Wow- HOLY MOLY!!!! What an amazing ending to an equally amazing series.

From the very first book I read, I was fascinated by the idea of present-day gladiators. Human beings conditioned to be killers, fighters, and berserkers. Alpha males that felt so much RAGE in their blood that only ONE human could calm their volatile nature - their female.

I followed their journey from blood pits and fighting rings to their new lives and now to their well-earned peace. RAZE, REAP, RAVAGE and now RIOT. The journey was bloody, filled with pain, and unimaginable horror but also heart-achingly beautiful.

Tillie Cole wrote books that stayed with me for more than a day. They lingered. Now, after I read the conclusion it's hard to imagine that this incredible series finally came to an END.

In RIOT, two people who were utterly alone for most of their life, crossed path in the most horrible circumstances and realized they were more than just numbers.

When 152, a pleasure slave, was pushed into 901's cell, events started to unfold that neither could have ever imagined.

901, a cold-blooded killer, uncaring, undefeated, with no discernible weakness was his Master's priced possession, until 152 came along. As the renowned champion 901 knew his value and rattled his Master's cage by refusing to play by the rules. To give him a weak spot, his Master found a way to make him comply by giving him the pleasure slave.

901 didn't want to have anything to do with her and refused to give in, even so 152 was his for the taking. 901 understood, having a female for himself meant a weakness that could be exploited. But when he saw her suffer from the drugs in her bloodstream, it weakened his resolve, and he allowed himself to give her the release she so desperately needed.

Day after day 152 was brought to him, and gradually something deep in him changed.

Still, at the mercy of their Master, both were vulnerable to his machinations and helpless in regards of what was coming.

Even so they found each other at the darkest of times, they accepted their bleak destiny, but that didn't keep them from dreaming about a life together.

Meanwhile in the States, former fighters Luke, Valentine and Zaal, were planning an escape that would finally bring peace to all of them. The question was, would anybody still be standing afterwards.







This book was fascinating, spellbinding, and a nail-biter. It all came to an END and the author couldn't have written it any better. Fast paced with vibrant scenes that jumped off the pages, while deeply emotional and heart-achingly beautiful. RIOT had it all!!!!

It was hard to say goodbye. I just hope that whatever the author writes next will be as captivating as the Scarred Souls turned out to be.

4 stars

this review will be posted on February 19th, at that point I will update the links to reflect my blog, Twitter and GR. Amazon will be updated on release day.

Oh, I found this story so hard to read. Not that it wasn't explosive and entertaining and adventurous just as the last 3 had been - but dealing so directly with Inessa's sexual assaults was just very difficult. I think that's a tribute to the author, to make it so real it hurts; and I applaud her for her incredible talent. The story was raw, it was heartbreaking and harsh and even the happy parts had such a gloom hanging over them that it was hard to appreciate. I spent the entire book waiting for the next shoe to drop. Again, clearly this was purposeful by the author and so well written that you didn't even realize you were on pins and needles, racing through the story to see how it ends until it was done. These characters were fabulous, and I loved how the series tied off all its loose ends and brought everyone in for a (somewhat) happy ending.

I, unfortunately, started reading this series from the third book, so I don't know Luka and Zaal's stories but believe me this in no way diminishes the beauty of these books and this series. I am a big fan of romance and erotica and have read hundreds of books from these genres and even though sometimes having many love scenes adds a lot to a story, sometimes you find books where it is just one scene after another, without much thought given to the storyline or the characters. Tillie Cole is an amazing writer who doesn't seem to even need to have endless love scenes to make her stories hot and emotional, to make you feel the intense and profound chemistry between the hero and heroine. This series may be full of characters with deep physical and emotional scars, yet these characters have the most beautiful souls that you could ever come across.

In the last book of the series we had met Valentin and witnessed his endless and desperate search for his little sister Inessa. Unfortunately, after a gruesome battle, he had once again lost his sister to the clutches of the ruthless Arziani Georgian crime mob. Inessa, or 152, as she is now known has been given drugs her whole life. Drugs that have forced her to be a sex slave and left no memory of her past life. She doesn't even remember her own name. Like all the slaves in the Blood Pit, she is only a number and the slave of a monster. Her life becomes even more unbearable when she catches the eye of the master and her status is elevated to High Mona, making her the mistress of the master. A master who is diabolical and unhinged. But her fate takes an unexpected turn when the master gifts her to the champion of the Blood Pit, the infamous Pit Bull of the Blood Pit, 901.

