𝕾𝖎𝖓𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖞 𝕿𝖆𝖑𝖊 𝕮𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 #𝟏𝟎
🏙💇🏼♀️ 𝓛𝓸𝓬𝓴 💇🏼♀️🏙
𝓑𝔂: Kimberley Knight
𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓻𝓮: Contemporary, Dark,
𝓡𝓮𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓮 𝓓𝓪𝓽𝓮: March. 17, 2020
𝓑𝓵𝓾𝓻𝓫
Before Zell was born, her fate was sealed.
Held captive in a high-rise overlooking New York City since the age of twelve, she had no friends her own age, no life outside of the penthouse, and absolutely no choices of her own. But what she didn’t realize was the tower where she lost her freedom would one day become her salvation. Her prince would arrive, they would fall in love, and they would come up with a plan for her to escape so they could live happily ever after.
If only it were that easy.
Every girl dreams of her life becoming a fairy tale, even Zell, who’s knowledge of romance was simply from the books she stole from other girls at the brothel.
In a world where sex, drugs, and manipulation is solely the life she knows, the only fairy tale poor Zell would endure would be a sinister one …
Because freedom always comes at a price.
💇🏼♀️🏙 𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓯𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 𝓞𝓯 𝓐 𝓑𝓲𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓸𝓹𝓱𝓲𝓵𝓮 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 🏙💇🏼♀️
❝I ɴᴏ ʟᴏɴɢᴇʀ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏᴄᴋ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴍᴇ, ᴋᴇᴇᴘɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴛᴏᴡᴇʀ.❞
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 𝟏/𝟐 𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓡𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰: Lock by, new to me, author Kimberly Knight is the tenth book in the Sinister Fairy Tale collection. This time around we have the fairy tale Rapunzel with a modern-day dark twist. Although the “Princess” in this story is held in a “towering” penthouse and has long blonde hair, she certainly doesn’t let her hair down for our “Prince” Frankie to climb up. Instead.., he uses the elevator.
Tᴡᴏ sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇʀs ᴡʜᴏ ʙᴏᴛʜ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴛᴡɪsᴛ ᴏꜰ ꜰᴀᴛᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴀᴜsᴇs ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅs ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏʟʟɪᴅᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀɴ ᴇᴍᴘɪʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴀʟʟ.
Although Lock is not a light read, it’s not what I would call a dark read either. There are a lot of situations and subjects that are “dark” but what would be considered “dark moments” are glossed over very quickly which I really didn’t care for. Although I liked the plot I felt like it could have been written a bit differently. There was a LOT of telling instead of showing and as a reader, it’s hard for me to truly submerge myself in a story when written that way. The dialogue leaves a lot to be desired and there were also some things that happened towards the end of the story that was just a little too far fetched for me, even in fiction which is why my rating is what it is. There was a bit of suspense and mystery that helped keep me engaged in the story and helped me from giving up.
Again, this is just my opinion. We all have them and everyone’s is different. If you enjoy suspenseful reads then you may want to check out Lock for yourself.
The story begins before Zell is even born and then skips to when she is a little girl. There is a bit of a gap in between and then the thick of the story starts when Zell is almost eighteen years old.
❤️ (𝓱) 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓸𝓲𝓷𝓮: Zell has spent her entire life in a highrise penthouse being raised by her “mother” Madame. But this penthouse is no ordinary penthouse. It’s a brothel. But Zell knows no other way of life. She’s had very limited interactions with the outside world, her only companions being the girls that are forced to work at the brothel. Although she doesn’t know exactly what she’s missing, Zell longs to be free. To be able to roam outside freely and to experience the kind of love that she reads about in her books.
Although their childhoods may have been completely different, Zell isn’t the only one who longs to be free…
💙 (𝓗) 𝓗𝓮𝓻𝓸: Frankie Russo Jr. dreams of being set free as well. Frankie is expected to follow in his father’s footsteps but he wants nothing to do with his father’s empire or the life that he lives. Frankie wants out and plans to run as far as he can get as soon as he graduates.
But his plans change when he meets an innocent young girl with long blonde hair.
Frankie never expected to find someone like Zell when his father takes him to a penthouse brothel for his eighteenth birthday. But he finds her and very quickly becomes protective of her. First, platonically, he just doesn’t want to see anything happen to the poor innocent girl. But very quickly things become not so platonic between the two of them.
Zell wants to see the world and Frankie wants to be the one to show it to her. But they both know the only way he can do that is to get her out of that penthouse. The only way to do so… end his father’s reign and bring his empire down once and for all.
❝Wᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜɪs ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ. I ʜᴀᴅ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ʜᴇʀ, ᴀɴᴅ sʜᴇ ʜᴀᴅ ᴋɪʟʟᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴇ.❞
🔥🔥 𝟐/𝟓 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓪𝓶 𝓕𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓸𝓻: Although things were very insta-love between Zell and Frankie, they are both very young and as I said before, I feel like the key moments were kind of glossed over. That continued with the steamy scenes. I would have contributed that to them just being young so the author not wanting to be very graphic with it but it was made clear that Frankie was no virgin prior to meeting Zell… Although there was blatant chemistry between the two I think because of the heavy subject matter, the steam factor was a lot lower than it normally would have been.
