Tormentor Mine: A Dark Romance

“You can’t escape me, ptichka. Not now, and not ever."Confession! Ever since Peter Sokolov, a hired Russian assassin, was originally introduced in the TWIST ME trilogy and I got a glimpse into his tragic back-story, I have been clamoring for his story because if there was ever a dark, depraved, TORTURED soul, it’s Peter!And omgeeeeee after devouring this book in one all night binge session, I can say with full confidence that I had absolutely no clue how utterly mesmerizing this book would be. It is dark. It is twisted. Creepy. Heartbreaking. Spine-tingling. Smoldering hot. And so POWERFULLY ADDICTIVE that I was literally gasping for breath during some scenes as we are lured into Peter’s labyrinth of certifiable madness.OMFG…The first chapter gutted me, like SMASHED MY HEART TO SMITHEREENS, and set the stage for the dark path of vengeance that Peter embarks on to seek retribution for the massacre of his family!As introduced in the previous trilogies, he has a hit list of those responsible, and has been relentlessly going through it one by one and has shown NO MERCY to the guilty parties. He metes out punishment and it is severe indeed! Our heroine, Dr. Sara Cobakis, gets caught in the brutal crossfire (won't say how or why to avoid spoilers) but rest assured that Peter takes a VERY personal interest in her. He wants answers, wants her to atone for his pain, and will stop at nothing to get vindication.But all too soon, she becomes the object of his twisted brand of terrorizing torment and his dark obsession! Peter is such a confounding hero, a thrilling combination of cold-blooded executioner, tortured, broken soul, and ferocious lover. A man who has nothing to live for or lose, until he meets the one person who can change the trajectory of his bleak, soulless life. Sara ignites Peter’s dark passions, incites his anger, rouses the dark predator as well as the devoted protector in him. What started as a cold calculated mission morphs into something more profound and potentially soul-shattering.There is so much raw, ANIMALISTIC passion between these enemies turned lovers that I was literally quivering in their scenes together!!!! I love how smart and courageous and fiercely independent Sara is and how she is both repelled and spellbound by her lethally sexy stalker who has turned her life into a bona fide nighmare. Yet even though he inflames her forbidden, traitorous desires she refuses to cower to the fear or let him break her!The plot, which moves at a breakneck speed due to Ms. Zaires’ seamless execution, had me anxiously flipping the pages, partly in trepidation but mostly because I was so invested in finding out what would happen next! As with all of this author’s books, there is a fierce tenderness interlaced with the barbed cruelty and it is that dichotomy that makes this story so INTOXICATING.There are so many unknowns throughout. Can his Prichka "little bird" be allowed to fly free or will he make good on his thinly veiled threat to clip her wings and "place her in cage of my own and make you sing.” Will Sara be the one to tame the raging beast inside of him or will they both end up destroying each other in the end ? Can love trump blood thirsty revenge? That is of course still to be determined, but HANG ON TIGHT because this first installment is merely a prelude for much more high-throttle drama, chilling suspense, dark, unbridled passion and wicked depravity to come! Oh and for the record? I flooooved the cliffy ending... It was soooo jawdroppingly good! And even though I kinda knew things were leading to the pinnacle event that transpired, it still gave me MAJOR GOOSEBUMPS and sent a rush of giddy euphoria surging through my veins.In closing, Anna Zaires, one of my all-time fave dark romance scribes, KILLED IT with this book!!! She literally can do no wrong in my eyes and yes, this shameless gushing is totally justified! TORMENTOR MINE tantalizes, terrifies and titillates in equal measure and I shall be on pins and needles awaiting the epic conclusion, OBSESSION MINE!

I'm really disappointed with the fact that this book has so many glowing reviews when the premise of this story is about a weak, spineless woman allowing herself to be sexually manipulated and mentally controlled by the psychopath who broke into her home, held her at knife point, tortured her with waterboarding, drugged her, and forced her to give up the whereabouts of her husband who he went and killed hours later.This psychopath who is essentially punishing her for her husband killing his wife and son, as well as using her to fill the void their deaths left in his life. He doesn't see her as a human being whatsoever but as a possession, something to dominate and overcome. This isn't love or a romance and I'm pretty sickened by the amount of people who see this as one. More-so sickened by the author for pawning this off as a romance.I wouldn't be so perturbed or upset by it had she said this was an erotic hate story or something along those lines. At least when you put the word "hate" in the description of the book, people have a clearer gist of where the story will go. Saying that this is a romance is like saying women should be turned on by the idea of being mentally controlled by sadistic chauvinists. Personally, I don't mind sexual dominance as I understand the allure of Dom/sub and Master/slave relationships, and as a girl under five-feet weighing around 100 lbs, I've always been drawn to really tall and bigger guys because I guess I'm biologically turned on by guys who can physically overpower me, but I'm not, I repeat: NOT cool with being mentally controlled at all. Even when reading a so-called romance. I find nothing romantic about Peter or how Sara feels about him. The way he forced himself on her and she pretty much went along with it disgusts me to my core.I understand the allure of broken characters but what makes them alluring is they have redeemable qualities too. I don't see anything redeemable in Sara or Peter. I find Sara stuck up, pretentious, and weak-willed. If her being an OB-GYN is really supposed to be that "special" thing about her then the author definitely missed the mark on that one. For me, at least, because I don't find anything appealing about pregnancy or childbirth and being a doctor is a job in which it's expected to perform well, what with all the ethical training that's part of their job and all. I don't see her volunteering as a way to do good as more-so as a convenient way to keep herself busy. Peter also is pretty shallow to me. He only began caring for his wife as a person after he found out the baby she had was really his, and what kind of selfish prick is he to involve himself in his son's life when he's some kind of cold-blooded mercenary? If he cared about his wife and son at all, he would've stayed the hell out of their lives. This guy isn't a hero. He's not a soldier fighting enemies for the love he has for his brothers and sisters-in-service and country, but for a paycheck. For blood money. And he sees Sara as a possession and someone to use for his own means and he has no regard for her feelings whatsoever. He shuts her up with sex and she just lets him. I guess they're perfect for each other and if that really interests you, then this book will be perfect for you.I'm seriously trying hard not to judge here but seriously this book is disturbing as hell and I think it's way over rated. I really hope this isn't how all Anna Zaires's books are because I just realized I have others from her on my Kindle and I'm not so sure I want to read them. A shame because her writing is excellent but this was a really bad story to me. I'm sorry but this book bugs me on a philosophical level and I feel like I need to cleanse my aura and take six showers before I can read something again.

