Review ~ Epilogue ~ C.J. Roberts #2018HW #COYER #ShelfLove #TravelingtotheTerminus

Epilogue by C.J. Roberts
The Dark Duet #3 
Release Date: June 11, 2013
Genre: Adult, Dark Romance
Source: Purchased on Kindle
Rating: 4.5 Bookworms
Challenges: #2018HW, #COYER, #ShelfLove, #TravelingtotheTerminus
Goodreads

Synopsis
I'm writing this because you begged. You know how I love the begging. In fact, you probably know too many things and know them far too well. Who am I? Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out. I was a whore in my youth, a killer since my adolescence, and a monster as a man. I am the man who kidnapped Livvie. I am the man who held her in a dark room for weeks. But, most importantly, I am the man she loves. She loves me. It's quite sick, isn't it? Of course, there's more to our story than can be surmised in a few short sentences, but I'm at a loss for justifying my behavior back then. I assume if you're reading this, I don't need to make those justifications. You've already made your own. You're reading this because you want to know about the rest of the story. You want to know what happened that warm summer night in September of 2010, the night I met Livvie at The Paseo. It was the night my life changed all over again. It didn't happen exactly as Livvie said. She's been very kind to me in the retelling of our story. The truth is far more...complicated.

I just realized that I never reviewed The Dark Duet here on my blog even though I was blogging when I read it. I'm sure I had my reasons then but I can't fathom what they were. It's been almost 5 years now since I last visited Livvie and Caleb but I found their story just as riveting. 

***

"I found redemption. I found forgiveness. I found love." 

-Caleb

Epilogue was the perfect gift from Roberts to fans of her Dark Duet. Experiencing the HEA or at least the happy-for-now through Caleb's POV made his and Livvie's ending that much more touching. And I wouldn't mind more from this world if Roberts were ever to feel so inclined. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the Dark Duet, Caleb is the antihero - sort of villain - being the man who kidnapped Livvie. But through those books we learned about him, his past, what shaped him into the man he is, willing to do what he does. We also saw that he was redeemable. That underneath all his rough exterior and volatile moods and scary actions is a man who is flawed, damaged...but worthy of redemption and love. I wouldn't have read Epilogue if I felt otherwise.

So having access to his thoughts, fears, dreams, and nightmares in this final installment only served to solidify my feelings about him. Livvie and his feels for her make him vulnerable - which is a position Caleb hasn't been in for a long time. It's a position he isn't comfortable with. But to prove to himself that he is a changed man, capable of love, and able to earn redemption and love even though I'm not sure he'll ever feel worthy of it, he'll allow himself that vulnerability.

He took her life only to end up saving it. She, in turn, saved his. 

"Survival is the most important thing. It affords us the chance to live and to find all of the things that make living worthwhile." 

Indeed.

Epilogue was sweet, steamy, and heartwarming. Caleb and Livvie's love didn't come about conventionally. But it's love nonetheless and their story is one that will stay with me.