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Still Beating

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WARNING: This book contains subject matter that may be sensitive for some readers. There is dark and triggering content between these pages. 18+ only. Please read responsibly.

When Cora attends her sister’s birthday party, she expects at most a hangover or a walk of shame. She doesn’t anticipate a stolen wallet, leaving her stranded and dependent on Dean—her arch nemesis and ultimate thorn in her side.

And she really doesn’t anticipate waking up in shackles in a madman’s basement.

To make matters worse, Dean shares the space in his own set of chains.

After fifteen years of teasing, insults, and practical jokes, the ultimate joke seems to be on them. The two people who always thought they’d end up killing each other must now work together if they want to survive.

But Cora and Dean have no idea their abductor has a plan for them. A plan that will alter the course of their relationship, blur the line between hate and love, and shackle them together with far more than just chains.

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 30, 2020

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About the author

Jennifer Hartmann

18 books5,799 followers
Jennifer Hartmann resides in northern Illinois with her own personal romance hero and three children. When she is not writing angsty love stories, she is likely pondering all the ways she can break your heart and piece it back together again. She enjoys sunsets (because mornings are hard), bike riding, traveling, bingeing Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns, and that time of day when coffee gets replaced by wine. She loves tacos. She also really, really wants to pet your dog.

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Profile Image for Mareeva.
381 reviews8,012 followers
February 23, 2024
1 star

If you liked this book, cover your eyes, because I'm pretty sure this is my meanest review to date.

Ya'll already know the drill. This is a 1 star review therefore
🛑SPOILERS AHEAD🛑

edit 02.2024: If you loved the book, read the warnings above, then still read my review and hated it (which is fine tbh, human curiousity and all that), but if you also went on and left a butthurt comment for me to see😂 then I'm sorry to break it to you but you look like a clown. Go cry about it so someone else lol.

On to the review...

First of all, I have a question....what the fuck is going on? This is the second book in a row where the heroine is quirky (in an unappealing way).

Except here it's a level of quirkiness I genuinely don't think can be measured by any scale.

Say hello to our heroine CORABELLE. A different girl with a different name that she obviously hates. Because what sane quirky girl wouldn't hate her unique name?

Corabelle likes to be called Cora, which is why I won't call her that. I'm here to spite a fictional character that can't even be spited, because I hate her that much.

I, on the other hand, was none of those things—thank God. Despite the fact that I’m only ten months younger than Mandy, we could not be more different. She’s athletic, bubbly, and vain. I’m a bookworm who would much rather purchase adorable outfits for our family dog than for myself. Mandy is perky, and I’m prickly. I could recite Shakespeare all day, where Mandy likes to quote the gossip headlines off Twitter.


No Corabelle, thank god you are not a real person because if I was your sister I'd probably beg my parents to send you straight to the adoption centre. I really find it hard to believe that any good Shakespeare reciting samaritan uses nouns like "Vomit" as a reaction to basically everything.

BEFORE I GET AHEAD OF MYSELF THOUGH - A QUICK SUMMARY

Corabelle and Dean have been arch-nemesis for half of their lives. For years their days spent together have been filled with pranks, insults or jabs at each other. If you're asking why they even stayed in touch for that long....well it's because Dean is actually Mandy's long term boyfriend/fiance and Mandy just happens to be Corabelle's sister.

On a day like any other, Dean and Corabelle are attacked and kidnapped by a mad man, locked in a cellar and forced to be put through unimaginable pain.

So we have two long term enemies fighting for survival and all they have is each other. Even long after they escape and the trauma becomes their new prison, they realise their need to be together can't be shaken so easily.
description

I'm proud of myself, I made that sound almost decent.

OKAY NOW BACK TO BEING A RAGING BITCH (Edit from the future: count this as a warning because I really am hella mad here💀)

I found it really funny how the author put emphasis on the little descriptions of the sisters' appearances.

Corabelle: naturally "golden blonde, shiny hair"
Mandy: "Bleached Blonde."

Because bleached blondes are all basic and corabelle is anything but basic.

Corabelle: Judging Mandy for wearing a pretty dress to some random illegal sleepover.
Also Corabelle: LoOK At mY fAdED JeENS AnD HOodIE. I AM SO PRACTICAL AND DON'T CARE ABOUT MY APPEARANCE

Mandy: she often arches her "microbladed eyebrows" or blinks her "fake lashes"
Corabelle: we can all take a wild guess and assume her lashes are long in all their natural glory and her brows are perfectly bushy and don't need microblading.

This next one is my favourite🤣🤣🤣🤣 I literally have no idea WHY they needed to describe it this way but

No one:
Absolutely nobody:
Mandy:
"she grazes her super-sized fingernails that resemble talons along my knee"

NOT THE SUPER SIZED FINGER NAILSS😭😭😭😭

actually I'm not gonna fool myself, I do know why it just had to be described that way......to show us how much better the heroine is.
description

Then we find out this girl is actually a 29 year old woman💀

My eyes bulged out of my sockets when I found out her age (which was literally the first chapter) because in such a short amount of time she already acted more like a 13 year old than a grown adult.

Immature behaviour? check.

As well as being a judgemental "prickly" bore, she is also too good to hold up intelligent conversations with lawyers or remember simple names. This is funny because reciting Shakespeare is no problem of hers🤪

An ego the size of a baboon's ass? check check

Her ego is so enormous in fact, that when Dean tells her he broke off his engagement to Mandy (after they escape), she immediately assumes that it's for her, even though he repeatedly tells her it's not. Her thick skull can't process the fact that a man would have deeper reasons for up and ending a fifteen fucking year relationship OTHER THAN FOR HER.

“Jesus.” Dean swings his head back and forth, scrubbing both palms over his face. “No wonder you’re still single.”


Yea no wonder. Because additionally to everything I just said, she has a giant stick stuck so far up her ass, I'm pretty sure you could see the end of it.

This girl is sassy. Not in a cute or badass way, but in a way that makes me wonna take a sledgehammer straight to her face. She has to have a snarky comment for every damn word that Dean dares to utter. He can't even breathe without her opening her mouth with another useless, and might I add, not funny remark.

And the most shocking part is......you'd think that if nothing helped to fix her attitude in the past 15 years, then surely getting kidnapped with her enemy would do the trick?

description

I’m not sure why he’s being kind to me. It’s confusing and unsettling, and I don’t know how to respond to him like this.


Oh I don't know ....maybe because you've been kidnapped, chained in a cellar, raped and threatened to be killed. Maybe because you're the only dumbass who would still be a bitter bitch over some petty high school pranks in a situation like that:)
description

So annoying as all hell? check check check.

And to top it all off, she is incredibly selfish. I don't have the energy to say more really, I'm empty.
description
I feel like she just sucked all the remaining life essence right out of my body.

The one time when Corabelle didn't get on my nerves was when she adopted the dogs her rapist/kidnapper/serial killer THREATENED TO FEED HER TO, and that's only because I was too busy laughing my ass off.

I sort of adopted a serial killer’s two dogs. Meet Jude and Penny Lane.

description
I know it was meant to be deep and healing n shit but god damn

STILL NOT DONE THOUGH BECAUSE THERE ARE SIDE CHARACTERS TOO

I don't know why the author put so much effort into telling us how physically Mandy is so fake and basic when her personality would've been enough to get the point across.

And Jason, the man Mandy set Corabelle up with only a few weeks after her rescue🙂🙂is just as rotten.

No, actually Rotten is the wrong word to use, they are just both plain stupid.

What person with a functioning brain will try to seduce their CLEARLY EXTREMELY TRAUMATISED BOYFRIEND and complain about not getting sex when rejected. Then also set up her JUST AS TRAUMATISED SISTER with a man who thinks their weeks of hell will make a good Netflix show.

It's like the author tried her hardest to make the OM/OW worst people possible but all she did was make everything incredibly idiotic.

