Still Beating is a dark, forbidden romance.

Trigger Warnings: rape, miscarriage, kidnapping, murder, substance abuse, attempted suicide

Cora is celebrating her sister's birthday well after everyone has left, when she is leaving she realizes her wallet was stolen. She calls everybody she can think of but no answer, her only option is Dean, her sister's fiancé and her nemesis for the past fifteen years. When Dean picks up Cora they are kidnapped by a serial killer, held in his basement, and forced to endure dark things. Rivals for years they now have to work together to survive but the madman has things in store for them that confuses the line between love and hate. Once they make it out alive their relationship can never be the same.

This was a very raw and emotional book. I enjoyed the journey that Cora and Dean had to go on to be with each other as it is quite forbidden for them to be together. Also, I really liked seeing Cora's healing process but I felt I did not see the same process for Dean. I wanted to hear more about his healing of their shared trauma. If you can handle a dark romance that breaks your heart just to put it back together again, I suggest picking this one up! It is dual POV and the audiobook narration was excellent.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Re-release Date: July 11, 2023

Cora Bell hates her sisters boyfriend with a passion and has he did him for the last 15 years. So when she finds herself kidnapped and chained in the basement with him despite the fear of being kidnapped and possibly murdered she still cannot let her hatred go. Dean, who is supposed to be the cigarette smoking bad boy is adult in the situation. He sings to her and does his best to calm her down and when he is forced to assault her he cries and begs her forgiveness. When they finally get out the only piece they get is when they are together. I’m going to be honest and say when they were kidnapped I did skip chapters twice I was getting so tired of her childish whining and holding on to high school grudges and it was getting on my nerves. There are many things wrong with this book it really sounded like a great book and headed been three hours shorter or maybe even more it would’ve been perfect minus her whining but her whole personality seem childish I mean she’s 30 years old and she supposedly is entertained by Shakespeare yet she is in a deadly situation and still doesn’t even realize that a guy who’s been in her family for 15 years it’s her ally and not her enemy… That seems so ridiculous to me. Not to mention the magical way then being together made everything OK that’s called codeendency and just for those of you like me who care this book is full of blasphemy I know most people do not care about stuff like that but for some reason that just gets under my skin. I mean we’re supposed to respect everybody’s likes dislikes yet it seems to be open season on Christians. As far as triggers go however blasphemy is just the beginning of the list they have sexual, verbal emotional ET see but if you can stomach that this is a dark romance and it’s very long and it’s from a very popular author who has never read before and I can’t say I will be looking for any books by her in the future. Despite that if this sounds good to you then you should read Still Beating by Jennifer Hartman I do want to say this was a duel narration and I think the narrators did a stellar job they were excellent it’s just a story was too long and there was too many things that were unbelievable and or ridiculous. I want to think the publisher and NetGalley for my arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I honestly don’t know how to write this review and give this book the justice it deserves. I have been putting this book off for a while now because I’ve heard that it would rip your heart out. And boy did it! This book definitely lived up to the hype. My heart broke reading not only the traumatic events that Dean and Cora had to go through but also their healing. Yes, their story was hard to read but it was also beautiful and beautifully written. It was angsty, forbidden and an emotional roller coaster. This is the first book that I’ve read by this author and I will for sure be reading more by her!

I was also lucky enough to get the ALC for this book and Laurie West and Christian Black truly brought these characters and the story alive for me. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook and follow along with the book like I did!

5⭐️
3 🌶️

This book is phenomenal!

If you're looking for a book with:
• kidnapping
• survival story
• sister's fiancé
• forced proximity
• enemies to lovers

Please give this one a shot, it's totally worth it!

Twisted. Dark. Trigger warnings abound.

When NetGalley and Tantor Audio sent me Still Beating to review as an audio arc, I actually thought… “Mmmm, I’ve read a book by this title before.” And As I began listening to it, indeed I had read this one last year when it was first released on Kindle.

