I won this book. I chose it from a list of books up for prizes, but I'm not sure I truly understood what this book was about. After seeing the disclaimer at the beginning about torture and non/dub-con, I was worried it was going to be way outside my comfort zone. I generally prefer fluffy reads. That said, however, I was pleasantly surprised by how good this story was. And while the torture and non/dub-con made me wince a bit, it wasn't too overwhelming for my fluffy brain. I really enjoyed watching Sonil and Jaden's relationship grow. I kind of felt bad that it took breaking Jaden for him to truly embrace his attraction to Sonil, and I felt bad for Jaden when he made mistakes and felt horrible that he'd let Sonil down. Sure, he didn't want the punishment either, but he was really disappointed in himself when he let her down.
I have to say that Jaden's original plan was pretty good. It's too bad that it backfired on him. I thought that the story was ending on an HEA around 73% but then stuff happened and I realized more was going to happen, and it was a little heart-breaking to "watch". Everything worked out in the end, but it took a bit to get there.
Definitely glad I read this one. Maybe it'll give me the confidence to try something else I think may be outside my comfort zone.
