MINDGAMES by Jasmine Gold

Standalone
Release - July 18, 2019
Genre - Dystopian Erotic Romance
Mutiple POV - 3rd person
Descriptive sexual scenes
Format/Source - ebook provided by the author

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Who wears the pants around here?

★★★★✩

You know what? In the end, I'm still not sure.
Gabriel was a healer, an outsider, called to heal the daughter of the leader of another community. Gabriel was from Harmony, a town founded by the rebellious people of Riviera. See, Gabriel's ancestors didn't like slavery and therefore could no longer live in 'harmony' with those who condoned it. So off they went, forging a new way, complete with hope, love, understanding, and freedom. While Gabriel was aware that Riviera thrived on their slaves, he wasn't prepared to see it. There were humans and there were rags. Rags were no longer viewed as human. They were slaves, treated worse than dogs, and allowed absolutely no liberties. They were tortured for the slightest indiscretion or tortured to amuse. Gabriel's compassionate healer's heart was breaking. A slave girl he thought he helped free from the beginning is being tortured and he steps in to rescue her... but Mariah doesn't trust him because she is inured to the punishments of man. She believes he's playing games and while he feeds her hope and kindness, she feeds him to the wolves.

I'm in love with the way this author captured my mind throughout this story. Although I didn't warm up to Mariah, I was glad to see Gabriel, Animal and Rose thriving. Between the details of the setting, the characteristics of the people, the intricacies of each person's wants and needs, the passions and desires, the inner workings of the community, I was captivated. Even when I cringed, I couldn't turn away. I was hypnotized and enthralled. This story hurt and destroyed me in so many ways, but in the end, I realized I never lost hope and I love the kinda sorta ending Gabriel and Mariah received. It wasn't definite and gives the reader expectations of more to come. I definitely won't complain about that!

My thoughts while reading:

I hate Mariah SO MUCH!!
Oh my goodness, my blood literally boils over everything she thinks, says or does.
She's one of the most unrelatable characters I've ever come across.
She doesn't deserve any kind of happy ending.
She doesn't deserve any of the kindness that Gabriel and friends have given her.
She is completely undeserving of all that's good in her world.
I don't admire her resilience.
I don't admire her fortitude.
I don't admire her determination.
I don't admire her.
She is an ugly character and although I'm not done with this book yet, I don't think there's anything she can do to redeem herself.
I'm loving Gabriel, Animal and Rose though

Synopsis

In this erotic romance set in a dystopian future, healer Gabriel's attempt to convince slavegirl Mariah to trust him goes too far, endangering his life, his freedom, and his sanity. Mariah can save him from the despair that envelopes him only if she can find the strength to trust herself.

Gabriel, on a mission of mercy, is horrified by what he finds when he arrives in Riviera, a land far from his home. So-called “humans,” bored and decadent, amuse themselves with the senseless torture of their slaves. Yet Gabriel finds unexpected friends. An artist named Animal, who notices everything except Rose, his slavegirl. And Mariah, a slave foisted on Gabriel when he unwittingly prevents her from escaping.

Mariah knows that Master Gabriel’s talk of a different way of life, in which slavery does not exist, is merely the latest and cruelest of the mindgames that humans have inflicted on her for her entire life. She must play along, but actually believing in it would bring disaster to her and to everyone she cares about.

Mindgames is about love, and friendship, and the potential for redemption. It is about how one person can change the world, or be destroyed by it.

About the Author

I am so excited to be finally publishing Mindgames. I've literally been working on it for decades, starting with early chapters written in a spiral notebook and ending with stolen half hours away from my other responsibilities. The characters have become my friends. They have also led me to friends who exist in the world outside of my imagination, who reached out to me after reading chapters online.

Find her on Goodreads