Traded (Traded Series Book 1)

I enjoyed this story because it portrayed an abused woman by her husband (this exits more than you know) and falling into his idea of payment for his addiction.
I definitely know that this story isn't really that dark and even though the sex scenes were hot, I found myself thinking about this poor woman Elena and her fears but happy that she came across Ashton. Him helping her outrageous but damn romantic. So yes I definitely enjoined this story and now I'm reading Miller's story. Now he s round dark. ENJOY

I enjoyed this book, in the beginning it was hard to read Elena's thoughts that had been brainwashed into her by her f****d up husband, then in a non-traditional way of meeting Ashton gave her her self pride & worth back! Beautifully done

Absolutely not good ! Character interaction was unbelievable ( not in a good way) . Dialogue was ridiculous, simple ,irritating and really corny. The plot that is laid out on the back cover is worthy of 1 star. But sadly the execution : Awful, boring and roll your eyes worthy. Nothing about this story satisfies the reader in any way, so how anyone can rate more than 2stars is beyond me. I hate my curiosity for making me buy this just in the off chance the book was better the the sample. It's not don't be fooled and don't waste your time.

Amateurish.The authers lack of experience and imagination scream out on every page
.She or he should imerse her-himself in the classics,erotic or otherwise in order to learn the use of language, and lift it out of the pedestrian sphere.

Traded by Rebecca Brooke

This is a fascinating story. The main guy in the story comes across as the bad guy. Ashton is the son of a loan shark who is collecting from her husband who owes his family a lot of money. Elaina is an emotionally abused woman who is traded by her husband for time to get more money together for debt. Ashton decides to take the deal in order to get her out of the situation and show her she deserved better. The author does a wonderful job showing the inner turmoil of the woman thrust out of an abusive situation into the unknown.

This narration duo does an incredible job. I love how they read with inflection – like they truly care about the story they are reading. They aren’t scared of the sexy scenes but also put true caring and inflection following the story of an abused woman.

Definitely give this book a chance but be aware if you have triggers regarding abuse it is not one to pick up lightly.

Disclosure: This book was provided to A Little Turtle’s World free of charge through Jayne Err for the sole purpose of an honest review. All thoughts, comments, and ratings are my own.

5 Stars

I was given this book for my honest review

Denial the definition is a statement saying that something is not true or unreal: a statement in which someone denies something. Acceptance the definition is the act of accepting something or someone: the quality or state of being accepted or acceptable. Taking these two words into perspective with Elena and Ashton is one that is a hard journey. Not just as one but as a couple the paths that each partakes is difficult yet sounding.

Ashton-sexy and hot

Elena-reserved, scared and pretty

Hard habits are hard to break when it comes to Elena and Ashton. Elena the woman that believes in nothing else but the way life has been forever with her the path that she took for so long what she thought was of happiness but as the path nears a fork in the road life begins to shine in ways she has not known. Will this woman begin to shine as the sun comes up each morning in bringing light to the world that surrounds her or will she be the darkness that has enveloped her for so long? Can Ashton be the beacon that holds heart on the rope and bring her to the future path she so richly deserves? This is their true journey.

To the author: The creation that you have written will be sure to stay with your readers for a long time to come. This read will become a beacon for some and an acceptance for others. Major kudos

Happy Reading

I went into reading this one being nervous that it was going to be a dark romance and fully expecting to toss it aside after a few chapters. Didn’t happen. Extremely well written but it DOES have triggers for anyone who is sensitive to the issue of domestic (mental & emotional) abuse and/or adultery. Elena does everything she can to be “the perfect wife” to Dominic but nothing is ever quite good enough. One evening she thinks he’s taking her to see a ballgame, but instead he tries to trade her to his loan shark, Ashton, in lieu of his debt. Having an aunt who was a victim of domestic abuse & recognizing it in Elena, Ashton takes the deal — 3 months “owning” Elena with the debt reduced in half — in hopes of teaching her how to stand on her own two feet. Now is it reasonable that a domestic abuse victim could be reprogrammed and put onto a successful career path in under three months? No, but that’s why this is FICTION, folks! Just work with the author on it, okay? There are some sugar kink scenes, insights into loan sharking (is that a word?) and empowerment scenes.

