Does It Hurt?: An Enemies to Lovers Romance
[{'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This book was everything that I didn’t know I needed in my life. It was consuming, intense, heated, and so so hot. Emphasis on HOT. Enzo is the grumpy to Sawyer’s sunshine and everything about the two and their dynamic had me invested beginning to end. There’s so much heat between the two and as if that wasn’t enough, Enzo’s dirty talk is on another level. The creepiness and atmosphere in this book added so much to the story, and every scene and description was so vividly written. Everything about this book was perfection and I can never get enough or H.D. Carlton’s writing. One of my favorite reads of the year'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Dark(ish) Romance\nSeries Type: Standalone\nBook Length: Novel\nPOV: Alternating Dual\nSetting: Australia\nMale MC: Enzo Vitale is an Italian shark expert and researcher living in Australia. He is sexy but jaded and prefers swimming with his sharks then dealing with people. Enzo is 34 and has buzzed dark hair and hazel eyes.\nFemale MC: Sawyer Bennett is an American on the run from a torturous past. She hates having to lie and hurt people to survive, but has little choices in life. Sawyer is 28 and has curly blonde hair and blue eyes.\nEndearment: Baby and several Italian ones\nSpice Level: Medium\nFrequency of Spice: Low/Medium\nAngst Level: Medium\nCliffhanger: No\nEpilogue: Yes\nMy Review: HD Carlton is one of my new favorite authors. I was so excited to read this book after falling in love with Haunting and Hunting Adeline and I was not disappointed at all. This story was unique and exciting and I ate it up like candy. Enzo and Sawyer meet and have a passionate night together which ends with Sawyer stealing Enzo’s identity. He finds her soon after and while exacting his revenge they end up shipwrecked on a small island with a creepy lighthouse and its even creepier old caretaker. Their journey is full of anger, suspense, danger, passion, forgiveness and redeeming love. I highly recommend this book and the author’s other works, they are fantastic reads.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': '10/10⭐️\n5/5🔥\n\nMF/dual pov/standalone/dark romance/enemies to lovers/HEA/forced prox/possessive alphahole/one bed/autassinophilia/praise°radation/hand necklaces/take it all/forced orgasms&squirting/suspense/thriller/murder/suicidal ideations\n\nSawyer is on the run from her past and doing whatever she can to make ends meet. She doesn’t like what she has to do, but she’s determined to survive...most days. Her current predicament has her hiding in Australia. Enzo is a shark biologist. He’s spent the last several years building and growing his own research facility to study their behaviors and the intelligence. It’s all he really cares about. He meets Sawyer in a bar one day and decides to take her back to his place. Sawyer and Enzo really seem to connect on a level Sawyer has never connect with anyone else before. So this makes her feel even more guilty when she goes through with her same old song and dance, and sneaks out of his house, never to see him again.\n\nWhen Enzo figures out what she did, he’s determined to make her pay in the worst ways. He happens to find her on the beach one day and tricks her onto his boat with the promise of the adventure of a lifetime, but soon she realizes that she’s not as safe with him as she thought and he definitely knows what she did. When a killer storm has their ship capsizing and stranding them on what seems to be an abandoned island, will they be able to survive the island… will they survive each other? When sounds and shadows go bump in the night, can they learn to trust each other and put there differences aside, or will they realize just how alike they might actually be?\n\nOh my god! Hailey never misses the mark! She will forever be a favorite of mine. This book was soooo good. Both characters struggled with their ever altering feeling towards each other. They had the perfect definition of a love hate relationship. This was suspenseful and twisted and full of dark kinks. Enzo was definitely the mean, possessive, psychotic, alphahole we all love. Enzo would give Zade Meadows a run for his money for sure! 🥵 (also his research facility def gives me some “Deep Blue Sea” movie vibes 😝) Sawyer was funny and quirky even though she did struggle through some mental battles along the way. She always tends to lean towards the brighter side of things, even though nothing in her life ever seemed to be bright. I kinda started to have my suspicions of how this was going to play out around 50% but it still came with a shock value! I could not put this down. This is not a book you want to sit on! You need it in your life! 🖤'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'Wow! This story with Enzo and Sawyer blew my mind!!!\n\nThis story has:\n✔️amazing plot\n✔️mystery\n✔️dark romance\n✔️possessive alpha male\n✔️ strong female\n✔️ history of trauma/ neglect\n\nI could not put this story down! I absolutely adore HD Carlton’s writing. She had me captivated from the first page.\n\nEnzo now rivals Ryat in a face book boyfriend. He hates Sawyer. Wants to hate Sawyer. Can’t hate Sawyer.\n\nSawyer trusts no one. Hates Enzo. Hates the situation they are in. Just wants her freedom.\n\nGo. Read. Now!'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'I swear, everything Hailey publishes is an absolute MASTERPIECE!!! The GODDESS of dark romance! Enzo is totally daddy shark. 🤤 Does It Hurt? is such a well-rounded work of art. Is has the darkest, hottest smutty smut, a bomb plot, and it’s a thriller to boot. I can’t say enough good things about this book, and I’ll definitely need to re-read it soon. It hooked me from the start, pulled me under, and totally drowned me 😈'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': 'This is an amazing stand alone dark romance book. I received an ARC copy and was super excited to read this book as an intro to H.D Carlton’s writing. Does It Hurt has me all messed up in the best of ways. I am left haunted and wanting to read more by this author. It’s so well written full of Suspense, it’s twisted and romantic. Enzo, my gods I’m speechless. Sawyer she reminds me of my old self in so many ways. And I can’t help but just feel for this fearless woman and her wreckless choices. This is a book hangover a must read!!