Her soft breaths are like music to my ears, and I close my eyes so I can enjoy it more, the sound making me groan with delight. This author needs a new way to describe fear. Every five seconds it’s “my pupils dilate..” or “his/ her pupils dilate..” even when they were 8 years old, they knew when their pupils were dilating. Aurora, I loved her, I did. She found her her own voice and was working on figuring out just who she wanted to be, but she does have a bleeding heart, which puts her in some interesting situations that had me shaking my head. Guys these novels simply broke me. My heart ached from beginning to end. The ache I felt took my breath away. At times it left me feeling completely empty, but on the other side of the emptiness it left me feeling at peace with a calmness that I can't describe. I was really enjoying everything and then her father showed up again … so I just couldn’t rate this 5 stars and the more I went through my issues with the story, I ended up at 3. Here are some of my issues:

I highly anticipated the release of the sequel to BEAST, BEAUTY. I must say that I was very disappointed. There were major details about the plot that just didn't make much sense to me. Beast eats a whole ass raw steak, thrown on the ground, and then goes down town on Aurora..? 🤢🤮🤢🤮 any type of hygiene would have been great in this book. Suddenly, a hand rises out of nowhere to slap me, but I grip her wrist just in time. She glances at me through the corner of her eye, her body shaking underneath mine as I tower over her.

Publication Order of The Company Books

First off, let me state that there should be a TRIGGER warning for this book. Since there is not, let me insert one here for you. Yes this is a dark book that tried to be a shade of gray to light, but it doesn’t until the end. There is nonconsensual sex in this book. I do not care that the h ends up liking it or whatever else, she was forced into it. I will get more into that in my review. BUT know that there that this happens more than once. As I said, I like the way the author has made this story her own. It is dark and there are triggers, but there is quite a bit of heat and a good dose of heart. I’m quite interested in seeing how everything plays out in Beauty.

With no money to her name, Aurora seeks safety in the streets of Amsterdam while Lex’s men trail her. Fortunate or not, she catches up to her father, who is in very bad shape after suffering at the hands of Lex’s men. With his aid, they find temporary shelter, but it doesn’t last long. Aurora struggles to come to terms with her relationship with her father, who never came to her aid during her captivity. She grew up feeling like a burden, never feeling the warmth of a father’s love. He talks down to her and guilt trips her repeatedly, yet she feels an obligation to save him at any cost. She wants to hold herself to a higher standard; she cannot fathom abandoning the only family she has left. Kai, Nathan, and Milo from the Phantom Society. Secretive, violent, dirty guys who promise to expose my vigilante justice and put my dangerous side-job in the limelight. The ARC copy I received had both Caged and Uncaged. I personally thought this was awesome because I didn’t have to wait to continue this story and it read like one book. I did think it was going to be a dark read, and while it may be uncomfortable for some, it really wasn’t that dark at all. However, I’m a huge fan of the dark and twisted, so my opinion may be a little off. Both Cage and Ella are prisoners of a man who sees them as nothing but profit. Cage really doesn’t know any better and Ella has a hard time adapting to the life of a captive. Somehow, amidst the chaos, pain and devastation, a strange sort of love starts to bloom between the two and Ella vows to stop at nothing to allow them both a taste of freedom. The freedom to live and the freedom to love. I can look past immature writing, poor development, and cringeworthy dialogue. I can suspend my disbelief and put aside my knowledge of proper grammar and verb use. I can even stomach dark topics to a certain extent. To finish she does not do a single thing for him, he spent his whole life in an actual cage but now it's all about "worshiping her" with him kissing her feet and all and her not pampering him one bit.

