Obsession

This book completely blew me away with the suspense. I had no idea who is in their right mind. This story was filled with suspense from the beginning until the very end. These characters had that special something that made me fall in love with them all and when their true colors came out, I was completely blindsided. Nick, Eric, Claude and Christian are all characters that will have your mind completely blown. At one time I thought every character in this story was a little off kilter and I didn't know who to believe in, trust, and who was actually real. Nick had it the roughest though. His character went from one bad situation to the next and it followed that path until the end, so when the ending came I thought he got exactly what his character deserved but I wanted more for him than what he actually ended up with. I wanted him to have love, support and protection without having to always be on guard, he truly deserved that. As twisted as Claude was, I wanted more of him because even though he had his faults and was completely messed up, I actually enjoyed him with Nick at times. However, what he did to Nick was not okay at all in my book, but with that being said I still ended up liking him. Nick was truly alive because of him in a way. I definitely look forward to reading more books from this author in the future and hopefully more of these characters because this story cannot end the way it did without a follow-up book with Nick and Claude. I finished this book in one sitting and was not ready for it to end.
Beware: Please keep in mind before purchasing this book that it has dark subject matters including rape and murder. If you as a reader, rather not read books with dark subjects than this book is not for you.

Obsession is the story of Nick, Claude and the dangerous romance they find themselves immersed in. But is all the danger a physical threat or perhaps a psychological whirl wind as well. Nick works at Jen’in's Bar for minimum wage and crappy tips in order to help pay his sister’s medical bills. Ever since his childhood, he’s faced abuse and desperation, so it isn’t new for him to face precarious situations and to take advantage of them
Claude is a wealthy, business man who sees Nick during a client meeting and believes Nick to be his ex, Christian. It becomes an obsession for Claude. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get Nick’s attention, keep it and to have him forever.
My first thought as I read was, how could Nick entertain Claude believing him to be a different person. Then I started to understand it. Claude had everything Nick could ever want and he’s willing to please Nick in any possible way; romantically, monetarily, and sexually. Nick developing feelings for someone showering him with that much attention was completely understandable. That would be hard to walk away from.
I thought I would absolutely hate Claude but as crazy as it sounds, I empathized with the psychotic man. There was something about it that made me hope that Claude would see Nick as who he truly was sooner rather than later. There was something about Eric, for as good as he was, that made me weary.
It wasn’t until close to the end that I came to the right conclusion about “Christian” and what had happened to him. I liked how St. Claire kept me on my toes the entire time. I kept asking myself question after question. When was Claude going to lose it? How was he going to lose it? Where was Christian? Was he going to show up? Obsession kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen.
It broke did break my heart, just a little bit, how everything turned out. But I feel like St. Claire did the story line justice.
Would I recommend this to other readers? Oh yes! I’m looking forward to reading more from St. Claire.

This book blew me away. Let me start out with what I expected. I saw there would be a mystery, mistaken identity, romance, troubled pasts and thought "well, Christian will turn out to be Nick's twin brother, given away by his parents for money or whatever, and they treat him bad out of guilt. Then, Claude will see the spitting image of his ex, and the twins will reunite, and much drama will be had." Then the book changed drastically to something completely different, and darker. I personally love dark, edgy books that creep you out as well as entertain, so this change made the book 1000% more appealing to me. If you would prefer the twin scenario, or one that does not involve murder, lying, or rape, then do not read this book.
If I had to name this book, I would call it 50 Shades of American Psycho. This is how Christian Grey should be; this is the real Edward Cullen. There is no BDSM, but Nick is emotionally entrapped by Claude, and wants to work through the mistaken identity problem, rather than run away. This is a look at abuse 101, and how things become internalized and rationalized even while recognizing that it is unhealthy. Nick is a victim in nearly every part of his life, and your heart breaks for him. He's not dumb, or blind to Claude's faults but desperate for love and stability. It is very disturbing to see Claude morph from loving boyfriend to abusive psycho in a span of hours. If you hated how 50 Shades of Grey romanticized abuse and ended happily, then this is a book you will enjoy.