The other characters are non-existent because Corabelle's BFF Lily made like 2 appearances and in one of them said this about the heroine:

"Literally your only flaw has ever been liking N*SYNC over Backstreet Boys. Otherwise, you’re pretty perfect.”


Lies like that LILY land you in JAIL.

I already don't remember her parents. But I'll give them points for being decent.

The only good side character was Tabitha -another victim of Earl (the kidnapper)- but once again she made like 1 memorable appearance and dipped.

15 YEARS OF DUMBASSERY

A weird, awkward silence settles between the three of us, and I kind of want to just fall over and play dead like those goats do.


Yea I bet you do....I'd want that too if I was stuck in a room with my fiance whom I've been dating for half of my life and her sister whom I'm in love with.

Dean liked Corabelle first but he went for Mandy:) Why in the world would anyone choose the bleached blonde Mandy with talons and microbladed eyebrows, when you have Corabelle the dog whisperer?

Because this book is fucking stupid. That's why.

One week after breaking off a fifteen year commitment to Mandy, I sleep with her sister. There’s not a single explanation we could come up with that would make this sound even remotely acceptable.


I'm glad you see the problem. Then why write about it. I mean yes okay, I know why you'd wonna write about it, but fifteen years???

How does that even happen? I understand a couple years......okay 6 tops, but almost two decades of dating a woman the author basically trashed this entire book? We don't even get an explanation as to why he went out with Mandy and not Corabelle......is it because they started their little prank wars??? Is that all??

SURPRISE SURPRISE, HERE'S ANOTHER THING THAT DIDN'T SUFFICE

Earl forced Corabelle & Dean to have sex with each other and I don't like the way it was not recognised that Dean was raped too. In fact, Dean blamed HIMSELF for RAPING HER??

It wasn't just Corabelle who was subjected to unwanted sex with a damn pistol plastered to the side of her head, yet she was the only acknowledged victim.

WHY I'M SO MAD

The worst part is this book had so much potential. I think it's even worse than any other shitty book you stumble upon because there isn't much disappointment.

Right now though, I feel so damn disappointed because the writing was good, there really were things I liked, parts that had me truly feel for the characters.

But every time it was ruined by the heroine's "I'm not like all the other girls" antics which felt very out of place in such a dark book. It's a truly sad story of two unfortunate people left to survive the unimaginable. Literally, no one cares about the colour of your natural hair or how fucking different you are.

THE GOOD PARTS.......RIP😔

✅ The only saving grace of this book was Dean.

He wasn't that interesting, and I feel like the author slapped the "bad boy" label on him to make it so, but then sort of forgot about it altogether. Cause let me tell you that man is not a bad boy💀

But his emotional turmoil and the chapters in his POV were beautifully written. His character was the only one who had common sense in this book and thank god for that, because any more shitting on this story would've raised the conscience I have buried somewhere deep inside me.

✅ I did find the aspect of Earl being a matchmaking serial killer really interesting.

He kidnaps a woman and a man who are not involved romantically or sexually. Then grooms them to fall in love, only to torture and murder them in front of each other. He got off on the agony they would feel watching the person they love slowly dying.

This could've been so interesting from a psychological point of view but was ruined for obvious reasons.

COLOUR ME PASSED AWAY

Please bear with me because I am sitting over here actually crying.

Up until now, I thought I went a little overboard with the Shakespeare jokes in this review but you can't blame me. She made it too easy.

On the last chapter of this book I think... Okay finally, end this on a good note for me baby, come on🙏

It's as if the gods heard what I said, looked down upon me and went
description

Cause......

“What were you dreaming about? You were smiling.”
Cora stretches out her arms, the bedsheet falling further down her hip and catching my attention. “Shakespeare.”


description

That's it. I'm out.

Edit: Randomly stumbled upon a series of tik toks that really reminded me of Miss Corabelle Shakespeare and I couldn't not share<3

1 - https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKsajtN/
2- https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSeKsg8U6/
Profile Image for Jonathan.
866 reviews4,979 followers
January 20, 2022
look at me, saying i would dnf more books this year and then still finishing this one. where's the clown emoji when you need it. oh, here it is: 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

opening a patreon so that you can help pay for the therapy i so obviously need.
speaking of, you know who else needs therapy????? the characters in this goddamn awful book!!!

will this contain spoilers? why hell yes, of course it will, why would you even ask, silly you!!!

are you ready? no you're not. will i yell? i haven't decided yet.
OF COURSE I WILL FUCKING YELL, YOU CAN'T EXPECT ME TO READ THIS, THIS..... BOOK (???) AND NOT YELL ABOUT IT.


:) i'm alright, thanks for asking.


let's use the clown emoji for my notes.
you can't expect me to write actual real and long and meaningful sentences, no, you will just get a summary of my kindle notes. are most of them "are you kidding me", "go to therapy", "i hate it here", "cry me a river", "YOU LITTLE FUCKWIT"?
i don't know :) i will find out with all of you :)


🤡 hihi, look at him (i am also worried about myself, it's alright)

🤡 i knew i should have dnf'ed this pretty early on cause on page 9 our lovely female character C... whatever her name is, says "I could recite Shakespeare all day, where Mandy likes to quote the gossip headlines off Twitter." oh aren't you a special little girl :) i'm so proud, do you want a headpat? do you? no? what do you want then you special little snowflake? you've never been on Twitter? you only read Shakespeare all day? are you better than everyone else? huh? who are you trying to impress here? go touch grass

🤡 because i am a dumbass though, i did not dnf after this

🤡 that's a lie, because i did

🤡 but i PICKED IT UP AGAIN.

🤡 oh btw, massive r*pe trigger warning for this one

🤡 should i tell you guys about the plot? you can all read synopses right. though, i am sometimes not sure if people on this site can actually read, so better safe than sorry:
meet Cora and Dean! they both suck but that's not important right now! Cora is insufferable and Dean is allegedly a bad boy even though i have yet to see him do some cool bad boy things and i have already finished the book so i don't have high hopes for that happening anytime soon. Dean has been dating Cora's sister (Twitter feed Mandy, we've mentioned her before but OH BOY ARE WE GOING TO COME BACK TO THAT DUMB PIECE OF WET GARBAGE) for a whooping fifteen years!!!! wuhu!! yet Cora still thinks that he probably cheated on her multiple times because he's such a bad boy, give him a spanking! (why do you guys let me write reviews) plot twist, mandy actually cheated on him but that's like the least important thing about anything right now, i don't even know why i mentioned it.
anyway, Dean and Cora get kidnapped!!! by a guy called Earl, later dubbed "The Matchmaker". Earl kidnaps couples he is sure are not in love yet and then through the magic of Stockholm Syndrome✨ makes them fall in love with each other. Earl obviously r*pes Cora and also makes Dean r*pe Cora and that was actually the part where i was like "huh, should not have read this in the gym"

🤡 i don't actually have many notes (or any) on the time they are in captivity. it is what it is

🤡 actually no, i lied again. during their last forced intimate encounter Dean and Cora get weirdly into it! before it was all just: closed eyes and "i'm sorry, i'm so sorry", you know, the things you would expect when you are forced to r*pe your sister-in-law at gun point but that last time Dean just starts stroking her clit and Cora is like "this is fantastic sex" and i am like EARL IS LITERALLY RIGHT BESIDE YOU WATCHING WITH A GODDAMN GUN, THIS IS NEITHER THE TIME NOR THE PLACE and then Dean has the AUDACITY to look at her in "Shock. Disbelief" when she is about to come. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN SHOCK AND DISBELIEF. Dean is all like "hihi, haha, gonna give Cora an orgasm while i'm r*ping her :)" and then he's all surprised pikachu face when she actually gets one??????????????
i would also like a sweet release - the sweet release of death, i beg you

🤡 obviously Cora gets pregnant after 3 weeks of constant r*pe. thankfully it's not a major plot point cause she aborts it off page. but then Dean is like "Do you know if it was...mine" HOW THE FUCK WOULD SHE KNOW THAT YOU DIPSHIT.....i need to calm myself, deep breaths Jonathan, deep breaths

