Title: Empathy

Author: Ker Dukey

Genre: Dark Romance/Erotic Suspense

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Blake:

I am a brother I am a police detective I am a contract killer I don’t want to love I don’t want to feel I don’t want … EMPATHY.

They say some people are born with decreased activity in the front central lobe causing them a deficiency in empathy. Maybe that’s true about me but whether I was born this way or created in a moment of evil, empathy was something I didn’t possess until her green eyes met mine in the mirror and I couldn’t take her life. I didn’t want to feel, didn’t want this woman in my life complicating how

I lived but she was there at every turn. Sent to haunt me for my sins. Her light so bright she provoked a shadow from everyone she touched. When a job turns bad quickly altering my life forever I’m forced to feel. When nothing is making sense I’m forced to face truths I never would recover from. When life drowns you in its cruelty you don’t know which way the current will drag you or who you’ll become once you re-surface.

Melody:

I was a daughter I was a student I was a victim Did I have his love? Did I make him feel? Did I have his empathy? When the actions of a soulless killer forces sorrow into my veins I never dreamed the man healing my wounds would be the one to leave the worst scar. His love would scar my soul. Scars are permanent; I will never feel the relief from them. Will I learn to live with them, remember why I have them and learn never to let him close enough to inflict more? Will I eventually cover them… like tattoos coating them with new memories, new love and new starts? I didn’t know these answers because the pain was too suffocating, the only thing I knew was they will always be under the surface lingering. He had scars too, from his sins. There is nothing that can cover them, they were too deep, too ugly, too dark and they marked us both forever.

REVIEW

Fate has given me a glimmer of sunshine in a blackened sky, and after losing control of who I really am for so long, it makes me aware that I have been sleepwalking through my life, living out the nightmare of others.

This book is one that keeps you on the edge of your seat all the way through. From the instant you begin reading, you are hooked. Her books have a way of ensnaring your heart and soul, leaving the story with you long after. I read this book in one sitting and loved every minute of it. It had you guessing and feeling every emotion with the characters.

Melody meets both Blake and Ryan at different times, but each impacts her life strongly. Blake is the devoted older brother, contract killer and police man who will do anything to keep his brother Ryan safe. He can do a lot of things without feelings and so when Melody comes along and evokes things in him that he doesn't understand, he does kind of be a jerk to her... but then a nice guy. He has a lot of personality changes throughout the book. I LOVED him throughout the book, his character is the one that really draws you in and he’s quite the mystery. Will Melody be able to change him for the better? Or is he really as cold as he thinks he is?

"You make this beat harder, I feel you here, I feel your soul, it's wrapped around mine, cleansing me, inundating me with so much love I feel like I may crumble under the weight of it. I never knew I could feel like this and now I do it's so intense I'm scared of it, scared to fuck it up. It grows with every second that passes."

Ryan, Blake's brother is friends with Melody through school, and although there will only ever be friendship between the two, there are bad vibes from Ryan. He is quiet, intelligent and sharp. Situations in the book lead us to discover that there is a lot more to him that meets the eye, but not necessarily good things. He has a lot of inner demons and definitely has you second guessing him throughout the book. Just how far do these demons reside in him?

One night changes everything. It sets things into motion and intertwines the three in more ways than you can imagine. Just how is everything linked? These scenes are so heart-breaking but brilliantly written. The plot twist and revelations in this book are shocking and the mind games involved I would never have seen coming.

So much thought has gone into the underlying plot for this book and it shows brilliantly, how it occurs and what stems from this just shows how great an author that Ker is. I always love reading Ker’s books and her talent for writing and the shock factor never ceases to amaze me. She definitely has a knack for the darker reads and this is no exception. A truly brilliant read.

Melody impacted me so forcibly, she tattooed her soul onto mine and I can't let my darkness take her from the world.

★★★★★

I have always had a passion for storytelling, whether it be through lyrics or bed time stories with my sisters. I wanted to be an actress growing up so I could live many roles but I learned early on that my mind was too active... I would want to change the script.I would watch films and think of ways they could of improved the story if they took another direction so i thought it best that i tell my own. My mum would always have a book in her hand when I was young and passed on her love for reading, inspiring me to venture into writing my own. I tend to have a darker edge to my writing. Not all love stories are made from light, some are created in darkness but are just as powerful and worth telling. When I'm not lost in the world of characters I love spending time with my family. I'm a mum and that comes first in my life but when I do get down time I love attending music concerts or reading events with my younger sister. You can find me on facebook where i love interacting with my readers.