I was taken on a roller coaster ride that thrilled at first, but by the end, I just felt a little unsettled. I didn’t get a sense of satisfaction by the ending and just felt off kilter by the whole experience. ~ Leigh, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
My name is Madame X.
My heart is torn in two.
And now I have to choose…
Caleb is everything to her: lover, caretaker, the man who gave her life meaning when she had none. But as she seeks the truth about herself and her past, she discovers that unravelling Caleb’s web of lies might very well be impossible.
Logan is everything she never knew she wanted: freedom, joy, and a passion she couldn’t anticipate. But is Logan’s love enough to save her from herself, from Caleb, and from the tumultuous truth of her past?
Caught between two equally compelling and seductive men, X must make the ultimate choice. But there’s more at stake than just her heart…
Review copy provided for an honest review
I’m so torn after reading this entire trilogy.
The first book was terrific. The second almost entirely turned me off of the series. The third, well, it fell somewhere in between. It had the excitement and intrigue of the first, but lacked the eroticism. It told more of a story than the second, but yet again, X/Isabel and her addiction to Caleb made me wonder why Logan was willing to sacrifice so much for her. I was taken on a roller coaster ride that thrilled at first, but by the end, I just felt a little unsettled. I didn’t get a sense of satisfaction by the ending and just felt off kilter by the whole experience.
Ms. Wilder is a wonderful author and proved it by her ability to create such an interesting story with Madam X, a woman with no past, no memory, and the Svengali figure of Caleb that held her in his thrall. His possession and fixation with her was disconcerting and wrong and erotic all at the same time and the introduction of Logan into the love triangle just made the story better as she decided between love and obsession. The backstory on X, the history of Caleb, it all reached out and grabbed me. But I was just very disappointed that Exiled did not bring it together in a way that satisfied me. It tied everything up in a nice little bow, but it still didn’t leave me appeased.
Perhaps it was the manner of storytelling, where X was basically telling her tale to Caleb and Logan. That may have provided too much distance and not let me feel as if I was a part of the story.
Or perhaps it was the distaste I still had from X being willing to go back and forth between two men and just claim that her attraction to both was like an addict getting a fix.
Whatever the reason, I was left conflicted.
On story idea alone, I would say this was a must read. But on the actual way the story played out, I’m torn.
3.75 stars
Thanks for the review Leigh