🤡 Let's talk about my favourite character: Mandy :)
now, where is the gun emoji when you need it.
when Cora and Dean escape and have been home for SIX (6) (SIX!!!) (6!!!!!!!!) (i really need to make it completely clear to you that it's six) WEEKS - not months, not years, WEEKS. SIX MEASLY WEEKS. they have been in captivity for THREE WEEKS. and now they are back for SIX WEEKS. okay? okay? are you guys with me? Mandy not only complains that "Oh Dean, baby, we haven't been intimate for 6 weeks." (??????????) she also tries to set her sister up with another man.
now, she doesn't know by that point in the story that Dean also r*ped her sister, but she knows her sister was r*ped, which brings me to my point:
THOSE TWO ARE FUCKING TRAUMATIZED YOU GODDAMN UGGGHHHHHH. even without knowing that Dean was forced to commit a heinous crime (not to forget that she KNOWS that he killed Earl), DON'T YOU THINK THAT SIX WEEKS ARE NOT ENOUGH TIME TO HEAL FROM A GODDAMN KIDNAPPING WHERE YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD DIE.
DO YOU REALLY THINK YOUR SISTER SHOULD GET WITH A NEW MAN RIGHT NOW????? YOU REALLY THINK SHE'S READY FOR THAT???
DO YOU HAVE A SINGLE BRAINCELL MANDY? EVER HEARD OF EMPATHY

🤡 if you think i am done yelling now, you would be mistaken. i am just getting started

🤡 this book is a dual pov, which means we have an entire part that is just Cora, than an entire part that is just Dean and then Cora again.

🤡Dean spends his entire POV being like "I know you are drowning Cora, but I can save you" to which Cora is like "Nope, you are bad for me" to which he is like "blablablablablablablabla" - you get it

🤡 and then when it's Cora's POV again he is like "This relationship is toxic, we can't do this" WHAT DO YOU MEAN. WHERE WAS THE ENERGY FIVE SECONDS AGO MY BOY

🤡 you're probably all wondering: "what the fuck is your problem, Jonathan". oh several actually, i have this presentation next week and i am really not ready but also

🤡 THIS BOOK PRETENDS LIKE IT'S SO FUCKING ROMANTIC HOW THOSE TWO FALL IN LOVE. it's all like "Oh look at them, they have overcome so much, how romantic."

🤡 NO.

🤡 THEY NEED THERAPY

🤡 Dean says about his relationship with Mandy "Maybe… maybe, but it’s always been a shallow kind of love. Comfortable. Surface deep. We have no scars, no battle wounds. We haven’t been to Hell and back, or clung to each other in the shadows, crying, shaking, expelling the dirtiest pieces of our soul together."
is that REALLY what love needs to be like or is it just TRAUMA. i'll give you a hint.
you know why you feel attracted to Cora? Because she fucking reminds you of your trauma. GO TO THERAPY

🤡 the middle part was also really boring

🤡 also, when Dean first sees Cora, he's like "I will marry her someday" and then he goes for her sister and dates her for 15 years. maybe he deserves that clown emoji more than i do

🤡 when Dean and Mandy break up she is immediately like "I wasted fifteen years with you"
i love when couples immediately turn when they break up, like two seconds ago she was all like don't break up with me i love you and now she's all like fifteen years wasted, what do you mean wasted? you had a good run and now it's over. don't pretend like nothing mattered from the past because you're sad in the present

🤡 Cora fucking adopts her kidnappers dogs. I asked for opinions on that and both people thought it was okay, so maybe i am the weird one here

🤡 “I hate you. I always have.” “No.” I cradle her wet cheeks between my palms and plant a kiss on her mouth, tender and soft. “You love me. You fucking love me, Cora.”
nope, trauma response

🤡 "But I know it’s love… it has to be, because if this isn’t love… Then I’m certain it does not exist."
well, it's fake then cause this is a trauma response, baby, get therapy <3

🤡 :) when they have consensual sex for the first time Dean says this: "Did you miss my cock."

🤡 ahem

🤡 WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU ASK THAT WHEN THE LAST TIME YOU'VE BEEN INSIDE HER WAS WHEN YOU WERE FORCED TO R*PE HER. YOU ARE NOT SOME CUTE COUPLE WHO DIDN'T HAVE SEX FOR A WHILE AND NOW YOU'RE BACK TOGETHER AND CAN'T WAIT TO GET IT ON.
and Cora is all like "moans" and "yes". just shoot me :) please shoot me :) i crave death :) give it to me :)

🤡 this book is so dramatic and fake deep. i get that you all are traumatized but "Slow, gentle lovemaking that wiped us clean of all that violence. Of all that darkness. But this is anything but soft. This is rough and raw and dirty, and we’re animals clawing at each other, biting, all primal growls and desperate thrusts. It’s fitting, I decide. After all, we were created in darkness. It’s in our blood." shut up :)

🤡 "But then I feel her start to tremble, shivering in my arms as she tries to hide her tears from me. I hold her tight, kissing her shoulder and whispering soothing words into her ear. I told her I would stay with her until the darkness passed, and I did not lie."
what a healthy after sex response. you two are so good at convincing me that you are indeed soulmates and not just two people who need a shit ton of therapy to get out of this unhealthy relationship you found yourself in because of, say it with me kids, trauma

🤡 "And i can't stop caring about you, just because our circumstances are not ideal." not IDEAL???? DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF??

🤡 wrap it up please Jonathan, i am getting tired of this

🤡 "Maybe this was simply born out of trauma and survival." MAYBE????

🤡 oh btw there is another survivor in this who also got pregnant but kept the baby and she's like "it's Matthews (the dude she's been in captivity with), not Earls" and i'm like "how do you know :)" i doubt you got a real paternity test :) considering Matthew is kind of dead :) and i think you would need some form of his DNA to find that out :) but okay, babe, you do you :) only crazy people here :) help me :)

🤡 one time someone is like "Something so horrible, yet so tragically beautiful."
give me a fucking break. stop looking for hidden poetry in your trauma. go to therapy.

🤡 "Maybe love is singing her favorite song in the dark, just so she can sleep. Maybe love is giving away the shoes on your feet to help keep her warm. Maybe love is coming over in the middle of the night when the power goes out because you know she’s afraid of the dark. And maybe love is walking away because it’s the only way she’ll find the light again."
maybe love is going to therapy instead of making me sit through this pseudo poetic bullshit

🤡 i'll stop now. was there a point i was trying to make in my review? i can't remember... oh... yes

🤡 Stop trying to sell me a toxic, completely trauma made and based relationship as something romantic and desirable. 0.5 stars. Everyone go to therapy.
Profile Image for Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️.
1,916 reviews32.4k followers
August 12, 2021
So much more than just an erotic romance.

I decided to pick this up after seeing one of my best and oldest GR friends splash it with 5-stars (and she seems to be just as stingy with the stars as I am) and leave a beautiful review.

I really loved this thing.

Hartmann was able to write an erotic romance about tough subjects and a somewhat trope-y scenario and make it feel like...more.

I know I will be reading and re-reading this for years to come. Definitely a new top favorite.

Here's my friend's review for those interested:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Profile Image for Ayman.
252 reviews107k followers
October 2, 2023
the author really wrote the most heart wrenching, emotionally loaded, and appetite terminating sentences then said “good luck”

3.5 ⭐️
Profile Image for Drey.
167 reviews989 followers
June 9, 2021
5 Stars!

... Shackled by hate, freed by love.

What can I say? I loved this book as shit. I loved that it was so bare, tragic, poignant, and profound. This book was extremely well-written the reason that it brings very vivid images, sharing you the pain and horror the main characters both endured when they were abducted. This was a very beautiful story set in the most ugliest environment.

Note: This is a dark romance.

“Every love story is worth writing, no matter how messy it might be..."


