Review: The Pawn by Skye Warren

The Pawn
(Endgame #1)
by Skye Warren
Publisher: Self-published
Publication date: Dec. 6, 2016
Genre: Dark Romance
Rating:

The price of survival…

Gabriel Miller swept into my life like a storm. He tore down my father with cold retribution, leaving him penniless in a hospital bed. I quit my private all-girl’s college to take care of the only family I have left.

There’s one way to save our house, one thing I have left of value.

My virginity.

A forbidden auction…

Gabriel appears at every turn. He seems to take pleasure in watching me fall. Other times he’s the only kindness in a brutal underworld.

Except he’s playing a deeper game than I know. Every move brings us together, every secret rips us apart. And when the final piece is played, only one of us can be left standing.

Avery has led a privileged life. A very privileged life. Anything that she could ever want, her father got her. So, when the scandal breaks that her father’s been stealing money from people the whole time, the floor falls out from under her. Not only was he taking money from some of the most wealthy people, he was also stealing from some of the deadliest. A college drop-out forced to take care of her father, who is now bed-ridden after an altercation with one of the people he stole from, Avery isn’t sure what to do. She’s tried to make ends meet to pay her father’s medical bills, she’s sold all their possessions, but it’s not enough. The money’s run out and her father is still reliant on machines in order to live. Out of options, Avery visits one of the biggest, baddest loan sharks out there in the hopes that he will loan her money. Except she doesn’t have anything for collateral, well, nothing material-wise that is. The Pawn is the story of a young woman who uses her body as a bargaining chip. With nothing to offer for the loan, she offers not only her virginity, but also a month of her life spent living with the highest bidder. However, she wasn’t expecting the highest bidder to be one of the guys her father stole from.

This was one of those stories that was a bit hard to read. I mean, no one wants to read about human trafficking. However, maybe it’s the fact that Avery signs up for it, or that the author has a really great way of writing a taboo subject because it worked. While I didn’t like the decisions Avery was making, she was in a tough spot and did what she thought she needed to do. What I really loved about this story was Gabriel, though. He was this dark, fierce character that definitely portrayed danger, and yet you never really see that from him. From the get-go he is protective of Avery. Before she is even auctioned off, he has people stationed outside of her house to keep watch over her and her father when she finds someone lurking outside one night. He comes up with the idea that whoever wins will not only pay the money that Avery needs, but will also get an in-house doctor and nurse for her father with all expenses paid. On top of it all, after he wins the highest bid, he doesn’t even pressure her for sex. Instead he asks her to play chess with him. While Gabriel is not really a good man, he was probably the best option for Avery at that auction.

Now, I don’t want you thinking that this is a sweet romance, because it’s not. It’s a great example of what a dark erotic romance is. It had me on the edge of my seat, cringing at parts, swooning at others, and left me shocked a few times. It was a stellar read with so many twist and turns. There’s so much that Avery doesn’t know, that you find out about along the way. There’s so much that is still unknown and while this leaves us on a cliffhanger, I’m dying to read what happens next.

Favorite quote…

“There’s no one left to save us except me.”