901 has never lost a fight in the Blood Pit. Kidnapped from an orphanage in Russia when he was just a small boy, he has been given drugs to make him invincible. He has never known kindness or human touch. He even avoids the women that the master sends him, fearing that any attachment, physical or emotional, will make him weak. But when the master sends him his High Mona, drugged and on the verge of dying, he finds himself unable to avoid her. Night by night he finds himself being drawn closer to the delicate beauty and soon they find themselves in a little cocoon. A cocoon, that they know can crumble around them at any moment.

A story so beautiful and emotional that you won't be able to forget this story any time soon. Mesmerizing and spellbounding...

Post goes live 17 Feb

Words couldn't begin to express how excited the Scarred Souls series makes me. Riot is book four and I have yet to find a single chapter in the entire series that falls under the category of boring. Every word the author has put in this series reaches out to the reader, pulling them into this dark world. Often I find I don't even realize how dark the scene was till I am past it because I was totally engulfed in the emotions pouring off the page.

Each book could be read as a stand alone but seriously why would you want to do that? I strongly advice you jump on book one and buckle up for a ride of a life time. The evil is vast, the humanity is strong even in situations when humanity was meant to be destroyed.

901 is the male character that will steal your heart. His life is no longer his own, Master has taken everything from him, except his honor. As the champion fighter for the Master's organization, the only rule to the fight is the winner must stay alive. When Master wants to solidify his reputation and make more money he demands for 901 to appear weak before the kill. 901 will never go for that. He has deprived himself of affection or lust from women, he has numbed his emotions, crushed his own dreams and refuses to hope, which wasn't as hard as it sounds since he is fed drugs every day to maintain the power over him.
The one thing that won't die is his honor, he will not be weak for anyone. This is when the plot thickens because the only weapon the Master has is his personal Mona named 152.

As you can see now the slaves under the Master and his sister, are drugged and their past identity is removed. 152 wakes up in a luxurious room with her own chiri which is the lowest level slave/servant. When 152 becomes fully aware of her surroundings, she is told that she has been promoted to be Master's sex toy, she will be drugged with new drugs that will make her body crave the Master and be more malleable to his every wish.

What comes next will leave you gripping your kindle, rapidly reading each page so you can find out what happens next. With an outside war ready to be waged against the Master, will they help 901 and 152 escape or will it be too late? 901's biggest crime was letting the Master know his trick to weaken him only lead to his devotion to the mona that the Master doesn't want to share. There is so many epic qualities to this series. It will be a set of books that I will be reading over again, assured that I will once again find things I missed the first time because I was lost in the plot.

Finally they get their ending to it all. It was good to see everyone happy and doing well from prior books. In this book, we are brought to the blood pit and to a new master. Drugs were used to erase her memory, as well as a drug making her needy for sex, which she must have relief or it becomes painful. I had issues with her being drugged and raped. I had a difficult time getting into this story and staying interested while reading it.I just found myself not being invested in this one. This story felt darker than the other ones in this series. Despite horrible circumstances, these two fall in love with one another and cannot be without one another. I could feel their love for one another.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Here it is.....the conclusion.
Where it all ends.
Master Arziani.
The Blood Pit.
Raze. Reap. Valentin.
The Scarred Souls.

In this book we meet 901 and 152 (Inessa, who we met when she was much younger).

In the Blood Pit 901 is a god. Possibly the most conditioned out of all the characters from this series.....but not in other ways...he knew was what was going on and I think that was worse.

'For the briefest of moments, life pumped back into my dead heart. For a split second it made me feel alive. And in that short second, I was reborn.'

152 now has the elevated status of High Mona to Master Arziani (and that is not a good thing). Drugged, abused and used. But maybe one good thing comes from it?

You find love in the most unlikely of places. And this series proves that. So raw, so sweet, so innocent and so beautiful.

