Review: Diamonds in the Dust by Charmaine Pauls
- A Bibliophile Confesses
- Jun 13, 2020
- 3 min read
This review may contain minor spoilers.
I am always anticipating for some authors to release new books, and Charmaine Pauls is quickly becoming one of them. After zipping through her Loan Shark series and reading Beauty in the Broken, I was excited for her to release Diamonds in the Dust. I knew she would not disappoint because I love the way she writes her characters and structures her stories. After reading the blurb for Diamonds in the Dust I knew it was right up my alley, and when the book finally dropped I got to reading.
Diamonds in the Dust is connected to her book Beauty in the Broken, and if you've read that (you really should) this book takes place a few years before Beauty in the Broken. Diamonds in the Dust is about Zoe Hart (the sister of Damian Hart, who is the male protagonist of Beauty in the Broken). Zoe Hart has been slaving away at a sweatshop after her older brother Damian was sentenced to a crime he didn't commit. Zoe is dirt poor but has dreams to be a designer. She is, as Charmaine describes her in the story, like a daisy growing on the pavement of a street. She's tough even though she might not be strong in the physical sense, and her poverty does not define her. One day walking home from work her life changes completely when two worlds collide. She is taken by a man named Maxime Belshaw and his intentions are less than stellar. Maxime knows Zoe's weakness-her love for her brother Damian-and he uses this to his advantage when he tells her to come quietly. Any rebelliousness from her and Damian will be killed in jail. Zoe is confused, terrified, and enraged as to how her brother in jail could have made an enemy of Maxime, but she does not have a choice. He makes her a deal: stay with him for a few years, and then he'll let her go.
What may seem like a story about a rich man kidnapping a poor woman, is actually much more complex. Zoe is nothing but a pawn and there is a story within that story. Even Zoe does not know the full extent of the game Maxime is playing. When I realized his plan, I had to stop reading. Maxime may be the most unforgivable hero Charmaine has ever written, and its made even more annoying because of his confidence and disregard of Zoe's previous life. He snatches her from the only existence she's ever known and expects her to be grateful. Talk about the audacity...And Zoe, poor naive Zoe, who I wish I could warn of her impending doom and heartache. She does not even know of the things coming for her.
So long story short, she is trapped in a gilded cage. Like a princess in an ivory tower with all of the comforts she can desire at her fingertips, but there is no real freedom here. Nothing truly belongs to her. She's swimming with sharks now, and she is out of her depth.
I do know this, though. Zoe is a survivor and she is tenacious. She was getting her bearings in this book, but I have a feeling that in the coming books we'll see her becoming the strong, independent female I know she can be. And Maxime...well he can go and fuck himself. Seriously, for most of the book, my kindle was clutched so tightly in my hand, and I was cursing his pigheadedness. The thing with Charmaine's books is that the characters are consistent. The asshole doesn't suddenly turn into a good guy when he meets the girl, in fact, he becomes more of an asshole, and I expect Maxime to be nothing less. I didn't know quite how to contain myself after that cliffhanger, but I loved it. I like cliffhangers when done right (I know, I'm a masochist) and this one I felt was just dramatic enough. I cannot wait for the next book.
And oh yeah, that fucking "Italian deal" better not be what I think it is.
Five stars.
Purchase links:
Apple Books:https://apple.co/2UWIXma
Google Play:https://bit.ly/3aYKfT8
Comments