I’m so glad I reread this in audio. Wow! Laurie West and Christian Black push this action-packed story forward. Christian Black is a favorite of mine, yet I’ve never listened to anything read by Laurie West. Apparently I’m late to the game because she’s got quite the back list…and I’ll be tackling that now.

Still Beating is a must read, but it is definitely not for every romance reader. It is for fans of Cat and Mouse duet by H.D. Carlton. It’s gritty, bloody, and while there is a HEA of sorts but not without horrible moments filled with anger and sadness. Still Beating is not for the faint of heart, but it is so worth the listen with tons of themes to make for lively book club discussions.

I actually love the audio better than the kindle version – I know, weird. Same great story amped up on amazing voices.

Move this bad boy up on your TBR as the audio releases tomorrow – July 11, 2023.

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for an ARC of this audio book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 rounded up!!

this was my first jennifer hartmann book and it absolutely will not be my last! please read this review with caution bc i go into some details 🫶🏼

He kisses my forehead, my nose, landing on my lips with a final goodbye. “You’re still my girl. You’ll always be my girl.”

BYE. dean asher deserves the universe and more.

i went into this book kinda blind, i knew the two main characters were kidnapped and thats it. so you can imagine my surprise when i found out that the hero was her sisters fiancé, which leads me to my 4.5 rating and that i need to have a rant about it 😁

pls skip next paragraph if you dont want to know certain things ab mandy!

mandy (h’s sister) is absolutely without a fucking doubt the WORST side character i have EVER read about. she is the most self centered c*nt i have ever seen in a book. your sister and fiancé are abducted, she is r*ped everyday for three weeks and they are both tortured and you have the nerve to make it all about you!? she forces her sister into talking about things that happened, makes everything out to be cora’s fault and like shes some monster, all the while little miss perfect cheated on her fiancé was never going to say anything to him about it AND THEN plays victim yet again, let’s cora know she still doesnt forgive her and that shes seeing someone and very happy who LOW AND BEHOLD IS DEANS BEST FRIEND.

LITERALLY CHOKE.

now back to why i loved this book 🤭

i can put this very simply. dean. dean is the absolute glue that holds this entire book together, i started off being completely sure i was going to this he was the biggest fuckhead in the world, only to very quickly be proven wrong. every little thing this man did through out his life for cora was just AKFHASLJ to me, ya know? this poor man had been in love from the very first time he saw her as a kid and that does unspeakable things to my heart. and the soup? i mean come on THE SOUP 😭

i was also extremely happy that the abduction didnt take up the majority of the book, i think it took up the perfect amount of space, just enough to really get how awful it was across.

this book is honestly a very intense and sad read so pls if you have any triggers make sure you check the warning prior bc you and your mental health are very important and things are graphic and on page!

“Every love story is worth writing, no matter how messy it might be"

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cora and Dean have known each other for 15 years and have ben pranking each other ever since. One night they both get captured and with Dean being her sister fiancé it is a forbidden romance where they are forced to do things in order to survive. It is emotional read where we see them trying to cope with the trauma of what happened and the feelings they developed from it.

I read this book in two days and will definitely be one of my top reads of 2023. The bonus scenes was just a heartbreaking & I will definitely check out the other two books where we see some characters mentioned in this book.

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann is amazing! It is 100% a Dark romance. Be sure to check triggers because this one has them. With that being said it is fantastic. The storyline and character development is fantastic. The spice is definitely there in multiple scenes both dark and light.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Holy wow! I was not anticipating this book to start off so dark and twisted! The beginning was such a shock, but it was really well done and was the catalyst for Dean and Cora to realize their love for each other. I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this story and am in awe of all the occurred.

this book still messes me up in the best way and remains one of my favorite books ever. Dean Asher is a perfect Angel baby and I will accept no dean slander. I will forever recommend that you go into this book blind. This book is such an emotional rollercoaster, it’s devastatingly beautiful and it’s just perfect Imo.

These two narrators did a great job and I felt alllllll the emotions Jennifer puts into this book!

