4 stars

Synopsis: Nick works as a waiter and is barely making ends meet. He has to pay for his sister's medications and hospital stays. He's trying to stay away from his past, since he made bad choices when he first left home. One night, he meets a man at the bar who calls him Christian.
Claude has money and runs a successful company. He doesn't have a lot of freedom, though, because his father oversees everything he does. And Claude's boyfriend left him a year ago without a trace. When Claude sees Christian at a bar, he isn't mad about the fact that he left, he's just glad to see Christian again. Only Christian doesn't seem to recognize Claude, and says that his name is Nick.
Nick goes home with Claude for the night, but that isn't enough for Claude. He is possessive of him, and jealous of any friendships Nick has. He doesn't believe anything that Christian tells him, as it doesn't match up with what he knew of Christian before he left.
In spite of Claude's insistence that Nick is Christian, they develop a relationship. Then Claude takes his intensity too far, and Nick walks away.

What I liked: the twisting and winding story. It kept me intrigued all the way through. The title and the précis don't lie.

What I didn't like: the characters. Claude was abusive, and Nick kept going back to it, in spite of how hard he fought to get away from the life that he got himself into.

Overall impressions: the writing was really good and intriguing. I would absolutely read something else by this author.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

3.5 Stars!


What an incredibly intriguing twisted book. I was never sure where exactly this story was going or if I was really even liking it. I am still confused on how I feel about both of the MC's. So...

See I feel like if I say too much I will give a lot of the twists this story has away. I think I am gonna have to keep it short.

Nick has a rough past that he is trying to get away from. He works at a bar serving drinks to keep himself on the straight and to help pay for his sister's treatments. His sister Amy is 16 and has leukemia. They have a really tight bond and Nick will do anything for her. He has only one friend named Eric who works at the bar with him. He is still having a crappy go at life and doesn't see things getting much better. That is until an attractive man in an expensive suit grabs onto his arm and calls him, Christian.

Claude may have money and all the finer things life can offer him, but his upbringing was no cake walk. His father has been molding him since a young age to take over his boating company and his father has never made it easy on him. He loves his company more than his son and shows it with every sneer and complaint he aims at Claude. For the past year Claude has been mourning the loss of his lover Christian who left him for another man. He can't believe his eyes and luck when he finds Christian working in a bar while he's there meeting someone for business. But it's Nick who he believes is his past lover and no matter how many times Nick tells him his name Claude just shakes it off. He refuses to see Nick when all he can see is Christian.

Even though Claude believes Nick is his past lover Nick continues to sleep and have a relationship with this man. And the relationship is obviously unhealthy and gets even more twisted and unhealthier as the book goes. Obsession is the perfect title for this book because both men show signs of it for one another. There is even some Stockholm Syndrome going on as well. I won't go into anymore of that because that right there might have given too much away.

This was a gritty and at moments a hard read. I just couldn't put it down no matter how messed up it got. It was nothing really shocking for my jaded butt, but I am sure some will be uncomfortable with some of the things that take place in this book.

Did I say I was going to keep it short? LOL

Happy reading dolls! xx

This book has so many twist and heartache after heartache. Nick had it the roughest though. His character went from one bad situation to the next and it followed that path until the end, so when the ending came I thought he got exactly what his character deserved but I wanted more for him than what he actually ended up with. I wanted him to have love, support and protection without having to always be on guard, he truly deserved that. As twisted as Claude was, I wanted more of him because even though he had his faults and was completely messed up, I actually enjoyed him with Nick at times. However, what he did to Nick was not okay at all in my book, but with that being said I still ended up liking him.

This was totally f*cked up...and I LOVED every second, page, and word of it!
Wow! What a ride!

Obsession had a great premise. I loved the idea of Claude as a character.

However, the execution was a little lacking - mainly in the sense that Nick worked more as a plot-driver than a character (there wasn't much depth or insight even in the chapters from his point of view), and that some of the side characters were made up largely of stereotypes.

The story may have been more effective if it was told solely from Claude's point of view, who has the potential of being a great unreliable narrator, and could have really delved into one man's disturbed psyche, his descent into madness and eventual recovery.

This book has triggers....

This was a dark read. The author did a good job of creating suspense and I found myself trying to figure out what and who. What the hell is Nick doing by going along with it? Who is Christian? I wasn't expecting how the book ended. I'll try reading more by this author very soon.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Oh my god this book is called Obsession and that is what this book I was so obsessed in the story and plot I could not put it down. It really hit a few emotions that a book has not done for a very long time.

I loved all the characters from start to finish with so many mixed emotions.

Nick has been through so much and has a had a rough life. Then he meets Claude who gets what he wants and he wants Nick.

A very raw and emotional book with so many different plots I did not see coming . Even when Claude does some bad things to Nick you can see he only does what he does out of love. It's not always the right ways to do things but you can understand where he is coming from.

There are twists in it as well and the whole plot is so amazing it was brilliant from start to finish I can't wait to read more by this author just so brilliant. It deserves more than 5 stars.