This is a story centered between two long-time nemesis, brought together by horrible circumstance, and developed feelings during a moment of survival that chained them forever. They escaped the horror of that place. But the trauma that it caused and the barrier that was awaiting, Maddy—Cora's sister and Dean's fiancee—made the story more intricate, adding more complications for the main characters to grow.

I won't make this long. I just want to say that I loved Jennifer Hartmann for making the second and the third part of the story emotional. I loved that she took the story in that direction. Why? Because I've got to see and feel how they recovered from the trauma that they both suffered when they escaped that hell. Every guilt and shame that Cora felt for falling in love with her sister's fiance was shown effectively. The story made me delve deeper making me understand, and giving me the answers I needed whether the love they felt for each other was real, or if it was just merely an illusion of everything they've both been through.

Overall, I extremely loved the book. Dean and Cora easily claimed a spot as one of my favourite couples. This is my first book by this author but I can already tell that she is a great storyteller. If you do try this one, please please please go in blind. It's not safe. It's dark. It's disturbing. It's heartbreaking. It's confusing. But it's love.

I recommend this to those who likes: Jennifer Hartmann, dark, captive, enemies to lovers, forbidden, love triangle, taboo, second chance, emotional read, and a happily ever after.

"He places his hand over my heart, while reaching for my own hand and placing it against his. With my hand to his chest, and his to mine, our heartbeats vibrating through our fingertips, he whispers down at me, “They’re still beating. As long as they’re beating, we’re okay.”


Trigger Warnings: Vivid depiction of sexual assault, murder, and suicide.




Profile Image for Júlia.
230 reviews5,355 followers
January 27, 2023
Now that I slept on it, this book really is 1 star.

TW: rape, miscarriage, kidnapping, murder (this review will contain spoilers)

I jumped into this book with FULL CONFIDENCE that I was going to be like: oh yeah, this is great. Everyone loves it. And it is in fact, well written. Jennifer has a very smooth writing style that makes going through this read very easy, so I will give this book 3 stars. But...

The things I have to say about this book don't end here. Sit down, go grab some popcorn... this might take a while.

Cora, HATES her sister's fiancé. Yeah, you heard that right. Her sister's fiancé who has been with her sister for fifteen years .But Cora and Dean hate each other in a funny way... They hate each other in a: Dean is going to give his SISTER-IN-LAW a vibrator for x-mas way.

Because it is totally normal to get a vibrator from your brother-in-law while the entire family watches you open it on Jesus's B-DAY.

They hate each other in a: we are going to banter, and prank one another and maybe have intrusive thoughts of how we actually find each other attractive for

FIFTEEN YEARS

Her sister, was disrespected, ignored, and lied to behind her back for FITEEN YEARS, because NO ONE had the balls to say: oh maybe there is something here, and we should either CUT IT OUT, fuck or move on.

No, they weren't smart or mature enough to figure out they had a thing for each other. 15 years is not enough time! Poor Dean. Poor Cora. They had no idea what they were doing, and you know who is going to help them figure it out? A SERIAL KILLER, CALLED THE MATCHMAKER. Who, listen to this,

KIDNAPS PEOPLE who are not in a relationship, locks them in a basement, and forces them to rape each other until they fall in love.

Then he supposedly kills his victims and buries them in his backyard, but you know...

Normal stuff.

As I was posting reading updates on Instagram, everyone was like, BUT JULIA THEY TRAUMA-BONDED. Oh spare me, they didn't trauma bond, they could have, if the author didn't use every single flashback of the last fifteen years to show how much they flirted on the sidelines.

I might have been ok with the situation if she hadn't vilified the sister by saying: oh she was too girly, she loved dresses and make up and I loved wearing sneakers and eating doughnuts. She was superficial and I read books.

So I guess it's ok to thirst after your sister's fiancé for years, because you're not like other girls.

You really can't trust anyone these days, and this might be completely personal, but I WOULD NEVER, EVER, fuck anyone my sister has fucked.

But anyways, yes, yes, this is a piece of fiction. (that was planned, plotted and edited, mind you ) so somehow all of this made sense and our serial killer "I am going to make you sleep with each other against your will" was what threw them over the edge.

They get out of captivity, Dean kills the Serial Killer for what he did to Cora. They were gone for 20 days, and after that, Dean, our sweet boy Dean finally says this:

"I've only ever been with my fiancé. And honestly? The only other woman I've ever thought about that way is Cora (HER SISTER) which is a secret I'll take to my grave. Neither of them can EVER know I had eyes for Cora first, when I saw her at English class, radiating innocence and lavender."

INNOCENCE AND LAVENDER? What kind of PEDO BEAR talk is this? Anyways, yeah bro. I figured out you wanted to fuck your fiancé's sister on chapter one, no one is mind-blown here.

But you COWARD, INSECURE, PIECE OF SHIT ASS is telling me the only reason you are dating Cora's sister today, is because she just happened to give you the green light to date first? Otherwise it would have been Cora? You needed to wet your WILLY THAT FUCKING DESPERATELY YOU PATHETIC PIECE OF BALL SACK?

AND YOU LET THIS GO ON FOR FIFTEEN YEARS? AND THEN, YOU ASKED HER TO MARRY YOU? Even though you say later on you "Have known you were going to end up with Cora from the moment you first laid eyes on her?"

IF YOU KNEW CORA WAS THE ONE, FROM THE DAY YOU FIRST SAW HER FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, WHY THE FUCK DID YOU PROPOSE TO HER SISTER YOU INCOMPETENT SWINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*takes a deep breath*

Anyways, and what do you think they do once they come back from captivity? Does he call off the wedding? Do they tell ANYONE what happened? No. They continue to lie to her sister. The sister they apparently BOTH LOVE.

They fall asleep on the phone with each other, they PLAY FOOTSIES UNDER THE TABLE during FAMILY DINNERS AND DOUBLE DATES. They let this shit go on for a LOOOOOONG FUCKING TIME, but then they realize they want to fuck again and the foreplay is over, and Dean finally dumps Cora's sister.

During the break up, Cora's sister is RIGHTFULLY PISSED OFF, and says: you didn't realize it in fifteen fucking years you fucking psycopath? AND he continues to lie and says the break up has nothing to do with her sister, it's the "trauma". He even says they have NOTHING IN COMMON!!!!

And Mindy says the only good sentence in this entire book.

"You either want to fuck my sister or you don't Dean"

Anyways, he continues to lie and gaslight everyone, but it's ok, because they "trauma-bonded."

I know trauma-bonding is real, in real life, but the fact that this author added so many flashbacks to their previous flirting did a HUGE disservice to the validity of this trauma.

Anyway, someone said on Instagram that the ending of this book should be both sister's getting together and going after this creepy, ass coward and that's just how I am going to imagine this book ending.

Fuck men. I have no tolerance for liars, cheaters and unfaithful, backstabbing people.

The book is well-written, but these inconsistencies and lack of proper character development almost blew my brain.

The real victim here was her sister. If my own sister disrespected me like that for years, our ties would have been cut FOREVER.

I understand the authors goal, maybe she wanted to use this traumatic experience for them to finally realize something that had always been there. They almost died, so after leaving captivity they realize they have to try to be together even if they hurt other people in the process. I would still dislike the situation, but I would be able to understand it more. And that could have been a beautiful story, if all those flashbacks didn't STINK ASS on the "emotional cheating" category, the disrespect and shameless flirting.

Anywhoooooo...

we don’t waste people’s times, we don’t lead people on. It’s called EMOTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND WE ALL HAVE IT

January 18, 2022
NOT ENOUGH WORDS HAVE BEEN CREATED FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO PERFECTLY DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I LOVED THIS BOOK. I have been put on a permanent chokehold. The way I started this at midnight and all of a sudden it was 5 am and I was done? and I hadn’t slept? how cute! but honestly, I haven’t found a book this perfect in a while and i’m just in awe right now. Cora & Dean deserve everything good the world has to offer!!!! I’ve never seen two book characters beat the odds as much as these two. AND THE COVER + TITLE COMPLETELY ADDING UP AFTER YOU READ? wow.