So this was initially interesting but things did start to get a tad unbelievable after Ella escapes the compound. First off, I have never written a book review before but I just had to here. Each book was written like an 11 year old on wattpad. The writing style was juvenile and choppy and even downright ridiculous at some points. The books read in like two hours because there’s a space after every word and every word is it’s own sentence. When I first started reading these, I knew I had to finish them just to write an educated review about how bad they were. In 2013 Clarissa Wild would publish her first romance novel titled ‘Blissful Volume 1,’ and it was the first in the three part series of ‘Blissful’ titles. The second two books would come out later that same year, and it would introduce her to the reading public at large for the first time. She would also release her novel ‘Doing It’ that year too, which would be a single title in a romance series of the same name.

And lastly, why do beast and aurora get kidnapped like thrice in this book? The author just couldn’t come up with a new plot, so she just repeated the kidnap trope like 5x in two books. But this was just excessively inhumane and heartbreaking. I kept hoping that eventually it would turn around or improve in the slightest and it never did. I try to get up, but my feet don’t feel like they belong to me, and I struggle to get anywhere. But I don’t give up. I keep crawling across the floor, hoping to make it to the light, just so I can see where I am.Also WTF is wrong with Aurora ? can she be more stupid and selfish ? how many times does her father have to betray her for her to understand ? yet she once again chose to put Beast in real danger to save him. It seems that she cares about him only when she needs saving. That was very ugly. My ARC copy included both CAGED and UNCAGED. I am not sure if they are going to be released as one long book or as a duet, but I have included a separate review for both here. All in all, not bad. It was absolutely cringy, but I’m assuming if you’re into mafia books like this then you probably don’t care. It was a cool concept that I think could’ve been done better. I think the narration voice should have been more consistent with the education level of the characters. Like, Beast doesn’t know what friends are but he knows what asunder means? Come on now. Beast was precious. I love him. I know it would’ve defeated the purpose, but I still wish we had some sort of name for him. He deserves a name. Despite my critiques, I enjoyed it enough to start the second book. The plot revolved (loosely) around a mafia lord and his “pet”. The writing was so poor she made the main villain mean AND stupid with no explanation for either. “Her dad never repaid his debt” okay?!? That was literally the plot for all of the two books. It’s like she couldn’t come up with any other catalyst to move the book along so she made the main villain a moron and needlessly vicious just to keep going.

I nod a few times, pushing myself as far as I can into the wall so the blade doesn’t cut into me. But I can’t stop the whimper from leaving my mout NOW LIVE! Those two grow so much throughout the course of the two books, the scenery changes, and so do they. It is beautiful and powerful to watch. Seeing them both adapt in different ways, always being exactly what the other need. My heart ached for them, beat for them, broke for them. A captivating – no pun intended – and riveting story from beginning to end, and I am glad to have accompanied them on their journey. Ella easily found the place where she had been held. You'd think a random place in the middle of the desert wouldn't be easy to find especially with incredibly vague directions. Cage and his dad went to the hospital after Ella escaped. Since they were both covered in blood and had been injured, the cops would have been called, which didn't happen. The hospital didn't even inquire about Cage's name or what happened to him. How does Aurora play the piano (“professionally” was used to describe her piano prowess) when her hands are as messed up as they’re described to be..?Beast is a dark and twisted retelling of the Beauty & the Beast, but remember not everything is what it seems, like when Belle arrived at the Beasts castle it was enchanted because of a witches spell, well in this retelling the spell that has been cast is not one of a paranormal nature but one of organized crime which is much much darker. The author Clarissa Wild is well known for her bestselling romance novels that really capture the attention of the reader. Becoming a household name for many around the world, she’s achieved a high level of literary status quite unlike any other. Her books have proven to be hugely entertaining, making the most of the contemporary romance format, allowing her to say exactly what she wants to say. Setting herself apart through her unique and idiosyncratic perspective, her work completely speaks for itself, with compelling plots that keep her audience reading all the way. Always on the lookout for new and exciting ideas to help inspire her and her work, she’d constantly be drawing inspiration from the world around her. Using many of her own experiences, she’d constantly be refining and honing her craft as a novelist, fully establishing her voice as an author. Currently living with her husband and their son, she continues to put out work regularly, with lots more planned for publication in the near future.