Deception Island by Brynn Kelly

First and foremost, I am going to warn you that this romance novel is not for everyone.  Deception Island by Brynn Kelly is dark, disturbing, and wildly violent at times.  Reading the description on the back of the novel gave me no indication of how distressing this read was going to be. 

Rafe Angelito is a former child soldier who thought he had finally escaped his past.  When his son is kidnapped in order to ensure his cooperation in a ransom scheme he discovers that his worst nightmare has come true.  Holly Ryan isn’t the daughter of a wealthy presidential candidate, she’s just a recently released convict with a desperate need for money to start her new life.  Playing rich Laura is a dream job, until she’s kidnapped by people who want to trade Laura for ransom.  When her identity is discovered she and Rafe find their lives, and the lives of Rafe’s son, at risk.  Two people who have never learned to trust anyone are going to have to trust one another or face terrible consequences.

The rest of my review should not be a reflection of Brynn Kelly's writing abilities or style.  I thought she did a wonderful job of setting the scene and creating unique, though damaged, characters.  I'm afraid this novel was just not one that I enjoyed overall.

Based on the description I thought I was in for a thriller romance with the typical good versus bad plot line.  I never expected that I was going to fall into a world of former child soldiers, torture, executions, and rape.  When I am not reading romance novels, I’ll admit, I usually read about serial killers or other such crimes (think Lindberg kidnapping). When I’m reading a romance novel, I would really prefer that the execution of other characters be kept to a minimum.  That was not the case in this book. 

In romance novel the main characters are supposed to trust one another, sacrifice for one another, but above all, develop a believable love for one another.  This novel fell short of that description.  I normally avoid spoilers in my reviews, but I feel that this is an important spoiler to give.  About midway through the book, following the reveal of Holly’s true identity, Rafe is so enraged that he chokes Holly.  She survives this only by pretending to die.  He is shown to be remorseful (and man, does he have some PTSD), she forgives his actions and the story moves on after that. 

I did not forgive.  I know that Rafe had a horrific childhood, and I am not surprised that he reacts violently, but I wanted to stop reading right there (I didn't, however).  I find it hard to consider a man who would choke a woman nearly to death to be a hero.  Not to mention that the choking incident is not the only moment in the book where Holly fears Rafe may kill her.  I do not feel that, in a romance novel, the characters should ever have to fear for their lives from their counterpart.  

I know that there are some people out there who might enjoy this novel, but I cannot consider myself one of those people.