Riot is the fourth book in Tille Cole’s Scarred Souls series. I haven’t read the other books in the series, but that wasn’t a problem. Cole gave enough background information about the other books and characters – without turning it into an information dump – that I wasn’t lost. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if I would have made it to the finale had I read the previous novels. Not because the books aren’t well written because they are. No, because these stories are brutal. Although the blood pits don’t exist to the extent indicated in Riot (at least I hope not!), there is enough slavery and all-around bad sh*t in the world that a reader can’t help but get depressed about the cruelty that exists in this off-kilter world we currently live in. But there is also hope and white knights in the form of killer fighters and – if we’re really lucky – love.

I fell in love with the gentle giant - 901. His character development kept me flipping pages even as I cringed with each punch and drop of blood. 152 was a less interesting character, but considering what she had endured, she was amazing. I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. The suspense and action really kicked up in the second half of the novel, but if I told you about that, I’d have to kill you. Not really, but I would have to include a spoiler alert. Trust me, just give Riot a chance.

I highly recommend this novel to romance readers who like an intense story. Warning – If you need a trigger warning, this book is not for you.

4 stars
Warning :
If you don’t like grunting and fighting male.
If you can only stand badass heroine fighting alone…
This book will not be for you.
BUT
If you love big tattooed and scarred males, muscles bulging and fighting for their life, ready to kill anyone threatening their female.
If you can commiserate with a female having lived her whole life as a sex slave, never knowing anything else and being just a toy to other males…
THEN you’ll be a happy reader!

This is the fourth book of this series. I’ve read the first two books so far and will tackle the third one as soon as I can.
I must confess this one was the hardest to read. The female 152 in this book is drugged to feel the need to have sex. And she is used and abused by Master. That was really hard to read at times. As a woman I could easily relate with her.
901 has been abducted as a kid. He is orphaned and has no memories of his life “before”. Here he is Master’s champion. Pit of blood’s Pit Bull.

“Because I was the Russian Pit Bull. The collector of souls. This was my domain. The Blood Pit was my arena. And I’d fight until the end.”

Alone. Always alone. He does not want to have feelings for others. It makes you weak and Master can dominate and manipulate you. The last think he owns is his pride and he’ll never truly bow to Master.

Master Arziani is insane. He must be bipolar hitting Inessa one moment and kissing her the next. He sees himself as a modern emperor.
“I am the only male on the planet who has this as his kingdom.” He gestured with a sweep of his arm, then continued, “A Caesar for the modern age. An empire built on strength and skill. A gladiatorial Rome right here in Georgia. An arena where we root out the gods from the men. The arena where my word is law, where lives are saved or taken by the simple flick of my wrist.” So they’re plotting and preparing.

Master is also obsessed with 152 who is Inessa, Valentin’s sister (you have to read the other books to understand all, sorry guys). He’s made her his High Mona and is really possessive with her but completely deranged. The poor girl was beaten , abused and then kissed. Try to stay sane!

Inessa is a gentle soul. She is gorgeous, shy and generous. She is not the kind of heroine fighting and kicking because she’s been conditioned to be pliant. And she needed to obey if she wanted to survive.
I can’t say that’s my favorite kind of heroine but I could totally relate with her and like her.

901 on the other hand is my kind of hero. I’ve a soft spot for powerful alpha male and he checked all the right boxes.

There is no complicated plot. This is not the book’s purpose. What’s taking center stage is 152 and 901’s relationship. And it is just moving.
They are two lonely souls “not free” never hoping to find something beautiful in this Hell. And yet together they created happiness.

“901 froze, then with watery eyes, he repeated. “Happy. Together, we make happiness.” I smiled. I smiled freely and uncaged.”

Of course it’s not been a smooth sail, far from it. 901 will resist 152’s appeal as he knows Master wants to play with his head gifting him the gorgeous female. He does not want to surrender his pride. But when he’ll fall for her and get his first loving touch… I was all teary eyes. I know I’m a big baby sometimes but yes my heart broke for the lonely male. It’s 100% cliché but it worked perfectly well.

“But I am choosing to be with you. I am choosing you as my first. Despite the other males I was forced to be with. Despite Master. You will be the first in my heart. The only one I have given myself to freely . . . with no drug forcing my hand.”

152 and 901 are not the only main characters in the story as Valentin, Zaal and Luka still want to rescue Inessa and eradicate Master.

