| Title | : | Monster (Savages, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 324 |
| Publication | : | First published December 2, 2015 |
destroy the man who destroyed her life.
And all was going to plan until one night, a huge
mammoth of a man breaks into her apartment and kidnaps her,
holding her hostage for the very man she was bent on bringing down.
Breaker has one rule: he doesn't deal in women.
But when he's conned into a job for the city's most ruthless
crime lord, he finds himself in charge of a fiery-tempered
hacker who he can't seem to keep his hands off of.
When passions ignite and feelings emerge, will Breaker be
able to reconcile his loyalties before it is too late or
will their shaky foundation of trust start crumbling beneath
their feet?
This is a stand alone with a HEA.
* For possible triggers, go here: http://www.jessicagadziala.com/trigge... *
Monster (Savages, #1) Reviews
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Dangerous and Sexy
This is the first book that I've read by this author, but it definitely won't be the last. 'Monster' was a suspenseful, gritty, sexy read. With a unique characters and an original storyline, this book stands out from others.
From the time her mother killed herself when Alex was sixteen, she has devoted her life to destroying the man that was responsible, the crime lord Lex. As a hacker, Alex uses her skills to discover his darkest secrets, gathering the evidence she'll use to eventually bring about his demise. However, before she gets the chance to expose Lex, he has her kidnapped.
Breaker doesn't have many people in his life that he cares about. He's been on his own from a young age, making his way on the streets as an enforcer of sorts. He gets paid to do other people's dirty work and has made quite a name for himself. He doesn't have many limits, but he doesn't deal in women or children.
Breaker has managed not to do business with Lex previously, the guy's scumbag reputation known by all those connected to the dark underbelly of the city. Even in a world of criminals, Lex was regarded as the lowest of the low. He was merciless and lived without any type of code.
When Breaker is approached by Lex one day with a job, he doesn't have any choice but to accept, or else his best friend, Shooter, will be killed. He agrees to kidnap and hold Alex Miller, until Lex is ready for delivery. It isn't until he arrives at Alex's apartment that he discovers that Alex is a woman. Determined to save one of the only people that he cares about, he breaks his own rules.
Predictably, Breaker and Alex fall in love during her captivity, forcing Breaker to make some tough decisions. What wasn't predictable was the sequence of events or Lex's intentions. In that regard, nothing played out as I would have guessed. Every time I thought for sure that things were going to come to a head, there would be a change in direction. It kept me guessing right to the end.
The book was well-written with only a few grammatical errors (lewdness, not "ludeness", etc). It flowed well and rather quickly. The few errors that I noticed were minor and did not take away from the overall reading experience.
Overall, I give this book 3 1/2 stars, rounded up. Breaker and Alex were great characters. Alex, especially, won me over. I love a strong, smart-mouthed heroine. I enjoyed this story quite a bit, but it doesn't rise to the level of one of my favorites. It's a good choice to pass some time. -
3 Stars!!
Alex is a hacker and she has been on a mission since she was sixteen. She wants to destroy the man who is responsible for her mother suicide, Lex Keith. Lex is a ruthless crime lord, but Alex is not afraid of him or afraid to die for this cause. Until she’s kidnapped. Breaker has an unusual job to say the least – he breaks people. He has only one rule – he doesn’t hurt women in any way, but he has to do it when he is practically forced by circumstances to kidnap Alex. What Breaker didn’t expect is Alex to be a gorgeous feisty woman who pushes all his buttons. He’s intrigued by her and as he gets to know her he really wants to help her, to save her.
Alex never expected to be so attracted by the blonde hunk who holds her fate in his hands. When passions ignite and feelings emerge they have to decide not only how to deal with the dangerous situation they are in, but also how to deal with the feelings they start to have for each other.
This was my first read by this author, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I was intrigued by the blurb so I decides to give it a try. “Monster”'s premise is nothing new, but what it was a little different from other books with the same concept was our heroine, Alex. Alex was a bada** heroine from the beginning. She’s independent, strong and determined to get her revenge. I loved how smart-mouthed she was at times and how she loved to argue about anything. Needless to say I really liked her character. Breaker as well wasn’t your usual kidnapper. He actually has morals. He’s a good man even if he does bad things for a living. I loved his loyalty towards his friends and also his determination to do anything for Alex, even sacrificing his life at some point. With Alex he was pretty great – considerate, thoughtful and even sweet and caring. For the most part, their character were developed well enough and overall I liked them.
Their relationship development was IMO poorly done and progressed in some way too fast for my liking. Also, I would have like to feel more chemistry between them, more emotion, something…Needless to say the romantic aspect was almost inexistent. At least for me. The steam factor was done well enough, but again nothing was memorable.
Overall, this was a nice, entertaining story and while I didn’t love it, I’m looking forward to read more books by this author! -
3-3.5 Stars
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TITLE: Monster
AUTHOR: Jessica Gadziala
GENRE: Contemporary Romance
RELEASE DATE: Decemeber 03rd, 2015
MY RATING: 5 STARS
This book was the bomb, it held me captive as soon as I opened up that very first page, I read it in one sitting, couldn't put it down if my life depended on it, I can not believe it's taken me so long to find this author, I LOVED this book, the feels, the anticipation, Breaker GAH
GAH, This has been popping up on my newsfeed on facebook, think those cover hoes are trying to reel me in!! And yes I bit went one clicking this..I need to set one thing straight though, 10 points for that cover but I shit you not the story is 100 times better than the cover, the story totally outshines that hotness on the cover!!
