Disavow (The Dumonts #3) by Karina Halle-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 25, 2020

In the Dumont fashion empire, no heir has a reputation as decadent, arrogant, and ruthless as that of Pascal Dumont. Every transgression, an indecent pleasure. Every woman, a conquest. And none is more challenging than his new personal assistant, Gabrielle Caron. She’s defiant, alluring, and a mystery Pascal can’t wait to solve.

A former family servant and daughter of the head maid, Gabrielle’s returned as suddenly as she left eight years ago. No longer an awkward teen, the ethereal young beauty has amassed a wealth of resolve. She’ll need it. In hire to the devilishly charming scion, she’s come back for one reason only. And she dare not whisper why.

But as the nights grow more intimate at the Dumont maison, Gabrielle realizes that the last man she believed in is the one man she can trust with her secrets. For Pascal, falling in love means more than his own redemption. It could mean saving Gabrielle’s very life as they confront a dark and scandalous past…together.

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REVIEW:DISAVOW is the third and final instalment in Karina Halle’s contemporary, adult THE DUMONTS erotic, dark romance series focusing on the Dumont dynasty. This is Dumont fashion heir Pascal Dumont, and PA Gabrielle Caron’s story line. DISAVOW can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and history.

SOME BACKGROUND: Several months earlier Ludovic Dumont, of the Dumont fashion dynasty died under mysterious circumstances, and in the aftermath his brother Gautier has all but removed any trace of Ludovic’s heirs from the family business. But all is not well in the Dumont family, with the return of Gabrielle Caron, the long-time maid’s only daughter.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Pascal and Gabrielle) DISAVOW follows the return of Gabrielle Caron to the house of horrors she experienced in her youth. Eight years earlier Gabrielle’s life was destroyed by Gautier Dumont, and in the ensuring years Gabrielle went to college, and planned for the future. Fast forward to present day wherein Gabrielle’s return forces Pascal to look at the bigger picture, a dysfunctional family whose own members can not be trusted, and have been destroyed by sins of the past. What ensues is the slow building romance between Gabrielle and Pascal, and the potential fall-out as Gautier Dumont is determined to destroy what’s left of our story line heroine.

The Dumont family has been torn apart by secrets and greed. With the mysterious death of Ludovic Dumont his own heirs have been shoved to the side but have managed to succeed on their own. With the return of Gabrielle Caron, Pascal Dumont’s struggles with issues of trust, but none more so when Gabrielle reveals the truth behind her unexpected return.

The relationship between Gabrielle and Pascal begins as a business arrangement when Pascal struggles to keeps a PA and maid. Gabrielle is reluctant to take on the position that places her in the direct line of fire, but a position that can also ensure close contact with her mother who continues to work for the Dumont family. Pascal’s slow seduction of our story line heroine forces Gabrielle to struggle between head and heart knowing that what she is about to do will destroy them all. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

All of the previous story line couples return in cameo roles, as well as the return of Gauthier Dumont, his long suffering wife; and Gabrielle’s mother Jolie Caron.

DISAVOW is a story of extreme family dysfunction; of secrets, lies, power and abuse; of forgiveness, acceptance, murder and love. The premise is entertaining and engaging; the characters are energetic, ruthless and desperate; the romance is seductive and captivating.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Discretion
Disarm

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Karina Halle is a former travel writer & music journalist and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling author of The Swedish Prince, The Pact, Love, in English, The Artists Trilogy, Bad at Love & over 45 other wild and romantic reads. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband and her adopted pup Bruce, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Halle is represented by Root Literary and is both self-published and published by Atria Books/Simon & Schuster and Hachette. Her books have been published in France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Hungary, Brazil, Bulgaria, Israel and Croatia.