{"id":2666,"date":"2013-08-21T20:36:24","date_gmt":"2013-08-22T03:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2666"},"modified":"2017-03-08T11:58:09","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:58:09","slug":"review-epilogue-the-dark-duet-3-by-c-j-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=2666","title":{"rendered":"Review: Epilogue (The Dark Duet, #3) by C.J. Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n
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\r\n <\/div><\/div>\n
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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d come so far, and I was oddly desperate to see where we could go.\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

OMG! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

You have to love a book that finishes off a series so fully that instead of leaving you to imagine the happy ever after\u2026 you actually get to see it (and all of the mess that comes with it)! And\u2026 wait for it\u2026 in the hero\u2019s POV! Genius!!! Especially when that hero is a character as complex as Caleb \u2013 God, how I love him!<\/p>\n

Note – If you haven\u2019t read the first two books in the Dark Duet series, you really should stop reading this review now, because it\u2019s one massive spoiler.<\/strong><\/p>\n

OK, so this book picks up Caleb\u2019s POV in the moment when he and Livvie are reunited in Barcelona after he left her at the US\/Mexico border one year previously. In the last book, Livvie says that they kissed and that was the end. Caleb takes us from that kiss and straight into what happened immediately afterwards. And from the very start, it recaptures all of the tension, confusion, fear, love and lust that you would expect from their reunion. And I absolutely love the way it is written \u2013 like Caleb is having a conversation with us while telling us the story. And he doesn\u2019t hide anything, he puts everything right out there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the man who kidnapped Livvie. I am the man who held her in a dark room for weeks. I\u2019m the one who tied her to a bedpost and beat her. I\u2019m the one who nearly sold her into sexual slavery. But, most importantly, I am the man she loves.
\nShe loves me. It\u2019s quite sick, isn\u2019t it?\u201d
\n\u2026
\n\u201cI\u2019m at a loss for justifying my behavior back then. I assume if you\u2019re reading this, I don\u2019t need to make those justifications. You\u2019ve already made your own.\u201d <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I swear, I read that in the opening, and instantly had a massive smile on my face, just knowing I was going to be reading something very special. And I was not wrong.<\/p>\n

Caleb has literally searched the globe for Livvie, and now that he has found her, he is desperate for another chance with her. But he is, justifiably, wracked with guilt for all that he put her through, and even though they clearly still love each other, they have a massive battle ahead of them.<\/p>\n

A lot of books feature tortured characters, characters who have endured some sort of trauma, or a hero and heroine who have a murky past with each other. These two have it all, and probably have the<\/u> most complex history of any couple I have ever read. And not only do they both need to deal with that and come to terms with everything that Caleb put Livvie through, but Caleb needs to earn Livvie\u2019s forgiveness, as well as figure out how to forgive himself for all that he has done to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe wanted me. She wanted to give herself to me. I felt unworthy to accept such a gift, but it didn\u2019t stop me from clutching it fiercely to my chest.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to give me time. You have to let me be mad at you. You have to promise that no matter what I say or do, you\u2019ll forgive me. You\u2019ll wait for me to let it go.\u201d<\/em>
\n So many emotions and I couldn\u2019t let them out. I settled for stating the obvious.<\/em>
\n \u201cLivvie, I\u2019ll forgive you whatever the hell you want. You don\u2019t need my forgiveness; you never have to ask for it. It\u2019s yours, Livvie. Anything that\u2019s mine to give is already yours.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Caleb\u2019s absolute commitment to changing and becoming the man that Livvie deserves is amazing! His feelings, and the depth of his emotion is so vivid, I felt everything that he was going through. He pours his heart out both to Livvie, and in his narrative, and it\u2019s sensational.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know you deserve to be happy. I know you deserve someone\u2026 better, but I\u2019m selfish. I want you. I want you bad enough to try and be someone better.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, Kitten. I\u2019m not okay,\u201d I whispered. \u201cI don\u2019t know how long it\u2019s going to take for me to <\/b><\/em>be<\/b> okay. I just know that as long as you\u2019re with me, there\u2019s a chance that one day\u2026I might be.\u201d<\/b><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just\u2026 wow.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Livvie. I love Livvie. I loved her in the first two books of the series, and she just continues on with the awesome in this one. She is such a strong character, and she grows so much over the course of these books. She is feisty, confident, and not afraid to stand up for herself. And she is also very clearly still trying to come to terms with everything that she has endured. In doing that, she is open with Caleb with what she is feeling, and with what she needs from him. Her reactions to him are realistic, and the dialogue is so emotive, even though we don\u2019t get her POV, you feel, and understand everything that she\u2019s going through.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou <\/i>are the best thing that\u2019s ever happened to me, Caleb. You\u2019re also the worst. I\u2019m trying to reconcile those two things.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Things get really steamy as they find a way to move forward together, and their intimate moments form an important part of the story as they both fight to overcome the past. Especially as Caleb still has a bit of a dark side, and Livvie needs that part of him just as much as Caleb needs to let it out.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not all uber-emotional dealing with the past, meaningful conversations and intense bedroom scenes. Caleb and Livvie both have a wicked sense of humour, and the banter, teasing and flirting between them is absolutely phenomenal!<\/p>\n

I love Caleb and Livvie together! Their story had such a horrendous beginning, that they fell for each other at all in that situation is a miracle. The fact that they fought their way out of that situation, found each other again, and found a way to be together in a way that is believable, is all down to C.J. Roberts\u2019 wonderful writing.<\/p>\n

This book is well paced, brilliantly narrated and fully engaging the whole way through. A beautiful ending to an incredible series, and a must read for any fan.<\/p>\n

I absolutely loved it \u2013 5 stars.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Dark Duet\u00a0series<\/strong><\/h4>\n

\"Captive<\/a>\u00a0 \"Seduced<\/a>\u00a0 \"Epilogue\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Captive in the Dark (#1)<\/strong>
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Seduced in the Dark (#2)<\/strong>
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

Epilogue (#3)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buy:\u00a0 Kindle Ebook\u00a0 |\u00a0\u00a0Paperback Review \u201cWe\u2019d come so far, and I was oddly desperate to see where we could go.\u201d OMG! Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!!!! You have to love a book that finishes off a series […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,49,9,29],"tags":[143,48,142],"class_list":["post-2666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dark-gritty","category-feeeeeeels","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-c-j-roberts","tag-review","tag-the-dark-duet"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Epilogue.jpg?fit=150%2C196&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-H0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}