Being a cover hoe is a real disease people!!
Alex Miller is a 26 year old introverted female hacker who is extremely good at what she does, she's had a vendetta against Lex Keith for at least ten years, gathering information on all his crimes to make him pay for all this wrong doings. She was a nobody. She had no friends. No family. She kept to herself. There was nothing about her that would draw Lex's attention.
Lex Keith, such a tame name for such an evil bastard, he was good, careful, no one touched him, it was my life's mission to bring him down.
KIDNAPPED
A man broke into her apartment, a gun pointed at her, then a needle is plunged into the side of her neck.
Then there is nothing.
Blissful oblivion.
Bryan Breaker Contract Killer finds himself conned by the man Alex is trying to bring down " Lex Keith."
I did not under any circumstances, deal with women.
I didn't kidnap them
I didn't hold them hostage
I damn sure never put my hands on them.
But the problem was, I had a woman one flight below me locked inside an old gutted train car
A woman I kidnapped
A woman I was holding hostage
A woman I could be commanded to put my hands on at any time
And I didn't have much of a fuckin' option either.
One by one all the rules Breaker lives by are slowly broken
I have read one other by this author 'REIGN" and I cray cray loved that so when I saw this making it's rounds i had no hesitation clicking it..
Breaker and Alex come from different worlds but they just fit!! He's a dirty talking, take no shit alpha male and she's sassy mouthed and as tough as they come..
BREAKER can BREAK me any day, any way!! -
IT'S LIVE!
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5 MILLION stars!
It will be hard to review wo going total FanGirl like an 8th grade girl at a Bieber concert!
Holy Fuck Jessica G! What are you doing to me?!!
1st you blessed me w Reign, now Breaker...
Breaker..WOW...totally love him. He is a tatted, foul mouthed, bad ass that gets paid to "break' people.. He has rules though, one very big rule: NO girls. When Breaker is left no choice but to work for one of the worst bad guys around (insert Lex) he stumbles upon Alex, and he is left with some very hard decisions.
The chemistry is immediate but not over the top insta-love... and when they give in to temptation it is FABULOUS! I spent half the book with my thighs pressed together...
It is left to assume that Lex wants Alex dead, and given Alex's occupation...well..it is understandable. JG gives us several twist that in the end have Breaker and Alex working together and...well....they 'work/fuck' well ;)
I love so much about this book. I really am a fan of the way JG writes. It was a super easy/fun read but not the least bit sunshine/rainbows. It was not overloaded with drama or angst but just enough grit to keep the pages turning.
I really love the way JG incorporates characters from 'Reign'... soooo many hot and brooding men to read about in the future!
ARC kindly given by author in exchange for honest review!! *Woot! Woot* -
Alex has been on a mission for revenge since she was sixteen years old and her mother killed herself. After finding out Lex Keith is the man responsible for her mothers problem that eventually led to her suicide, she makes it her number one goal to bring him down. But hacking into his systems puts her on his radar and which is not a place anyone wants to be if they like their life.
Breaker is not a nice man and he's made his life as being a contract killer willing to go to the darkest places to get whoever is unlucky enough to be his target. When Lex Keith takes someone close to him to force him to do a job he never thought it would lead him to a female hacker that got too close to a very bad man.
This is the first book I've read by Jessica Gadziala and I am kicking myself for that fact. I loved the writing style and how detailed the story was. It's silly but the little things that happened, like Breaker making breakfast or going to the grocery store, are what made me really like the characters and sucked me into the story.
Breaker was a total bad ass but he still had a code he lived by, including not hurting women. He never thought that he would get forced to take one hostage in order to save a close friend though, and when it happens he isn't prepared to also have feelings for her. I loved how shocked he was to actually feel something for a girl and it was great to see him coming to terms with that and dealing with it.
Alex was a great character and I loved how fearless she was. She went after one of the worst men in the area to get revenge and didn't think twice about it because she knew he didn't deserve to be around to hurt anyone else ever again. It wasn't easy for her to put her trust in Breaker so that they could work together to save themselves and his friend but when she did she found that he was the best man for her.
Overall, this was an amazing story and I recommend it for everyone that likes a rough around the edges guy and a take-action kind of woman. There are a lot of characters mentioned that will make you want to read every single on of Jessica's books so prepare yourself for a reading binge. -
This book was REALLY GOOOD!!!
So good that I devoured it in one day and I enjoyed every damn second of it!!!It's been a while for a book to captivate my attention sooo bad...I was like "what's going to happen...""Oh my God..."all over the place...And then I was like "Maria SHUT UP" and...
I liked the story,it was different,funny,I was anxious half the book about what was going to happen to them and Shooter!Breaker was a "Monster" in the most amazing way...AnD Alex was great, funny, stubbern, strong, fearless!The heroine this book needed...