Will they succeed?
Will 152 and 901 find their HEA?
You’ll just have to read it. No telling!

Whew! I feel like I can shake out my limbs and relax now. This is one of those series that you just can't wait to dive in, yet you're nervous to start. It's such an amazing story of the ultimate underdog. These men are warriors, fighters, unbelievably strong men who are enslaved by one weak man. You want them to break their chains so badly. I tense up from the beginning til the end when I can finally breathe again.

The author had me falling fast for these killing machines and rooting for their victory. The best victory of all is the love they found that made them fight for their lives. There is nothing better than to see someone who has lived so much tragedy get their happiness in the end.

Amazing book. Amazing series. Amazing author. ARC provided by NetGalley.

I finished this book in one sitting, so that is a sign that the Tillie Cole must be doing something right. That being said, I feel that the amount of rape and brutality in this book was too frequent for me to recommend to my readers or people I know. Perhaps the previous books might be less violent? Although perhaps not, given the hints I saw in this book of the other stories. I would definitely want to read more by this author, but I have a low tolerance for rape in books. While I knew it would be dark given the description, I was still unprepared for the graphic rape scenes. It was really disturbing to me.

I have read Tillie's books before, but this was my first in this series...and now I want to go back and read the others. It was dark...brutal and graphic...but it worked. Even though I hadn't read the others in the series, I was quickly emerged in the world Cole had created and I was rooting for 901 and 152 from the start. The story was predictable, but still satisfying in so many ways. The hardships the Hero and heroine went through making their love all the more satisfying.

When your identity is stolen, your memory erased and you are raised as an animal, taught to kill or be killed, inside there is a heart, a longing for companionship and for one special person and for love.

Number 901 was a killer, brutal, cold and fierce. His job day after day when released from his sell was to entertain the masses through death matches and he never lost. His “master” was a twisted soul who enjoyed the blood, the money and the power he felt lording over the best fighters every made, never mind they were drugged within an inch of their lives. For 901, to make a friend was to lose his edge, what if he had to fight them to the death?

When the Master wanted a sex slave, he took the best of the best in his stable of “monas.” She, too is drugged to crave the debauchery of this sadistic monster. Number 152 was beautiful, tortured and forced to do the master’s bidding. She also is someone’s sister, just like every other sex slave held prisoner since they were children. Now she would become a weapon of torture for the master’s bidding as he offers her to the Blood Pit’s champion, 901. He rejects her at first until her painful moans from the drug induced sexual frenzy weaken his resolve, because if he doesn’t fill her needs, she will die. What either expected was to fall in love, to truly want someone, need them. The only thing that could make things perfect would be freedom and the death of the master.

RIOT by Tillie Cole is dark, disturbing and filled with the gore of hand to hand combat, as well as the havoc it wreaks on the human mind. The only light in the world of an underground fighter is if they find love and even that can be used against them. Discover a stark world where the only thing one man has left is his pride and the fledgling honor he keeps hidden. Find the beauty of love in the ugliest of places and discover what power lies within those four letters as the final battle is waged and death stalks those who fight to survive.

I received an ARC edition from St Martin's Griffin in exchange for my honest review.

Series: Scarred Souls - Book 4
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (March 7, 2017)
Publication Date: March 7, 2017
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Print Length: 304 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
For Reviews & More: http://tometender.blogspot.com

This novel sucked me in from the first page to the last. I loved it. I love the way this author can draw you in and I literally did not want to put it down to see what was going to happen next.. I loved the other novels in this series, and this novel did not disappoint. There were times when I was reading that my heart was in my throat but I could not stop reading to see what was going to happen. I loved the relationship between the hero and heroine. There was a pureness to their love despite what kind of lives they were force to live. I loved the story and I loved the characters. I can't wait to see what is coming next from this author, her novels just keep getting better.

Riot was a brutal story of love and strength. It really drew me in emotionally.. It was part of a series, so it took me a minute to put it all together, but I'm so glad I did. Tillie Cole is a great writer.