“every love story is worth writing, no matter how messy it might be.”

“it’s still beating, as long as it’s beating i’m yours.”
Profile Image for Becky .
213 reviews280 followers
March 17, 2021
Not safe
SISTER DIPPING EVERYWHERE
Triggers: kidnap, rape

He met her during freshman year and was instantly attracted but instead of pursuing her he taunt her. Because you know, he was so young and young boys do that when they like a girl (he said that) but next year he is already dating her sister and they were taking each other virginities. They started dating the same year he was too imature to go after the heroine properly. Nice. Romantic.
So what too imature for pursuing the e heroine but not imature do date her older sister basically right away?

WAIT A SECOND

Her sister is more outgoing and fancy, so I believe he felt attracted for the heroine but felt it more for the sister because she was the one he went after. Ugh

So you didn’t invest on her because boys are stupid but one year later you are already dating her sister? Explain how you can like a girl and be mean to her but when it comes to the sister you were a fucking prince.

He somehow managed to start dating her older sister (ten months older) and on his sophomore year he was already losing her virginity to her who was a junior. Can you see how that doesn’t make sense?


He is with the sister for fifteen fucking years. He asked her to marry him, even when they broke up for three months during college he never fucked anyone else because it didn’t feel right.

The author doesn’t give much details about his relationship with the sister, the flashbacks are few and don’t show much of they together. It’s more about the the heroine and hero interactions, but the sister was always there because he fucking dated her for more than a decade. You can’t gloss it over author, you can’t paint it as nothing, you can’t tell me there wasn’t passion anymore or never was or he maybe don’t love the sister because he spent fifteen years together. He was going to marry her. NOTHING CAN CHANGE THE FACT HE CHOOSE TO PURSUE THE SISTER WHILE SHE WAS ALSO THERE AVAILABLE

Doesn’t make sense to me.

The first time they are intimate is because the kidnapper (who was raping her) demand they fuck or he would kill him. So they are not cheaters then. I don’t think they are cheaters after too, because he broke up with her sister before they fucked again but this is besides the point.

My review won’t be about the heavy stuff and triggers, it will be about the ow unsafety shit.


I didn’t believe the premise of the book, that they were together by fate and even the kidnap didn’t happened he would eventually break things off with the sister and they would end together. They would not be together, he would marry her, doesn’t matter he wasn’t that sure, doesn’t matter he took fifteen years. I can’t possible believe a man who loves, fucks and full on date a woman for more than a decade and propose even though he is attracted to her younger sister truly can love the younger sister. He knows her for half her life and he didn’t act on any attraction toward her, instead he choose to started dating her sister so now they are both traumatized and in love?! I don’t like it.
Yeah so of course he would eventually ended things with the sister who he was going to marry in a few weeks, of course he always had a little something for the heroine while he built a 15 years long relationship with her sister and it took them being kidnapped and he watching her being raped and than having to rape* her himself (at witch during the last time they did it she came so at the moment the connection was there) for him to start falling for her. Great. When exactly would he break things off with the sister and fall for the heroine? After his weeding, after a couple of kids with the sister? After she died? After she cheated on him?


I do feel they love each other but she was settling for less than se deserves, a woman deserves a man who is nice to her even if he is fifteen since he can be nice to her sister to the point of already dating her at the same fucking age the same fucking year?! That doesn’t make any fucking sense. He matured so much in less than one year?! He suddenly matured when he met her sister days after meeting her? Fuck that shit


She deserved a man who can’t stand being around her and not pursuing her. At the very fucking least she deserve a an who didn’t spend half his live fucking her sister and experiencieis everything with her while she dated cheaters.

During college he and the sister were separated for three months and he still didn’t look at the heroine, he didn’t look at anyone because it didn’t feel right. Heroine was not on his then and I don’t trust the reasons she is now.

She was only with three guys other than him. Fifteen fucking years and she had one night stand at nineteen, than dated a cheater and had one other relationship with another cheater before the last one three years ago. She dated the last guy for four years, but what about the other one before that? And come the fuck, she wasn’t pinning for him, at least that, but she also was attracted to him and I hate. She spend the last three years suffering for the last cheater, the author could have give the girl some flings and one night stands, she should have being having the time of her life being single at 27-30 with money, a nice job and a good look.


How great is that the hero sex life with the sister is nice, vanilla but he has no complaints. She is sexy and willing (his words) and the week of the kidnap they fucked because five weeks after being abducted the sister mentions he should want to fuck because has been almost six weeks! So funny how he said their relationship was a little off but not when it comes to sex people they were going at it! Romantic


Of course the hero has sex constantly but the heroine has been frozen for three years after being cheated by a scumbag. I hate that whenever heroes date a cheater they always turn manwhores after but heroines frozen instead. Women also like to go wild you know, we also love sex, we also love the feel of revenge after fucking the first person right after breaking up with the cheater. We like one night stands with hot guys we don’t intend to see ever again. We like dating. We use tinder during desperate times, for fucks sakes. We can fuck without feelings getting involved. We can get over a break up without being in limbo for years!

Obviously the hero can have his fun but the heroine only dated cheaters! I would never be with a man who loved my sister (after everything he thinks one time he doesn’t know if he truly loved her) but doesn’t matter, during fifteen years he was content, he believed he loved her and acted like it, he lusted after her 🤢

How nice and romantic to know the hero thinks the sisterS are the most beautiful girls he ever seen. How lovely is that he attraction toward the heroine turned into a hate banter but when it comes to her sister it comes to them dating. Doesn’t make any sense because if he was immature to act on it properly for the heroine he shouldn’t be able to do right by her sister in the same fucking year. He attraction for her was bigger than.


The author tried to make it a little better by making the sister the bad guy, cheating on him once last summer and fucking the guy heroine was crushing on the one time she and the hero broke up during college.


After the kidnap the sister kisses him (no tongue or reciprocation by him) but heroine doesn’t have any of that. She has a guy who she talks and goes on a double date with but the hero jealous act when he still hasn’t broke up with the sister made him run.

It’s a heavy book and other reviews will explain it better, the kidnap part was very interesting but I can’t fathom being with someone who have spent almost two decades fucking my sister!!!!!!



The authors did a nice job when it comes to writing style in my opinion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for chloé ✿.
130 reviews2,581 followers
August 31, 2023
a whopping 1 star

this is one of those instances where i genuinely question if i read the same book as everyone else.

i should have dnf’d but a girl’s gotta finish her 2023 reading goal. 🫡

if you want a dark romance with a shitty cover, a handful of grammatical errors, spice, and a serial killer, i HIGHLY recommend The Mindf*ck Series instead.

(an important side note: i have a TON of friends who adore this book. i wish i did and i’m sorry that i did not. i will never bash you, as a reader, for loving a book. all opinions are safe and valid here. ❤️)


—— update 8/31/2023: lowered my rating from 2 stars to 1 star and i do not regret doing so.
Profile Image for chan ☆.
1,131 reviews54.4k followers
May 2, 2022
i think i'm going to settle on a 2 star rating for this. if i had discovered this for myself it might have gotten an extra star but this was extremely overly recommended to me and it fell pretty flat.

i was ready for nuanced emotion and trauma healing but it all felt pretty hollow and underdeveloped. i didn't understand the characters well enough to care about their relationship. and the ending felt too easy idk.
Profile Image for ❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books.
2,323 reviews9,246 followers
April 2, 2021
90ca45e7e7c6ddfa7f3d6d91a5f154bd-1-1
Today was Easter Friday, I grabbed a glass of wine, an Easter egg and sat in my favourite spot to read, my glass became empty, my Easter egg long gone, I barely moved off my spot, this book exceeded all my expectations, I loved everything about this book, even though the storyline was dark we got glimpses of light, and god this book ticked so sooooo many boxes.

I didn’t just fall in love with one character, my heart beat for two. Every single emotion was felt, I giggled, I cried, I sighed, I swooned, I loved.

This book from the very first chapters took my breath away, and so easily went from a 5 star read to my favourite 2021 bookshelf!