Ahhhh and Shooter was a category on his own!I would like a book about him!
"Breaker says we're going somewhere cold and snowy where I have to wear lots of layers."
"Like fuck we are.I have a week worth of skirt chasin' to catch up on.I ain't chasing around some fucking Eskimos.I want easy access.So we're doing arm and sunny and Breaker is just going to have to fucking live with it.Right, darlin'?"-Shooter
The sex in this book was out of this world...
HOT...,DIRTY...,HARD...,ROUGH...!!!
His o*ral skills...was Wow...like really WOW...
AnD then SLOW...,SWEET...LOVEMAKING...!!!
"Why do you care?"
"Because you came crashing in to my life talking about twisted porn and taking down the city's worst crime lord in years,you showed me your grit and determination.Your weird brand of selfless strength.Your smart fuckin' mouth.And your phenomenal fuckin' body.You gave me that.For a day, Alex.A fucking day.And I can't get enough of it.So I want more."-Breaker
If you didn't get it yet, I LIKED this book!!!
Enjoy my loves!xxx -
Jessica Gadziala had me from the first page. That’s an intense read. The characters are well drawn; Alex and Breaker are unique and quite different from each other and I enjoyed reading about them, but especially when they were together. Filled in with suspense and a hot love story…I enjoyed this book so much… Fans of steamy romance scenes will not be disappointed, particularly if you have a fascination with badass hunks.
Breaker is hired by a mob boss to kidnap Alex and keep her until further notice. He’s alpha and tough but he’s also passionate and vulnerable. He’s a dangerous man but he’s also sexy as all get out. Alex intrigues him and her sexiness is something it doesn’t go unnoticed. The sparks fly between him and stunning Alex right from the start and whoa, the love scenes are amazing. That big, strong, sexy alpha male will stop at nothing to protect Alex and keep her safe. She completely falls for him and the safety and protectiveness he has for her.
Loved reading about a woman strong in herself. The love story that unfolded was also beautiful. There was never a dull moment. Not to mention the hot, steamy scenes. The author’s writing has a way of really drawing you into the world of the book & really connecting with her characters. She now has a permanent spot on my favs list.
ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for a fair review. Thank you. -
I totally grabbed this book for the cover. Hello??? Can't you see him?! Holy hotness!! And I don't regret it because the book was good. I liked both Alex and Breaker, and truly feel that Shooter was a strong supporting character. I wouldn't mind reading his book. He was hot and sarcastic. A lethal combination for me. But I digress...
Breaker is a... I think paid enforcer would be the correct way to describe his livelihood. His background is touched upon, not in-depth, but he had an abusive childhood and suffered the loss of his mother at a young age. He's a big guy and he does what comes naturally. Beat people up lol. But underneath it all, behind his ice blue eyes, lurks a man on the brink of an awakening.
Alex is just the chick to wake him up. She's not badass but she's got a bad temper (verbally, which is a huge turn on for Breaker). She's a hacker who has been hiding behind her computer instead of enjoying and appreciating life. Her background is touched on as well. No abuse, but she also lost her mom and seeks vengeance/retribution from a man named Lex.
When these two get it together, they're explosive. I enjoyed every minute of it. Their bickering was hilarious. She got to show him his soft side and it was sweet to read. These characters were great because they were determined, dedicated, and devoted!
There were a few editing mishaps, such as "ludeness", but they in no way detract from the story. -
Monster
Publication Date December 3rd 2015
Publisher: Jessica Gadziala
Genre: : Romance Thriller/Suspense
Print Length: 303 pages
Available from: Amazon
Alex Miller is a hacker and she has been on a mission since she was sixteen. She wants to destroy the man who is responsible for her mother suicide, Lex Keith. Lex is a ruthless crime lord, but Alex is not afraid of him or afraid to die for this cause.
Bryan Breaker, -Contract muscle/killer....Breaker has rules though, very big rule: he never messes with a victim's children, and women are strictly off limits. He won't touch them. Until he's tricked then blackmailed into kidnapping Alex. . When Breaker is left no choice but to work for one of the worst bad guys around
I cannot believe it's taken me so long to find this author( Jessica Gadziala ).. I loved this book and I truly cannot wait to read more books by this author!
March seem like a long way off to way for Shooter's Book... I am hoping we will get books for Pain too!
I really didn't read these in order, but maybe I should have
Monster- 12-2-15 Read
Reign (The Henchmen MC Book 1) 11-3-15 Read
Cash- The Henchmen MC Book 2 -2-2-16 Read
Shooter The Henchmen MC Book 3- March ? Cant wait to read
Wolf- The Henchmen MC Book 4- ? Dying to Read -
Really liked this one!
Totally safe from OW, and we really didn't have to hear about his manwhore past, which is always a good thing in my book! Both characters were likable, the H sometimes spoke a lot like a KA hero, which was fine by me!
Overall the pacing of the story was good, it flowed well, and kept me interested. I'm hoping we will get books for Shooter and Pain!
