Dangerous Beauty by Melissa Koslin is a standalone novel. As one might guess from the title, it is not a light-hearted romance designed to bring warm feelings and happiness. Rather it is a story about the tragic and too often occurring human trafficking.

The story begins with an intense scene of Liliana Vela escaping from captivity and the reader is put on an emotional journey. Many may find stories of this nature difficult to read, but the author handles the very difficult and challenging topic well. She doesn’t hold back the realities, but she also keeps the descriptions from being overwhelming. The abuses are not sugarcoated, but they are also not exhaustively described.

The book goes through all sorts of phases which include emotionally draining scenes, enigmatic motivations, uncertainty, and hope that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.  This story artfully leads readers down the path of healing, but interestingly enough, for a Christian novel, it does not mention forgiveness.

Review of an Advance Reading Copy provided by the Publisher

Content Analysis

Profanity/Language: None

Violence/Gore: Multiple scenes in which characters are attempting to abduct or detain others by physical means as well as threatening with various weapons, many shots are fired, people are stabbed, blood drips often; female characters recall being beaten and molested by male characters.

Sex/Nudity: Character recalls being molested; married characters contemplate becoming intimate, but nothing actually occurs nor are details given; characters kiss and embrace; places where sexual abuse occurred or recalled, but no descriptions given.

Mature Subjects:

Human trafficking, violent death of family member.

Drug/Alcohol Use: 

None