Originally posted as SnarkyMomReads
Snarky Scale: Yay, author!
Hit or Miss? Close to a bulls-eye!
Battery Powered? Hand fanning will do!
Re-read urge? If the mood strikes, but there are WAYYY too many books on my TBR still!

4.5 Stars!!

A new standalone from Rebecca Brooke was just what I needed. She grabbed me with the synopsis and I just needed to know more. This story didn't go as I expected it to which was a pleasant surprise. This book is based on abuse, more verbal than physical but abuse, I do however feel that Rebecca handled the topic well.

Elena....wow talk about overcoming your past. Broken down on a daily basis until she felt she had no other options. Married to a man who treats her like dirt, working to help pay off his debts and used as his personal sex toy, how she stayed I cannot fathom.

When we are first introduced to Ashton we presume to think the worst. He was however a very pleasant surprise. No sense in judging a man based solely on his business practices. Ashton proved to be a man of principle and respect. His adoration and protectiveness for Elena was heart warming. It was hard not to fall for Ashton right along with Elena.

This book will take you on a journey. It may not be a pretty one but it was definitely worth taking. I enjoyed watching Elena rediscover herself and find self-worth. It was interesting to watch Ashton and Elena grow, each in their own ways. Ashton may have been a man of privilige but he was lacking the one thing that money couldn't buy......love.

This is a touching, dark, gritty, and twisted story. Elena is married to an abusive man, who has damaged her mind mentally and physically, and she deems herself worthless. When her husband traded her to a hardened criminal for a gambling debt, it is the best thing he could have done. Ashton is attracted to Elena, and recognizes the damage that has been done to her, and he sets out to ensure that she realizes how worthy she is, and the two of them together bring out the best side of them both. I highly recommend this authors’ work for all lovers of a dark tale, and cannot wait to read more from her.

Traded is a little bit dark, a little bit twisted and a lot suspenseful. Elena was verbally and emotionally abused by her husband for years before he devised a plan to trade her for 3 months to clear a debt he owed to a loan shark. Ashton is a restaurateur that reluctantly took over part of the family business bringing him in contact with desperate/despicable people like Dominic (Elena’s husband). Both Ashton and Elena are very well developed characters and the story line flows very well. Rebecca Brooke was able to show that not all domestic violence is physical and that sometimes the help you need to see your situation clearly and get help comes from unexpected places.
Once I picked up this book I could not put it down until the end, even then I didn’t want it to end. It was very easy to get lost in Ashton and Elena’s world.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

Note: This story does have moments of severe verbal abuse. This was a concern for myself as I do not care for abusive stories. I gave this a try and and have no regrets!

This is a story about Elena. She is married to a horrible man who has her so brainwashed that she believes that being a wife is being a slave. Her husband is so far in debt that he has the bright idea to trade her for his debt. This is where Elena meets Ashton. Ashton is the debonair devil loanshark. Ashton is so beside himself at the trade that he agrees to it just to get this scum out of his face. Elena is scared to death but to be a good wife she agrees to go along with it. Dominic, her husband, is quick to let her know she is to do whatever Ashton wants...absolutely WHATEVER he wants. At first she doesn’t understand as Ashton doesn’t want to make her come to his bed, clean, or cook for him. Instead he takes it upon himself, and some amazing side characters, to help her along an amazing journey of self discovery. Ashton helps to show her the strong woman she is and exactly how that strong woman should be treated.

“It’s never easy to see what’s wrong when we want it to be right.”

“I was Ashton’s musical instrument and damn he was an expert at playing me.”

This is an explosive story about overcoming what life throws at you along with some very (and I mean very) hot scenes and twists that you will never see coming. All along the story you know something is going to happen, you try and anticipate what Dominic will do...but when it happens....Boom! I have to be very honest, I almost passed this book up due to the abuse aspect of this story. I am so very happy I didn’t. Falling in love with the devil can have its perks! 5 STARS!

