The best word I have to describe how I'm feeling after finishing this book is devastated, but in the most healing and hopeful way. I get why this book won't be everyone's cup of tea. To be honest, I wasn't sure it was going to be mine. I've read some dark romance in my day, but I think this is the darkest I've read maybe ever. I'm so glad I did, though, otherwise I would have missed a beautiful story about two people finding love and hope in the most impossible circumstance. I know there's the whole taboo about him being her sister's fiancé, and normally I wouldn’t be on board for that, but this isn't a normal story. I just felt so many things and shed so many tears alongside Cora and Dean, rooting for them and hurting for them, and I think some people are going to really not like this book, but I think a lot of people are going to positively fall in love with it.

This was a tragic and wholesome love story. I really liked it. It was really well written but after reading June first if feels less than i wanted. Still extremely good. Enjoyed every second and was hooked. Normally i get pissed at the Boy for shutting the girl out but here it was the opposite and i kinda loved it.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Bloom Books, Netgalley and the author for an ARC of this book. I am leaving this unbiased review voluntarily.

I don't usually read dark romance so the opening scenes of this book really shocked me but once I got into the story a bit and got both Cora and Dean's perspective, not only of their shared trauma but also of their history I really got into it. There's something about the darkness in the story that makes this couple's connection seem stronger and more real than in some of the other regular contemporary romances I have read.

There are some very difficult parts of this book to read, but I do like the way Cora and Dean work through things together as well as the idea that survival is part of the puzzle, but, it's living life fully that makes the real difference after trauma.

A solid romance novel and an introduction to a genre I would like to explore more.

This book is not for the faint of heart. Let’s just start there because wow what a ride from start to finish. I went into this book blind, appreciated the TWs ahead of time so I knew what I was going into, and just enjoyed the ride!

Still Beating was a real page-turner! I became utterly engrossed in the story and couldn't put it down. This gripping story was full of emotion and angst. Cora and Dean endure heartbreaking situations that no one should ever go through. The emotional pain they experience is almost as intense as the physical pain they suffer. Amid the darkness, a ray of hope shines as two deeply hurt people start to heal from the harm caused by a crazed perpetrator. Seeing them overcome the pain etched in their hearts and minds only to come out stronger, in the end, was perfection. Their love, despite originating from a terrible event, is truly beautiful. This was my first novel by this author, and I was not disappointed. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a romance full of darkness and emotion. As for the author, this was my first taste of her writing, and I am definitely a fan!!

This book was completely unexpected. Imagine two people on one life trajectory. They met in high school and shared an undefined chemistry, life settled them into roles that kept their lives moving in the same direction, though on parallel tracks.

Then fate or destiny or one, sick, twisted monster later and their lives have crashed together in the most horrific way. Weeks of terrible, evil events merge their lives onto one muddled road. Will they survive the crash?

Still Beating is the story of Cora and Dean, apparent enemies whose lives are upended one night. They have no one else to talk to who will truly understand the horrible experiences they survived at the hands of a serial killer. But as the physical wounds heal, the emotional wreckage left behind seems irreparable.

Will Cora and Dean be able to get over the memories they left behind in the darkness?

I truly enjoyed this book. It was an exploration of complex, emotional relationships, pining, and how people cope with some of the most difficult aspects of surviving trauma.

5 ⭐️ THIS BOOK IS PERFECTION! Run, don’t walk bc you need to read this book! This is my second time reading this book and these characters will stay with me forever!!🫶🏻🫶🏻

TIKTOK: maryyy.peterson

Wow, what a read. Excellent book. It's all about survival amid horrible events. It's about love and hope to make it out of darkness. Loved Dean and Cora both. They both survived after suffering soul breaking and horrific events. Their chemistry is superb. Their pranks made me laugh out loud and their connection and attraction is written beautifully.
This book is intense and emotional. Highly recommended

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣
⁣
This was a tough read. Not because it wasn’t a great book, but because it’s tragic and heartbreaking for most of it. ⁣
⁣
Dean and Cora survive the worst kind of hell together. The consuming pain and grief that engulfs them after their rescue is enough to break anyone. They face an impossible situation of giving into feelings that have long been pushed down deep, and brought to the surface because of their shared trauma, or breaking another’s heart. ⁣
⁣
Jesus. This book put me through the wringer. Over and over again. The heartbreak was palpable and almost suffocating at times. I wasn’t sure how the author was going to give Dean and Cora the happily ever after they so desperately needed and deserved, but man, she did it. She made it all workout. There were plenty of bumps in the road to get to that HEA, but I guess that made it all the more special. ⁣
⁣
This book was beautifully written and it won’t be the last book I read by this author!