Worth the read in my opinion! :) -
4.5 Stars!!!
What can I say? All the signature Jessica Gadziala writing elements were present in this book, namely:
-Badass, possessive, extremely hot Hero
-Badass, smart, sassy, and temperamental Heroine
-Side characters that you'll definitely be in love with
-MCs with lots of emotional baggage
-Lots and lots of action
-Evil guys to slay
-Trigger warnings ( a huge amount of it)
Last but not the least...
-HEA, duh...
This was a pretty awesome read. First, because I adored Breaker and his hot badass-ness. He was dangerous yet caring and sweet. He does his chores and can cook! Need I say more? The plot was okay, kinda similar to all of her books but there is still a distinction from the others.
This is the first book in the Savages series, and this has similar genre with the Henchmen MC. A little bit darker—but not too dark—compared to the Mallick Brothers series. I decide to read this whole universe in order, so I can catch-up wit the timeline and all. So I find myself jumping from one series to another but all of them are interconnected so it does makes sense.
But for now, I'm pretty sure I'm going to take a break diving into the Navesink Bank Universe for a bit, just so I won't grew tired of it. But I will definitely be back. I still have lots of lots of side characters to get to know, you know? LOL -
This is an author that could easily gain mass 4-5 star ratings from reviewers if she would invest in an editor.
This book is like exes and oh's .. The shit you hate and the shit you want;)
The Oh's
The MCs are both likable, relatable, respectable, reasonably intelligent, sexy, a tad or funny, and don't fall too hard on any of the boring romance troupes.
The overall plot is good, giving bits along the way as to the bad guy motives and keeping a couple of little twists and 'not so fast' moments back from the reader. More in a minute.
The author has a knack for providing a fairly original character profile and storyline whilst also avoiding all the 'no-no's' most readers do not want to see in their romance
• OW
• TSTL
• cartoonish bad guys
• heroes who lose their balls & gain a heart.
• same sex scenes on repeat
• cheating
• repetitive and/or extensive inner monologues.
• drama for the sake of drama.
• insta love
I actually really enjoyed seeing the insta lust and insta emo connection without all the immediate omg I don't know you but I love you bs. The author did a great job with the romance.
The Exes
The main problem with this book is the lack of editing and horrid grammar. It's noticeable and even distracting at times.
Grammar
"Which we probably should have been sharing. Comparing notes about what happened.
"And Hailstorm, well, I mean... have to seen that place?"
Even the sentences that aren't incorrect grammatically, are sometimes written awkwardly and/or with excess words...So on the third day locked up in my apartment, I quickly worked through my backlog of jobs, watching my online account fill up with money that would enable me to buy me another camera to put outside the gym he spent his early mornings in.
Repetitive
Both MCs had a POV. The author would play out a scene(s) from one MC's POV in a chapter. Several times, the next chapter would lead with the opposite character's POV on the same scene... With VERY LITTLE, if any, new info being actually added. That's a sure fire way to bore a reader!
Plot Holes
Again, the plot is good overall, but I did note a few holes. Why, for example, would the bad guy keep delaying putting her to work? So what if he had others working on the same thing; two people can't do the same shit? Uhm, yea, not believable:/ The JStorm line didn't make any sense. What our MC provided JStorm wasn't used in any way. JStorm's precise motives may have been saved for another book, but the author still needed something to explain why JStorm would give two shits about the MC and her info considering what played out.
A little heavy handed
The martyr and detached from self-preservation personality traits were a little overplayed sometimes.
Bottom Line
There is an enjoyable story and some nicely done characters here despite my complaints, but, please, please, please get an editor!
The ending is satisfying and comfortable, but it is clearly a lead to secondary characters becoming MCs and the MCs here switching over to secondary for future books.
3 stars. -
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed the story. I was expecting something different than what I got. I mean that in a good way.
I assumed this would be pretty typical: Hero kidnaps girl, falls for her and helps her get out of her mess. But the story had a lot more depth and that mostly came from the heroine, Alex. I found her state of mind to be fascinating and heartbreaking. A benefit to her emotional issues is that Breaker (Hero) was the "normal" one and he really fell for her. He hated seeing that she had given up. Knew it was not an act and that really disturbed him. It made him reevaluate what was important.
I really have nothing to complain about when it comes to the story and the characters. But...I could not rate this higher because I really disliked the format of the book. We have multiple POVs (most are only H/h). But when we switch POVs sometimes we repeat entire scenes to see it from the other perspective. Sometimes it is only a brief recap or a snippet of the previous scene. I do not recall ever reading a story laid out this way, but I can say I do not like it. It feels like I was reading the same thing over and over. I found myself skipping the 2nd POV replay.
I have seen others complain about a violent scene and then the scene after. While I certainly do not condone or prefer to read about violence against women, it seemed totally plausible to me in this story. It really did not bother me aside from the bad guy being even more of a bad guy and providing some additional background and depth on Breaker.
Safety gang safe but other triggers.... -
Great story, love the characters
This is my first book from Jessica Gadziala and I really liked it. There were references to a bunch of different gangs or crime families within the city that Breaker, the Hero and his “brother” Shooter have worked for in the past as well as the worst of them Lex Keith. It seems many of Jessica’s other books are about characters from these other crime families, one of which is an MC, one is a military compound, one is more mafia like with loan sharks that run a gym.