\n⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️\n🌶🌶🌶🌶\n\nFavorite quotes:\n“You’re going to ruin me”\n“If I’m the devil then you’re f-ing Lilith”\n“God he’s mean. Why do I like it?”'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "So H.D. Carlton is a new to me author! I have heard soo many GREAT things about her and have 2 of her books on my TBR. When this book came out I knew I had to read it!\n\nHOLY HELL this book is FIRE! There are soo many things I loved about this book.\n\nSawyer is running from her past and to survive she steals people's identities. She ends up fleeing to Australia where she meets a sexy, shark expert, Enzo, at a bar and the chemistry is undeniable. After their night is over, Sawyer does what she does best and steals his identity. Enzo not tolerating her BS, looks for her to make her pay.... and boy does he make her pay. Never did both of them think they would be stranded on creepy island with a senile lighthouse caretaker.\n\nSawyer has a dark and tortured past. The way the author wrote her and internal dialogue made me love her even more. She brings out humor during the most awkward times and it made me chuckle throughout the book. Enzo is a straight-up a**. I have read other reviews where they loved him, hated him, and so forth, but I LOVED him the entire book. Their banter back and forth was top notch and I couldn't get enough of it.\n\nAs for the story/plot, wow. I did not see any of that coming! It was one helluva ride and I did not want to get off. I was invested the entire time. It was so unique, tw2isted and dark and I am here for it.\n\nAfter reading this book, I am running to read her other two books.\n\nRating: 5/5\nSpice: 4/5\nTrope: Dark Romance, bully, enemies to lovers, psychological thriller\nCheck TW/CWs listed at the beginning of the book"}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': '“If I’m the siren, then he must be Poseidon, an angry god who commands my body like it’s the ocean beneath his fingertips.”\n\nI loved this book. H.D. Carlton’s writing has a way of drawing you into the story and I was enthralled with it from start to finish. The mystery of Raven Island and the way danger felt like it was looming kept me on edge throughout the book.\n\nSawyer and Enzo…the push and pull of their relationship was everything. They hated each other, but they didn’t want to leave each other alone. Sawyer is such a strong FMC and I loved her and her bean gods. She was funny, sarcastic, and guarded because of her past. I think her natural distrust of others is what kept her safe for so long. I could see the walls around her fall as she started to trust him and herself more. She’s probably one of my favorite FMC’s so far. And Enzo…with his Italian accent, possessive nature, and those hazel eyes, would make any woman melt. Together, they were fire and gasoline and the whole world could burn.\n\nI loved the eerie atmosphere of the book, haunting and isolated from the world, with just enough mystery to keep them guessing. And the spice was so, so incredible. I immediately wanted to read it again and I know I will. I’m glad I took the day off work to give this book the full attention it deserves and I can’t wait to order the hardcover (probably both covers because they are *chefs kiss*)to add to my growing H.D. Carlton shelf. I’d give this book more than 5 stars if I could.\n\n“I told you my love was going to hurt like hell. So tell me, bella ladra, does it hurt?”\n\nThis book a dark romance, so check triggers if you have them.'}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': "Everything about this story is beautifully tragic. Her dark past has prevented her from moving further and his, his has left him void of emotions.\n\nThe connection is beautiful and steamy. You will want to finish this book in a sitting. Something different that I've ever read and love. Pain is their form of protection because that's all they've ever known.\nHis determination and need to inflict pain is her downfall. Her need to run and feel something are what makes her struggle. She might have made her biggest mistake yet. So the question to this love story is, Does It Hurt?\n\nOne night it all changes. Unforgettable sex and poof she's gone, all she try to do was survive. This little thief stole from him and that's not all she will come to steal. His hatred and want for her lead them to a mysterious light house that has secrets and forces them to confront each other and their past."}, {'review_meta': 'Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2022', 'review_star': 'a-icon a-icon-star a-star-5 review-rating', 'review_body': '“Throwing up the peace sign and moonwalking out of the vicinity is my go-to response.”\n\nDoes it hurt? Yes. It hurts that I am already done with this book 😭 I have been looking forward to this release and I was not let down in the slightest.\n\nStart to finish, this book had me hooked. HD Carlton knows how to dangle just enough bait to keep you on edge but still manages to absolutely blow your mind with twists and turns.\n\nI adored both of these characters. It’s so fun when you feel like you can relate to a character in some way, and Sawyer was that for me. While I do not have beautiful curly blonde (I am naturally brown tho) hair, her spirit resonated deeply within me and more often than not, I found myself nodding in agreement with her thoughts/decisions. A powerful woman. A traumatic past. And the man who busted open her wounds and stitched them shut without numbing them first.\n\nAs always, check warnings and triggers! A million stars. Thank you, @hdcarltonauthor for gifting us with this masterpiece 🖤✨🦈'}]