Review: Dishonorable by Natasha Knight

Sofia

I knew little of Raphael Amado’s history with my family, but when he turned up on our doorstep demanding restitution, my grandfather quickly conceded. That restitution? Me.

Six months later, on my eighteenth birthday, Raphael came for me. He stole me from my home, taking me to his Tuscan estate, where from the crumbling chapel to the burnt-down vineyard, to the cellar that haunted him, the past stalked him like a shadow. It waited for him, hid behind corners for him and trapped him at every turn. 

As much as Raphael's cruelty terrified me, his darkness seduced me. But in the end, it was his tenderness that devastated me.

Raphael

Sofia came to me like an offering. Like a virgin to be sacrificed at the altar. But truth was, her grandfather betrayed her. I guess we had that in common. He’d screwed me too.

I knew hate. I'd vowed vengeance. This was never supposed to be about anything else. But in the end, her innocence broke me. The very thing I would destroy, destroyed me.

4.5 stars
Review by Jen Skewes

After reading the blurb for Dishonorable and knowing that it was Ms. Knight that was writing it, I knew it would be raw, gritty and intense.  And that is exactly what I love about her writing and her stories.  And Dishonorable was no different.  Ms. Knight certainly delivered with this one. 

Raphael is out for revenge and the one way that he knows how to get it is through Sofia.  And her grandfather had no problem using her to pay his debt.  On her eighteenth birthday Raphael would come for her and soon after she would be his wife.  What are Raphael’s plans with her after that? That is something I had to ask myself as well.  Raphael is a very broken man for many reasons.  And what he has been through is truly heartbreaking and one could understand why he is the man that we see today.  But beneath that very hard and tough exterior is a sweet, gentle and caring man, even if he doesn’t let anyone see that side of him very often.  He is a tortured soul and with Sofia now in his life things begin to change.  He begins to change, well as much as someone like him can.

Sofia has her own issues and past that she is dealing with.  For one the betrayal that she has just felt from her grandfather is front and center. He was never a loving or generous man but to just hand her over to the enemy sort of speaks volumes about how he really feels about her.  She wants the truth where he is concerned but there is only one person who will tell her what she wants to know.  But he is also the one man that she hates, that she cannot trust and also is the one man that she has no business falling for.  Raphael is her enemy and even though she is stuck with him she does not have to like it and she intends to fight him on everything.  Until she starts to really see who this man is.  There is so much more to this man than most people think.  For some reason she feels safe and secure with him.  And she seems to be the one person he can open up to.  But this is just a business deal.  And in the end Raphael has plans for how he is going to destroy her family.  Will this arranged marriage turn into something that neither one of them saw coming?

Raphael is that character that is sexy and a complete alpha male.  He is the person that at times you want to hate him for his actions but no matter what happens you cannot help but just love him.  I found myself throughout this book just loving him and wanting to comfort him.  Even through the moments when I wanted to punch him, because deep down he was a good man with a heart. 

Sofia could be feisty at times but she is also very naïve at times.  She is still young and I think wants to be able to trust the people that she should trust.  What her and Raphael have is a connection that neither one of them expected.  And no matter how much they both try to deny it, for their own personal reasons, it is still there.   I loved what they had, through the good moments and the bad they were perfect together.  I think they both gave each other something that they didn’t know they needed. 

Dishonorable has it moments that are raw and intense, but there are also moments of sweetness.  This was one of those books that I just did not want to put down.  I loved the intensity, and the passion and the characters.  I love reading a romance that involves two broken characters.  What I loved was that Raphael did change when he was with Sofia but he was also the same person that he was before he met her.  He was hot and cold but that was who he was, Sofia just brought out the good that was in him.  I loved this book and really hoping we get more.  I want to see what the story is with Damon and Liv.