However, Lex is the ultimate bad guy. He runs the largest criminal empire and Breaker, who is a Fixer of sorts doesn’t ever do jobs for Lex. Breaker has rules, he won’t hurt women or children and Lex is known for abusing and raping women. So Breaker does his best to stay under Lex’s radar. Until one day Lex tells Breaker that he has kidnapped Breaker’s best friend and MC brother, Shooter and he needs him to do one job. Breaker has to kidnap someone named Alex Miller and wait for a call from Lex, before he makes the kill.
Breaker has no choice so he does it, but finds out at the kidnap that Alex is not a man as he originally thought. After holding her, things heat up and he isn’t comfortable with killing a woman and knows Shooter wouldn’t be either, so he finds out why Lex wants her and starts working with her to get them all out of the bind they are in. Turns out Breaker isn’t the monster in the story after all.
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BookBub -
This was me when I started this book, just looking at the cover
I'm not going to blather on about the plot etc, I'll just list what I loved about this book
*That cover - my lady parts are totally humming over that man
*How Alex wasn't a whiny arse heroine who chased after Breaker like a little bitch or took any of his or anyone else's shit
*How excited I got when I thought I figured that thing out, that wasn't actually the thing - ya know!?
*That this wasn't just sexy but funny too, with some sugar sprinkled on top - this author is very good at giving you hard sex, snark and sweet moments in her books. She's like a romantic pervert
*Shooter
*Janie - she is badass and you just know Wolf is going to have his hands full with her
Jessica Gadziala is turning me into a complete slut with her male characters and I'm not picking just one -
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BREAKER
Jessica's stories just keep getting better and better, and I loved this one. The story starts out exciting and never stops. Breaker is a bad man who gets paid to, well, break people. People who have done very bad things, or even people who just owe someone a shitload of money they can't pay. Breaking knees, breaking jaws, breaking lives, whatever pays the big bucks. Breaker has rules though, he never messes with a victim's children, and women are strictly off limits. He won't touch them. Until he's tricked then blackmailed into kidnapping Alex.
ALEX
Alex was thrown into the foster care system in her teens, then ran away to avoid creepy foster parents who couldn't keep their hands to themselves. Alex mastered hacking skills, and uses them to help people catch cheating spouses, to take down websites people are pissed at, or any other hacking jobs that people will pay for. Whatever she can find that keeps her paid under the table, so she can stay off the radar. You see, Alex has been a busy girl for years, trying to bring down the one man who destroyed her life, putting her out into the streets to begin with, but this man is a very dangerous and evilly twisted man. This evil man is now on the hunt for Alex.
Breaker is blackmailed into kidnapping and holding Alex for a few days until Lex Keith comes to collect her. But things aren't that easy. Feelings get thrown into the mix and lots can happen when two people are forced to be together in a small place, with nothing to do but wait.
As always, Jessica has written another steamy and exciting story. She's known for her twists and turns in her stories, and she's got a quite a few surprises up her sleeve in this story as well. Monster is a standalone story with no cliffy (Thank God!), it has super appealing H/h characters, along with multiple sexy supporting characters (who I desperately want to see in their own stories). Monster also has a perfect HEA. What more can a girl ask for? -
3.5 stars
Well, hmm, it was good, but I expected better.
The heroine irritated me a bit; she was strong, but made some not very clever decisions.
But overall I’m not ashamed to share a name with her.
I wasn’t a fan of a hero at the beginning and nothing changed at the end.
I cringed every time he call women b*tches: the b*tches I f*cked, the b*tches I gonna f*ck, all b*tches etc. etc. etc.
I wanted to slap him.
And I wonder how it would sound when I crack his balls.
Nutcracker, b*tches!!!
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![Vaishali • [V.L. Book Reviews]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1552133842i/85343546._UY200_CR5,0,200,200_.jpg)
Rating: 3.7 stars
‘But life was shit. Life was pain and sacrifice and disappointment. It wasn’t a test to pass or fail. It was a swirling mass of time where the lucky few knew a little happiness, but most lived in fear and pain and emptiness.’
‘I didn’t get the chance to see the sun. Because I lived in the f****** gutters.’
Set in the Navesink Bank universe, ‘Monster’ is the first book in the ‘Savages’ series. This is my first time reading a Jessica Gadziala novel, and netted by the first page ‘Monster’ certainly puts a twist on the contemporary romance genre, and I knew I was diving deep into a dark story.
‘Some people needed to wade in the muck so that others could live untouched by it.’
Alex Miller is a melancholy computer hacker who has dedicated her life from the age of sixteen to taking down one of the city’s most wretched and sociopathic street bosses: Lex Keith. For 10 years Alex has been working to discern her enemy - likes, whereabouts, habits - so she can ruin him for a life he took from her. One night – a night Alex saw coming ever since she began this pursuit – she is held at gunpoint and taken captive by Bryan Breaker, a non-aligned enforcer noted for his unsparing methods and cold-blooded attitude.
“You kidnap and hold people hostage and probably kill them. And I’m Dark?
“Yeah, doll. You’re dark. I work in darkness. I don’t live it.”
