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Release date: May 25, 2017

Publisher: Inspired Quill

Blurb: 

He never intended to be a jailer …

After years of travelling, responsible to no-one but himself, Steve has resolved to settle down. He gets a job, buys a house and persuades Liesel to move in with him.

Life’s perfect, until Liesel delivers her ultimatum: if he won’t agree to start a family, she’ll have to leave. He can’t bear to lose her, but how can he face the prospect of fatherhood when he has no idea what being a father means? If he could somehow make her stay, he wouldn’t have to choose … and it would be a shame not to make use of the cellar.

Will this be the solution to his problems, or the catalyst for his own unravelling?

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Underneath! 

Review: 

This was a truly unique read with a very dark premise. Steve and Liesel are both odd characters that have a very strange relationship, one of the weirdest that I have ever come across. It was fascinating in the same way that watching a train wreck is and I was gripped throughout this book. 

The structure of this was distinct in that it was broken up into six parts instead of a bunch of chapters. Each one began with a brief scene where someone is locked in a cellar and this addition added a real sense of menace to an already dark tale. It starts when Steve and Liesel meet and follows as their relationship quickly develops into something serious. Things unravel as quickly as they began when she flips the relationship on it’s head and decides that she does want children after all, something that they both had previously been vehemently against. The consequences of this decision are life changing for both of them and watching the events play out was quite the experience. 

This was a quick read as once I started, I was well and genuinely drawn in and hooked. Both Steve and Liesel were well formed characters, but Steve even more so as there were parts that flashbacked to his disturbing childhood. There was a really clever twist that shocked me and ramped up the intensity as well and this was an overall really absorbing read. 

Overall rating: 4/5