This book loosely combines dark romance and the thriller genres. The first 25% of the book is deeply twisted and intense while the rest of the book are the main characters picking up their shattered pieces. The list for content warnings resembles that of a CVS receipt. My qualms are with the plot not with the narration or the book as a whole. Certain phrases like “belly flippy thingy” are so cringy and honestly take away from the intensity in the moment. Also the fact that Mandy was left alone with Cora in the hospital room after her incident seems highly unlikely. Certain things happened throughout the book that seemed like it was easier for the author to progress the plot if she wrote it a certain way rather than what made sense for the dynamic of the characters and their relationships. Overall, I think most dark romance readers would enjoy this book.

“Every love story is worth writing, no matter how messy it might be.”

Happy Release Day to Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann (🎧)!

This book has been on my list to check out forever as it is listed as a favorite for so many folks! Big thank you to @librofm and @netgalley for the advanced listening copy!

First off, this book is *very* dark so please read content warnings before diving in and treat yourself with kindness.

That being said, Hartmann writes complicated, messy, beautiful love stories and Still Beating was no different. The first section of this book was very difficult to get through due to the content, but I really enjoyed the story all in all.

Both narrators (Christian Black & Laurie West) did a phenomenal job. There are so many emotions to portray throughout this novel and they both really added to the tension of the story. Plus Christian’s voice was perfectly rumbly 😍

This re-release is out today with a bonus chapter and a beautiful new cover! If dark romance or true crime is your jam, definitely check it out!

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

4.25-4.5 Stars
I loved the story but hated Cora!

I think it's best to go in blind. But be aware it's a dark storyline with a moody and annoying female MC. If Corabelle wasn't so infuriating, this novel would have been a 5-star read. Everything else was amazing! The story was captivating from beginning to end! I didn't want to put it down. Highly recommend it as long as you don't mind the annoying MC.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Jennifer Hartmann, and Tantor Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.**

This was a first read for me by Jennifer. This was a dark and angsty book. Dean and Cora are soon to be brother/sis in laws due to Dean engaged to Cora's sister Mandy. They've know each other for 15 years on from high school. There is a lot of frenemies vibes between the two. Both get kidnapped by a man name Earl and makes them do things that will traumatize them. The whole kidnapping scene only lasts for about 15-20% in the beginning of the book. Jennifer doesn't get super descriptive of the assault scenes it was a bit more fade to black. I think I struggled a bit with the flash back scenes as to me they seemed to be inserted in random places. I don't really know if they brought anything extra to the story. Once Dean and Cora saved themselves there were no scenes with the authorities just shifted to how Dean and Cora can heal themselves but also how it will effect Mandy. I think the writing was good and am glad I read this.

I listened to the new 2023 Tantor Audiobook edition that contains a special bonus chapter of Tabitha and I can only hope she will have her story told because I do feel sad for her. Luckily, I have the audiobook of Lotus as well in which it sounds like Tabitha and Dean and Cora make appearances.

Narrators Laurie West; Christian Black were really good showing emotions off of their characters.

I received this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this unbiased review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I've heard a lot about this book from my favorite booktubers, so I knew what I was going into. Dean and Cora's story is heartbreaking and so beautiful! They found themselves in a unique and impossible situation, I really didn't know how they were going to make it work. Jennifer is a master of dark romance for a reason!

The dark parts were, well, dark, but they didn't turn me off the story. The first act pulled me in so hard and fast that I couldn't stop reading for hours!
I have no idea how people in such situation would cope, but Jennifer handled it beautifully. The relationship development between Dean and Cora was fleshed out, starting from their bond forming in that basement, and progressing in a believable way in the aftermath.

I stayed up half the night to see through their happy ending. This book is a great example of a third act breakup that was absolutely necessary for both leads. When it happened, I was heartbroken for them, but also screaming “yes!” in my mind at the same time. Because boy was their relationship unhealthy before they split! And it made their reunion and HEA so wholesome and well-deserved ❤️❤️❤️

I read and listened to this book and enjoyed it in both formats. Thanks to the wonderful narrators for bringing these characters to life!

Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

Thanks to Jennifer for this unique story and to Bloom Books for this advanced copy! All opinions are my own.

