Book Review
Title: Desperate Measures (Wicked Villains #1)
Author: Katee Robert
Genre: Erotic/Romance/Retelling
Rating: *****
Review: I recently saw that Becca from Becca and the Books was planning to read Desperate Measures in 2021 and her explanation of Disney retelling but with smutty romances between the Princesses and the villain had me hooked. The first book is an Aladdin retelling and obviously follows Jasmine and Jafar which I was really excited to see. The opening chapter was gripping as we learn that Jasmine’s father has basically sold her to secure an alliance before he is betrayed by Jafar who know owns Jasmine. However, they have been playing a little game for a while it seems but now Jafar dares to touch her but he does give Jasmine a choice she can leave with freedom but without her inheritance or she came belong to him. While she wants to be free, the thought of being Jafar’s also doesn’t repel her in the way it should. Jafar even sweetens this deal and adds that if she can get to the front doors before, he catches her, he will let her leave with her inheritance in addition to her freedom and Jasmine takes the risk.
Obviously Jasmine loses as she knew she would but she doesn’t ever use the safe word she has with Jafar not even when he takes her on the floor like an animal for their first time which shows how much Jasmine is aware, she wants Jafar even if she doesn’t want the entrapment that comes with him. I also noticed quite early on that Carver City, is an extended universe where all the stories in this series take place as we meet both Meg and Tink who are characters in the second and third books of this series. At first, Jasmine fights Jafar on everything because that is all she knows how to do but when she begins to realise this isn’t going to get her what she wants, she begins thinking of new ideas to escape Jafar. However, it is Tink, a stylist, who tells her that if she really wants to be free of Jafar she has to make a deal with Hades who runs the Underworld, a notorious sex club where all the underbelly dealing of Carver City take place and that is exactly where Jafar is taking her tonight. However, in the background of all this we know Jafar is hunting Ali, the man Jasmine had been sold to who is apparently 100x worse than Jafar and he would utterly destroy Jasmine which isn’t what Jafar wants. He knows Ali is coming for Jasmine if he doesn’t deal with him because if Ali wanted to escape, he has had plenty of chances to do it but he wants to undermine Jafar’s newfound power which is why he is taking Jasmine to the Underworld, to show everyone that she is his and that they shouldn’t make any deals with Ali.
By the time we reach the point where they arrive at the Underworld, Jasmine is beginning to slowly come to terms with her desires, especially her desire for Jafar and the strange relationship that has developed between them in the five years leading up to his ownership of her. I really liked the scene where Jafar explains that if she obeys him, she will be rewarded and that this trip to Underworld is a test for her. In the beginning, Jasmine is doing well and obeying as Jafar asked and even has a frank conversation with him about her desire for Meg, even though she doesn’t want to admit it as first but she does come to admit that the idea of being shared with someone like her is something she is open to once she has had more time to come to terms with Jafar and their relationship. During their time at the club, Jasmine comes to realise how sheltered she has been her whole life and how unprepared she would be for life alone even if she had the chance at it. Upon realising this she decides to be her trust in Jafar as he hasn’t led her wrong yet despite knowing he isn’t a good man. The scene where Jasmine gives into her desire and lets Jafar take complete control of her was insane, as she sees Jasmine realise that she can be a strong woman and still give in to the man she wants to dominant her and they also discover a few kinks Jasmine has along the way, which was some top notch smut, in my humble opinion. However, things get very real when Ali manages to get into the room where Jasmine is alone and he tells he is going to rescue her despite her wanting to stay with Jafar. Ali kisses her before he leaves which is enough to make Jasmine physically sick and we see the softer side of Jafar emerging entwined with a fierce protectiveness that is going to leave Ali in pieces and I can’t wait to see it. Upon learning what happened, Jafar takes Jasmine to Hades where their story is confirmed by the camera footage and Hades swears, he is going to revoke Ali’s membership but I have a feeling this is only going to make Ali angry and I can’t wait to see the inevitable showdown between Jafar and Ali and see what the ending has in store for this pair.
In the aftermath, Jafar is trying to Jasmine safe and happy at the same time while he hunts Ali but it isn’t working and eventually Jasmine reaches the point where she must be free or die trying even though she loves Jafar. She opts to take Meg’s help in getting out of the penthouse and Carver City but as soon as Hades appears, she knows she has been playing and it becomes clear when she is handed over to Ali as part of a deal he made with Hades. Jasmine is now in the position where she knows Jafar will come for her as she is sure he loves her as much as she loves him which is very true but she doesn’t know what Ali will do to her in the meantime or what she is going to do when Jafar arrives as she can’t go back to living in a cage. Watching Jasmine take control of herself and her own power after killing Ali and freeing herself to take control of her father’s empire was amazing and even better was Jafar’s reaction when he turns up absolutely panicked because he doesn’t know what Ali has been doing to Jasmine only to learn that she killed him. Jasmine offers Jafar the choice of submitting to her now and being her right hand, a full partner, an equal or leaving her forever. We know from Jafar’s perspective that leaving Jasmine was never an option and he willingly submits to her. They soon come to arrangement that outside in the world of business he will be her right hand and defer to her but in their bedroom, she will submit to him the way they both crave. That ending smut scene was absolutely divine and I am not going to go and binge the rest of this series immediately.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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