first introduced as a somewhat shady secondary character in 
Perfect Ruin is meant to be read after 
Kai is not a man that forms attachments. Any feeling has been beaten and tortured out of him when he was still a little boy. He doesn’t want an attachment of any kind any more than he can afford one. But when his job is to keep an eye on beautiful woman that he may have to use to bring her father to heel, it’s no hardship. What he never expects is for something to click inside of him once he does.
The connection between London and Kai is something that’s formed through many years. It may not be orthodox, but it’s them. Kai is not a gentle man, but with London there’s a part of him that comes to light that no one else has seen.
How in the ever loving hell do I even begin reviewing this book?! Honestly. I’m completely at a loss for words. So my only way out is to be vague as shit and trust me when I tell you you’ll thank me for it. You want to know absolutely nothing about this book. Even the very minute detail can be a spoiler. If you want my advise, avoid reviews altogether and go in absolutely blind. Hell, don’t even read the blurb.
First of all, while this book is categorized dark, I wouldn’t agree with that. It’s a heck of a lot darker than anything Penelope Douglas has written and surely a leap away from anything she’s written in the past. But dark? Well, on my scale, I’d rate it a light gray. It was erotic, and very edgy, but if you compare to the Pepper Winters, CJ Roberts, or the like, it’s not quite on the same scale. It’s also not for everyone. Penelope took some risks with this one and there are some scenes and occurrences that may not agree with everyone. But this girl? Devoured it like the crack that it was.
I read this 2 days ago and I still can’t stop thinking about it. There was one particular scene that really threw me and made me wonder if it was really necessary. However, after giving it some though, it was barely a blip on my radar. I also wished for a bit of something from Michael at the end (I won’t say what because I’m a teasing bitch like that) but you’ll see what I mean once you read it. But once again, thinking on it some more, Penelope stayed true to his character, and having him handle it any other way would not have been that. So I can respect that.
God. That one line. Who would have thought that my heart could melt and break at the same time from just 4 little words? But when 221; killing machine, savage with no memories of his previous life and raised to be a cold blooded killer, utters those four words to Talia….I was absolutely done for.
When Talia discovers 221’s true identity, she knows that he’s not only forbidden. He’s something else entirely. There’s a history there that he’s not aware of and she knows all too well. But that doesn’t stop her from being intrigued by the savage. During his recovery from the drug that stole his thoughts and memories, she cares for him….but something else begins to develop between them.
Reap is not quite as dark as it’s predecessor was. While still leaning on the side of gritty, it wasn’t as brutal. It was definitely a whole lot more emotional, however. I think this is in part due to the fact that I had a true connection to Talia and Zaal together. Talia isn’t exactly my favorite heroine, but she was much more memorable than Kisa. I loved how she cared for Zaal and the way she fought for him.
After so many friends raved to me about how amazing this book was, I was beyond excited to be finally reading it. Given that I’ve also spent quite a few months avoiding it. Why? Because my picky Russian ass has yet to read a book with the MCs being Russian and not having it be butchered to hell and back. So I get a little touchy.
Be warned….nitpicking galore to follow…
Taking into consideration her borderline abusive psycho of a fiancé and their relationship, I’m shocked she had no emotional or mental scars. This is especially true towards the end. She moves on from all of it without so much as a bat of a eye lash. No lingering emotional trauma…just is what it is.
It could have easily been fade to black or just loosely mentioned. It simply didn’t need to be as graphic as it was past the first 2 times.
Let’s talk dark erotic taboo. This depraved pervert can’t get enough of it. Take a look at my read shelves and you’ll see what I mean. I loves me some kink. But here’s the thing, even my perviness has it’s limit, and it doesn’t matter who writes it or how amazing the book is, it is guaranteed to deflate my enjoyment quicker than whisky dick: The “Daddy/Little One” kink. Can I look past it to finish a book where I’m loving the story, as was the case here? Absolutely. Does it tickle my particular fancy?
True story.
Candice met Ivan when she had nothing. Leaving behind everyone she knows and everything she has, she was running and desperate. Ivan fed on her need but not in a sexual way. At least not at first. After all, when they first meet she’s only 16 years old. The sexual aspect of their relationship only comes into play three years later. I never did pick up on Ivan’s age. Perhaps this was mentioned in the previous books, but I’m left to believe that he was considerably older and so the Daddy thing icked me out even more.
There’s the added element of suspense that weaved into the plot flawlessly and I really enjoyed that aspect of it. Unfortunately as much as I loved Ivan and Candy individually, together they were just OK for me and I blame that entirely on the “daddy” thing.
Honestly, between Candy’s inexperience, Ivan’s domineering personality and need to “take care” of her, the sexual aspect of this book did absolutely nothing for me. At all. I didn’t find it hot or erotic. It just was.
After reading 
Ivy has been the Savage Saints club whore for as long as she’s been there. She’s the anything goes girl and the more you hurt her, the more she’ll want you. Devastated at being cast aside by Kick, the man she believed herself in love with, she turns to the familiar numbness of drugs to make her forget.
Tank is a man to be feared; a hitman for his MC, he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. He’s also determined to be the hands that puts Ivy back together again, whether she wants it or not.
It’s not an easy read. Not even close. I felt this book on a visceral level and I still find myself unable to stop thinking about it days after finishing.