Some personal preferences:
- I wished they were actual enemies at the start of the story. To me their "prank war" was not enough to make them real enemies. However, I understand the need to make sure there was a connection between them from the beginning. Otherwise we would always be questioning the truthfulness of their relationship.
- I wished for Mandy's character arc to be different. Just my preference, but I wanted there to be no excuses and no justifications for Dean and Cora to lean on. I felt a bit like I was pushed not to like her from the beginning, in both Dean’s and Cora’s POVs. Nevertheless, I get why it happened the way it happened.

I have to start by saying that there’s not one thing I truly enjoyed from this book, unfortunately. Let’s start by the fact that Dean says the MC’s (Corabelle) name 100x and there’s space wasted by the same answer each time, “Do not call me that, my name is Cora.” Aggravating. Unnecessary. The whole dynamic between these two is extremely weird - he’s literally her sister’s fiancée. There was too much miscommunication throughout the whole book. A lot of hooking up and breaking up on every other page. This book started off strong but quickly took a different turn. I didn’t feel like I could relate nor connect with any of the characters and found them quite frankly annoying. I felt like the plot ultimately got lost in all the mess and miscommunication.

(A special thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for this ALC! 'Still Beating' will be available to everyone on audio format on July 11th!)

IG: @coffeebreakwithrachel

Check the book trigger warnings before listening!

This book torn my heart into pieces, then put it back together by the end. The later parts of the book were a little slow in part and rushed in others. That being said, I feel the author did a wonderful job at depicting trauma, trauma bonding, PTSD, recovery, and attempting to rebuild a life after traumatic events. I highly recommend this book.

There appears to be no love lost between Cora and her sister Mandy's fiancée, Dean. Fifteen years into a prank war, the two mostly try to stay out of each other's way. Still, when Cora needs a ride home after drinking too much at Mandy's birthday, Dean is not about to leave her there. When Dean arrives and Cora gets in his car, they think the end of their night is a short drive away.... unfortunately, their car is forced off the road and they wake up chained to opposite walls of a psychopath's basement.

Based on the description, I thought this book was about their time in captivity. Less than twenty minutes in, I was starting to hope it wasn't because the nature of the story and the vivid descriptions are not only NSFW for but nearly enough to turn your stomach and I wasn't sure I could listen to a whole book of this. Fortunately, about one third through, the story switches to become about some of the survivors of the serial killer. It's hard to describe without any spoilers, but the middle third of the book is about some of the survivors navigating their new lives before pretty much deciding they're all irrevocably screwed up and moving on, and the last third is about them reuniting. The shift from part to part was a little clunky and could almost have been three entirely separate stories. and none of the characters are especially likable or particularly sympathetic. The story line managed to be both overly dramatic and repetitive. There were a lot of things I didn't love about this book.

I did note the "Mature Content" advisory in the description but feel obligated to point out that it's not just "mature content" trigger wise or sex scene wise; it's extremely graphic descriptions of the combination of the two over and over and over again. I read and review Erotica occasionally, I'm not offended by detailed sex scenes. I also read a ton of true crime and mystery, I'm not offended by gruesome cases. However, the combination of the two though pushes it a little over the top for me and shoves it directly into the category of 21+ in my opinion.

Still, the book is nothing if not grossly intriguing. Alternating between characters who both have good narrators, you can't pause it no matter how crazy it gets. The writing is unpretentious and compelling and the story moves. I'm not necessarily sure I can say I 'enjoy' super dark books like this when reading for fun, but I would highly, highly recommend it for fans of Colleen Hoover and, specifically, of quick but disturbing reads like Karin Slaughter's 'Pretty Girls'.

I received an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you so much NetGalley and RB Media.

This book deals with some heavy topics. It's not an easy ride by any means. Check the TW, there's plenty and proceed with caution.

"You don't feel like my enemy anymore. You feel like my lifeline"

Cora and Dean have known each other for 15 years. Dean is Cora's sister's fiancé and they hate each other, allegedly. Up to the day they were kidnapped by a "matchmaker" serial killer, who gets off on seeing his victims falling in love with one another before killing them both.