I read the audio version of this book, narrated by the amazing Honey Scarlett and Leeroy Will. I loved the characters. They were all so unique and believable. The narrators do a great job of bringing the characters to life. They also make it easy to distinguish between each voice. I really enjoyed the happy ending! Elena deserved that after all she went through. Elena and Ashton were narrated perfectly!! So steamy! It's always hard to put books narrated by this amazing duo down! And I love the author's writing style.

This blurb for this book looked promising, Dominic mistreats his wife, owes money to loan shark, so he trades his wife for payment. Loan shark sees how Dominic treats Elena and can't believe what he sees so he takes the deal. Elena has been brainwashed into believing everything her husbands says that she doesn't think for herself. Ashton takes her home and treats her the way she should be and expects nothing for it in return. Will Elena realize that she deserves better and get rid of her no good husband? You will have to read it to find out.

3.5 stars

Traded was a unique and crazy story like no story I have read before. Poor Elena is married to her high school sweetheart and their marriage is anything but good. He is verbally and physically abusive. He takes all their money and uses it for his gambling addiction. He is a liar and a cheat, and poor Elena has been brain washed into thinking this is what a marriage is.

All that changes when her husband trades her off to his bookie to try to pay off his debt. Ashton is a blessing is disguise. Just when you think he is the bad guy for his illegal dealing in gambling, he becomes Elena's knight in shining armor and saves her from her her of a husband. Ashton makes it his mission to make Elena sees she is worth much more than they life she has been living. In the process, he may have fallen in love with Elena.

This was quite the different story. I don't think I have read one like this before.

TRADED by Rebecca Brooke was just WOW, and has left me speechless, and when the book ended I was no where near ready to say goodbye to to Elena and Ashton, they have captured a small piece of my heart. Rebecca Brooke you made this book very hard not to fall in love with, it will be shelved and put on my reread list for sure.

The story of this book touches on many areas that are hard to think about, domestic abuse and the fact that a husband has so little love for his wife that he trades her for a gambling debt that he is unable to pay. As we watch Elena do everything she can try and please her husband and he does everything to bring her down.

I think for Elena being traded to Ashton was the best thing for her, Ashton helps her to overcome her obenience and need to do and please her man. Ashton is the man that Elena needs, he teaches her how to make choices of her own, decisons of her own and most of all he teaches her how to be her own person and how to stand up for herself. Ashton also takes the time to really give her her life back and then he teaches her what real love is all about and how to enjoy and respond to what he has to offer her in the bedroom.

TRADED by Rebecca Brooke will bring you on a journey of sadness and true love, you will be hooked from page one till the very last page, and I can promise you by the end of the book you will be in love with Ashton and Elena.

Warning: parts of this book have verbal abuse in it, but it does not detract from the story. It's still worth reading!

This book had me pissed at times, wanting to smack the crap out of Elena's husband Dominic. It had me wanting to hug Elena and Aunt Veronica and as for Ashton... let's just say he's one piece of hot Alpha male!

Elena is married to the most awful, verbally abusive, controlling man. He has her totally brainwashed , believing in order to be a good wife, she has to be his slave.

Dominic, Elena's husband, apparently has a gambling problem, unbeknownst to Elena, and is in major debt to a loan shark. Dominic's great idea is to trade his wife to save his own butt. He does so without warning Elena. Elena in return meets Ashton, the loan shark, who agrees to the 3 month trade because he secretly wants to help her get away from her god awful husband.

Dominic tells Elena to have sex with Ashton every night the way he taught her.
Ashton isnt having it. He decides that if Elena wants in his bed, it will be of her own choosing.
Ashton take her home and from there, teaches Elena her worth.

This story had a little of everything in it. It gets pretty steamy too. Check out this book, it's worth the one-click.

*****I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*****

Laura Redmon
Cutting Muse Blog Review

This book will make you feel despair but you will feel hope and that is a testament to the writing. It deals with a difficult subject and it certainly doesn't shy away from it, parts are difficult reading because you can imagine yourself in that situation but it's done sensitively and not sensationalised at all. Elena and Ashton are fantastic charcters,you genuinely like them are routing for them all the way. Great job Rebecca.