4.75

still beating managed to suck me in from page one. a beautiful, tragic, beautifully tragic love story that comes from something so traumatizing that it’s hard to believe anything good could ever come from it.

cora and her sister’s fiancée, dean, are abducted by a mad man known as ‘the matchmaker’. a serial killer who abducts people in pairs, and whose main goal is to make his pairs fall in love with each other before ultimately taking their lives from them.

it’s difficult to review this book without spoilers so i’ll stop there.

the only reasons this book was docked .5 stars is because yes, even though there is a conflict involving it being the sister’s fiancée, that kind of thing is difficult for me personally to root for at the start. the other reason is that at the start, cora seemed to fall flat for me. but once the story progressed i found myself relating to her and understanding her thought processes more.

i’d recommend this book to anyone who wants something that will leave you feeling hope. it isn’t a happy go lucky love story and i can’t honestly say i’d recommend it to everyone (mainly because of some of the triggers involved, please check tw before deciding to read) but i can say that if you are someone who wants to be left feeling grateful that you’re here. if you need some perspective in your life, this is a book for you.

** personally i would not consider this story to be a ‘dark romance’ in the way that booktok/bookstagram has come to understand the meaning of that. it is not mafia. there’s no stalker. and she doesn’t fall in love with her captor. that’s the definition of the dark romances we have been accustomed to. this is a DARK romance. there is a romance found WITHIN THE DARK. i think that’s an important distinction to make.

thank you to bloom books and netgalley for the arc and the opportunity to read this phenomenal story i may not have picked up otherwise.

[Initial thoughts] Omg. Wow. This was devastatingly beautiful. And also chilling. Pls check TW, they are detailed and important!

But the overall theme of love, soulmate connections, healing and finding yourself and the love of your life in the most unconventional gritty circustances was inspiring. I loved it - I missed this kind of dark romance, it reminded me of those gems in the early 2010's, like The Siren and such.

[Later edit]:

It's been days since I read this book but somehow it's still on my mind. I started two other books but I keep missing the feels this story brought out. God, it was so angsty and intense and forbidded! But the writing?? Beautiful, in a haunting, bone-chilling, deep, 'never be the same again' way, if it makes sense.

Now that some time passed and I could process it, I realize that this story is about so much more than the plot. Yes, that one is brutal - the characters are kidnapnned, go through a traumatic experience and are forced to do despicable, unforgettable things... But the way those situations humanize, humble, break them down and put back them together, stronger, wiser and more in love than any usual couple ever could is the star of the show. There is fight and resilience in their hearts, in the writing and can speak to the reader to the deepest level. And that's why, in my opinion, this is a bestseller - because of all the layers and unspoken but felt and shown things.

Not an easy read, but for sure what that I wholeheartedly recommend! (Provided you check TW first, I can't say this enough). You will see the world, the human spirit and love in general differently after.

4.5 stars

Thank you Bloom Books for the ARC! I'm grateful for having experienced this story and for having it traditionally published and seeing it now in stores too, I would have missed out otherwise.

This book had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! What Dean and Cora went through was unimaginable and my heart broke the entire time I was reading this book. I love the bond that these two created and how protective he grew of her. He genuinely only wanted her to get better and the fact that he understood that couldn't happen while he was there just showed his love for her. This book is one of my top reads of the year, I just absolutely loved it. It is a dark romance, please check triggers!!


Thank you #netgalley for an early read of #stillbeating in exchange for my honest review, all opinions are my own.