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All thanks to Carla for reading this so that it popped up on my newsfeed. So now I’m passing it along hoping others see it pop up on their feeds. I can’t recommend this enough.

Such a unique, unputdownable thought provoking book!

Normally I cringe when a book is over 1,000 pages, this was just slightly over, only because I'm not the fastest reader in the world and they do tend to take me a while to read. This book right here took me a day!! That is not the norm!! I ignored everything, off went my phone and mobile, the only time I breathed was when I screamed at peeps to read this book!! Guys take my word for it, one click it, read it, just remember its no unicorns farting cupcakes kind of book, its dark, its gritty, it's right up in your grill, this author does not hold back!!

* Teaser used is off the authors facebook page *

                  
Profile Image for Mojo_Mama.
1,484 reviews709 followers
July 5, 2021
#overshare

When I was a child my mother told me Kismet was real. That Destiny plays a hand in our lives, and, if we’re lucky enough, it will be fully revealed. I’ve manifested enough beauty after tragedy into my life to know Fate is truly the cause.

I was abducted while living in the ME. A year after I met my future husband. And taken by someone I knew through work. I’m only lucky that he felt so immune to local inquiry he left neon signposts in his wake. Sex trafficking is real. Everyone is just a couple of degrees from knowing someone affected by it.

My husband was a Marine (there are no ex’s). The Marines trained him for what he did as a civilian when we met. Rescue people for money.

He rescued me. That’s such a strange word for me. Rescue. But he did it in so many ways over so many years. He still is, even though he’s gone.

I find myself drawn to dark erotica, admittedly, for the very obvious reasons. If I look at it too closely I’d say it’s a bizarre form of exposure therapy. Similar to the h wanting to be tied up during sex post-abduction. That wasn’t really explored and she was shamed for it. While the h’s sentiment is real, the H’s reaction was disheartening. It’s my only complaint. That, in the end, he felt he couldn’t help her heal. So he left.

I mainly read this sub-genre because every once in a while I catch a glimpse from an author who understands even a second of the experience, aftermath, or healing. I always wonder why. What shared experiences do we have? Have they faced something similar? Someone they know? Are they just that creative? Or deeply attuned to pain?

I’m looking at this experience from 25 years down the line. I don’t want to rehash why, but I just felt parts of this were lived experience and felt so raw and real the writing craft deserved acknowledgement from a survivor.

This isn’t perfect or on point each moment. There’s way too much reading into the H/h as teens and his 15 year relationship with the h’s sister in other reviews. The H/h weren’t carrying conscious torches for each other. Circumstances changed their lives and opened their eyes to what their new reality wrought.

I hesitated posting this. It’s TMI. I know. But you’ll understand why if you read this. The book has a beauty in darkness and I cannot recommend it enough to those who like fucked up shit for their own personal reasons and/or demons.

4.5 stars
Profile Image for Heather Mclarry.
243 reviews27.4k followers
September 12, 2023
3.5⭐️ good book. Got pretty annoyed at the toxicity even though it totally made sense😂
Profile Image for Crystal (Crystalreads2) .
872 reviews806 followers
January 8, 2023
01/09/23 two years later and The second time around, I feel this book is much more powerful. It’s still ripped my heart out and put it back together. It’s raw, and emotional. Dean and Cora will for we be in my heart.




A beautiful, tragic love story. I don't know how I discovered this book, but I am happy I did. On my dark scale, it's black. I know it’s early in this year, and I am telling you this is so far the best book of the year for me. The author took my heart, ripped it open, and slowly put it back together. It's rare that a book profoundly moves me and touches my soul. I have now added this book to that shelf.

Still Beating is not what I expected; it’s so much more. The first part of the book is when Corabelle and her sister's fiancé are kidnapped, spent three horrific weeks at the house of horrors. Lines are blurred and crossed. Once rescued, they are now dealing with the aftermath and how to move forward.


“Every love story is worth writing, no matter how messy it might be,

Their story is chaotic and messy. We read their journey of trying to move forward and healing, which is a rough, painful ride. It’s raw. They both have their own demons to deal with. It’s either they can help each other together or separately. No one around seems to understand what the two went through and the bond they have formed. It’s a total push/pull with them

I have two suggestions when reading this book, have tissues ( trust me, you will need them ), two have an open mind. For all my dark romance lovers, I highly recommend this book.

I will warn you about one character, and some may disagree with me; I couldn’t stand Mandy . Too selfish for me; there were some glimpses of caring but not much.

Profile Image for Phuong ✯.
661 reviews7,422 followers
October 30, 2022
i thought the biggest problem i would have with this book was the sister dipping and how it's going to hard for me to root for the romance when the Hero was together with the heroine's sister for 15 years. while that was yikes and a huge no, it's not even my biggest issues with Still Beating.

i disliked this book, because the two main characters Corabelle (h) and Dean (H) were just god awful humans in general and you can't convince me otherwise .. and don't come at me with how Corabelle adopted the poor dogs of that serial killer, that was just weird.

the way Corabelle keeps trash talking her sister Mandy was disgusting to read. she's one of those girls who need to tear other women down to make herself feel better about her 'nerdy' self and it was annoying. it's not the flex you think you are that you rather buy clothes for your dog than for yourself honey.

Dean was a bit more likeable, but with more likeable i mean that Corabelle is like a 0.25/10, whereas Dean is a 0.75/10. it's not really a compliment. the bad boy image apparently is pretty easy to cultivate since all it takes to smoke and smell like leather. i guess it was suppose to be romantic that Dean saw Corabelle first and always had a thing for her, but i thought it was just straight out shitty of him to string Mandy along for 15 years when he always had a romantic soft spot for Corabelle. Mandy deserves better.

the characters and romance deserve 1 star, but the book was well written and i thought the plot was interesting and unique enough to raise it to 2 star. or maybe i'm just giving extra point to Earl (the serial killer) for his mind, because kidnapping two people and making them fall in love with each other before killing them? ✨ a stroke of genius ✨
Profile Image for Saswati.
464 reviews332 followers
January 29, 2021
4.25 ‘You feel like my lifeline’ stars ⭐️

He’s the only calm to my madness, the only light to my dark, the only sweet to my bitter remains.

Cora and her sister's long-time boyfriend Dean have been at each other's throats for almost fifteen years, constantly pranking and name-calling the other.

One night, after celebrating her sister's birthday and staying back for drinks at a bar, Cora's wallet is stolen. It's the middle of the night, and she's stranded all alone. After failing to contact everyone else, Cora calls Dean to come and rescue her. However, hardly do they begin their journey, when they're both knocked out and kidnapped. When they wake up, they find themselves chained up in the basement of a madman.

I don’t know if there is a sense of dramatic irony in the fact that I’ve been taken captive with the one person in the world I hate most, or if there is a semblance of relief in the realization that I am not alone in this.

Forced to go through terrible ordeals for weeks, Cora and Dean form a very deep and unexpected bond forged from suffering, pain and hope.

We are bound, chained, tied—to our trauma and to each other.
We’re in this together.


When they finally get out of that hell, they must adjust to the outside world once more, and face their unwanted feelings for one another.

We’ll never be friends. We’re no longer enemies. We can’t be lovers.
Where does that leave us?
Soldiers at war. Kindred spirits. Two lost, wandering souls with nothing, and everything, in common.
Or… maybe not.
Maybe we aren’t something meant to be labeled. We transcend titles.
And that, I fear, is the most powerful thing of all.


Even though this book is marketed as a dark romance, I didn't find there to anything dark in their love. Yes, there's some dark, fucked up shit that happens when they're held captive, but the romance itself is a journey full of heartache and healing.

“I’ve got you,” I whisper into her hair. “Always.”
She can pretend to hate me. If it diminishes even a fraction of her pain, she can fucking pretend all she wants.
But I know it’s love… it has to be, because if this isn’t love…
Then I’m certain it does not exist.