From beginning to end this book had my attention. We start off with Elena and her verbally abusive husband, Dominic, who is probably one of the worst characters I have met. The way he talks and treats his wife is abhorrent and made me want to punch my phone so that he could receive it in his fictional face. Thankfully, {although not ideal or conventionally} Elena is able to get away from Dominic and finds herself surrounded by a group of people that are more than willing to help her recognize her worth. 

The way Ashton and Elena come to meet each other is not even close to being a normal situation and could have gone horribly wrong and led Elena down a much darker path than what she was already dealing with, but she got Ashton and he ended up being exactly what she needed. Ashton is a gentleman. He treats Elena with respect and spoils her in all the ways he can. Slowly, Elena starts to realize how wrong her relationship with Dominic is. She begins to understand that she has a voice, an opinion, and that she is allowed to follow her dreams.

It was an emotional journey to take with Elena. She transforms from an insecure young woman into a sexy, confident, sticks up for herself individual. Ashton makes it his mission to make sure Elena leaves his home confident and ready to take on the world, and cut her good for nothing husband out of her life. She blossoms into the woman she is meant to be with the confidence and self-worth that Ashton supplies her with.  But of course, Ashton falls for her and when it's time for her to go he's not so sure he can.

Elena has experienced and discovered more about herself in her short time with Ashton and now she is ready to live her life rather than just survive.

Another great book by Rebecca Brooke!! Ashton & Elena were great characters and their story was heart pounding!! My heart broke for Elena & what she was put through...mentally, emotionally & physically. I wanted to repeatedly punch her husband in the junk throughout the whole book. I loved watching Elena grow strong & confident and with Ashton's help & love she really does blossom. Ashton is tough when need be but he is also kind hearted. How he took care of Elena and showed her that she is worth everything was really beautiful. They may not have met under the best circumstances but together they brought each other love and healing. This book was such a rush of a ride but it was also very emotional. I'm excited to see what Rebecca Brooke comes out with next!

Elena only wants to please her husband. Forget that he degrades and humiliates her each chance he gets. Elena believes he is training her to be a better wife. Oh Elena. She never realized that training would include trading her to settle his gambling debt. Ashton is the loan shark with a good heart. He accepts the offer only because he wants Elena out from under the abuse and standing on her own. Little does he realize what Elena will come to mean to him and walking away will not be an easy choice for Elena either. This book had me screaming mad at Elena’s husband and loving the way Ashton was patient and gentle with Elena. I loved how Elena was able to appreciate her self-worth and become the woman she had buried beneath the fear. The chemistry between Elena and Ashton was evident from the beginning and I could not wait to see where it was headed. This was an enjoyable romance with some moments of humor that kept me entertained the whole way through.

4.5 Stars

Traded is fast paced, heart-wrenching and very different from anything I've read so far this year. This was an absolute page turner. Rebecca Brooke is an amazing writer and she really made you feel every emotion that Elena felt.I love that Rebecca brought awareness to verbal abuse and through her writing showed that everyone deserves to not only be happy but to also be able to follow their dreams. That nothing that anyone says can hold you back from being all that you want to be as long as you believe in yourself.

Elena was such a sad young woman, verbally and sexually abused by an incredibly selfish husband. Her complete surrender into a life of constant fear and misery was heartbreaking.

However, when she was traded by the selfish jerk to Ashton, a violent criminal, Elena was trapped by a more dangerous jerk. Poor Elena was tricked into believing that Ashton had genuine feelings for her, as if expensive gifts and compliments on her appearance were proof of affection.

It's bizarre how the author tried to portray Ashton as a romantic hero, when he was actually a sexual sadist who treated sex as a war that needed to be won. Ashton, a complete sociopath, built Elana up just to crush her spirit in new ways.

While it was depressing how Elena traded one cruel master for another, I found it more disturbing that the real issue of domestic abuse was trivialized by the author, as if the cure for verbal abuse is degrading sexual slavery.

Dominic the low life husband of Elena who constantly puts her down using her as a doormat and then trades to a loan shark for 3 months to pay of his gambling debts. The loan shark Ashton becomes a knight in shining armour for Elena giving her back her self esteem.
Sad story to start with, but an ending which Elena deserves.

I would recommend you read this book.

