Beyond Shame (Beyond #1) by Kit Rocha

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Kit Rocha

Summary on Goodreads:

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted is a life beyond–beyond the walls of Eden, where only the righteous are allowed to remain, and beyond her stiflingly restrictive existence as a councilman’s daughter. But only ruins lie outside the City, remnants of a society destroyed by solar storms decades earlier.

The sectors surrounding Eden house the corrupt, the criminal–men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter. Jas clawed his way up from nothing to stand at the right hand of Sector Four’s ruthless leader, and he’ll defend the O’Kane gang with his life. But no fight ever prepared him for the exiled City girl who falls at his feet.

Her innocence is undeniable, but so is their intense sexual attraction, and soon they’re crossing every boundary Noelle barely knew she had. But if she wants to belong to Jas, first she’ll have to open herself to the gang, to a dangerous world of sex, lust and violence. A world where passion is power, and freedom is found in submission.

RATING:                    

                                                                                  

GENRE:                                       DYSTOPIAN EROTIC NOVEL

                                                             
MY REVIEW:

"Home. Her empty room with its endless trinkets, physical luxury and unending leisure.
Hot showers and baths that never cooled, no matter how long you lingered. Soft lighting from every surface. Sheets changed every morning by silent servants. Never being touched. Never feeling.
No pain, no pleasure, just the anesthesia of safety."

What made me pick this book up? Well, it was definitely the beautiful cover and the intriguing title. I didn't really pay attention this time to the summary, even though I did see that it was supposed to be a dystopian erotic romance novel with a little mix of BDSM and menage, so I had this idea of how the story would be, but after reading it, I assure you it was definitely much more than I expected.

What really stands out IMO beside over-the-top written sex scenes is the story itself and this dark, interesting and intriguing world the author created. I'm gonna describe it a little, just for you to get some picture:
So you have Eden-a city where the rich, prim and proper elite lives, whose life is determined on very strict rules, where men are in charge and women serve just as their decorative "Step-ford" housewives with no rights at all (remember that movie with Nicole Kidman-creepy o_O).
They are very cold and monotonous people who prefer technology over emotions and who use sex only for procreation, and btw. sex before marriage(among other stuff) is forbidden and punished by disowning and exile.
Eden is surrounded by Sectors which are ruled by gangs and their gang leaders whose only rule is that there is no rule, except the one you make for yourself and the usual gang rule: you hit him,we hit you 3:)! They are true hedonist, enjoying everything life offers, especially violence (cage fighting, gang wars etc.), alcohol & sex and when I say sex, I mean: f-f, m-f-m, f-m-f, orgies, bdsm, voyeurism etc. and all other things you can or can't possibly imagine ;).

Beyond Shame is the first book in the series and it's a story about sexual awakening & independence of the main female character Noelle who became a member of one of the gangs after being exiled from Eden. The story was really interesting, the author has a decent writing style and I think the books will only get better. Most of the characters are "bad asses" with a great sense of humor and one of the things that readers will really enjoy about this book (they reminded me a bit on our famous BDB gang.)

"Dallas sighed. "Could you pretend for a fucking second that I'm the boss and try?" "Words are just words. You can tell someone you're a saint while you're stabbing a kitten. Does saying it make it true?"

"Ace flipped him off, but not without a grin. "They like tattoos, I like blowjobs. It's good math." 

"I thought men liked the wide-eyed innocence." "Men think they like wide-eyed innocence until someone like you swallows their cock down like she can't get enough of it."

If I were to rate this book considering it only as a erotic romance, then I would probably give it 4 stars, because as I said this book is about sexual awakening of the main character and sex makes a pretty big part of the book, but even though the scenes are really hot and well-written after some time I felt like they took a big part of the plot. I couldn't quite connect because of that with the main couple and that's why I ended up liking more the supporting characters like Dallas, Lex, Ace, Rachel, Bren than them two. I have read that the next book in the series will be about Dallas & Lex- Beyond Control (Beyond #2), so I'm really looking forward to reading it.

All in all, the book was good, the series have potential and I would recommend it to readers who aren't afraid to get a little kinky ;).

"I'd rather be shot. I'd rather be shot a dozen times. Maybe for someone else, someone with a less important family, Eden isn't all bad. My body would be safe there, but my soul would die. And I'm still learning what it's like to be alive."

Hope You'll Enjoy The Book & Until Next Time

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