The book was originally published in 2020, but it's being republished now. So, the story is not new, I've had my fair share of spoilers, but still, I tried to dive into the story with an open heart. But one of the first things I noticed it's how badly this book has aged. There's all this internalized misogyny I just couldn't overlook. Boy doing stupid things because he likes de girl. Cora constantly looking down on her sister because, apparently, enjoying makeup, high-heels, and fake lashes makes you an airhead (I'll circle back to this).

Also, the whole "I'm not like the other girls" is so outdated. And that's basically Cora's entire personality. She was a frustrated, immature (despite she's almost 30), and QuIrKy woman that blames everyone else but herself for her own misery. And that was even before all the kidnapping thing. I couldn't believe she was 29 most of the time. She's so whiny and definitely on the bad side of stubbornness.

That being said, I didn't really get why she "hated" Dean to begin with. Her reasons seemed uncalled for, actually. And Dean is just... *sigh* dreamy. He deserved so much better, in my opinion. Dean kept me going in the first part. And in the second. And in this whole MF book. He's a hero for putting up with Cora, for real.

"I know I said you can go back to hating me when we get out of here, but I really hope you don't."

See? 🥲

While I didn't cry during their captivity scenes, I was a wreck afterward. It was really taxing. And messy doesn't begin to cover how things went when they were trying to acclimate to life after that, which is totally understandable. It was raw and heartbreakingly beautiful, and, for me, the toughest and most meaningful part of the story.

But god I *hated* how she used Dean. Really hated. Yeah, everyone copes with trauma differently, but not at the expense of someone else who is also traumatized! Sigh.

And my biggest gripe: people with no sense of boundaries and that doesn't take a hint. And Mandy being the worst of them all was the author's personal quest, it seems. She did her dirty in the second part, I didn't like that. Like, did she really treat Cora badly and with complete disregard for her trauma? Absolutely. Yet, I can also see *her* side and she had every right to feel the way she did and I felt bad for her.

As you can see, I have mixed feelings about this book. Sometimes I was loving it, sometimes I was hating it. I was overall engaged in the story, but that was mostly because of Dean, Cora, on the other hand, really put me off. She gets a little better in the end, and I mean in *the end*. Not enough to make me like her, but I'm not I monster, I can empathize with her. The epilogue was truly beautiful and fulfilling, which closed the story on a better note for me.

The crumbs of Tabitha's story picked my interest big time. The bonus chapter had me *sobbing*. I wish I could read about her HEA (apparently there's an upcoming book?)

As for the audiobook, although is not a duet (it's a dual), the narration was really good. I feel like the first part of the book was a lot easier to get through because I was listening to it rather than reading it. So if you have a hard time reading graphic content (again, check the TW), maybe the audiobook is a better alternative.

Still Beating by Jennifer Hartmann
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

I don’t know if I have words for how heartbreakingly beautiful this story is.

Still Beating starts with Cora attending her sister’s birthday party. After she ends up drunk, losing her wallet and getting hit on by a creep outside the bar, she calls her sister’s fiancé to pick her up, only to have them both kidnapped, thrown into the psycho’s basement and held their against their will. They both have to lean on each other to survive, in more ways than one.

I’ve had this book on my TBR for quite awhile, so when I saw the audiobook available on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to request it. This was not an easy book to listen to/read, but I’m so glad I did. It’s a story of perseverance, hope and most of all, love.

I always recommend checking trigger warnings on books, but I do not say that lightly with this read. The topics discussed in extremely vivid detail in this book are really difficult to read, and while this book was incredible and think everyone should read it, you need to protect your mental health and well-being. With that being said, this is truly one of the most incredible books I’ve read this year. It’s full of gritty and raw moments that aren’t pretty, but are just real, and the human emotion that was captured in this book took my breath away.

The updated version of Still Beating and the audiobook will release on July 11th. Thank you to @jenniferhartmann @netgalley and @rbmedia for allowing me the chance to listen to this amazing book.