Brianna Hale

This is a historical romance, set in 1963 East Berlin. Evony is captured by Reinhardt Volker, the "Midnight Hunter" of the title, when she, her father, and friends and coworkers try to escape to West Berlin through a tunnel they've dug under the wall. Her father disappears, her friend Ana is shot and killed by Volker, and Evony escapes but is soon picked up by Volker and taken to his apartment. He tells her if she tries to leave he will have her put in prison (and presumably tortured and/or show more executed there), he gives her a secretarial job in his office (complete with a new wardrobe and Western European goodies), and she has her own room where he leaves her alone until she's ready for him. Which takes less than two weeks.

This is technically a captivity narrative, because Evony is held against her will, but it's not a usual one because she's not physically coerced and even if she left and wasn't pursued by him, she'd still be at the mercy of the rest of the police and Stasi since she's a fugitive. Her life with him is actually better than it would be on her own because real freedom is not an option in this scenario.

The rest of the plot: Evony falls in lust with Volker almost immediately. Within two weeks they're having sex (in the apartment and in the office), but this isn't an erotic romance in the sense that the sex is not front and center. There's a fair amount, explicitly described, in the first half, but then the plot takes over and their relationship is referred to but not detailed further. Evony falls in with someone at the Stasi offices who claims he will help her escape, but (view spoiler).

Volker is presented as complex and sympathetic, despite the fact that we see him murdering people out of spite or vengeance more than once. These are not people he needs to kill. Even when he expresses remorse for killing (view spoiler), his remorse is not directed toward the victim, but toward what might have happened in those same circumstances. He is a powerful, respected member of the Stasi, and he takes pride in his work and his role in the regime. Evony challenges him, but this is undercut by the fact that she finds him hot and eventually sympathetic and lovable. Essentially, the narrative approves of Volker as an effective member of the Stasi organization.

Evony is uncomplicated and essentially uninteresting. She was escaping because everyone else was; she had no goals, no dreams that the reader can discern. She hates Volker and then she loves him. She learns to type. She gives him a blowjob in the office. She basically stops trying to leave him, even though the text tells us she's thinking about it. She's completely narcissistic: she misses the people who are dead or disappeared for her own sake. She wishes they were around to love her still. She's upset at times with Volker's murderous behavior, but she gets over it fast.

Positive reviews point to the authentic historical setting. This is partially true, in that there is a lot of name-checking of streets, food, cigarettes, etc. But the overall picture makes no sense. Where are the Soviets? How does Volker just install her as a secretary with no one caring or noticing? Where is the political and military apparatus? We are told Evony hates the Stasi and the government, but the text just mentions stuff and moves on. You never get a feel for what living in a repressive, all-seeing political climate is like.

In the end, the reader is asked to believe that a powerful, murderous, rage-filled, 40-something Stasi officer is hero material. And he is tamed by a 23-year-old girl with no signs of any personality, let alone an interesting one. The sex scenes are good and I believe in their lust, but a timeless romance should have more than that. The HEA is believable in the sense that they are both so amoral/immoral that they make a good pair.

Even if you accept the narrative's argument that Volker wasn't a Nazi (simply an officer in the army under Rommel, who it increasingly appears WAS a Nazi), he's still Stasi. If you think that is somehow not as bad, well, we're talking levels of extreme evil here. In addition to arresting, torturing, and killing uncounted numbers of their own citizens, the Stasi turned ordinary people into snitches to the extent that East Germans could never be sure whom they could trust, even in their own families. They exacted a level of psychological trauma that we're still trying to understand. And it is clear from the narrative that Volker is proud of who he is and what he does. He's not tortured by his present, he's tortured by his past. But in his present he kills people when they displease him. He goes into red rages. Their eventual destination is chosen in large part because (view spoiler). He believes that would be wrong. But murdering people, that's not so wrong as long as he does some good things as well. That's not how honor works.

Finally, when I began this I thought it was a dark romance. It is and it isn't. There's no physical coercion, there's very little psychological head-gaming, and there's no more explicit sex than in your average hot romance (maybe less). The darkness is in asking us to believe that people who commit evil acts, and who are complicit in widespread social repression and killing, are somehow redeemable and deserving of an HEA. That's something more than "dark" to me, and it's certainly not a romance. show less

Stain runs a museum and is putting on a new exhibition and has so much work to do since he fired his assistant who just wasn’t working out. When an artist he knows says his daughter is looking for a job and organized his own exhibition he agrees to meet with her. Lacey is recovering from anorexia and is trying to get her life back and thinks this job will help. What follows is a beautiful love story that I am still thinking about days after finishing it.