This was such an intense roller-coaster of emotions and events. I’m not sure if it’s consider a romance but I thinks it goes more to the darker side, exactly one of the reasons I choose to read it. I found the title interesting, although I’m not completely sure if it fits, this looks more than an obsession to me.

I had a great time reading it. There were some moments when I just couldn’t read fast enough. It was very exciting. One of the things I enjoyed the most about it was Claude. He wasn’t a nice character. He had some very questionable conducts and it’s hard to feel sympathy for him, even though there are some aspects of him that might be intended that way. But still with all the issues about him, he was exactly the reason why I liked the book so much. I spend most of my reading time trying to figure him out.. He is a very complex character and I enjoy him so much.

Nick was ok. I guess most readers would like him but, for me, he was frustrating. He seem so oblivious of some clear alert signs or more than oblivious he choose to ignore them. I know that it was a realistic behavior and I appreciate that, but he made me mad so many times. One of the things I loved about him was his relationship with Amy, it was so beautiful.

There are some romance and some nice moments too, but I think the darker elements of the story had more weight in the development of the plot and it was really great. It was an amazing book but I think anyone interested on reading it should check the publisher’s warnings.

This book blew me away. Let me start out with what I expected. I saw there would be a mystery, mistaken identity, romance, troubled pasts and thought "well, Christian will turn out to be Nick's twin brother, given away by his parents for money or whatever, and they treat him bad out of guilt. Then, Claude will see the spitting image of his ex, and the twins will reunite, and much drama will be had." Then the book changed drastically to something completely different, and darker. I personally love dark, edgy books that creep you out as well as entertain, so this change made the book 1000% more appealing to me. If you would prefer the twin scenario, or one that does not involve murder, lying, or rape, then do not read this book.
If I had to name this book, I would call it 50 Shades of American Psycho. This is how Christian Grey should be; this is the real Edward Cullen. There is no BDSM, but Nick is emotionally entrapped by Claude, and wants to work through the mistaken identity problem, rather than run away. This is a look at abuse 101, and how things become internalized and rationalized even while recognizing that it is unhealthy. Nick is a victim in nearly every part of his life, and your heart breaks for him. He's not dumb, or blind to Claude's faults but desperate for love and stability. It is very disturbing to see Claude morph from loving boyfriend to abusive psycho in a span of hours. If you hated how 50 Shades of Grey romanticized abuse and ended happily, then this is a book you will enjoy.

Obsession is the story of Nick, Claude and the dangerous romance they find themselves immersed in. But is all the danger a physical threat or perhaps a psychological whirl wind as well. Nick works at Jen’in's Bar for minimum wage and crappy tips in order to help pay his sister’s medical bills. Ever since his childhood, he’s faced abuse and desperation, so it isn’t new for him to face precarious situations and to take advantage of them
Claude is a wealthy, business man who sees Nick during a client meeting and believes Nick to be his ex, Christian. It becomes an obsession for Claude. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get Nick’s attention, keep it and to have him forever.
My first thought as I read was, how could Nick entertain Claude believing him to be a different person. Then I started to understand it. Claude had everything Nick could ever want and he’s willing to please Nick in any possible way; romantically, monetarily, and sexually. Nick developing feelings for someone showering him with that much attention was completely understandable. That would be hard to walk away from.
I thought I would absolutely hate Claude but as crazy as it sounds, I empathized with the psychotic man. There was something about it that made me hope that Claude would see Nick as who he truly was sooner rather than later. There was something about Eric, for as good as he was, that made me weary.
It wasn’t until close to the end that I came to the right conclusion about “Christian” and what had happened to him. I liked how St. Claire kept me on my toes the entire time. I kept asking myself question after question. When was Claude going to lose it? How was he going to lose it? Where was Christian? Was he going to show up? Obsession kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen.
It broke did break my heart, just a little bit, how everything turned out. But I feel like St. Claire did the story line justice.
Would I recommend this to other readers? Oh yes! I’m looking forward to reading more from St. Claire.

This book completely blew me away with the suspense. I had no idea who is in their right mind. This story was filled with suspense from the beginning until the very end. These characters had that special something that made me fall in love with them all and when their true colors came out, I was completely blindsided. Nick, Eric, Claude and Christian are all characters that will have your mind completely blown. At one time I thought every character in this story was a little off kilter and I didn't know who to believe in, trust, and who was actually real. Nick had it the roughest though. His character went from one bad situation to the next and it followed that path until the end, so when the ending came I thought he got exactly what his character deserved but I wanted more for him than what he actually ended up with. I wanted him to have love, support and protection without having to always be on guard, he truly deserved that. As twisted as Claude was, I wanted more of him because even though he had his faults and was completely messed up, I actually enjoyed him with Nick at times. However, what he did to Nick was not okay at all in my book, but with that being said I still ended up liking him. Nick was truly alive because of him in a way. I definitely look forward to reading more books from this author in the future and hopefully more of these characters because this story cannot end the way it did without a follow-up book with Nick and Claude. I finished this book in one sitting and was not ready for it to end.
Beware: Please keep in mind before purchasing this book that it has dark subject matters including rape and murder. If you as a reader, rather not read books with dark subjects than this book is not for you.