This was a very dark book about a girl and her sister's fiancé/nemesis being kidnapped and the only way they can survive is by working together and keeping sane. This was a very dark book and I did not expect it to go so intense in the beginning. I recommend reading the triggers before checking this book out. Hartmann is a great writer with a good plot and great pacing. I was very into the plot and couldn't stop reading until the end. I do have to say that the writing style did feel a but Wattpad to me and usually I like it but not so much for this one. This book is split into 3 parts which I liked as each part has a different pov. There's a lot of healing and I felt so connected with the story that I could feel the emotions that the main characters were going to. Sometimes it was too strong that I had to pause for a second.

Cora is the FMC and I love how strong she tries to be in this book. She goes through so much and no one can understand the world she lives in her head. I loved seeing her grow and develop to be at the part in the end. Dean is the MMC who has feeling for Cora and never went for it. He cares for her and tries to help her when she's not doing well but also tries to heal for himself. I do have to say that sometimes their emotions got so dark that it was too much for me. There are side characters but not any truly main ones except Cora's sister coming in some parts of the book. The romance is forced proximity, sister's fiancé, and enemies to lovers. I couldn't truly get into the romance as it was hard to focus that Dean was just weeks away to get married to Cora's sister and would have. There was no chemistry truly building up in the book.

The ending was great and I loved how the characters had their HEA even though it was difficult and years later. With the epilogue being a new character's perspective, I was hoping we would get her story but I haven't heard of anything. This book was great but a bit too dark for me especially when they were kidnapped. I still loved the book and thought the author did a great job with the story making sure to focus a lot on the healing of the characters which I liked. Check it out but please read the triggers.

*this e-arc and paperback was sent to me by the publisher to give an honest review in return*

This book is ironically different from the genre I usually read and of course the first of mine from this author


The first chapter was enough for me to fasten my seat belts because idk how many things are coming my way it was so amazing to ride along💥

⚠️⚠️⚠️
I'll say check the triggers before reading there are explicit scenes, memory triggers, assaults and lot more. Thanks to author clearly mentioning all them prior

But I learnt a valuable lesson from this whole book
1. Love yourself first even if it sounds selfish to other.
𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩!
~𝙲𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎 𝙻𝚊𝚠𝚜𝚘𝚗

2. There is no escape from reality what have to be happen will happen for sure
𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙎𝙏𝙄𝙇𝙇 𝘽𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙖 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚
~𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝙰𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛

3.Cherish what you have or it'll be Too late!
𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙣. 𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙝𝙮, 𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮
~𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚢 𝙻𝚊𝚠𝚜𝚘𝚗

I'm setting this review in 2 categories as I was dragged between rousing and prodding over characters in lot different ways
🍎Things I hate🍏Things I love

Every character of this book snare my thoughts in dual perspective

Starting with Corabelle Lawson
🍏 I found this character lot more than I expected she isn't with many green things for me more of the time I found myself asking why she is so submissive for the situation
Like as it was told in the beginning she was different from her sister so I expected her to be less vulnerable in situation where she was.
I literally start loving her character after chap 31 almost the last part of the book. I felt pity for her but she can easily turn the tables for my feeling within very moment I try to understand her

🍎 Literally she got my soft corner for all the situations she went through and it was known from initial there'll something between her and Dean but I found her being so easily convinced of accepting that particular individual.
I saw her as the one blaming all her wrong doings on other specially when she comes back to her senses! Like girl this isn't how you should be doing you actually got bones for having your sister's fiancee so why behaving so prone to situations like this!!!

Dean Asher
🍏Okay to be very honest here I fall for his name really idk why I have some emotional attachment with this name.
I love every perk of this man from Mandy to Corabelle I cannot say him wrong at any point. And yes how can I forget the line

Green! Angels have green eyes

Although it was a bit cheesy line but yeah I love the way he admire every bit of corabelle

(Yeah no doubt I'm still confuse how he shifted from felling for Cora to Mandy)

🍎I hate him literally hate him on chapter 20.
I was feeling the urge to slap him the moment right after he explains everything to Mandy it was going to be happening but still I got fire in my seats for this whole situation I cannot find man more than this selfish I know I'm being harsh here but putting in Mandy's shoe I feel my hater engraving more for men!!!