This is my favorite romance I have show more read this year. Stian and Lacey are perfect for each other. Stian is one of my new favorite book boyfriends. He is stern but loving, caring, and protective of Lacey. He loves her for her. Lacey is a sweet strong heroine who had the misfortune to get anorexia. While I don’t have anorexia I do suffer from a mental illness and really connected with Lacey and her struggle to not let her anorexia voice(the part of her that was telling her she is worthless, not skinny enough, she needs to give up, etc) win. I am very picky about how mental illness is done in books and have to say this is one of the best I have read. The author was sensitive to the subject, didn’t just have it in there to add a little drama, and didn’t have the relationship fix her illness. Stian, on the other hand, supported her and helped her do whatever she needed with her illness if it was a place she needed to eat alone or just a kind word. I loved them together and all of there scenes together were so amazing. I loved the BDSM element to the story. Those scenes were so HOT and I loved how they fit into the story and weren’t forced either. Brianna Hale is an amazing writer and she has become a new favorite. I am planning to read all of her books. I do wish the book was a little longer because I love these two characters so much. The ending was perfection and made me cry happy tears.

Rating: 5 stars
*I got this book for an honest review from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.* show less

In my many hours perusing Instagram I came across a post with this cover and a blurb and instantly I was intrigued. Okay, I lie, I was more than intrigued. It might as well have been a Siren calling me to my death. I was mesmerized. I needed to read it. I went on a mad search looking for it. My sleuthing skills paid off because I discovered it on Netgalley and requested an ARC. Something I rarely do, and not expecting a response back. Color me surprised that I was chosen to read this book. I show more still had no idea what to expect other than the blurb. I am glad for that because by going in blind and seeing the way that the author wrote this story allowed me to truly appreciate this story in a way with no preconceived notions.

The age gap "daddy" is not a sub-genre that I normally read. Yet, if they were all written as exceptionally well as this one I might change my mind. I liked that the author played on the notion of "control" in this story. This had a different connotation to the word depending on the character. It also has a duality in BDSM with the idea that even though the Dominant wields the power, it is, in fact, the Submissive that truly has the power. For both Stian and Lacey, they have their own idea of needing to control something> without giving away spoilers, I will just say that it was beautiful and painful to watch as both grappled with needing it and having it be allusive in so many ways. My heart hurt at times as I watched as the helplessness of something was just out of reach and how they both tried so hard to have the hope that it wouldn't be this way forever. The steamy times in this book were very well done and I could definitely see the correlation of how this might help someone like Lacey. Yet, it is important to note that it wasn't a way to "fix" but rather give structure.

This author put a lot of work into creating a backdrop of the story, complete with history and traditions in order to enhance the storyline and the characters. She also talked about something not often read about in romance and portrayed it with such care and kindness. I, as a reader, appreciated that because I am familiar with it, not personally but with a family member. Adding in the secondary characters was much needed and showed that this was not just a plot device to add drama to the story. It made me appreciate the story that much more and made it feel as if this was truly a real couple conquering an obstacle in their journey of life.

Normally, I question the insane amount of time that I spend on IG. However, since it gave me this stunning book to add to my insane amount of books that I have read in 2019, I will say that time was well spent. Kudos to the author. I am a huge fan. show less

12 Daddies? Mark me down for 12 yesses, please and thank you very much, because very much wow. These 13 authors got together to give us cowboy Daddies, detective Daddies, loving Daddies, stern Daddies, and a lot of DILFs. We even get a Daddy who figures out how to punish his little girl from all the way on the other side of the world.

I love reading anthologies because I enjoy getting to see the take that all the various authors use when they are writing their stories. They are all Daddy show more stories, but none of the Daddies are the same, which is very nice. Variety is the spice of life, right?

I liked all 12 stories, but it's impossible to like them all equally well. I do have some favorites. Emily Tilton's story, Lindsay's Secret is one of my favorites. That's because I like the way that she uses language. There's no one who does what she does better. In fact, I'm not sure that there's anyone who even comes close to what she does. It's just so hot, and it gets me all bothered, in the very best way.

J.M. Dabney's story about Via and Donavan is another favorite because I love how Via found what she needed without even knowing what she needed. I also like how Donavan didn't even blink when it came to her dad, grandpa, or papa. And I have to say that her papa was freaking hilarious.

I'm pretty sure that Brianna Hale's gym is the only one I would ever go to get exercise, because I'm not sure that I would ever exercise without a Dom standing over my shoulder to make me do another squat or run another foot.

I really loved all 12 of these stories, and just was so happy to read them all. show less