Breaker’s reputation displaces who he is though, because as a man who crosses gory limits of violence, Breaker does have a sense of moral responsibility and a discernible conscious that shows itself at first instance. Breaker is a brutal breaker of men, violence expected in the kind of world he lives in, but he has a rule that he has never broken: to never harm women and families. But when his close friend is taken hostage by Lex himself, forcing Breaker to break his own rules, he has to decide whether his conscious will allow him to make said choices.
‘Alex Miller wasn’t just the hollow eyed, determined hacker with a vendetta whose soul spoke in a language of tears. She was funny and sweet and had a strong tendency to stick her foot in her mouth and then blush like hell because of it.’
Getting to know Alex is a new experience for Breaker. Intrigued by her fiery moods but unnerved by her grim hollowness, Breaker wants to understand why Alex is so prepared for death when she has a life to live for. But Alex on the other hand doesn’t have anything to live for which is why the prospect of her oncoming death is easy to swallow. Why worry when a broken life will be missed by no-one? With a fatalistic view of her life and self, and a bleak realist’s view of the way things are Alex understands one thing: her life is empty without retaliation.
‘If, by some miracle, we both lived through the night, I intended to figure out what was wrong with her. What kind of life she had led to make her so collected in the face of her own death?’
Alex traverses some dark places in her mind, her internal chatter dolefully blunt with the acceptance of a grim life and the consequences of leading it, whereas Breaker still gives his callous life with some meaning and an appreciation in his own way. Alex’s and Breaker’s character profiles are strong and well done, credible, so much so that I was at times lost in their stories, feeling the intensity of their circumstances and Alex’s own feelings…which had my own heart hurting to see how much she had.
‘She didn’t flinch away from my dark or try to shine a light into it. Because she was living in the same depths as I was.’
“…I wanted to drag you out and show you what life is like outside that fortress you live in.”
Alex’s character is made to be strong and hardy; she has no romanticism about her fate or the world because fantasy has no place alongside the life she has lived. Breaker is bossy and dominant but sweet and considerate, and I love how they both clash and argue, the moments of intimacy and heat between them, and what comes of their relationship in these sobering circumstances.
“I’m…normal?” he asked sounding insulted, turning to me with an oven glove in his hand and I felt myself laughing.
“Oh, sorry,” I drawled, still laughing. “You’re truly terrifying standing in your kitchen with an oven mitt and a wooden spoon. I’m shaking.”
As one can guess, Breaker and Alex fall into a steam-fest of a relationship, attracting and desiring, and they have little reservations about getting straight to business when Breaker knows what he wants and Alex has nothing to lose. Soon – and quite quickly – they know where their loyalties sit as they wonder how they will save themselves from a despicable crime lord while helping each other. Breaker places himself at risk, doing so the moment he offers safety to Alex.
“What? I asked, fighting a smile.
She fought to control her laugh, lost, and shrugged a shoulder. “I could see a lot of people wanting to kill you is all,” she said, smiling wider.’
Alex never gave precious cost to her life, but just by being around Breaker she learns otherwise. Alex learns that there is more to her misguided life than living a solitary life’s worth of cold grief and hot anger, and a hollow acceptance of what’s to come when harrows come to pass.
‘We loved with a love that was half-possession and half never wanting to tame the wildness in the other.’
“No one is left to care about me,”…
But his arms squeezed me tight. “That’s not true,” he said with certainty.’
‘Monster’ did have its shortcomings in the form of character verdicts that didn’t make sense, grammar that could use some polish, and perhaps situations that could have used more exploration. Lex (the enemy), for example, orders meetings with Alex and Breaker for no apparent reason only to offer them more time and scare them a bit more before he actually wants Alex. This doesn’t line up with type of man that he is, he could quite easily take Alex and do what he wants, so I don’t understand why he places her in Breaker’s care. As well as that, Alex and Breaker plan to make plans to save themselves from this hazard of a situation, but they don’t actually make plans except sating their desire and becoming more comfortable with each other.
“What if I can’t give you more?”
“You can,” he said simply…’
Aside from that, Jessica Gadziala surely knows what she is doing with her characters, knows how to write them interestingly enough to give them strong footing and clear-cut personalities. Though ‘Monster’ is a contemporary romance, it’s dark, it’s gritty, it’s grim, and its sonorous with flagrant heat and open-ended tension. As I laid curious eyes on the first page of this story, I knew this was going to be a dark story, and it was, pulling me down with the dreadful, but following with the hope that Alex finds a reason to give her life some sustenance.
‘I got only a small view of his lifestyle.
But I feel like I got a full view of him. As a person.’
With new grounds forming for both Alex and Breaker, Jessica Gadziala writes a story of fast attraction under intense circumstances. A self-formed woman of 26 with a concentrated desire (bordering on obsession) to squash Lex Keith and his rotten life does have some light within reach behind those walls. And a caring alpha with a rough streak who gives Alex reason to believe that her life doesn’t have to be as dark as she lives it.
‘Monster’ has an appreciation for dark histories, marred characters and grim situations without falling into generic tropes. A lively twist to the general genre of contemporary romance – one that explores the dark mundanity of Alex’s life, the firm acceptance of Breaker’s, and a fast love that teaches Alex that she isn’t alone.