...at the price of $5.99 per episode.....Times three. No one is interested in an erotic romance the size of War and Peace, especially when the subsequent books are 50 percent copy/paste or a recap of what has gone on before. Nice gig if you can scam the public into supporting it..... I choose not to. There is not a story that good that's worth $6 an episode especially when it's in digital format and print/paper costs involved.

I have absolutely no idea why this book has so many 5-star reviews. Do these reviewers like reading about such a dysfunctional relationship trying to pass as love?One minute the heroine is trying to stand up for herself and the next minute she's falling into his embrace. So many unhealthy dynamics in this book, I was actually getting a little nauseous reading it. There was a lot of skimming through the last third of the book. Because ew.Spoiler alert!!!!Note to single women. If a guy murders your husband you probably shouldn't date him. Or sleep with him. Or think he's hot. Trust me, your therapist will thank you.How the book should have ended: the stalker dies trying to protect her. Boom, she gets to move on with her life in a healthy way, the end.Still shaking my head...

For me this book betrays the storyteller’s contract, hence the low mark. A tale should have a beginning, a middle and an end. At the end there should be a resolution. This book finishes in the middle, there is too little resolved. I realise it could be argued that it is left hanging so the reader can create his or her own ending, but that isn’t the job of the reader and not everyone can do that. Too many novelists are doing this nowadays, and I don’t approve. It is usually so the reader rushes to buy the next book to see what happens, and for me that is nothing less than a con. Writing is hard work and I don’t like leaving a poor score, but only a proper satisfying story deserves the top award.

Spoiler alert. What a fantastic book, if you have read the twist me series then you know all about peter but if not this book is just as good in its own. Sara is a Doctor and her peter is a Russian killer. Peter has a list of people that were responsible for his wife and son being killed. On the list is Sara's husband and in order to find out where is is he assaults Sara and drugs her so that she will tell him where her husband is. Peter cannot understand why he cannot stay away from Sara even after he kills her husband. Download this book as you will not regret read it. It does end on a cliffhanger.

Another chapter in the "Esguerraverse", Tormentor Mine is a particularly strong entry as it is confidently and maturely written (as can always be expected from Anna Zaires), the story is strong, engaging and often tense, and it's very refreshing to see that it doesn't rely too much on references to the preceding books - it takes us on a whole new journey that works well as a standalone novel rather than merely the first part of an ongoing story.Although the relationship between Peter and Sara is sometimes slightly similar to that of Julian & Nora and Lucas & Yulia, there are also plenty of new elements and these two characters manage to stand out against those that came before; Peter has unique motivations - pained by the massacre of his family and he quickly accepts that he loves Sara - and Sara proves to be the most pure hearted and selfless heroine thus far. The relationship between them is very well handled and the central battle of wills is very interesting to witness.So all in all, this is a strong continuation of the addictive odyssey that began with "Twist Me" as it goes in its own direction, not relying on characters or plot threads from previous books, and tells a strong, intriguing story that features two unique and well developed characters.And at no point was a character "cognizant" of something! Huzzah!

I read this book in two days, I never realised that I liked dark romance until I started to read Anna Zaires. She is, at the moment, my favourite author and in the last month I've read 5 of her books including the complete Twist Me trilogy.Contains SpoilersYou meet Peter briefly in the Twist Me books, he is a side character that immediately interests you, you also meet Sara - she's a Doctor that helps Nora.But this book is about Peter and Sara - Peter the ruthless Russian killer who will stop at nothing to avenge the murder of his wife and son and is working down a list of the people responsible, including George Sara's comatose husband. He tortures Sara to find out where her husband is and then when she resists ends up giving her a sort of truth serum and then she tells him where George is, also she lets a few truths about her fractured marriage and that is when Peter's obsession with her starts. It is unpredictable, kept me reading from the first page, I liked both characters, I don't want to give away too many spoilers. I loved this book from start to finish and am now eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

Stopping reading at 27% - I do not understand where the 5 star reviews are coming from, if I'm honest.It is a book that glamorises Stockholm syndrome, sexual assault, attempted murder etc. It makes me feel a bit sick reading the protagonists "desire" for her attacker.