Sell My Soul

A Sixty Days Novel, Book 1

By: Jade West

Narrated by: James Grey, Lucille Walker

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's Summary

Sixty days of total submission. No safe words. No limits. No holds barred. Sixty days of your body being used and abused and pushed to extremes. Then you were free to go, no further dues, thanks and goodbye. And your bank balance looked seriously healthy for the experience. 

I should never have been tempted. Not for a second. Not after hearing the brutal tales of what happens to you. But I had to. My sister desperately needed the money. Needed Me. I’d just never have guessed in a million years that soon enough I’d be needing him. The beautiful stranger. The dangerous monster. The man who’d want my very soul along with my body. No holds barred doesn’t even come close to his requirements. But I’m willing to give him everything.

©2018 Jade West (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd

No holds barred; for the masochist in us all!

I left a review of book two on that page since I couldn't wait to begin it after finishing this part of the story and so I won't rehash all of that here if I can help it but I already know it will overlap in a big way so I'll try not to be repetitive if I can manage to tamp down my adoration for this series so far since I end up rambling when I get this excited about a series!

Okay. Admittedly, this is more of a prequel and the main event starts in book two but this is one of the secrets to the inherent genius of a Jade West novel/series: she doesn't drag out the character development past it's expiration and she doesn't skimp on it either. The first book is about developing the dynamic and the individual characters, but it's so much more than that. Let me say right away that this review is based on the notion that Paige's desire to save her sister from her fate is actually secondary and based on the idea that they're both currently unaware of this throughout book 1. I think it's quite obvious from the get-go that the money becomes secondary the very second Paige first finds herself standing face-to-face with Brandon on that beach that fateful night. The change in motive is only a small piece of why this book is important in its' own right. The first book is wholly necessary not just because of the blurred lines of the motives of each character but because it is needed to understand the magnetic pull of the power dynamic between Brandon and Paige and to prepare readers/listeners for what's to come. It's so easy, even too easy, for readers and authors to fall into this odd (new?) kind of complacency that I may be wrong but I would venture to say has developed post-'50 Shades' and somehow now seems to inherently come along with so many books that are categorized as 'Dark Romance' as it became more mainstream. You see, there's still a line in the sand most of these authors won't cross, a point where they won't delve further into the taboo because it could alienate new and curious greenhorns to the genre or maybe it's their own lack of interest or education in these things though the why of it all hardly matters. The sexual scenes in this seem like pure, unadulterated violence to the untrained eye or to a reader/listener that might be used to books closer to that 50 Shades variety and in a way, this book serves as a warning to those that may be triggered or may not understand the duality of not just the characters but also between pain and pleasure as conceptual ideas. In addition, these scenes between them are both intensely visceral yet oddly ethereal as these characters feed off it like air from one another and the sexual tension is thick like fog in the air. True artistry at work if you ask me. The submission presented here by Paige is just a taste but it goes far deeper as you move through the series and I would go so far as to say that it takes a true capacity for understanding what may be formerly unknown to you about the darker side of this kind of power dynamic. The power shifts back and forth as Brandon takes and then Paige takes in return; two people simultaneously giving and taking from one another without even really, truly knowing it yet. No no, these books are not for the faint of heart as you may realize by now but if you can listen and understand, Jade gives rewards to those who stick it out in due course through the development of a kind of intimacy many of us may never know with another person due to our own powerful fear of that kind of exposure of the soul. This may just sound like a lot of flowery words, but it truly is more than that, I promise. These books offer something so many authors fail to capture by utilizing not just sexual proclivities but the nature of these two people to their core to convey the development of intimacy between two people as they inadvertently begin the process of healing one another through pain. They are two exposed nerves that continue to touch in the most delicious of ways. Healing through pain... that is true and glorious irony if I've ever known it and if you aren't easily triggered, this series is worth the credits twice over for the experience of it. There's no rape if you're worried about that, all sexual acts are consentual although some may argue the dubiousness of some of them due to the stakes.

I have to say that Jade is a master, a yogi, and I am just a pleb that worships at the altar of her novels and dissects them for a sick kind of excitement inherently provided through the taboo in this guilty pleasure of a series. That sounds extreme, doesn't it? It may seem it, but I am just a huge fan. I absolutely revel in the raw, unapologetic way she writes and puts forth her stories and the way they consume me as I listen. The honesty of the writing... it holds nothing back and it blows me away. I mean heck, I almost wanted to clap for Jade when she even added in biting as a form of pain explored between these two. The primitive and dominating nature of it perfectly encapsulates Brandon's unrelenting and even unintentional desire to claim this woman as his and his alone before he even knows it and her desire for exactly the same thing.

It is something so increasingly rare in romance literature to find novels that don't pander to those that want to dip their toe in the dark and see if they might like to be blindfolded or receive a spanking. Let me clarify, if that's you in a nutshell there is NO shame in that, we were all there once and I applaud your open-mindedness but this probably isn't the book for you... yet. To understand and not despise the characters through misunderstanding the nature of the raw brutality between these two, there has to be not just a basic but comprehensive understanding of the power exchange and how inflicting pain is not just a punishment for Paige; that the scenes which would make most flinch just through hearing a description of it are ecstasy for her and give her something she needs desperately. Pain can heal, and knowing that is somehow different from understanding it in many ways. I apologize if it sounds like I'm lecturing you prospective readers, as that is not my intent and I won't tell you what to do. But I feel I must convey that rather than reading a series you're not quite ready to hear and giving it a bad rating because it sounds like abuse or something like it on the surface, I want you to know that the comprehension of the difference between abuse and true sadism/masochism is of utmost importance on the most fundamental level when it comes to this series, especially since I've listened to the second book as well and the intensity only ramps up as it goes on.

In short (TL;DR:) this is the first of three books of a journey two people take in which they heal each other through giving and taking pain as it binds them invariably closer together. To understand and enjoy the experience, I'm of the opinion that it's important to prepare yourself for ugly words and difficult, uncomfortable scenes involving serious pain play before picking up this series up for a closer look. If you are ready for true, real, brutal darkness, this series is the one for you; it's the one you've been waiting for like I have. I've read the 2nd book as well and if the sex scenes are too much, the second will be way too much since this one is small potatoes in comparison and just works the reader up to the main event. Thanks for reading my ramblings and I hope you find the series as enjoyable as I have!

What

Nothing happened!! 5 hours of round about. Returning for sure. Just a ploy to buy more books. Horrible
I normally like JW. Ugh. :(

Fxxking Jade West

I have had a break from the book world and decided with the lockdown to get my head back into a good read and omg I'm glad I jumped into Jades hot steamy sext reads.... this keeps you on edge... waiting... wanting more... needing more... needing your pay day to come NOW!! I'm straight off to the next book to find out what's instore.... Jade West I Fucking love ya dirty mind lady!!! LOVE IT!!!