Thursday, January 3, 2019

Review: Untouchable by Sam Mariano





The bully isn't supposed to win...

Senior year was off to a rough start: lube in my locker, panties on my front porch, unimaginative name-calling. See, I got a player suspended from the football team for harassing me, and in my small Texas town, you don’t mess with the football players—even if they mess with you first.

I didn’t care if it was an unpopular thing to do; I stood up for myself… and in doing so, opened Pandora’s Box.

I never dreamed I would attract the attention of locally worshipped star quarterback, Carter Mahoney. Never imagined his coveted attention would turn out to be such a nightmare. Beneath his carefully constructed façade lurks a monster, a predator looking for the perfect prey to play with. Now, since I’m the girl no one likes or believes, I guess I’m the perfect target for his dark games and twisted desires.

After surviving my first encounter with his casual depravity, all I really want is for Carter to leave me alone.

But all he seems to want is me.


WARNING: This book is provocative. It is categorized as DARK ROMANCE for a reason. If you are a reader with certain triggers or sensitivities common to the dark romance genre, PLEASE heed the author’s note at the beginning of this book.








5 Stars
Review by Jen Skewes


Have you ever finished reading a book and the next day you wake up excited to go back to reading said book?  Only to remember that you finished it and now you just miss the characters and wish that there was more.  I have!  It’s been one day since I finished Untouchable and all I can think about is this book and the characters.  I devoured this book. Every free minute I had was spent reading it. And when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about it.  That is how much I loved this book.  

Untouchable takes place in a small Texas town where football is everything.  A place where the star quarterback rules the school. What he says goes. It’s also a place where a girl is harassed by football players, speaks out about what happened and then is punished even more for it.  Only to find out that the star quarterback wants her and is not about to take no for an answer.  That football star is Carter Mahoney. The girl that he wants and will stop at nothing to get her?  Her name is Zoey Ellis. 

Carter is the guy that Zoey fears, loathes, and wants nothing to do with.  But in some weird way is also very curious about. Carter wants her and she is not sure why.  Well that's not entirely true, she understands what he wants and how it all started. But at some point she has no idea why this “relationship” of theirs has continued.  Is what they have real?  And if so can they really make this work.  With so many obstacles in their way what will happen next?  I know this is very vague and may even be a little confusing. But I don’t want to give any part of this story away. 

When I first read the blurb for this book I was all in.  It’s Sam Mariano so of course I am. I saw the warnings, knew this would he dark and twisted.  But if there’s anyone who can write dark and twisted in a way that I can handle and love at the same time, it is Ms. Mariano.  

As I read the first few chapters I had a lump in my throat.  After that one scene I took a breath and had to wonder how in the world carter Mahoney would redeem himself.  There was no possible way.  Not only did he redeem himself, well in the best way that he could, but I fell for him. There is so much more to him than that first scene.  Is he dark and twisted?  Absolutely.  But once I saw that there was more to him, I fell for him and questioned my own sanity at the same time. 

Zoey is a fantastic heroine.  She’s strong and feisty and knows how to stick up for herself.  Her and Carter did not start off in a positive way at all. But if there is anyone who can peel back his layers, see him for who he is, bring out that side of him that no one sees, it is Zoey.  They were just the perfect match.  Their relationship on the other hand was so far from perfect.  It was twisted and a little crazy but what I loved is how much they got each other.  Carter brought out a different side of her that she probably never knew existed.  And she did the same for him.  Deep down I think he is a troubled young man with a dark past and has acted out in ways that match his past.  But being with Zoey was just so different.  The fun banter back and forth, the cute way they would come up with future scenarios that weren’t meant to be real.  Everything about them just felt right no matter how wrong it may have seemed. 

I loved this book so much that I want to go back and read it again, savor every moment. But just because I loved it does not mean this book is for everyone. The author has put a warning on this book  for a reason. My First bit if advice is to make sure you read that warning.  If you have certain triggers, or cannot handle dark and twisted then this isn’t for you.  Secondly, don’t read reviews or spoilers.  After the first few chapters I took a breath and made the mistake of reading a few reviews with spoilers.  I waited for the scene that one reviewer described, to come and yet for me it never did.  I’m not sure what scene she was referring to but I can say that obviously her take on the scene was very different than mine.  Yes this book is dark and has it moments that are horrific and shocking and hard to handle. Lines are crossed, boundaries are at times non-existent, but what comes next and what’s in between was simply amazing.  Go in with an open mind, take it all in, savor every moment and just read.  There is so much more to this story, to these characters and I loved watching them open up to each other and seeing where that darkness comes from.  At times it was hard to handle, at times these characters frustrated me to the point I wasn't even sure what they wanted.  But in the end it all made sense, it all felt right and Carter and Zoey were perfect together!  I LOVED IT!!!


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