Mind to bend by Aurelia Knight

I think I hate my husband, but I’m trying very hard not to.

He leaves me for hours, days on end. His friends don’t know I exist, and even after three years of marriage, we’ve still never been intimate…

Does he keep me close just so he can hurt me? So he can show me he owns me like my father used to?

When I take him to therapy I expect it to help, even if I forced him into it, but that’s the true beginning of our end.

My therapist makes me feel things my husband never has, watches me, thinks about me, worries for me, his blue eyes following wherever I go.

So when he offers to hypnotize me and give me my first real release? I barely even think of my husband before I slip willingly under his spell.

My Review

I read this book for a Bingo Challenge on Instagram by @Whatthesmutt, and while it wasn’t my style of read, I didn’t hate it completely. Just some parts of the story were more than I preferred. I don’t read a lot of dark romance, but if that is something you enjoy, you should definitely follow @darkloveexists.

Sarah is married young but hates her husband, Tim. She is struggling with craving approval from all the men in her life. Her marriage isn’t easy or happy.  Marriage was their escape from the reality of their lives with their fathers, because they were monsters. But they are completely opposites. They are headed to marriage counseling. Sarah is a peacekeeper, putting her wants aside to please others. All Sarah wants is to be loved and cherished.

I love the multiple narrations in the audiobook. Their marriage just sounds like a marriage of convenience, not one of actual feelings. I think this is very relatable.  Her therapist, Dr. Shane, is hot 🥵. A lot of this story is inside her head and her thoughts.

Oh, the doctor’s body language and interest are smoking.  The reason they are there is intimate but alerting at the same time. Oh, the doctor gets touchy, and it so definitely not your normal session. Also, she is very attracted to him.

Dr Shane is not your normal doctor. But their relationship will be interesting in this story. He is just as preoccupied as she is. But the tension is so thrilling in this dark romance. Seraphina might just be his soulmate, or at least he thinks so. We get his pov too, and it is naughty. I can’t decide if he is egotistical or just creepy, but it’s kinda hot.

She seems to have issues with confidence and self-care. She seems to have a love triangle going. Tim’s damage from a while ago comes back to haunt them. She is pro-therapy, and he is not. That sounds familiar, but she is also tired of being the doormat.

Oh, their disagreements ramp up, and not only are they throwing mental barbs now things get physical too. But it’s awake for him. She can’t wait for the next counseling session, but realizes she is kinky too; oh, she has to reveal her damage.

Overall, this read is dark, thrilling, and so sizzling hot. I don’t agree with all the triggers in the book, but they aren’t bothering me yet; they only make it more intriguing. He breaks her boundaries and introduces her to things she could have.

She is beginning to realize how special she is to him and what he will do for her, granting her freedoms she never had before. Omg things finally get steamy between her and the doctor, but holy melt your kindle or audio, this is sizzling hot and his deep voice. Bring out the “good girl” and just maybe fan yourself instead of reading. Oh, the fact that he walks her through the sizzling without even touching her is so hot.

Omg, they actually get sizzling hot and touching finally, but this will definitely melt your Kindle. The smut level is this book is fire.

The next chapter is slightly manipulative, but it definitely gets the next part of the story with a conversation that works for them, but what goes smoothly turns worse with more abuse. Omg, this gets so dark as they fight for one lady. And the descriptions are so menacing.

This story takes the trigger warning and just tramples right over it. It is truly wicked.

The story brings in some wicked dom/sub moments with manipulation and more dub con. But he can’t seem to justify the reaction to his overreaction. The end of this hot is just as drenched in blood as the beginning. This dark romance ends with grief, victims, and, of course, professions of love under dark circumstances.

I enjoyed the smutty content and the narration of this on audiobook. It was much darker than I expected, but overall, the story is written very well. It was a little too smutty for me, but the characters and story did blend well. The dubcon and abuse in the story were too much, and the truly dark themes, at least for me.

As he brings her to the mansion, I feel like this part of the book has a lot of dubious consent. Is the doctor the villain in the story of the hero?

If you want to read this dark romance book, Mind to Bend by Aurelia Knight, you can find it on Amazon. As an Amazon Assocaite, I earn on qualifying purchases.

If you like this book, you may also enjoy books with these tags and categoreis: Dark Romance, Trigger Warning, and Dark Themes.