🌪 𝓒𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰: Nope, no cliffhanger. After a whole lot of bad, Zell and Frankie finally, have their happily ever after. BUT two of the side characters from Lock, Erin, and Richardo will be getting their own story in Deliverance.
⚠️ 𝓣𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓰𝓮𝓻 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰: There are difficult subjects that could be considered triggers. This is NOT a light read. E.g. kidnapping, human trafficking, forced prostitution, rape, murder, etc. If you would like to know more about those subjects, feel free to DM me!
Wɪʟʟ Fʀᴀɴᴋɪᴇ ʙᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɴɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴ sʜɪɴɪɴɢ ᴀʀᴍᴏʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ Zᴇʟʟ ɴᴇᴇᴅs, ᴏʀ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴇ ᴛᴜʀɴ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴ ᴊᴜsᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʜɪs ꜰᴀᴛʜᴇʀ..?
𝓖𝓻𝓪𝓫 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓬𝓸𝓹𝔂 𝓸𝓯 𝓛𝓸𝓬𝓴 𝓽𝓸𝓭𝓪𝔂!
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𝓔𝔁𝓬𝓮𝓻𝓹𝓽
“Now, son”—Frank squeezed Frank Jr’s shoulder—”tonight, you can have any one of these ladies that you want. More than one if you’d like.”
My heart, which had finally returned to its regular beat, felt as though it was cracking in my chest as I listened to what Frank said. Of course, that was why they were here.
“I told you I wasn’t a virgin,” Frank Jr. said in a low voice.
Frank chuckled. “That may be, but anyone of these ladies will make sure you’re well taken care of. You might learn some things. It’s your birthday, enjoy it.”
Frank Jr. replied, his voice still low, “Whores aren’t my thing.”
“These are the finest ones around, son. You’ll be in safe hands. Take your pick, and then I can pick mine.”
“And if I don’t?” Frank Jr. asked.
“Then you’ll piss me off,” Frank stated, giving Frank Jr. a stern look.
“I can assure you,” Madam cut in, “all of my girls are clean and well trained. They aren’t like high school girls.” She chuckled.
Frank Jr. looked at his father another moment and then stepped toward the line of girls. He still hadn’t taken a sip of the vodka in his hand, and that made me nervous. I wasn’t sure what Madam would do to me if Frank Jr. asked for something else. Was Grey Goose not a good brand?
Just like Madam had done not ten minutes prior, Frank Jr. walked by each girl, looking them up and down from their heads to their feet and back up. When he got to the end, I expected him to walk back down the line because he hadn’t made a decision yet. Instead, he stopped in front of me, looking back at Frank and Madam. “I choose her,” he said.
My eyes widened as Madam said in a raised voice, “Zell isn’t one of the girls.”
“She’s not?” Frank Jr. questioned and turned his head to look at me.
I lowered my gaze while I waited for Madam to respond. I expected her to say something about me being her daughter, and therefore, off-limits. Instead, she said, “She’s never been with a man before. She wouldn’t know what to do. Pick one of the others. They will show you a good time.”
My face got hot again, and I was certain I looked like a tomato. I couldn’t believe that Madam had told Frank Jr. I was a virgin. I’d read about a virgin once. She met a guy with a helicopter and had weird sex with him. She seemed to like it, but that didn’t mean I was ready for this handsome boy to know I was a virgin.
“Is that true?” Frank Jr. asked as he looked into my eyes. “Are you a virgin?” I nodded, not able to speak. He turned back to Madam and his father. “Then, yes, I want her.”
“She’s not even groomed,” Madam stated to Frank.
“Son, why don’t you pick someone else?”
“With all due respect, Father, you brought me here to, what was it? Become a man? Being a man is choosing who I want to sleep with, and I choose …” He paused for a moment. “Zell.”
The tray I was still holding fell from my grasp and clattered onto the floor. Madam’s gaze snapped to me, and my eyes widened before I quickly bent to pick it up. My heart was beating so fast in my chest that I was certain Frank Jr. could hear it. I kept my gaze on the floor, not able to look at anyone. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
𝓐𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓐𝓾𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓻
𝓚𝓲𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻𝓵𝔂 𝓚𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽
Kimberly Knight is a USA Today Bestselling author who lives in the mountains near a lake in California with her loving husband, who is a great research assistant.
Kimberly writes in a variety of genres including romantic suspense, contemporary romance, erotic romance, and paranormal romance. Her books will make you laugh, cry, swoon, and fall in love before she throws you curve balls you never see coming.
When Kimberly isn’t writing, you can find her watching her favorite reality TV shows, binge-watching true crime documentaries, and going to San Francisco Giants games.
She’s also a two-time desmoid tumor/cancer fighter, which has made her stronger and an inspiration to her fans.
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