— — — —

TW: Rape, suicide attempt, death of a pet.
Profile Image for Antje ❦.
163 reviews416 followers
July 17, 2023
Yeah you can skip this one

FIRST OF ALL this is a dark romance novel, so check the triggers. Physical abuse and rape were portrayed pretty graphically so I would suggest reconsidering reading this if you’re triggered by any of that stuff. Better safe than sorry.

THOUGHTS Yeah, I’m not a fan of this book. I see the potential, hence the rating, but the deliver was laughable. As you can guess, by the triggers and the blurb, this novel deals with some pretty heavy topics. But at the same time, even though these traumatic events were described in detail and happened to VERY MUCH adult people, the execution gave third grade. It’s just not possible that an adult (or any real-life person) would deal with these things the way Cora and Dean did. They were clearly traumatized by the kidnapping and the abuse, but the way they coped and “magically healed” the moment they were together is too fictional (if that’s a thing). This falls in the category “I’ve read better things on Wattpad” (just painful). However, you can see, the rating is not too bad, 3 solid stars. To explain myself, the story was interesting and not very formulaic, with good writing and characterization this could’ve been a great book and a great trauma-bonding love story. It ended up not being one, but props for trying.

CHARACTERS

CORA You know that girl on tiktok that films those “insufferable main character from indie movies” videos? That’s Cora in my mind. Her being in sweatpants and wearing no makeup was mentioned unironically every time she showed up (and since this book had three characters it was on every page). And also, being with a man your sister was with for FIFTEEN YEARS, I’m sorry, do you have any morals? No amount of trauma can justify that behavior.

DEAN I liked his chapters more. There was this huge chunk of book with his POV and that part of the story really had a nice flow. HOWEVER, this man had some questionable actions (all of them).

MANDY Not really a character since we know only that she wears all that makeup and those fake lashes SHE DOES NOT NEED. SERIOUSLY, THIS NARRATIVE HAS TO STOP. Romance authors should finally give up on the “natural beauty” thing cuz it won’t make me love the main character more. QUITE THE OPPOSITE. This poor woman was cheated on, and that sort of plot twist in the end that was supposed to make me root for Cora and Dean, a HUGE NONO.

Suggest me better dark romance in the comments.🤞🤞
Profile Image for Ria.
147 reviews493 followers
March 6, 2021
Sigh.....

I can already see people in their feelings because of this....

This is probably the most recommended book on my TL since January. This book came HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to me because I love DR. Prior to starting it I saw so many reviews and comments with people expressing how much they loved it and how it’s so emotional and they cried for days because it’s the best book ever and blah blah blah.

Lemme just say that this book is fucking stupid. It makes no sense and the H is an annoying bitch. I got to around 30% and it took me almost a month to do so. I think this book is extremely overrated and people are only loving it to join the conversation.

Lemme give y’all a breakdown-
The H has been with the h’s sister for FIFTEEN FUCKING YEARS......but you know the usual dumb plot where he liked the h before he got with her sister. Yea so that’s that.....
I’m sorry but it’s the 15 years for me LMAO! There is no part of this story that appeals to me.
Then there’s the h, from chapter one I knew that I wouldn’t like her because she’s a whiny, annoying character and her inner dialogue is shit.

Then there’s the whole kidnapping stuff...... I don’t think I’ve ever read a more boring scene. Any-who jumping to the actual force sex and whatnot.....yea that first scene was fade to black and I wasn’t having it. What’s the point of writing a dark romance and focusing so much on the fact that the two main characters was forced to have sex if it’s going to be fade to black?????

And that "villain” what’s a fucking joke!

Listen this entire thing is so laughable it’s not even funny. I’m willing to read a lot of far fetched books but they at least gotta make sense!
This book made no sense (to me) and I was trying to forget I even read it but y’all kept asking for a review so here ya go.


" I’m not your enemy down here, Corabelle.” His words carry an unfamiliar weight as they continue to disarm me. “I don’t know how to see you as anything else,” I admit.

Had to include that lil quote because even when the bitch is kidnapped and abused she’s still holding on to teenage shit that happened between them years ago.....and seeing that he’s the only person who can help her dumb ass it was annoying to read ( not to mention how repetitive that got when she kept repeating it to herself that she can’t trust him)....can you guys hear my eye rolling in the back of head as yet?
Profile Image for Warda.
1,257 reviews21.6k followers
October 13, 2023
That epilogue was the sweetest! And so deserved! 😭

I don’t have too much to say about this story that hasn’t been already said. It’s well loved for a good reason and I’m so glad this worked for me.

It is a dark romance, but it’s more so dark at the beginning of the book. I’m glad we didn’t spend too much time with our main characters in captivity. I think the author managed to capture the horrific nature they were in within that first part and that was more than enough.

“Cora curls herself into me, close enough that I’m certain she can feel my heartbeat radiate right through her as she drifts to sleep. I wonder if she can feel how broken it is.”

I’m glad most of the book was spend with them trying to figure out themselves and their lives again. It was messy, but it needed to be messy. My heart ached and rooted for them both.

I had two main qualms with this though.
• I don’t feel like the relationship was equally yoked. Dean was the star of the show. The way he took care of her, reassured her, was there for her in every possibly way just made me wanna cry. He was a sweetheart! 🥹 And I don’t feel like that was reciprocated by Cora in the same way. I think Dean invested more and I wish the balance was better.
• Whilst I liked that this book was split into 3 parts (with some past timelines included) and each of those parts focused on one character POV, I wish we had both of their perspectives blended in. I wanted to be in both their heads.

There’s so much more to this story though that’s best left discovered when you read it. I know I can’t wait to read more from this author!
Profile Image for Christy.
4,081 reviews34.6k followers
March 20, 2022
4.5 stars

This was a hard book to read. It's strange to say I enjoyed it, because it was so heartbreaking and horrifying at times. But in the tragedy these characters went through, they also formed an unbreakable bond. I thought it was so interesting that the story wasn't just about the captivity and the after, but it also went into the past and showed us different parts of Dean and Cora's relationship. Not only did they bond through their trauma, but they had an untypical 15 year relationship. The characters were well developed and I loved the writing. I will definitely be checking out more from this author. Just be prepared if you read it, it's pretty dark at times.
Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 4.5 stars
Narrators: Laurie West & Christian Black
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary/Dark Romance
Length: 11h 24m


Profile Image for Jessica .
2,234 reviews14.7k followers
January 5, 2022
THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD AND SO DARK AND SO ANGSTYYYYY.

Okay, please know first off that this book is dark. REALLY DARK. The hero and heroine are kidnapped by a man who likes to make his victims fall for each other before killing them. So he's trying to get the hero and heroine to fall in love. By doing dark things to them. And the hero is the heroine's sister's fiancé. Talk about taboo. I absolutely loved the deep connection that Cora and Dean share. They've spent the past fifteen years hating each other and pranking each other, but they end up making some pretty serious confessions to one another when they're kidnapped. Once they make it out alive, neither of them is able to move on or stay away from each other. Their romance is definitely forbidden, but all they want to do is be around each other. I could not get enough of this story. It was horrifying to read in the beginning, but definitely angsty and so emotional as the book went on. I do wish the sister wasn't as dislikable as she was since that kind of seemed like an easy way out for Dean, but overall I loved this book. I loved the journey Dean and Cora went on once they escaped and the connection those two had. I won't stop thinking about this book for a long time and couldn't recommend it enough!
Profile Image for Youssra♡.
72 reviews568 followers
January 5, 2024
This book fucked me up and then put me back together at the end🤧❤️‍🩹
Rtc!!
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I guess I got a thing for heart break, so lets have this reread🥹❤️‍🩹

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This is just so painful.
Profile Image for TJ ☾.
718 reviews1,639 followers
October 12, 2021
- this author describing Dean Asher as a 'bad boy'...... ha... ha ha... ha ha.... but where tho?

