Ruin

Dark, Bloodied, & Bruised, Book 1

By: Taylor Rose, Kenya Wright

Narrated by: Lance Greenfield, Lacy Laurel

Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Cain.

Phoenix is sinfully beautiful, but she stole from me. And, she didn't know that I was a monster. Now she's mine. Mine to break. Mine to cut. Mine to bleed.

Phoenix.

Cain is my torturer. A gorgeous psychopath. Coldhearted. Brutal. And deadly mysterious. But I'm determined to stand strong. To survive. To somehow not be destroyed. Yet he keeps cutting. He keeps digging, until buried, forgotten emotions rise to the surface. He keeps bleeding me until my heart and soul collide to endless ruin, and I beg, I plead for the pain.

Best-selling author Kenya Wright explores the darker parts of her mind through her alter ego, Taylor Rose.

Warning: Listener discretion is advised. This is a twisted ride. Dark psychological themes, dubious situations, and intense sexual circumstances layer this story and may be triggering or offensive to some.

©2022 Kenya Wright (P)2022 Tove Audiobooks, LLC

NOT A FAN OF TAYLOR ROSE

I’m such a fan of Kenya’s work but this was just a lot of darkness for no reason. It was so boring!! Way too much inner dialogue. I didn’t even want to finish it. The duet performance was great. I’m not a big fan of Lacey Laurel’s narration, but she did a great job! I’ll just wait for the rest of the Mouse and Lion’s story.

I Love Kenya Wright... Not So Much Taylor Rose!

I have read most of Kenya Wright's books and I loved pretty much all of them. I understand that writer's sometimes want to change direction, or try something new but I found the entire book flat, mediocre and uninspiring. I'm pretty shocked that this story was even written by KW I would never have guessed in a million year's!
Everything that has made all of KW's other books great for me have been the interesting storylines and great character's, this tale had none of that which is a shame. I feel super salty having wasted a month's credit on this book and I doubt I'll bother with another Taylor Rose title. I hope that KW gets her mojo back as it would be a crying shame for her to burn out in such a spectacular way!
Edit: I have upgraded my score having re listened to the book. It's not as bad as I first thought, maybe I was pre menstrual and having a bad day, but this work still isn't as great of a lot of other stuff that KW has written. I guess I'll give the next book a listen, but I'm still feeling slightly dubious!

Dark but Intriguing

Captivating storyline. But it was sensual and sexual. The Author did a great job! Waiting for book 2!

Ruin

Oh wow!! What did I just listen to? I'm in love with Taylor Rose's writing style! And these narrators were the perfect ones to voice these characters. They bought all the emotions to life!! I look forward to reading Ruin as well.

Traumatized people find something dark together

I don’t know. This one was a bit too dark for me. I really liked Phoenix and I want to see her win. But she really picked a screwed up person to attach to.
I want to read book 2 though

Awesome Story

Broken people do things that are unimaginable but the beauty in the story is the possibility of finding love and peace. Hopefully this will lead Cain to redemption, and Phoenix towards trusting someone again.

Ok maybe this is not meant for your cookie cutter romantic individuals, however, I highly recommend if you’re looking for an intense ride.

Ms. Rose ain’t coming out to play with us! Open your mind and enjoy.

Not bad

The story wasn’t bad at overall. Good performances from both Narrators (Lacy Laurel has got a lot better at narrating)

Can’t wait to listen to the second book

❤️❤️❤️

I really liked the performances and that it’s a duet. But where in the heck is book 2?! Leaves on a cliffhanger otherwise it would have been a 5 star for me.

Great book

I enjoyed this book.
The narrators were great. L.L narration has improved greatly. I can't wait for part 2.

Less dark than I expected

RUIN (DARK, BLOODIED, & BRUISED BOOK ONE)

Release Date: 05/06/22
Stand-alone: [ ]YES [X]NO
Length: 7 hrs and 2 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Author: Taylor Rose
Narrated by: Lance Greenfield & Lacy Laurel
Publisher: Tove Audiobooks, LLC
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
POV: Dual, first person
Main Characters: Cain & Phoenix
Genres: Psychological thriller; romance

Review:

Ruin tells us the beginning of Phoenix’s and Cain’s story. They meet under unusual circumstances and when she steals something from him, Cain decides she has to pay.
Phoenix is a survival and she believes she can survive this situation. Over the time he keeps her in captivity they create a bond and share experiences (many of them of the dark kind).
This is my first experience with a psychological thriller and I had to adapt my mind to the pace and structure of the story. The pace is measured and the characters are frequently thinking, wondering, remembering facts of the past. There are dark passages and mentioning of situations that may trigger some readers. Personally, I thought it would be much darker.
The narrators were great, they definitely brought the emotion the story needed. I loved Lance’s voice, could listen to it all day long.
Since it’s a duet, the story ends in a cliffhanger and the story continues in the book Hunt.

*** I received an copy of Ruin audiobook from the publisher in exchange of an honest review. ***