Reviewed for Nerdy Dirty & Flirty

Whew! When I saw the sign up for this, I was curious.  I have never read Eva Charles.  I love this part of blogging.  Finding new to me authors.

Depraved is book one of The Devil's Duet. This story is gonna take you for one hell of a ride.

Julian (JD) and Gabrielle are at the center of this story, but there is so, much, more!!

I caught myself reading slowly.  There are twists and turns.  There are teases, glimpses of what is going on behind the main story.  

Gabrielle is on the verge of making her dreams come true.  She has learned to be strong and independent, regardless of her past hurts and past injustices.  When JD comes back into her world, she has to make a deal with the devil.  She sees glimpses of the past, glimpses of the boy she fell in love with in JD, but what he has become now is very overpowering.

Julian is dominant, he has to be.  You can see him struggling to keep everything in his world safe.  That is what he wants more than anything, and he will do and has done some questionable things to make sure that the people who are important to him are safe and protected.  He is swimming in secrets and I can't wait to find out what they are.

The secondary characters seem just as important and I don't want to overlook any of them!

You are going to want to savor this story like fine wine, slow sips...don't just gulp it down.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to read this! I cannot wait for the second book in this duet comes out! 

This is an unexpected gem from Eva Charles. It is raw and unique. You have Gabrielle trying to fight to stay afloat both job wise but also with her family as her mother’s health hangs in the balance but then J.D. walks in and all hell breaks loose. While he pulls the strings in a way but ultimately it is Gabrielle. There are so many insane twists and turns that keep you guessing! Then you add the passion side to the story. It is down right sizzling that makes you hot under the collar! I love how that so much has gone on between these two, that their love is strong though neither will admit it. And that ending!!! I cannot wait for the second part to know what will happen!!!! Who has been doing all the damage? Who is doing what?? Overall, this was a really good story from Charles and I highly recommend it!

Gabrielle thought she was done with JD for good. She left him in the past some fifteen years ago when he broke her heart in a million pieces and shipped her off to boarding school via his rich father's decree. She never truly got over him but she had at least attempted to move on. She was now the owner of one of the newest up and coming hotels, had a fiance, and a best friend who was expecting a baby. She was at peace with her life. That was until he entered her office and turned her world upside down. He brings with him a deal: be with him, be his willing sexual partner, and he will loan the money to her mother for life saving treatment. What is Gabrielle to do? If she keeps the man who has already crushed her once at arm's length then she could lose her mother. But if she let him back into her bed would she be able to keep him out of her heart?

I have a mixed bag of feelings about this book. In some instances it was good. The mystery of why JD pushed Gabrielle away all those years ago still hangs over the couple's heads. Why her best friend seems to have such a hard time with JD and Gabrielle associating again. And even wondering what JD's father is up to with his pharmaceutical company that seems so hush hush even from his son. But it was overshadowed a lot by some of my own beliefs and feelings on their arrangement. The arrangement seemed like coercion which felt very rape-y. That coupled with JD's demand for submission but his unwillingness to understand that there is more to the BDSM lifestyle than just kinky sex. The contracts he turned his nose up at are meant for the safety of both the Dominant and the submissive. The safe word that he almost didn't allow is another safety measure. The man is so pigheaded that he thinks he will be in such control that none of those safety measures are important. This ruined the book for me. I absolutely detest misinformation like this being presented to the general public. They already think those in the BDSM lifestyle are just a bunch of freaks but now they are meant to think that contracts and safe words are useless because the Dominant can "control himself"? Girl, bye.

I pushed through the book to see the level of misinformation that was presented but there were some good moments mixed in. I do like the character of Gabrielle. She seems like a spitfire and I love that in my female protagonists. JD was not likeable to me. He was just a flip-flopping d-bag. One minute he is whispering sweet nothings in Gabrielle's ear and the next he's tormenting her simply for going to her best friends house to visit. I will keep reading the series only because I am curious about the non-romantic aspects of the story but even those seem like an afterthought in the grand scheme of kinky sex between the protagonists.

I can't in good conscience give this book anything but a 1-star review due to the male protagonists dangerous thought process and practices. I am hoping that in the next book he'll have come to his senses a bit so I can rate the next higher. I think there is a good foundation for a story here, but just an offensive main character that sullied it.

This is the first book I read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The story flowed easily and the storyline was intriguing. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next and thank God I waited to read this book because I was able to dive right into book 2.

This book is HOT! I felt the connection between the characters instantly. If you are looking for a quick, easy read then this is one for you.

4⭐️

3.5 stars. It was enjoyable as any dark romance is and I will be reading the others in the series, but it does feel like she wrote the whole series at once and didn't do a lot of editing for the storyline.

Mysterious and hot

The title is definitely fitting. Gabrielle and JD are interesting characters and their relationship is both delicious and frustrating.

I especially liked the mystery. Who is behind all the “accidents”? Can’t wait to find out.

Steamy dark secrets

I have enjoyed this book ❤ JD is HAWT I can't wait to find out what happens next! Is DW really that horrible n cold, is the bff holding a secret too?