ANOINTED
by Charity B.
Publication Date: November 5, 2018
Genres: Adult, Dark, Romantic Suspense, Standalone
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SYNOPSIS
-Zebadiah-
The last time her, she was marked with blood.
Excommunicated.
Now she’s returned, along with my temptation.
Our touch is blasphemous. Perverse.
They say she’s tainted, but they will not speak against me.
His holy blood is in my veins and my word is truth.
I’m the fucking Prophet.
Laurel Ann
For twelve years, I fought for my soul in this evil world.
Until my God sent him.
My oldest friend. The only boy I ever loved.
What we’re doing risks everything, yet we can’t stop.
When I sin with him, it’s the purest I’ve ever felt.
I lived half my life with the Philistines and I know what they call us.
Cult. Freaks. Fanatics.
But they’re wrong,. We aren’t any of those things.
For we are the Anointed.
Trigger Warning: This is a full length, standalone novel, containing disturbing scenes and sensitive subject matter that may be triggering to some readers.
MY REVIEW - 4 Stars
Anointed is the first work I've read by Charity B, and is a dark romance set in a religious cult. It does contain triggers, abuse and violence so if any of these might be an issue then you need to proceed with caution.
What lover of dark reads could resist that blurb? It totally drew me in with it's promise of darkness, secrecy and cults. However it is quite misleading as the blurb really only deals with the last half of the book. The first third is actually their time as young teens in the 'Anointed Land', followed by snapshots of the years between Laurel Ann being excommunicated and her return to the compound. It didn't lesson my enjoyment of the book as this part was nicely dark too.
Laurel Ann is 13 when we first meet her, whilst Zebadiah, the Prophet's eldest son, is 15. They have strong feelings for each other and both pray to their god Zaaron that he will allow them to be bound together. However girls are considered ready for 'marriage' as soon as they get 'the blood of innocence', but Zebadiah won't be eligible until he is 18, and even that is considered young. Zaaron doesn't listen to their prayers, and Zeb's father chooses to bind Laur to the worst person possible.
This part of the story really drew me in, I really felt the love between Laur and Zeb. I also believed in them and felt a good connection to them. This didn't last when we moved into the present day/future. Generally, I still believed in and cared for Laurel Ann as a character, but Zeb felt flat at times. In the last few chapters this connection came back and once again I was rooting for Laur and Zeb to find their HEA.
There are dark scenes through out the story, some involving main characters and some involving side ones. Whilst the scenes were grim, scary and usually involved pain for someone, they sometimes felt more tell than show. There are quite a few scenes of both physical and sexual abuse. Whilst these are 'physically' described well, I personally feel more impact and darkness when they are conveyed more through emotions. I still enjoyed them though.
I borrowed the following quote by Wendy Douglas from a review of another book - it perfectly sums up why this book didn't achieve 4.5 - 5 stars for me.
"some of the action ... was told in passive voice without involving the reader to become part of the story. I wanted to see, hear, feel and experience the things"
That aside this is still a really well written story with an evil riddled, twisty plot but also with love and hope at it's core. Overall the pace was good, though it did slow and drag on a couple of brief occasions, but not enough to push me into skimming parts. That might have been because I always want to know how the book ends though!
This is most certainly an 18+ read due to it's sexual content, violence, abuse and language. The consensual sex scenes are actually quite tasteful and not unnecessarily long. I do recommend this book to those that love dark romance, I did enjoy it and I will certainly read more work by the author.
Anointed is the first work I've read by Charity B, and is a dark romance set in a religious cult. It does contain triggers, abuse and violence so if any of these might be an issue then you need to proceed with caution.
What lover of dark reads could resist that blurb? It totally drew me in with it's promise of darkness, secrecy and cults. However it is quite misleading as the blurb really only deals with the last half of the book. The first third is actually their time as young teens in the 'Anointed Land', followed by snapshots of the years between Laurel Ann being excommunicated and her return to the compound. It didn't lesson my enjoyment of the book as this part was nicely dark too.
Laurel Ann is 13 when we first meet her, whilst Zebadiah, the Prophet's eldest son, is 15. They have strong feelings for each other and both pray to their god Zaaron that he will allow them to be bound together. However girls are considered ready for 'marriage' as soon as they get 'the blood of innocence', but Zebadiah won't be eligible until he is 18, and even that is considered young. Zaaron doesn't listen to their prayers, and Zeb's father chooses to bind Laur to the worst person possible.
This part of the story really drew me in, I really felt the love between Laur and Zeb. I also believed in them and felt a good connection to them. This didn't last when we moved into the present day/future. Generally, I still believed in and cared for Laurel Ann as a character, but Zeb felt flat at times. In the last few chapters this connection came back and once again I was rooting for Laur and Zeb to find their HEA.
There are dark scenes through out the story, some involving main characters and some involving side ones. Whilst the scenes were grim, scary and usually involved pain for someone, they sometimes felt more tell than show. There are quite a few scenes of both physical and sexual abuse. Whilst these are 'physically' described well, I personally feel more impact and darkness when they are conveyed more through emotions. I still enjoyed them though.
I borrowed the following quote by Wendy Douglas from a review of another book - it perfectly sums up why this book didn't achieve 4.5 - 5 stars for me.
"some of the action ... was told in passive voice without involving the reader to become part of the story. I wanted to see, hear, feel and experience the things"
That aside this is still a really well written story with an evil riddled, twisty plot but also with love and hope at it's core. Overall the pace was good, though it did slow and drag on a couple of brief occasions, but not enough to push me into skimming parts. That might have been because I always want to know how the book ends though!
This is most certainly an 18+ read due to it's sexual content, violence, abuse and language. The consensual sex scenes are actually quite tasteful and not unnecessarily long. I do recommend this book to those that love dark romance, I did enjoy it and I will certainly read more work by the author.
MUSIC PLAYLIST
Miracle – The Score
Way Down We Go – Kaleo
Glitter & Gold – Barns Courtney
Blackbird Song – Lee DeWyze
Heaven – Troye Sivan feat. Betty Who
Bartholomew – The Silent Comedy
Lovely – Billie Eilish
Blood//Water – Grandson
Hellfire – Barns Courtney
Lead Me Home – Jamie N. Commons
I Walk the Line – Halsey
Hurt – Johnny Cash
Demons – Imagine Dragons
Losing My Religion – R.E.M.
Human – Rag ‘n’ Bone Man
Broken Bones – Kaleo
Believe – Mumford & Sons
Burn Fast – Bryce Fox
ABOUT CHARITY B.
Charity B. lives in Wichita Kansas with her husband and ornery little boy. The Sweet Treats Trilogy was her debut series and she is constantly preparing for her next release. She has always loved to read and write, but began her love affair with dark romance when she read C.J. Robert's The Dark Duet. She has a passion for the disturbing and sexy and wants nothing more than to give her readers the ultimate book hangover. In her spare time when she's not chasing her son, she enjoys reading, the occasional TV show binge, and is deeply inspired by music.
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