Even If It Hurts

Coastal Elite, Book 1

De: Sam Mariano

Narrado por: Theo Sinclair, Allie Shae

A psychopath and his prey.

A dangerous, toxic, and utterly destructive love story....

He could have been my hero. He saved my life that night, a beautiful dark angel slicing through my fear and the water, dragging me from its deadly clutches. He should have been my hero. I thought maybe he was.

Villains aren’t supposed to win, and good should always conquer evil, but in the elite coastal town I live in, the only purpose a label has is letting you know what something—or someone—costs. Good, bad—it’s all relative, and it hardly matters. Baymont, California, is a land of beautiful villains and happy ever afters that are just out of reach.

Especially for me.

Until Dare moves the world beneath my feet, and even though I’m afraid to trust it—to trust him—boy, am I tempted. In more ways than one. Being with Dare is scary, but being without him is impossible. He makes it impossible.

Dare’s no hero, that much is clear, but maybe... Maybe he’s mine.

This story contains triggers and is intended only for a mature, adult audience. See the opening author's note for more explicit warnings, but know this is a very dangerous relationship with a very dark hero.

©2022 Sam Mariano (P)2023 Sam Mariano

Dare is Dark and Sam Mariano is Amazing

I love Sam Mariano. Her books are dark, but I know that going in. It's dark romance, and it is good. Her books pull you along. I never have a desire to take a break. I just want to keep reading/listening. I wish she would release all of her books in audio format. I'm reading Sophie's Surrender now. Haven't re encountered Dare yet, but I know it's coming and I'm looking forward to experiencing the stories back to back, even if one is on audible and the other on my Kindle.

The narration is PERFECT! It couldn't have been better. Both of the narrator's were new to me, so I was worried, but Sam did a great job selecting the ideal narrators for this story. They read well, emoted well and the pacing was exactly right. It was narrated duet style, which is tricky. They pulled it off with a fabulous end result!!

This takes you on a mind trip the whole way

MMC is completely physco! He's the villain and the villain wins in the end. I can advise that I didnt know what was going on, where the story was headed for 98% of the book.

M/F, Highschool, Abuse, Somnophilia, Non-Consent, New Adult, Audible

Dark

This book challenges you. So many feelings. Definitely not for everyone. But if you can push through it is one hell of a ride. Overall a good read/listen. Worth it for some and a hard pass for others.

wtf did I just read and why do I LOVE it so much

One of my favorite books this year, because wtf just happened? Seriously, if a book takes me by complete surprise I'm ALL in! I was completely enthralled in this read. I suggest my morally black unhinged loving dark romance girlies read this one. My feelings were thrown around left and right, and I wasn't sure who was causing what to happen. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to love the characters or hate the characters. AND then the dots started to connect... I am OBSSESSED with this man!
I want to write a more in depth review... but I can't without giving the whole plot away. If you like dark romance and unhinged men and you're the type that can go into a book blind... please do?

WHAT A WILD RIDE! 5 ⭐️

Ok, so let me start off by saying I have read almost every single Sam Mariano books. (This is my first audio from her, but not my last!) I absolutely ADORE her stories. They tend to make you feel uncomfortable, but in the best way! The stories stick with you, make you think, and make you feel. I have already read this book (a few years ago) and remembered it being VERY psych0.. but wanted to refresh my memory as I’ve been recommending this author to friends, and needed to make sure I was accurate with the level of badness (😆) so, until about 50/60%, I thought maybe I was remembering it wrong.. it was a “nice” book. There were some hints before then, but for the most part I could recommend this to anyone! And then………. Dare comes out to play. Even knowing what was going to happen, I could not help feeling legitimately scared for the FMC. Blood pressure rising and all! Main triggers: psych0, manipulation, drugging, dubc0n/n0nc0n I think a big noted trigger is the FMC’s mom has cancer. Otherwise, seriously read or listen to this one. This is a wild ride! Narrators did a fantastic job! I wasn’t a fan of the MMC’s voice in the beginning but it really worked for the character.

This is not a romance

So do not rate it as such. I still liked Mariano’s ‘Untouchable’ better. Carter > Dare, but the sociopathy of these hero’s is everything.

No one else is willing to color outside the lines.. and if they are, they’re unrealistic in how they go about it. Not These Books though! I love it.

Dark and twisted

Love that Sam Mariano wrote an antihero and committed to it! There’s no warm and fuzzies for this story. It’s angsty, dramatic, toxic and addictive. The narration was stellar by the talented Theo Sinclair and Allie Shae.

what a lovely mess!

the story was hard to turn off! As a general rule, I prefer unrealistic stories like Sci-Fi and such. But this story is realistically, unrealistic. None of the stuff would ever happen! That's what makes it fun and kept my attention, I believe. It's so twisted and so many turns. There are warnings all over that tell you .. you better have some kinks and sense of adventure if you wanna enjoy this book. Please audible all her works!

One of my favorite Sam Mariano

Dare is the best villain/boyfriend in the series. His possessiveness knows no bounds. You can truly feel Aubrey’s fear of him and her confusion about whether she loves him or is scared sh*tless.

Well that was just crazy

I hated how it ended ! I was hoping for more questions answered but I loved the bullying! Voice narration was amazing!!