- this heroine has the I'm-not-like-the other girls vibe. its clear because her sister likes mainstream things while the heroine is a weird bookworm I'm supposed to respect the h more. I'm a bookworm myself, but I should look down on her sister because she partied in high school and was prom queen? I dont know she sounds like fun to me.

- since Cora (h) and Dean (H) were being held captive by a rapist/murderer, I really didn't get why Cora was so hung up on their old teenage feud. no matter how much you 'hate' each other, you've known each other for 15 years, he's your sisters fiancé, you know what type of man he is, so compared to the serial killer psycho that's been raping you for a week I think you can set aside the feud and work together for the time being... why was she like this 🤧

- I think I would've liked this book more had the H not been with the h's sister for 15 years, but I still wouldn't have liked it anyway so.... what's one more bad thing on top of bad things

- "I remember the Daddy Long Leg spider in the cobwebbed corner that never seemed to move. I thought he was dead until I caught the tiniest twitch of one of his thin legs. I wondered how long he could go without food.
I bet he wondered the same thing about me."


.......I bet he didn't 🙃 it's a fucking spider. someone come get this man

- im supposed to buy the fact that he was in love with Cora before he was in love with her sister, but made a move on the sister instead bc apparently he is Cillian Fitzpatrick and... doesn't look at what he rly wants?

description

- this isn't a hurt-so-good angst, it's I-want-to-claw-my-eyes-out-why-are-you-like-this angst
Profile Image for Jessica ❥Chatterbooks Book Blog❥.
823 reviews3,043 followers
November 10, 2021
Gripping, emotional, and absolutely beautiful, Still Beating is well worth the hype! Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I completely devoured the whole damn thing in one sitting!

Cora and Dean find themselves in a nightmarish situation that no one should ever have to experience. The torture they endure is almost second to the torment they go through once they return back to their normal lives. The emotional turmoil is almost too much to bear, but seeing them make it through is worth all of the heartache.

In the end, Cora and Dean earned every bit of their HEA, and this author gained a new fan.

If slightly dark, angsty, emotional romance is your thing, this one's for you!
Profile Image for Riley.
447 reviews23k followers
March 15, 2022
This was so unlike any romance I've ever read before. And as much as it broke my heart at times, this is my favorite romance I've read so far this year!

We are following our main character and her sister's fiancée when they are kidnapped by a deranged serial killer and chained up in a basement to undergo weeks of torture. The serial killer gets off on making his captives fall in love with each other before finally killing them. The first part of this book was so tough to read, it is DARK and traumatizing what these two characters go through.

But the rest of the book is what really captured my heart. Because this book isn't so much about what torture they went through in that basement, but about what happened once they escaped and try to heal and overcome the trauma.

This is probably the only romance I have read where I 100% believe without a doubt that these two characters are soulmates. Their love, even though born out of something horrific, is so beautiful. And I know this book will stay with me for a long time

tw:
Profile Image for NMmomof4.
1,587 reviews4,256 followers
June 25, 2023
4 Stars (Originally Read 10/22/2021)

4 Stars (Re-Read 6/25/2023)


Overall Opinion: This was better than I expected! I loved experiencing the drastic changing of dynamics between these two and how they come into their fierce love. It was traumatic, so anyone with triggers probably needs to check my trigger spoiler below and stay away. Also, yes — he was with her sister, but I think that is what makes it so much more tragic and brought on the emotions! So, if you don’t think you can handle that he was with her sister before her, I would suggest staying far away as well. I only had a few reasons for this not being higher rating. The h bordered on cruel sometimes with her hot/cold treatment of the H. It might be that I loved his character so I couldn’t tolerate his mistreatment — but it bugged me. I also wanted more time between when their conflict was resolved and the epilogue. I would’ve loved to experience them ! Then there was a feature that I hate in books with cheating…. I wish authors would leave well enough alone! There doesn’t need to be that for it to justify the mc’s actions!! Otherwise, I still liked it.

Re-Read Note:. I don't have much to add here. Same rating and same issues (h's hot and cold, the ending right after the conflict solution, and the justification). I enjoyed re-reading it. It for sure isn't a fluffy unicorn and rainbow story. It seems like I gravitate towards the messy romances like this one -- so that makes sense to me!

Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Cora and Dean’s story. Cora barely tolerates her sister’s long-term boyfriend and when they both wake up in a basement chained to a pole by a madman, she learns to appreciate his presence. Dean has always loved pushing Cora’s buttons, but knows things are changing between them the longer they are forced to do things and spend fearful days under a psycho’s hold. Once they get out, neither can deny that things have changed between them and they have to navigate their trauma and new realities both together and on their own…and they get a HEA ending.

Point Of View (POV): This was broken down into parts with alternating between Cora and Dean’s POVs.

Overall Pace of Story: Good. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.

Instalove: No. They thought they hated each other before they turned into allies and then into more.

H (Hero) rating: 5 stars. Dean. I loved him. He was a great guy!

h (heroine) rating: 3.5 stars. Cora. I liked her but she was kind of cruel to the H at times where she rubbed me the wrong way.

Sadness level: Moderate/high. I shed some tears and needed a tissue here and there.

Push/Pull: Yes

Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.

Descriptive sex: Yes

OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes

Sex scene with OW or OM: Yes, but not in the typical way

Cheating: Yes

Separation: Yes

Possible Triggers: Yes

Closure: This ends with a cute epilogue and what I would call a HEA ending

Safety: This one is probably Not Safe for most safety gang readers
December 20, 2021





I want to first state that I’ve never read anything by this author! But I’ll start looking for more of her work in the future




As I sit back and try to collect my thoughts after this particular read

The first few chapters my mind had wondered how in the blazes did somebody actually think that this was a romance read, all I could think about was how sad and heartbreaking this story was ... as continue to read it, I could see something growing from it

Now I'm going to be completely honest and tell you that I did not read anyone's review on this book because of the fear of someone giving away the storyline

All I can say is that this book was recommended to me several times this year by a few of my friends I'd like to thank them for that recommendation

This story is about how Cora and Dean had gone from mortal enemies to two people thrown into the black pits of Hell together and somehow came out Still Breathing




I love everything about this book. The story, the characters, the twist and turn of the plot, will you struggle at times with some of the things that you read … Hell yeah but before you realize it you be at the EPILOGUE SAYING HELL YEAH IT WAS ALL WORTH IT

Few dislikes

Omfg, I’m sorry but Mandy got on my last nerve……
I was absolutely dumbfounded, sitting slack-jawed with some of damn things that came out of her mouth… after all the trauma that Cora and Dean went through Mandy just wanted to start back up like nothing happen …. It just ticked me off

So, I need to say this once again in case you didn’t read it the 1st time Oh my gosh. This book. Just.. wow. It completely blew me away in the absolute best way possible. I’ll be recommending this book to EVERYONE and ANYON!




Profile Image for D.L. Howe.
Author 18 books510 followers
May 16, 2021
This is the most beautiful book, I should just leave it at that and call it a day. Unfortunately I’ve always been a girl of too many words.

It’s raw and thought provoking and heart clenching and gratingly emotional. Honestly, you don’t even feel an inkling of this until they’re free. But are they really free? There’s no escaping the traps of your mind but if you have someone who knows exactly what you went through how could you not use them as a crutch? But it’s so much more than that and every step they take is so goddam beautiful it’s sometimes hard to breathe.

In the end it doesn’t matter how much someone else loves or cares for you if you don’t love yourself. As Rupaul so aptly puts it; "If you can't love yourself how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?"
April 26, 2021
Audio - 5 Stars
Story - 4 Stars

OMG I couldn't wait for this to end. I love dark romances, but this was dark and heartbreaking AF!! There is a heavy dose of hurt before the comfort/healing starts. So even with the wonderful HEA, I was left feeling depressed when I was done.

That said, I'm hoping for an audio on the author's book Lotus. I know my heart is going to be ripped to shreds with that one.
Profile Image for nikita.
143 reviews62 followers
July 26, 2021
imagine calling a man the love of your life when he has spent half of his life fucking and loving your sister (and almost marrying her)
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