Saving Jessie’s Girl by Lauren Biel
18+ Contains Adult Content
Saving Jessie’s Girl is a dark romance that follows Emmy, Jessie & Benji. Jessie and Benji are twin brothers, both very attractive; however, there are quite a few differences. Benji is kind, caring & compassionate, whereas Jessie is hard, manipulative and evil. Benji cannot speak, whereas Jessie can. Benji treats Emmy like a princess, whereas Jessie treats her like dirt…but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let me start from the beginning.
•Dark Romance •Mute MMC •High Angst •Broken MCs •Brothers Girlfriend •Standalone •Dirty Talking ASL
•Extreme Domestic Violence (on page) •Cheating (with her boyfriends brother) •SA by partner & boss •Workplace Harrassment •Coercion •Cutting •Self-harm •Manipulation •Control •Animal Harm (Temporary) •Murder •Detailed CSA (off page) •Effects of trauma •Mentions of suicide/attempts/ideations •Blood kink •Being mute from trauma
So, I do what I’ve always done. I silently sit and wait for something to change. Because even though I love my brother, I hate who he is.
Jessie & Benji are out for lunch, when Benji wants to ask for some more water, he signs this to Jessie, who uses his voice to ask the waitress for the water. Emmy, the said waitress, has a brother who is hard of hearing, so she knows ASL, and she signs back to Benji. Benji becomes smitten, but Jessie, being the cool, confident twin, flirts with Emmy & gives her his number. Benji hopes she never calls him, as Jessie is, well, to put it bluntly, a horrible piece of shit. He beats his girls, emotionally abuses and takes them away from everything until all they have is him. That way, they feel like they can’t walk away.
You know where this is going; obviously, Emmy does call him, and they begin dating. Benji tries to warn Emmy, but to begin with, she is in love and doesn’t believe him & when she finds out Benji is right, it’s too late. Benji, however, is not going to let Jessie put Emmy in the hospital or, worse, kill her. Jessie has something he is holding over Emmy’s head, a reason she can’t just walk away. So Benji does whatever he can to help her, and they break together. Benji will do almost anything to save her, anything but kill his brother, now choosing between Emmy & Jessie when they are both close to meeting their maker…that is different.
He says it’s just because he loves me so much, and he’s afraid he’ll lose me. That’s sweet…so why doesn’t it feel sweet?
I really enjoyed reading this book; it is heavy and all too real for so many people out there. I am very lucky to have a loving, caring & supportive husband, but I have been around far too many people who do not. I have seen domestic violence since I was a child. Living in a house as a kid with domestic violence happening in front of you is traumatic and stays with you. So when I say I hated Jessie…I truly mean it. I loathed him. Spoiler alert…I was happy when he died. He was a piece of shit, and the world (fictional, I know) is better off without him and his poison.
Benji and Emmy, though, I cried with these two. I loved them; they had both been through so much, and even though they were both broken in their own ways, they healed each other. Emmy, trying to keep it together to cook Jessie dinner after he had hurt Lily, absolutely tore my heart out, because I would have wanted to run to the kitten just like she wanted to, but she knew that would put a bigger target on the kitty’s back. Benji taking Lily in and caring for her, even though he is allergic to cats, was just the cutest.
I love Lauren’s writing. I absolutely hated Jessie, and I loved Emmy & Benji, and that’s all because of Lauren’s writing. I know it is fictional, I’m not dense, but the way Lauren writes makes it all feel real in my head while I’m reading and pulls real emotions out of me, and I love that.
Overall, I enjoyed this book; it made me cry in places, but I was hooked reading it. I would recommend this to someone who likes dark romance with complex emotional relationships. I would advise people to read the trigger warnings, especially if they have ever dealt with domestic violence in one way or another.
A period ends a sentence. A semicolon lets you know that there is more to say.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️/5
