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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
3.5 Sterne.
War nicht super gut, aber auch nicht super schlecht.
War nicht super gut, aber auch nicht super schlecht.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
how can the writing decline drastically in one book? like the previous 2 were so much better
5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3.5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Sam Brennen is my favorite! But I absolutely love Aisling! Their story is unorthodox and completely their own! I have never read a love story like their before! Each time I read it, I fall for Sam harder and admire Ash more! Not your typical mob boss x good girl tale.
I love how entangled this couple is! I live for all the reveals and I never get tired of Sam’s one liners! And the spice is so good! 🔥
I also love seeing all the other MCs in this story as well! It’s a good balance that just makes me feel like I am getting to catch up with everyone! I love a good cameo!
Highly recommend this book and this series to anyone who likes morally grey main characters and unique love stories! LJ really has mastered the bad boy that we all hate to love! She just does it like no one else!
Have you read this one? 🥰
3.5/5 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Sam Brennen is my favorite! But I absolutely love Aisling! Their story is unorthodox and completely their own! I have never read a love story like their before! Each time I read it, I fall for Sam harder and admire Ash more! Not your typical mob boss x good girl tale.
I love how entangled this couple is! I live for all the reveals and I never get tired of Sam’s one liners! And the spice is so good! 🔥
I also love seeing all the other MCs in this story as well! It’s a good balance that just makes me feel like I am getting to catch up with everyone! I love a good cameo!
Highly recommend this book and this series to anyone who likes morally grey main characters and unique love stories! LJ really has mastered the bad boy that we all hate to love! She just does it like no one else!
Have you read this one? 🥰
The Monster was the book in the Boston Belles series that I was most looking forward to and I was not disappointed by Sam Brennan and Aisling Fitzpatrick. I love that all of the books in this series feel different from one another and The Monster’s dark, angsty feel was maybe my favorite so far.
Since reading Sparrow, I’ve been curious about Sam Brennan...his backstory is so unique, his upbringing with Troy and Sparrow was unconventional (to say the least) and his job as Boston’s most sought after fixer is intriguing. Everything about him is mysterious and he keeps so much of himself hidden, even with his family and friends. I was surprised by some of his more emotional decision making in the story - I know it made him finally seem human, but it seemed really out of character. But I really enjoyed this peek into his brain. The way he works, his motivations and his drive are so unique to him and finally getting an opportunity to see things from his POV was really interesting. Sam has always been a monster, but he’s human as well and finally getting to read about the experiences that made him both was a treat.
I was so curious about Aisling’s character - I knew there had to be more underneath the perfect facade she put up in public and even how she interacted with her friends and brothers. For the first half of the book, she’s that perfect princess of a girl who’s obsessed with the bad guy and really not all that interesting to me. But, once she finally snaps and grows a spine, I was here for Ash. She stops letting people walk all over her, speaks her mind, makes her opinions known and turns into a character I actually really enjoyed. I just wish we saw this side of Ash a long time ago.
One of the things I really enjoyed about this story was that Sam and Ash spent time together and peeled back the layers on each other, really getting to know who they truly are as people, not just who they appear to be on the outside. They learn things about each other that no one else understands and they grow to be better versions of themselves with the influence of the other. Their back and forth, push and pull, was unexpected since Ash was such a pushover in the first two books but I ended up really enjoying it. While I didn’t love how Sam treated Ash before she started standing up for herself, I feel like she let that be acceptable - she was such a lovesick child until then and was willing to take the scraps that Sam offered. Once Ash became confident in herself, their relationship really began to flourish and become something positive instead of questionable. Together they’re steamy, insatiable and are alright to let their monsters out. Their love story seemed to develop quickly, but they’ve been circling each other for 10 years, learning more from afar and preparing themselves for the day that they could finally be together.
Like in the other books in this series, I loved getting little bits of information about all of the past couples and their growing families, Emmabelle and Devon, Troy and Sparrow. I love all the little continuations and always get so excited for every little bit.
The Monster was a great addition to the Boston Belles series with an unexpected pairing but a sincere and deep connection. Really looking forward to what LJ Shen has in store for us with The Rake!
Since reading Sparrow, I’ve been curious about Sam Brennan...his backstory is so unique, his upbringing with Troy and Sparrow was unconventional (to say the least) and his job as Boston’s most sought after fixer is intriguing. Everything about him is mysterious and he keeps so much of himself hidden, even with his family and friends. I was surprised by some of his more emotional decision making in the story - I know it made him finally seem human, but it seemed really out of character. But I really enjoyed this peek into his brain. The way he works, his motivations and his drive are so unique to him and finally getting an opportunity to see things from his POV was really interesting. Sam has always been a monster, but he’s human as well and finally getting to read about the experiences that made him both was a treat.