Mandy Lawson
🍏 Her character is bit off demanding in whole book like there were very few moments I found her actually in the story
Again in chapter 20 I felt sorry for her that's the only thing I catch about her. Being humiliated by your own sister is something I couldn't digest well because I find love in her eyes for Cora, this whole thing between the sisters wasn't my cup of tea really I couldn't bear that thing

🍎 I was dying for Mandy but ahhhhhhh she was having guilty conscience too Lord!!! What the heck this split character in all three of them drive me crazy like insane but well now I can die in peace for accepting Cora and Dean as one!!!

At the end with the rollercoaster of mix emotion and so many twist and turn I end the book with happy and satisfied note.
This is the story of survival, pain, fears and escape through all this and the birth of the next generation with Love❤️

Rating: 5 stars ⭐️

Tropes:
forbidden 🚫 
dark romance 🥀
second chance ✨

This was a heartbreaking story that really made you feel a lot. 💔

I was really invested and wished for the main characters to succeed and heal.

Jennifer Hartmann wrote one of my favorie stories ever which I'm going to think about every day.

If you like dark romances and stories concerning healing from trauma, this is a MUST read. (please check TW hereunder)

The story starts with Cora and Dean. He's her sister's fiancée and after a late night Dean wanted to drive her home.They were kidnapped underway and locked in a basement for almost three weeks...

I loved reading about their personal growth and how they found themselves again after that horrible experience.

There are TW for this book (rape, explicit sex, violence, murder, suicide, trauma etc...).

Thank you to Netgalley, Jennifer Hartmann and Sourcebooks - Bloom Books for providing me with this copy for the republishing of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is one of the darkest, most heart-wrenching books I’ve ever read. Jennifer Hartman knows how to write to keep you engaged and on your seat the entire time. I am a huge lover of dark romances, but even this one had me on the edge of my seat .. in the best way. I originally thought the entire story was going to take place in the basement where the two protagonists are being kept.. but honestly, the “after” part is what got me. The way those two were there for each other and love each other and came together.. it was beautiful and magical and Ms Hartman is now a one-click author for me. I was sobbing during much of this and it’s been a long times since a romance has caused me to feel so many emotions. If you havent read this, and there arent many things that trigger you, you need to pick it up. But seriously check the trigger warnings before diving in.

4/5 🌟
2/5 🌶️

This book was both terrifying and romantic in so many different ways.

The story follows a girl Corabelle celebrating with her sister, Mandy and her fiance, Dean at a bar.
Corabelle gets kidnapped along with Dean by a man named Earl who Cora met at the bar.
Earl's fantasies are kidnapping a male and female and making them fall in love with one another while chained in the basement, after confessing their love, Earl murders them and repeats the cycle with new and unsuspecting victims.

While in the basement, Cora and Dean never confess their love for each other, but their relationship takes an unexpected twist when they cross the lines of friendship.

This book has some heavy subject matter with mentions of rape and the obvious being kidnapping.
Jennifer Hartmann did an amazing job at breaking down two people and trying to mend themselves back together with the help of one another.
It broke my heart to see Cora's sister, Mandy be the thirdwheel after all she did for Dean and Cora.
Hartmann really knew how to write characters rely on survival through suppressed feelings that these characters chose to keep hidden for 15 years.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me read this book.

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann has been on my list to read for a long time, so when I saw it was being re-released by Blook I knew it was the right time to jump in. Narrated by Laurie West and Christian Black, this book wrecked me. This is a dark story with dark subjects and may not be for everyone. Cora and her sister’s fiancé, Dean, have never gotten along, so when she needs help, calling him is her last option. What neither saw coming was being kidnapped and having to do the unthinkable and connecting in ways they never expected.

I do not want to go into the story too much, but afterwards they find themselves continuing to connect because no one knows what they went through. Now they are trying to get into their new normal, but how? Cora and Dean broke my heart and their journey was not an easy one. The story was emotional, dark, full of angst and poignant and I was captivated from start to finish.

Happy reading!

What a wonderful story! There were definitely topics touched on that are very sensitive but I felt they were tastefully written and executed. The trauma and mental struggles and growth are beautiful. Well done.

I always love jennifer hartmann’s writing and this time was no different. I loved dean and cora’s relationship. What they went through was horrifying but they truly bonded over it. He has liked her ever since he saw her in high school but ends up with her sister for a long time which i didn’t really like but nonetheless this book gave me all the feels!