‘Sometimes love didn’t spring up on you in a moment of blinding clarity. Sometimes it crept up on you on a Tuesday night while you were standing at the sink doing the dishes, the feeling settling into your soul in a way that made it too heavy to ignore anymore.’
‘How he brought me out of my shell and showed me a hundred thousand things worth living for.’
Trigger Warning: Frequent mention of overdosing, mentions drug taking, copious amounts of swearing, lots of conversations about physical abuse (child abuse) and rapes that have previously taken place, attempted rape and multiple sex scenes.
Note: I really like Breaker’s character, but I didn’t like a specific word he repeatedly used to address women!
Quotes -
This was my first book from Jessica Gadziala and I loved it! She created another yummy, alpha, badass, dirty talking man for my book boyfriend list ;)
I won’t tell too much about the story because I don’t want to spoil too much… Breaker is forced to break one of his rules to save his best friend, his brother Shooter. He has to kidnap Alex, hold onto her until it’s time to bring her to one of the worst people he knows, not knowing what Lex needs Alex for but knowing her fate will be horrible. Alex has been gathering information on Lex for the past 10 years. How do you choose between your brother and the woman who starts to steal your heart? Will Alex be able to get her revenge?
As I said above I loved Breaker! Especially his dirty mouth.
“I want pussy,” I said, looking down at her, “I go get some pussy. I don't stare at it through a fuckin' computer screen. I get my fingers and cock inside a real one. “
And then there is Alex. A young strong woman with an attitude that could get her into lots of trouble.
“Listen asshole,” I started, my words hot, “I get that you have a job here. To hold me and kill me or whatever. But please refrain from torturing me with your asinine male chauvinistic ramblings first. Having tits doesn't negate having a fucking brain, you idiot.”
I loved their interactions and how Breaker saw the real Alex behind all those walls and tried to help her in many ways.
“Yeah, doll. You're dark. I work in darkness. I don't live it. I don't wrap it around myself like a blanket, hiding from the fuckin' world.”
"You're so scared of life that you're not fuckin' scared of dyin'"
This was a well written, captivating, descriptive story with great side characters from which I would love to read more especially pierced, tattooed, hot Shooter and maybe tattoo artist Payne, badass girl Janie, …
To finish with I want to say that I just love the cover … gorgeous! -
*ARC provided by the author for an honest review*
Wow just luv Alex and Breaker
Breaker is a total bad ass people hire him to take care of people when there bein a lil difficult u could say but he as rules an they have never been broken until Lex Keith the most notorious criminal around he is a total scrumbag the things he does to women is just horrible an when he asks Breaker to do a job for him Breaker as no choice cause bein the dirtbag Lex his he as took the closes person to Breaker Shoot an he would do anything for Shoot he is like a bro to him so there was question when he had to get Alex Miller for Lex but things were not goin to b that easy for Breaker
Alex as been through a lot her mum committed suicide an that left her in foster care deal with some horrible people but this made her the WOMAN yes woman she is today an she was lookin to take down the biggest dirtbag there was Lex Keith she as spent nearly 10 yrs tryin to take him down she as leant to b a really good hacker an after watchin Lex do some really bad stuff by watchin his every move an hacking into al his stuff she knew a lot about him so she knew she had to be careful so was dealin with some really bad people so when Breaker broke into her apartment she it was down but she never expected to have the most sexiest man take her down
Breakers rules were never take or do anything to a woman it was his 1 rules an Lex had put him is a position that he had no choice to take Alex Lex had Shoot an he was the closest thing he had to family so Breaker was shocked not just that Alex was a woman but the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen he knew this wasnt goin to b easy but it had to b done he just needed to know what was goin on an why he needed to know what Alex had done
There was so much sexual chemistry between these 2 even though they both had never been in relationships Breaker just slept with woman when he needed release an Alex just hadn't had great experience in the bedroom but there was something hot about Breaker that gave her the butterflies an Breaker needed a taste of her an after findin out why Lex mite want Alex he knew life could b short lived 4 both of them an she was to sexy to not have an once they started they couldn't stop he woke up the sexual beast in Alex an himself there was never a woman he want more than Alex so he knew would do anything for her
This book was so good I really enjoyed it I was scared in parts but Alex never showed anything but her sass an this made me luv her she never showed that she was scared an at time things got bad what a woman an Breaker was just one sexy bad ass alpha there relationship was so full of argument an lots of steamy sexy time but they just fit together an then there was Shoot god this guy was funny he doesn't care about a thing he is having is life threatened an he just keep giving the crap it was funny an scary at the same time I want more of this guy I need his book rite now I would recommend this book it's full of drama an hot sexy time an the main characters r great xxx
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3,5 stars
The first 75% were awesome, with lots of dark humour and hotness. I enjoyed the strong heroine and the hero with the right moral compass (even in his line of work). But the last 25% kind of went all over the place, with some unnecessary overexplanation of the same scene from three POVs, in length. I'm glad the twist at the end wasn't too clichéd though, it kinda saved the story.