WOW!!! Like really freaking WOW!!! I can't even.... Ms. Tillie Cole just freaking nailed it again!!!!!
Riot is the fourth and final book in the Scarred Souls series.. **sobs** This series is one of my favorite and the only Tillie Cole books I've ever read. Riot is can be read as a standalone but it would be great if you read the first 3 books in the series before starting this because the characters from the previous books will be here.
Anyway, this book is 901 and 152's story. 152 is groomed to become a Mona while 901 is the champion of the pit. Without giving away too much, you can read what the story all about on goodreads or amazon synopsis. So, on what I thought ob this book, this book gave me CHILLS and made me freaking emotional. I really loved it from the start up to the last. This book is full of suspense, romance and action! You really must read this book!

Note: This book is a bit gory (heck, the whole series is kind of gory) so if you are not a fan f such books, I advice you to walk away from this.

Be still my bleeding freaking heart.


Now I'll be honest I haven't yet read this series from tillie though I have read others from her. I was saving this series for a rainy day, I honestly didn't expect to get this ARC so colour me surprised when I did. However, I wouldn't change anything. I know I have much to catch up on and believe me I will be on this series for the next few days like a mad women. But it just shows how absolutely fantastic an author she is because although I haven't read the previous books I had no problems following this one. This story was seemless from start to finish so I can only imagine how brilliant the rest are.

152 was nothing short of fantastic. Not once throughout the whole story did I feel annoyed or aggravated by her. Her character held strong through continuously growing. She had no memory of her past life except little fragments of memories that appeared but she couldn't quite make sense of. It was nice because it made everything more suspenseful, and every emotion seemed heightened. Her strength and courage throughout was admirable and she never lost her sense of kindness staying true to whom she was even in such despair dealing with unimaginable horrors. She was honourable throughout and definitely one of the best heroines I have ever read.

901 is a man made of the most unimaginable horrors known. He knows nothing but solitude. He made it so he was unbeatable, untouchable and unstoppable. He is a force to be reckoned and his master knew it. For years he kept himself away from anything other than the pit so he had no weaknesses. His attraction to 152 was instantaneous, he knew he should stay away but when forced into having no other choice but to help her he sealed his fate for ever and finally had the biggest weakness possible. It's was wonderful how tillie wrote him so perfect. She didn't hide whom he was but instead build on the foundation of him. He wasn't a soft man however 152 brought out a side of him that made him be gentle with her, kind and sweet. His character growth was truly beautiful without loosing whom he was and what he started of like just subtle improvements and fine tweaks.

Wow together they truly were two broken pieces that made a whole. Their. chemistry wasn't what I'd call smoking because it wasn't the right fit for that however it was sweet and gentle slowly simmering but no less believable. I loved that together they healed, they learned to love and they grew both individually as much as they did as a couple.

The story itself is fantastic. The plot it's striking and pulls you in immediately regardless of not reading the previous stories I had zero trouble keeping up. It flows seamlessly from start to finish keeping you engaged always making you wonder what's next and leaving you pine for more. It takes you through a crap ton of emotions leaving you feeling slightly Pete tong by the end but no less in love with this perfectly fucked up story.

It has so much violence and so much sorrow yet amongst the madness is a finely tuned love story that blossoms. I credit tillie for the impossible really because it's only her that can make such books turn into a beautifully sad story with a HEA that doesn't seem so far unfetched.

A little side note for Maya the chiri who stole my heart with her bravery and honour throughout. She for me was the real champ though this story even though it wasn't about her and I really do hope to hear her story.

All in all I'd 100% recommend this story. I absolutely loved it and have fallen more in love with this author for writing something so fucking brilliant.

I'm not trying to spoil it for anyone because it truly needs to be read with fresh eyes to appreciate it.

Also the ending had me blubbering like a bitch. What a beautiful end to a great story. Now I shall go read the rest in order.

I kindly received this ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was amazing.. the story was awesome.. it was sexy.. the characters were amazing.. overall it was alot of fun to read and im really glad i got to review it

Riot by Tillie Cole is the fourth and final book in the Scarred Souls Series and I highly recommend reading them in order but can be read as a stand-alone. Reading in order just helps the story and ending mean so much more. This author can take you to some really dark places and grip your heart in a powerful way. This book can be quite brutal and then achingly beautiful. If you love a really dark romance full of suspense, I highly recommend this book.