Guestreview by Jen
TITLE: Bought Deceit
AUTHOR: Autumn Winchester
PUBLISHER: Autumn Winchester
LENGTH: 274 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2023
BLURB:
In a world where being a slave is the norm, Dakota resigns himself to a life of despair and abandonment. Trained from a tender age to be a submissive servant,
Dakota finds no solace in the prospect of being auctioned off like a mere object.
However, his fate takes an unexpected turn when Allister, a mysterious and enigmatic figure, becomes his unlikely buyer. Rather than maintaining the dehumanization Dakota has become accustomed to, Allister blurs the boundaries and treats him with the respect and dignity that has long eluded him.
This poignant tale unveils the power of compassion and challenges the very essence of societal norms in a world where humanity hangs by a fragile thread.
TW contains human trafficking, forced bedroom/bathroom control, age gap romance, and rape.
REVIEW:
This is the story of Dakota, a human trafficked at a young age who has spent a good portion of his life trained to be a slave. After he is bought by Allister, it quickly becomes clear just how much brainwashing has been ingrained into Dakota’s makeup.
Spoiler alert, although we figure it out very quickly, is that Allister is an undercover agent attempting to take down the big wigs of the human trafficking scene. In the course of his job, he encounters and wins Dakota in one of the auctions. He has apparently saved numerous others in similar ways, and takes care of them for a short time until they can be found new homes.
Dakota is a total sweetheart and it’s difficult not to fall for him right away. He has been through so much and clearly doesn’t understand what is different with Allister and why he isn’t treating Dakota the way he is accustomed. Allister, on the other hand, finds out that Dakota isn’t like the others he has helped. He is far more “damaged” than he realized and comes to rely heavily on Allister as their relationship grows. They are clearly a good fit for each other and Allister seems to be exactly what Dakota needs to evolve into a more normal life.
The only issues I really had with this story and what kept me from that final half star centered around keeping the truth about Allister and his job a secret, or failing that, if it would be detrimental to Dakota’s understanding and mental well-being, how he never had any therapy to cope with everything. That aside, this story ended up being a real page turner and I found myself disappointed it was coming to an end and really wished it was part of a larger series. Regardless, I really enjoyed this new-to-me author’s writing and will definitely be looking at more of her books.
RATING: 
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