Walking Through Needles was one of my favorite reads of 2021, a great story, but more than that it set the stage for Heather Levy. I couldn't wait to see what this author would do next.
Hurt For Me explores some of the same themes of past trauma and its impact on future self, but takes the ideas in new directions. The dual narrative is extremely strong. It's not often that I read a book with two timelines where I don't find myself more interesting in one over the other. It's a balancing act performed with expertise as Levy twines the portions of Rae's life, bouncing them off the other and peeling back the layers in an engaging and breathless way.
Levy makes no bones about writing a story to break down and explore the taboos around BDSM, and in lesser hands, this novel could have come off preachy or soapboxy. Instead, the author sprinkles in small moments and explanations that blend into the overarching story and inform while also entertaining.
Perhaps the biggest strength of the book is Rae, a main character who has been through unspeakable trauma, but never feels like she's held up on a pedestal as a victim. Even the older and wiser Rae has flaws and she isn't afraid to admit it to herself in attempts to better herself for the sake of her daughter.
Hurt For Me is a sex-positive thriller with never a dull moment and promises to be a book people will talk about in 2024.

Hurt for me- heather levy

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC

A single mother’s brutal past threatens to destroy the new life she’s built in this suspenseful dark romance set in the underground world of kink.
Rae Dixon is lucky to be alive. Fifteen years ago, she survived being trafficked and abused, escaping her captors to reclaim her life. Now, she’s running a thriving business with her best friend and raising a teenage daughter on her own. Rae’s finally in control―literally. As Mistress V, Rae is the one calling the shots catering to Oklahoma City’s elite in her private dungeon, which is fronted by a spa.
But when a client goes missing, Rae’s world spins out of control.
Detective Dayton Clearwater shows up at the spa, sparking panic when he asks questions that risk exposing Rae’s true business. After several young women from her underground community disappear, too, Rae spots a chillingly familiar pattern. Together, she and Detective Clearwater must find answers before more lives are destroyed, including those they love.

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I really enjoyed this book. I loved how it went back and to from past and present.
Rae the main character has suffered a life of trauma and is based off all parts of her life colliding. At 91% I felt I was still in the middle of the story and did feel the ending was rushed and could have done with a bit more tension. However I really enjoyed this and needed more at the end of each chapter!

Omg!! This book was everything! This isn’t usually the type of book I read but I wanted to change it up and give it a shot and let me say I am not sorry! This book was the perfect amount of mystery, suspense, thrill and spice! Not to mention the plot, the plot had me second guessing everything, I was so close to even crying at the end!! I need another one!!

This one is so gripping! I raced through it -- even working with dual timelines, Levy is wonderful at maintaining a crisp, suspenseful pace that gives equal weight to both timelines and elegantly interweaves backstory with present-tense narrative. I haven't yet read a thriller that features BDSM as a primary plotline, or a primary interest of the protagonist, and I thought it was handled sensitively and without sensationalizing or judging. Plus, the themes of finding power and resilience in a world that wants women to stay quiet and meek is one that resonates even beyond the world of kink. Rae is a lovely main character, capable of finding inner confidence that helps her navigate both major traumas and the smaller but still significant pains of neglect/dismissal/judgment that comes from people who look down on her livelihood and self-expression.

A surprisingly great kink adjacent story that doesn't feel like tacky erotica, unlike a huge percentage of BDSM fiction. Really enjoyed!

I absolutely loved this book, once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. Thank you so much for the ARC.

Over all impressions: the book hooked me right away. I loved Rae, the main female character and how she took control of her life after trauma, and is proud of her role as a Domme, making a meaningful living out of it and having no apologies for it. I felt as though if the story was going to have as much focus as it did on her romantic relationship with Dayton, it needed more sexual tension and build up before they got together. The relationship felt almost as an afterthought and could be built up more if it is intended to be a selling point of the novel, or, honestly, downplayed as I think Rae’s story is powerful enough on its own without having to throw a romantic relationship into it. I also felt Rae could have used a little more character development. The book is in dual timeline and follows Rae as both a young victim trying to regain control of her life, and as an adult woman, raising a child and running a successful business when things from her past come in her way. While the reader sees how she develops from the compassion between the 19 year old victim and the 35 year old woman, the continued development of her strengths and weaknesses is lacking.

IG review to be posted in the next few days.

Hurt for Me is a romantic thriller with a dual timeline POV that follows a strong heroine who must face the consequences of her mistakes when the past and present collide and a detective who is self-motivated to solve a missing persons case.

I couldn't put this one down, I finished it in a day. Levy truly delivered an informative read on the BDSM community and was respectful of the culture and kinks. It's nothing like Fifty Shades and despite the nature of the book, the spicy scenes were just enough and didn't take away from the story.

I thought the scenes jumping from past to present were done well, usually, I don't like going into the past but I wanted to know more about Rae and what led to her becoming a dom, and how she survived and got away from the evil people who captured her. The chapters synched up well and I never found myself bored with all the action, you only get just a bit of information and then finally everything ties together.

My only complaint would be that I kind of felt Rae didn't take the looming danger to herself and her daughter seriously and the ending was a bit rushed but all in all I enjoyed this spicy thriller.

This is a must-read if you enjoy crime-solving with a strong female lead who breaks free from the chains of her past and accepts the love she deserves.

Thank you Netgalley, Montlake, and Heather Levy for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A romantic thriller with an ending that will leave you on the edge of your seat. I was pretty interested in what was going to happen at the end of every chapter.

Hurt For Me is a well written romantic thriller with a dual-timeline POV.

Every single chapter left you needing more but you would be thrown back into the other timeline. It's very easy to write a dual-timeline POV wrong and leave the readers with a preferred timeline. This was not the case here. Both timelines were full of action and made it impossible to put down.

Despite the nature of the book, the spice scenes weren't too intense nor the main focus of the plot. They were well written and fit perfectly.

I learned a lot about safe BDSM practices and it was obviously a well informed topic, unlike other BDSM books like 50 Shades.

The ending felt a little bit rushed but it was still good and tied the book together well.

I couldn’t believe the ending! I loved all the characters and writing style!! Plot was a little undeveloped but it didn’t take away from the story much!

Wow, this book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I read it in about 12 hours, couldn’t put it down.

Normalize BDSM. I learned a lot about the culture of BDSM in this book and how it’s not all “Fifty Shades of Grey” and a session doesn’t necessarily end in sex. With that being said the spice in this book is just right!

This book goes back and forth between the past and present. Most books that utilize this technique do not do it justice like Heather Levy does. Usually I find myself bored with either the past or the present and looking forward to get back to the part (past or present) that interests me most…..not with “Hurt for Me” I was enthralled with both the past and the present!

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a captivating, informative, fast read. Good luck putting it down. #NetGalley #onemorepage #onemorechapter