Hideaway Review

Hideaway
by Penelope Douglas

Spoilers

Release Date: October 2nd, 2017

Synopsis:

BANKS

Buried in the shadows of the city, there’s a hotel called The Pope. Ailing, empty, and dark—it sits abandoned and surrounded by a forgotten mystery.

But you think it’s true, don’t you, Kai Mori? The story about the hidden twelfth floor. The mystery of the dark guest who never checked in and never checks out. You think I can help you find that secret hideaway and get to him, don’t you?

You and your friends can try to scare me. You can try to push me. Because even though I struggle to hide everything I feel when you look at me—and have ever since I was a girl—I think maybe what you seek is so much closer than you’ll ever realize.

I will never betray him.

So sit tight.

On Devil’s Night, the hunt will be coming to you.

KAI

You have no idea what I seek, Little One. You don’t know what I had to become to survive three years in prison for a crime I would gladly commit again.

No one can know what I’ve turned into.

I want that hotel, I want to find him, and I want this over.

I want my life back.

But the more I’m around you, the more I realize this new me is exactly who I was meant to be.

So come on, kid. Don’t chicken out. My house is on the hill. So many ways in, and good luck finding your way out.

I’ve seen your hideaway. Time to see mine.

*Hideaway is a romantic suspense suitable for ages 18+. While the romance is a stand-alone, the plot is a continuation of events that began in CORRUPT (Devil's Night, #1). It is strongly recommended that you have read Corrupt prior to reading this.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 5 stars. I decided to sleep on this before I wrote my review because after finishing it last night I was in a state of what the holy fuck?! I need more. Immediately. Sadly, I’m probably going to have to wait another two years to get the next book. I don’t know if I can wait that long. I devoured this book. I can not express my love for this book enough.

I guessed pretty early on that Banks was Damon’s sister. The hints were there and I just thought the overall idea of their relationship was a good idea. I love those two together. Damon needs a female that he can trust because he has had that shitty past with the woman he was supposed to trust the most. Seeing them together was probably the highlight of the book for me. I feel like I may be alone in this, but Damon is definitely my favorite character. 

This book took me by surprise. I was expecting something edgy with a plot that was 99% romance. What I got was so much more than that and I can honestly say that this is my favorite Penelope Douglas book. It’s 10 times better than all of her other books. I was a bit annoyed that the release date kept getting pushed back, but I understand that she was trying to perfect this book and I’m glad she took the time and made this book so amazing. 

Kai has totally grown on me. The first time I read Corrupt I didn’t really care for him, but as time went on and I reread Corrupt many more times I developed a love for Kai. I was so excited to read this book. Kai is a gentleman at heart, but he also knows that he can’t be contained by the rules of society and he accepts that he has a dark side sometimes and isn’t someone to be fucked with. 

Banks is an amazing protagonist. She was so calm and down to earth, but she was absolutely devious. I love Banks way more than Rika. I always found Rika to be a bit annoying. She just did things that irritated the crap out of me, Banks is not the same way. I’ve pretty much been on board with everything she decided to do in this book. 

The only thing that actually bothered me about this book is that Banks always wears these fingerless gloves. We don’t know why she wears them or what their significance is, and Gabriel Torrance at one point hints that we are going to find out. It has something to do with him keeping her “obedient”. So after he makes a comment about that, the reader expects that we’re going to find out why Banks wears those gloves. Except we never do. I would like to fricken know.

I am also happy to say that a bit of confusion I had stemming from the first book has been fixed. Damon’s last name is Torrance, and he’s Russian and has strong Russian ties. The only problem is that Torrance is not an Russian name. This is such a mini detail, but it really bothered me for the past two years. It turns out that when moving their family to America the Torrances just decided to pick up a more westernized name. 

Overall, if you are into darker adult romances with really intense plots then this is something you should definitely read.