Even If It Hurts

Coastal Elite, Book 1

By: Sam Mariano

Narrated by: Theo Sinclair, Allie Shae

Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

A psychopath and his prey.

A dangerous, toxic, and utterly destructive love story....

He could have been my hero. He saved my life that night, a beautiful dark angel slicing through my fear and the water, dragging me from its deadly clutches. He should have been my hero. I thought maybe he was.

Villains aren’t supposed to win, and good should always conquer evil, but in the elite coastal town I live in, the only purpose a label has is letting you know what something—or someone—costs. Good, bad—it’s all relative, and it hardly matters. Baymont, California, is a land of beautiful villains and happy ever afters that are just out of reach.

Especially for me.

Until Dare moves the world beneath my feet, and even though I’m afraid to trust it—to trust him—boy, am I tempted. In more ways than one. Being with Dare is scary, but being without him is impossible. He makes it impossible.

Dare’s no hero, that much is clear, but maybe... Maybe he’s mine.

This story contains triggers and is intended only for a mature, adult audience. See the opening author's note for more explicit warnings, but know this is a very dangerous relationship with a very dark hero.

©2022 Sam Mariano (P)2023 Sam Mariano

Dark, Twisted & Intense! Great Story & Listen🎧

This book is a complete mind blow and wow, talk about dark and twisted, not just the story but the characters too, well not all characters, just one of the lead characters, Chase “Dare” Darington, and his cohort, Anae. The other lead, Aubrey, is the light to his dark, but he catches her in his dark web and weaves it tightly around her, holding her there and not letting her go, and it is not exactly against her will. Aubrey has a lot on her plate, taking care of her Mom who has cancer, juggling school and a job while trying to stay afloat financially. When a friend invites her to a party at Chase Darington’s house, she was not interested in going, but her friend convinced her to go. And going there almost cost Aubrey her life when the bully biotch Anae shoved her in the pool, and Aubrey, who did not know how to swim, nearly drowned while Anae watched on. It was Chase who dove in, pulled her out of the pool and revived her, and she thought he was an angel. Chase is definitely no angel, not even a fallen one, he is diabolically evil and deranged, but he is also a master manipulator with a brilliant mind. Sam Mariano penned an amazing story, a story that sucks you in like no other and it becomes an addiction because you need to know what happens next. The plotting and world building are fantastic and so are the character growth and development. The author keeps you on your toes, wondering what is really going on with Dare and Anae, and what they are up to. Sam Mariano, thank you for another amazing story and an intense and emotional rollercoaster ride. 

🎧📚🎧And for the fantastic narration, Sam Mariano cast the perfect narrators to bring her characters and story to life. Theo Sinclair and Allie Shae are talented narrators and versatile voice artists. They did an amazing job portraying these characters, giving each a voice that fit that character’s persona and was believable in every role they played. Allie Shae nailed it as Aubrey, grasping all sides of her personality, from her vulnerabilities to her caring side. Gideon Frost killed it as Dare, grasping his cold and uncaring demeanor perfectly. Both were just as amazing performing the roles of all the secondary characters, too. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all the character’s emotions , their angst, and had you feeling them all. These entertaining storytellers are a pleasure to listen to and their narration enhanced an already awesome story to another level. Thank you for this fantastic listen.

If you like stories about rapist, then A+

So here is the deal. I like some pretty dark shit. But I didn’t realize this books lead male was basically a teenage rapist. I can handle mentions of rape but for me, it’s a hard limit when it’s mentioned so casually as it is in this book. And by casually I mean the lead female is drugged and Dare sleeps with her without her knowledge. He also threatens rape casually to another character and enjoys making the lead cry. Not my kink. So I get he’s a psycho and all that but again, for me, casual inclusion of forced sex of teenagers is a limit for me so just be warned if you aren’t into that.

Wow....just wow

The twists and turns are addictive. Amazing story. I can't wait to read it again!!!!

Dare is Dark and Sam Mariano is Amazing

I love Sam Mariano. Her books are dark, but I know that going in. It's dark romance, and it is good. Her books pull you along. I never have a desire to take a break. I just want to keep reading/listening. I wish she would release all of her books in audio format. I'm reading Sophie's Surrender now. Haven't re encountered Dare yet, but I know it's coming and I'm looking forward to experiencing the stories back to back, even if one is on audible and the other on my Kindle.

The narration is PERFECT! It couldn't have been better. Both of the narrator's were new to me, so I was worried, but Sam did a great job selecting the ideal narrators for this story. They read well, emoted well and the pacing was exactly right. It was narrated duet style, which is tricky. They pulled it off with a fabulous end result!!

This takes you on a mind trip the whole way

MMC is completely physco! He's the villain and the villain wins in the end. I can advise that I didnt know what was going on, where the story was headed for 98% of the book.

M/F, Highschool, Abuse, Somnophilia, Non-Consent, New Adult, Audible

wtf did I just read and why do I LOVE it so much

One of my favorite books this year, because wtf just happened? Seriously, if a book takes me by complete surprise I'm ALL in! I was completely enthralled in this read. I suggest my morally black unhinged loving dark romance girlies read this one. My feelings were thrown around left and right, and I wasn't sure who was causing what to happen. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to love the characters or hate the characters. AND then the dots started to connect... I am OBSSESSED with this man!
I want to write a more in depth review... but I can't without giving the whole plot away. If you like dark romance and unhinged men and you're the type that can go into a book blind... please do?

This is not a romance

So do not rate it as such. I still liked Mariano’s ‘Untouchable’ better. Carter > Dare, but the sociopathy of these hero’s is everything.

No one else is willing to color outside the lines.. and if they are, they’re unrealistic in how they go about it. Not These Books though! I love it.

Dark and twisted

Love that Sam Mariano wrote an antihero and committed to it! There’s no warm and fuzzies for this story. It’s angsty, dramatic, toxic and addictive. The narration was stellar by the talented Theo Sinclair and Allie Shae.

what a lovely mess!

the story was hard to turn off! As a general rule, I prefer unrealistic stories like Sci-Fi and such. But this story is realistically, unrealistic. None of the stuff would ever happen! That's what makes it fun and kept my attention, I believe. It's so twisted and so many turns. There are warnings all over that tell you .. you better have some kinks and sense of adventure if you wanna enjoy this book. Please audible all her works!

Dark

It’s Sam Mariano, so it’s dark. The story is good, but I wanted more from Dare after it came out what he did.

Check Trigger Warnings