I like mafia type romances and this one was interesting, a different take. You have the family that has it's 'business' and is also protective of their women. You have our h who is so suffering from low self esteem. I did like that there was a back story to give our H a reason to want to help her, not a 'just because'. It was because of his aunt, because of the family values and lessons he was raised with in regards to women.

I loved Rebecca Brooke ever since FORGIVEN was released and TRADED has been on my TBR for a while. So when I was offered the opportunity to listen and review the audio book version, I jumped at the chance.

This book deals with a very sensitive subject matter in a magnificent way. Portraying domestic violence in the form of mental and verbal abuse and what it does to a person is definitely not an easy task, but Rebecca managed to do it with so much care, realistically showing what years of suffering from this can do to a person’s self-respect: It decreased to almost nothing, until you no longer believe that you are worth anything at all and deserving of the treatment you receive.

Elena is married to a monster; no matter how hard she tries to please him, follow his every commands – it is not enough, never done right, only strengthening her belief that she is unworthy of her husband. She is not able to realize that what her abusive husband is doing to her is all kinds of wrong.

Dominic, her husband, is aggressive, impulsive and destructive – and a gambler that is deep in debt to a loan shark with no ability to pay it back. It seems only self-explanatory and –preservative to him to offer this loan shark his wife’s services to pay off said debt… What a douche.

Ashton, the loan shark, accepts, but for different reasons than one might accept. Because although he might work in a shady business, he does it not really by choice, it simply came with his family. Apart from that he has been raised to never disrespect a woman. So consequently a man trading his wife for a debt makes his hackles rise – witnessing the abuse she has to suffer himself, his accepting the trade only seems logical to him.

Ashton is one perfect hero. He sees something in Elena that she long had forgotten existed, doing everything in his power to bring this fragile woman back to life. Because with Ashton’s help, Elena slowly starts to blossom again – finding her self-worth and regaining her confidence. And Elena is not the only thing that blossoms…

The audio book is narrated by Honey Scarlett and Leeroy Will, who are both doing a terrific job, solidifying once more why I came to love dual narration. They are one perfect team. I loved Honey’s soft voice which perfectly fitted Elena and Will’s deep rumbly voice for Ashton. Even Dominic got the unappealing voice he deserved. I’m looking forward to listening more to their works!

Good crime story about Ashton, who works for his father's loan sharking business and also is chef and owner of three top restaurants. Ashton meets with a client Dominic who owes him a very large sum of money and does not have it and instead offers part and his wife Elena for use in trade of money owed. Dominic is her incredibly abusive husband who she dated in high school and married under suspicious circumstances several years ago. Dominic is a total douche and treats her like his personal slave and gives her absolutely no pleasure but expects her to work long hours as a waitress instead of pursuing her life dream that she has studied to accomplish. Ashton is so loving, caring, handsome, yet can be brutal when needed for the business, and generous to those he cares about. Elena is initially very cowed and unsure of herself because she has been manipulated to feel that way. Good story and the further you get into the story the more you want to turn the pages to find out what is going to happen to the villain Dominic, and to events surrounding Elena and Ashton.

Great book about a very touchy subject, emotional abuse. I thought the author did a great job of showing how years of that kind of abuse can wear away at a persons self-esteem, make them believe that they aren't worth anything better than exactly the treatment the abuser is giving them.

There are some really great twists & turns in this book. And I think Ashton was the perfect hero for Elena. He saw something in her that she had long forgotten existed & he worked hard to bring her back to the person he knew she could be. And in the end, Elena showed him the path he needed to take.

While there were similarities with other romance stories, this one has a completely different plot than anything I've read before. A gorgeous man from a crime family, whose heart isn't really in the family business, and has legitimate businesses and dreams for his future. Then there's the broken woman married to a monster. Ashton and Elena end up together because of some pretty bizarre circumstances, and although it appears this is an even worse situation than Elena already lives in, sometimes things aren't what we expect.

I really enjoyed this book and am hoping that we'll get a book about Ashton's brother, Miller. I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A fabulously well written tale of devotion and respect for a woman who for the past five years has been made to believe she was worthless and a slave to her accidental husband. Ashton's help allowed Elena to regain herself, reconnecting and pursue her dreams. By far one of the best stories I've read. Highly recommend.