Review - The Bonus - AJ Adams

A Review by Carol

Book – The Bonus

Author – A. J. Adams

Publication Date – November 13, 2013

Type – Stand Alone

Genre – Dark Romance

Rating – 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars

Book provided by Author in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis

Chloe is a seasoned drug courier who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Facing a lingering and painful death at the hands of the Zetas, Mexico’s most brutal cartel, she persuades their enforcer to claim her.

Has Chloe made a huge mistake, or will her choice prove her salvation - and his?

Warning: This book contains explicit scenes of dubious consent, graphic violence and sex.

Review

I am so on the fence with this book.  I keep see-sawing between a 4 Star and a 3 ½ Star rating. Part of me loved it but then there is that part that just can’t get past some of the words repeated over and over again.  Overall if you take out the things I had a problem with, the story was great.

What are the minor problems I had?

• Kyle’s repetition of calling Chloe “the bonus” instead of asking what her name was.

• Chloe’s repetition of reminding the reader that she just said a pun. (it kinda made me feel that I was an idiot who needed reminding)

• It turned from dark and interesting to smooshy and squeezy.

• The book had editing and grammatical errors (not major)

What I loved about the book:

• I loved the author’s style of writing – I may be partial because the author writes exactly the same as I do. She tells a story from the character’s POV to a point where you feel that the character is speaking directly to you.

• We had both Chloe’s and Kyle’s POV.

• I enjoyed reading about Chloe transforming from a “fuckbot” to a normal, sassy woman.  It also tugged at my heart that Kyle cared that much about her to want to de-program her.

• I LOVED the opening scene…that drew me in and found myself wanting more and more of the cartel’s wicked ways.

• The sex was real.  It wasn’t candy coated, fairy tale, orgasm every time, cum together sex.

• The kidnapping gripped me – what I thought wouldn’t happen…..happened, which made it so much more real.

• I loved Chloe’s character (just not her puns).

Overall, I enjoyed the book and had a great time with it.  It was easy to read past the grammatical errors and other problems.  I believe it would have been a 5 Star in my book if more than 20% was dark and the problems were rectified.

Re-Cap

We open the book with a girl going through a torture session as entertainment for the Mexican cartel.  She is able to escape and tries to run but ends up in the arms of the cartel’s 2^nd in command, Kyle.  She begs and pleads with him to take her with him and have his way with her.

Kyle just coming off of a messy job he finished, requests the girl as “his bonus”.

Kyle finds Chloe’s dream book and learns that she is a “mule” and also has been programmed by “Him” to be a sexual (among other things) submissive slave.  She drops to her knees with a snap of his fingers, she purrs like a kitten and is dreadfully frightened that “He” is going to come for her.

Kyle works with Chloe to stop being a “fuckbot” and bring out her true personality which he does see sneaking in from time to time.  Through all this, Kyle must keep Chloe safe and keep the cartel on top by “sending messages” to their enemies.

I’m going to stop there and if you want the answers to:

Does “He” finally find Chloe?  Can Chloe shake the past and learn to open up and enjoy life?  Can Kyle open up to Chloe about his feelings?

Get the book.