I was so curious about Aisling’s character - I knew there had to be more underneath the perfect facade she put up in public and even how she interacted with her friends and brothers. For the first half of the book, she’s that perfect princess of a girl who’s obsessed with the bad guy and really not all that interesting to me. But, once she finally snaps and grows a spine, I was here for Ash. She stops letting people walk all over her, speaks her mind, makes her opinions known and turns into a character I actually really enjoyed. I just wish we saw this side of Ash a long time ago.
One of the things I really enjoyed about this story was that Sam and Ash spent time together and peeled back the layers on each other, really getting to know who they truly are as people, not just who they appear to be on the outside. They learn things about each other that no one else understands and they grow to be better versions of themselves with the influence of the other. Their back and forth, push and pull, was unexpected since Ash was such a pushover in the first two books but I ended up really enjoying it. While I didn’t love how Sam treated Ash before she started standing up for herself, I feel like she let that be acceptable - she was such a lovesick child until then and was willing to take the scraps that Sam offered. Once Ash became confident in herself, their relationship really began to flourish and become something positive instead of questionable. Together they’re steamy, insatiable and are alright to let their monsters out. Their love story seemed to develop quickly, but they’ve been circling each other for 10 years, learning more from afar and preparing themselves for the day that they could finally be together.
Like in the other books in this series, I loved getting little bits of information about all of the past couples and their growing families, Emmabelle and Devon, Troy and Sparrow. I love all the little continuations and always get so excited for every little bit.
The Monster was a great addition to the Boston Belles series with an unexpected pairing but a sincere and deep connection. Really looking forward to what LJ Shen has in store for us with The Rake!
4.5 stars
Aisling has been in love/obsessed with Sam since she first met him at an amusement park when she was 17. He took her first kiss, mocked her openly, and treated her like trash. And yet she still craved more.
Ten years on and Aisling still can’t get over Sam. They’ve never been a thing, but their families are close. One night, she and her friend, Emmabelle, get dressed up for Halloween and head to Sam’s club. Aisling has been banned from The Badlands since the day it opened, but no one checks her ID that night, and for the first time, she’s in. She almost tricks Sam into sleeping with her as he doesn’t recognise her at first. But Sam would recognise her scent anywhere. He knows he should send her packing for her deception, but he cannot resist temptation and they have sex anyways.
Is this Aisling’s foot in the door to Sam’s heart? Or will he use and abuse her as he does with everyone else?
Oh man, Sam is a colossal douche! And yet you can’t help but root for him! He is not a good guy. At all. His only redeeming quality really is the way he protects those he loves. Even though he doesn’t believe he is capable of love. And Aisling scares him because she makes him feel, but he doesn’t understand his feelings and so treats her like scum. Takes what he wants, when he wants, and then humiliates and ridicules her.
But Aisling isn’t just the good girl everyone sees. Not even her family know the true depths of her soul, the secrets she keeps. And after being a doormat and taking everything Sam throws at her for far too long, she finally starts to fight back and give as good as she gets.
Additionally, Aisling’s parents are toxic AF, and it’s so frustrating the way she just lets her mother walk all over her too! I get that she was worried about her but honestly…I feel like it took her way too long to stand up for herself on that one.
A classic LJ Shen formula with a jerk/bully hero who is only good to the woman he loves (eventually), and a trampled but ultimately feisty heroine.
Aisling has been in love/obsessed with Sam since she first met him at an amusement park when she was 17. He took her first kiss, mocked her openly, and treated her like trash. And yet she still craved more.
Ten years on and Aisling still can’t get over Sam. They’ve never been a thing, but their families are close. One night, she and her friend, Emmabelle, get dressed up for Halloween and head to Sam’s club. Aisling has been banned from The Badlands since the day it opened, but no one checks her ID that night, and for the first time, she’s in. She almost tricks Sam into sleeping with her as he doesn’t recognise her at first. But Sam would recognise her scent anywhere. He knows he should send her packing for her deception, but he cannot resist temptation and they have sex anyways.
Is this Aisling’s foot in the door to Sam’s heart? Or will he use and abuse her as he does with everyone else?
Oh man, Sam is a colossal douche! And yet you can’t help but root for him! He is not a good guy. At all. His only redeeming quality really is the way he protects those he loves. Even though he doesn’t believe he is capable of love. And Aisling scares him because she makes him feel, but he doesn’t understand his feelings and so treats her like scum. Takes what he wants, when he wants, and then humiliates and ridicules her.
But Aisling isn’t just the good girl everyone sees. Not even her family know the true depths of her soul, the secrets she keeps. And after being a doormat and taking everything Sam throws at her for far too long, she finally starts to fight back and give as good as she gets.
Additionally, Aisling’s parents are toxic AF, and it’s so frustrating the way she just lets her mother walk all over her too! I get that she was worried about her but honestly…I feel like it took her way too long to stand up for herself on that one.
A classic LJ Shen formula with a jerk/bully hero who is only good to the woman he loves (eventually), and a trampled but ultimately feisty heroine.