Bella Jewel-Number Thirteen

Adult Contemporary

This isn't a dark romance, nor is it a light fluffy one. It's broken, and captivating, and a story of two people putting themselves back together. It's a story of a broken man who found his way to heal with Thirteen Girls. It does not have a cliffhanger. 

We're thirteen girls, captive to a man we rarely see. 
Obedience will become all we know. It is the only emotion we're permitted to feel. 
When we're bad, we're punished. When we're good, we're rewarded. Our scars run deep. Yet we survive, because we have to, because HE teaches us too. 
All of us are special, we feel it with everything we are. 
He has us for a reason, but it's a reason we don't know. 
We've haven't seen his face, but we know that something deeply broken lies beneath the darkness. With every touch, with every punishment, we know it. 
Then came the day he saved my life, and I saw him for the first time. He released something inside of me. 
He showed me who he truly is. 
Now I want him. 
I'll go against Everything I know to be with him. 
A monster. 
My monster. 
Loving him is a sin, but a sinner I am. 
I won't stop until I see every part of him. 
Even the parts he keeps locked deep down inside. 
I am Number Thirteen, and this is my story. 


{4 stars}
Even after sleeping on it, I'm not sure I can articulate what this book is about and what my impression is. It is NOT a romance, it is not erotic. And until you reach the end of their journey, you have no idea exactly what is going on. It took me two tries to get into this story. (And I only picked it up because I like Bella Jewel) But once I started, I felt compelled to finish the journey. And the journey isn't only for the thirteen girls, but for him too. Something in him was broken as a child and it has changed him. He thinks he is a monster, but what you find out is something different. He is really a saving angel. 

Once you know the whole story, the real story of each of the thirteen, you understand what is going on. It's not a pretty journey. There are punishments, but there are rewards. Does the balance make a difference? I don't know, but for the thirteen girls, it does. They find a balance in living in this house, a purpose, a peace. I don't want to give anything away. But I knew going in, it was not a romance of any kind but a beautiful journey all the same. And most people won't agree with me, but if you finish the book, maybe you will see the HEA that I saw.