Does It Hurt?

By: H. D. Carlton

Narrated by: Troy Duran, Michelle Sparks

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

An Amazon top five best seller!

Who am I?

I've forgotten the answer to that question long ago. Ever since I ran from that house, so desperate to escape, I left with only the clothes on my back and socks on my feet. After that day, I've only ever walked in stolen shoes.

Could I be a girl who is searching for the meaning of life in faceless men? They were all so forgettable. Until he came along. He took me under a waterfall and made me forget my name, and in return, I took his instead.

Enzo Vitale.

An enigmatic man who will only ever love the deep sea. Or rather the predators that inhabit it. Turns out, he's not so different than the monsters he feeds. He lured me onto his boat like a fish in the ocean, seeking vengeance for my crime. Had I realized his intentions, and that a massive storm would leave us shipwrecked, I would've run.

Now, I'm a girl who's seeking refuge in a decrepit lighthouse with a man who loathes me almost as much as he craves me. He wants to hurt me, but the old caretaker of the abandoned island may have intentions far more sinister.

It's no longer a question of who I am, but rather, will I survive?

©2022 H. D. Carlton (P)2023 H. D. Carlton

This is a tough one

I really wanted to like this story. I know it's billed as dark, so as with the last dark romance I listened to, it's on me for continuing to listen in spite of the distaste I felt. Dark romance is certainly not something I regularly seek out, but I love Troy Duran's work, so I try to listen to one of his books that is completely out of my comfort zone every so often. His narration and Michelle Sparks', who is new to me, performance are truly flawless, and are the ONLY thing that made me see this one through. Troy's mastery of accents is amazing -- the Italian, oh my, and I loved Michelle's Australian accent, too!

I know sex sells, but there is such a thing as overkill, and this book definitely fits that bill; and how on earth two people can be continually attracted to one another when they have a bone-deep hatred and are terribly mean to each other, is beyond me. Sexual tension or not, two broken, messed up souls or not, you can't tell me such "attraction" can realistically be sustained long term, let alone lead to love. Yes, I know this is fiction, and perhaps the goal is to allow readers/listeners to live vicariously through the characters to experience something they otherwise wouldn't, but good grief, there is more to life than sex.

What could have been a much better story, given the mystery surrounding the lighthouse and Sylvester's creepiness, was swallowed up in one meaningless sex scene after another. Even after all that happened and the unique, heartfelt way Sawyer was able to put her past behind her in the end, I felt nothing, no connection to these characters, and that is a big must for me with any book, connection. The tender moments between Enzo and Sawyer that are supposed to make us believe they have truly fallen in love, rang completely hollow. Authors of dark romance, this author included, need to understand that when it comes to the spice factor, less is often more, otherwise even the most avid fans could become tired and disillusioned.

Wowzers!

Okay these Narrators were amazing. Enzo’s voice was so freaking sexy, it was hard to pay attention! Haha jk!

This book was insanity, from the first shark encounter to the last, it was definitely a wild ride.

Sawyer and Enzo were made for each other and I could not get enough of them! This book was sinister and dark but also beautiful and exhilarating! The twists and turns made this book everything.

We meet Sawyer, a young girl on the run from her past, she been playing people for the last 6 years to survive! But she plays the wrong person and he comes after her!

Enzo is a dark brooding guy who has been hurt in the past and when these collide you know it’s going to be anything but dangerous!

After realizing what Sawyer took from him he hunts her down and takes her out for boat ride, the boat ride turns into a nightmare as a storm tosses them overboard and they have to fight to stay alive in the deadly sea! They wash ashore on a deserted lighthouse, but it’s not actually deserted. And old man named Sylvester resides on the island and he takes care of the abandoned lighthouse.

After a few weeks staying with him strange things start to happen and Sawyer and Enzo realize they have to put their hatred for each other aside and work together!

This was an intense book I would highly recommend checking trigger warnings!

11/10

Remove any expectations from the cat & mouse duet and you will love this if you like HD Carlton's writing!! Enzo is not Zade & Sawyer is not Addie - these two have their own incredible story and holy cow is it a wild ride.

Could be a movie

This book was good. At the beginning I was a bit lost and I found our introduction to characters was rushed but as it went along it all started to make more sense. I definitely enjoyed the narration and the story overall kept you interested. This book wasn’t as detailed as others by this author which is why I said it could be a movie.

I liked it!

Outstanding

Outstanding performance by the narrators and H. D. Carlton has made me fall even more in love with her books. 5 star all the way

Perfect

Loved the narration it was perfect. And the plot, you know H.D. Carlton can’t disappoint

Hooked from beginning to end!

This book is soooo worth the read! I love having two narrators that read the appropriate parts of the book in their voice as opposed to having one narrator try to sound like the opposite sex. Book has good flow to it and kept me interested right from the start. Never wanted to put it down!

Amazing! Love this author

I loved this book just as much as I loved Haunting and Hunting Adeline. This author just keeps on giving, I’m so glad I found them! I loved every twist in this book and audibly gasped at each one. Don’t even get me started on the spice… whoo 🌶🌶🌶! I love a romance with a good story line and that’s exactly what this book gave me. Narrators can make or break an audiobook and these narrators killed it! The only reason I didn’t give this five stars is at certain points I found it hard to believe the MC’s weren’t more suspicious of Sylvester. *Spoilers past this point*


It was hard to believe that even after seeing a woman in the ocean they continued to trust Sylvester’s excuse of the lighthouse being haunted. I often found myself screaming “it’s not a ghost, there’s a person there!!” I understand that the power of suggestion and Sawyer’s existing belief in ghosts could have made it harder for them to consider someone else was there but after a certain point I felt that it was too obvious. I definitely thought Enzo would put it together sooner because he was already suspicious of Sylvester but he didn’t. Other than that though, absolutely phenomenal!! I can’t wait to read/listen to more H.D. Carlton books!

SLOWWWW burn - Don't compare to Adeline

Overall a good story & great, unexpected ending.
A very SLOW burn. Don't go into this book expecting it to be anything like Haunting/Hunting Adeline. It was an entirely different pace, but still a good book if you're looking for something slower and not as dark.

Intense Emotional Response

Chapter 7 destroyed me, but in a good way. The writing is descriptive, harsh, and real. This chapter painted a vivid picture in my mind, which evoked raw emotion. I connected with the pain and fear she felt deeply. I had to take a break after this chapter to collect myself as it was such a hard hit.