Book Review and Giveaway for Untouchable by Sam Mariano

UNTOUCHABLE
by SAM MARIANO

The bully isn't supposed to win.

Senior year was off to a rough start: lube in my locker, panties on my front porch, unimaginative name-calling. See, I got a player suspended from the football team for harassing me, and in my small Texas town, you don’t mess with the football players—even if they mess with you first.

I didn’t care if it was an unpopular thing to do; I stood up for myself… and in doing so, opened Pandora’s Box.

I never dreamed I would attract the attention of locally worshipped star quarterback, Carter Mahoney. Never imagined his coveted attention would turn out to be such a nightmare. Beneath his carefully constructed façade lurks a monster, a predator looking for the perfect prey to play with. Now, since I’m the girl no one likes or believes, I guess I’m the perfect target for his dark games and twisted desires.

After surviving my first encounter with his casual depravity, all I really want is for Carter to leave me alone.

But all he seems to want is me.

Warning: This book is provocative. It is categorized as DARK ROMANCE for a reason. It will not be for everyone. If you are a reader with certain triggers or sensitivities common to the dark romance genre, please heed the author’s note at the beginning of this book.

ADD TO GOODREADS

REVIEW: 4.5 Stars
“Do you know what you’ve done, princess? You just gave me the keys to the kingdom. There’s no stopping me now.

FIRST AND FOREMOST: There is a warning on this book for a VERY good reason. Not necessarily a trigger warning, but a warning nonetheless. This book gets very twisted very quickly.

If you think this is about a spoiled hero that only wants the one girl that ignores him and fights him off, you're correct.

Just kidding.
It's not.
It's so much more....depraved.

"Carter Mahoney is not for the faint of heart."

When an author can tell me a story and make me put myself in the shoes of the character's POV I am reading, that is awesome - it's great. I love it. When an author can make me empathize with the antihero in the book, that is amazing. But to make me cheer him on?? To make me want him to succeed in his quest?? What the heck?? Either I am SICK, because this is not ok - or she is just bringing out the depravity in ME. Ok, she's not (let's laugh together - we are laughing, right?), but I couldn't help but question myself the entire time I read this book. What is wrong with me?? Whyyyy do I like this so much?? I wanted him to get his girl!! Who thinks that way when they are doing things they should n-e-v-e-r get away with!!?? After reading this book, I'm convinced I have issues.

I've decided my new word is:     WRON(G)OOD

I kid you not, I wrote that on so many messages and FB posts I made about this book because it's so wrong, but it's sooo good, and it's wrong that it's so good - so that can't be good, right? That's SOOO wrong, right?? Help...

Mariano did an excellent job capturing the fear and the anger, as well as the warring emotions that come into play during and after a traumatizing experience, but she also made me empathize and understand why certain actions were reasoned the way they were. These characters are teenagers in their senior year of high school, so while you and I obviously have hindsight as adults to make smart(er) decisions, I didn't think anything was overly dramatic or stupid, which was very helpful for me to get through this one. The mindset of a teenager isn't always easy to capture in a book without sounding like immature brats (sorry), and I most definitely feel like this one was written very well because I didn't ever feel like rolling my eyes because of drama. It was real teenage decisions and drama, relevant to their age group - so appreciative of that.

"I can make you do a lot of things, but I can't make you trust me."

I cannot believe Sam Mariano made me fall in love with an asshole. I'm serious. I found it interesting and pretty impressive that she could turn my own feelings on me. She made me validate everything, right or wrong. I mean, how can I feel this way about Carter!? I truthfully don't understand how I can feel this way about him. But see, there is always a reason. There is always a reason we fall in love with these...."heroes", right? As bad as Carter was, there was a side to him that just made me go to mush. And as mean and brash and insulting as Zoey was to Carter (rightfully so), I absolutely loved how he handled it. His comments and his actions were, for all intents and purposes, bad - but the other side of him made me smile and laugh. His demeanor brought out the sigh that he never should have received from me - but I can't say he didn't deserve that sigh either. He was confident and smart, he had the all-American good looks and great athletic ability, and to add to it - he had charisma. I could see every single thing in this book happening.....every single thing. And for there to be some reality behind this book so that I could connect and relate, that most certainly helped my non-high-school-books-reading frame of mind. Set in a small town in Texas that clearly rode on their high school football team's coattails for Friday Night Fun, this one played out like a movie I would LOVE to see on the screen.

"One fucking mistake is not who I am, and it damn sure isn't the sum total of our fucking relationship."

It's probably wrong to love a book with this type of content as much as I did, but I am not even ashamed to admit it. Was their relationship healthy? Probably not in the eyes of many, but who am I to judge? It worked for them. No, I am not romanticizing anything with this review, nor am I okay'ing any type of lascivious behavior. I am just going to say that while I know this was fiction, I also know that I am completely in love with Zoey and Carter's story and how it worked out for them. This one tested my moral compass on every level possible, not gonna lie. Because, why...how could I cheer on this bully that used any, and I mean ANY (<-- bold and capitalized) means necessary to get what he wanted, when he wanted it? The darkness of the book never scared me. Not even a little bit. The twistedness, the remorseless way in which Carter unapologetically exacted his revenge and got what he wanted made me <whispers> giddy. WHAT!!? I know, right? Innocent Bee loving the morally corrupt high school senior quarterback. I'm doomed.

But I'm ready for more. *rubs hands* I am ready to jump into more of Mariano's books, because if she has to ability to twist me up and captivate me like this, I am on board.

"I'll never be the safe bet, Zoey."
~BEE

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~MEET SAM MARIANO~

Sam Mariano has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She lives in Ohio and has a sweet and wonderful daughter.

Because of You was her first finished story (she started writing it when she was 18) and due to a full-time work and college schedule, it took her years to finish. She has also been telling people for years that there would never be a sequel (sorry, guys!)…which turned out to be a lie.

Sam Mariano is currently working on Dante’s book (if you’re a Morelli reader) and some other WIP. 

Feel free to find her on Facebook, Goodreads, or her blog—she loves hearing from readers!

~CONNECT WITH SAM~

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