Title- Fiendish
By- Meka James
Blurb-
Fiendish is a dark and twisted take on Beauty and The Beast.
This story contains mature themes meant for readers 18+.
So what would you do if your prince charming turned out to
be the worst kind of monster?
Calida Alexander moves from Charlotte to Atlanta after a
painful break up. She faced some harsh realities about herself during that
breakup and desperately wants to change who she perceives herself to be. When
she meets Seth, she is drawn in by his sexy good looks and is won over by his
gentlemanly demeanor. On the surface, he's her dream come true.
Seth Jokobi is sexy and charming, the kind of man that women
dream of being with. As a master manipulator, he uses his charm and good looks
as a lure. His prey never suspect that lurking behind those piercing blue eyes
and million dollar smile, lies a sadistic monster. When he meets Calida, her
shy nature tempts him into playing a game where the stakes end up being higher
than he could have imagined.
Can love really conquer all or is it sometimes just not
enough?
Seth sat back against his seat and
crossed his arms. The same frown he had when I pulled out my wallet once again
made an appearance. “It’s nearly dark. I would prefer driving you home instead
of leaving you at the public transit station.”
“Oh. I just didn’t want to
inconvenience you.”
“I promise you, it’s not an
inconvenience.”
Seth flashed me another one of
those charming smiles that had me captivated most of the evening. Figuring I
might as well enjoy the remaining time with him, I told him my address. His
smile broadened when he got the information he was after, and I prayed we’d get
stopped at every traffic light along the way. Seth turned on his car, and the
engine roared to life.
“Whoa,” I said under my breath, but
from the smirk Seth gave me, I assumed he heard it.
He quickly punched my address into
his navigation system, and we were off.
Unfortunately for me, the streets of Atlanta were not crowded for once,
and we arrived at my house sooner than I’d hoped.
“Thank you. I had a great time,” I
said when he killed the engine after pulling into my driveway.
“You’re welcome, and so did I.”
I turned to open the door, but Seth
grabbed my hand stopping me. I shot him a look of confusion.
“I can’t let you do that,” he said,
answering my unspoken question.
“I can’t get out of the car?”
“I can’t let you open your own
door.”
I felt a smile spread across my
face. The chivalrous nature of that statement made my stomach do a little flip.
Seth got out of the car then strolled around to open the door for me.
“Thank you.”
He stood close to me again, and I
found myself holding my breath, waiting to see what he would do this time. I
was disappointed again when he backed away without making a move. I chastised
myself again for my crazy thoughts. Maybe Macy was right, it had been too long
for me if I wanted a near-stranger to kiss me.
“Well, um, goodnight Seth. And
thank you again for linner,” I said with a smile then turned and headed towards
my house.
“Calida?”
“Yes,” I answered, turning to face
him.
Seth stood with a lopsided smile on
his face, leaning lazily against his car, looking like the epitome of tall,
dark, and sexy.
“Are you going to give me your
number, or am I supposed to just stake out your house so that I can see you
again?”
It took all of the self-control I
possessed to stop myself from squealing like a schoolgirl and jumping for joy.
Still, I tried, but failed, to act cool about the fact he just asked for my
number because I felt myself grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“I um, don’t have any paper,” I
replied, patting myself down.
“That’s okay. Just give me your
phone.”
I pulled it out of my pocket and
quickly unlocked it before handing it to him. Seth punched in a number then I
heard ringing coming from inside his car. Our fingers touched when he gave me
back my phone, and we let them linger there for a moment.
“Until next time,” he said with a
smile before climbing back into his car.
I stood there watching until his
taillights faded away. I did a happy dance in my front yard, not caring if the
neighbors thought I was crazy, before I ran into the house to tell Macy.
I am not sure what pulled me to try and read
Fiendish, it is outside of my usual genre. Maybe I was pushing my limits, or
maybe I saw dark and twisted fairy tale and decided to give it a try. Dark and
twisted it is, fairy tale not so much. I tried to dislike this story based on
who and what Seth is…and isn’t. I couldn’t get there. I found myself wanting
Calida to stick with him, to change him, to make everything exactly right. I
wanted to jump in and help make this a fairy tale, what an unexpected response.
Did I want to slap them both more than once? Yes, but I think that is a
testament to the author’s skill in writing this story.
Meka James has taken a distasteful subject (to
me) to task and has done it brilliantly. I could no more put down this book and
walk away from it than a drug addict could with their drug of choice. She
wrapped the story around me making me see and feel everything. I can say I
recommend this book solely on that basis. Yes you need to be strong to read it
and yes it will rip you to shreds, but I dare say you will like it. The lines
as it were become blurry and not as defined as I would have them be, proving
that even a person such as myself (judgmental and rigid) can be wrong about a
subject and see it in a different light when presented so well. Kudos to Ms.
James and I do look forward to reading the next book. I want to thank her for
allowing me to read and review her book, it was an eye opening experience.
Meka James is a stay at home mom to four kids ranging in
ages 17-4 and lives in the great state of Georgia. She’s been happily married
for 11 years and counting. She is a pet lover and has three dogs: Pixie, Loki,
and Thor. The additional pets include a turtle, a bearded dragon, and two
snakes that belong solely to her husband and children. When she’s not attending
little league games and school functions, she finds time to volunteer with the
local Weimaraner Rescue. Her main hobby outside of writing and reading is
playing The Sims 3 PC game.
Thank you for being a stop on my tour! I appreciate you giving the book a chance. :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
You're welcome! Thanks for the opportunity.
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