All in all, I'm still totally liking this author's writing and going to read more. -
4.5 stars. I really enjoyed Alex and Breaker's story. This was my first for this author and I was certainly captivated by the world and characters she has created. What most interested me was Alex. Insight into her mind was unique and complex. She has a way of thinking that has not been represented in anything I've read before. Breaker is a great MC. A man in a questionable profession being forced to cross a line to save his best friend. Breaker and Alex together have great chemistry and let me tell you that the love scenes are very, very hot. The plot is interesting. Just when I thought I had things figured out, a wrench gets thrown in, and it's not what I thought. Safety: No OW/OM/Sharing. Neither are Vs. Condoms sometimes. There is abuse. There is attempted rape.
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Breaker...oh Breaker. Complete hard ass with a heart of gold. Cold, methodical and determined, he lives on the edge. He's a criminal but with standards. No women, no children....ever.
I love the way this author writes her heroes. They are supposed to be anti-heroes but they're not. They're a frigging hot mess mix of bad boy angels. I fucking love them.
Her heroines are anti-Mary Sue's....tough, strong and smart. I loved Alex. I loved how her walls were built to be impenetrable but they weren't strong enough to hold against Breaker. It was fun watching them crumble.
Her side characters are the glue that holds it all together. Shooter was reminded me a little of Preppy from the King series. He was a sweet, silly and complex trouble maker.
I can't wait to see where she takes him and the story next. Her writing never fails to keep me interested and invested in what's going to happen next. All of them seem to be tied together and I'm invested in watching it all play out.
Hellooooo there. Are you looking at me? You're totally looking at me. You sexy motherfucker you. Nothing to see here, ladies. As you can see, he only has eyes for me. Mine, all mine!!!! Moooohahahahha. Whoops. Sorry, back to your regular scheduled programming. Don't mind the crazy lady with the tattoo and beard obsession. -
First of all, because I know you're all thinking it... YES, the cover is beautiful and YES it was the deciding factor for me to give this book a shot. I'm not even embarrassed to admit it.
Bryan Breaker is bursting with testosterone, confident in everything he does, and a dirty-talking beast in the bedroom. Couple that with the mental image of this cover and WHOA ladies, I was fucking smitten.
The story is about a hitman-for-hire (Breaker, swoon) and a reclusive hacker named Alex. He's kind of conned into kidnapping her for the big bad of the story. Its got some UST, some mystery, a little vigilante action, and a cast of characters that are all super interesting and slightly... strange. In a good way.
Oh yeah, and its got some seriously hot sex mixed up in there, too.
I've seen a lot of people rave about this author, but this was my first book by Jessica Gadziala. I loved it! Her writing style is a little off-center, just like her characters. Its fast paced, fun, and steamy. The story never got boring, and I will definitely continue with this series as I'd really like to hear Shooter's story.
I can't imagine many people not enjoying this, especially because Breaker is just... HOT. God, he's so hot. The perfect "cocky asshole with a heart of gold", my favorite type. The story gets a little silly and the big bad is kind of hyped up to be more than what you end up seeing. But its an entertaining and quick read that leaves you wanting more, for sure. -
~Already loaded on my kindle....~
★ ARC graciously provided via author in exchange for an honest review!★ -
I was very eager to get my hands on this book as it had all of the factors I seem to love in a read lately. That would be; the very sexy bad ass hero named Breaker, and a heroine who gets taken captive by the previously mentioned hero! Even though I did enjoy this to a point, I found that it was missing the intensity of past stories that I have read with the same kind of subject. I can't put my finger on why exactly it wasn't there for me, as I didn't really have an issue with the writing...I just found that the whole story was hard for me to become emotionally attached to. I will say though, that I did enjoy the characters; but I just found that I would have liked more depth to them. A lot felt surfaced to me, but I tend to wonder if it is just more of an issue with me being unfocused than the story itself. I will for sure look forward to checking out the next read, and hopefully then I can become more engaged.
A little bit about the story: Breaker is a hardcore alpha male who specializes in violence for a living. He is hired to rough up, or even kill people who have it coming to them. The only limit he has where he draws the line is hurting women. Well, that is until he is hired by the city's notorious crime Lord to kidnap a woman named Alex for a huge fee that is hard to refused. Supposedly all Breaker needs to do is take her and hold her until his "boss" tells him what to do next.
Very quickly after having Alex in his possession, Breaker figures out there is way more than meets the eye with this mysterious lady, and he has to know more. He also finds himself very attracted to her and can't seem to remain professional where Alex is concerned. She has walls a mile high; but Breaker wants to climb those walls and find out what is on the other side!
Alex has had a vendetta against a very dangerous man, and for the last ten years she has been searching and learning his secret information so that she can somehow take him down. When she finds herself captured by a dark and dangerous man, she is terrified. With Alex though, she is resigned to her fate that she will probably die. It doesn't matter to her though, as she feels life isn't worth living anyway. Once she gets to know her capturer though, Breaker teaches her that life is indeed worth living, and suddenly she wants to fight to survive.
There are a few secondary characters that are introduced in this book as well, and I have to say that I am very intrigued by their story's if they have them in the future. I often struggle with getting very involved in the first book in any series, so I am very hopeful that this is the case with this one and that I will become more invested as the books continue..(if the author decides to write more!!) -
4.5 stars!
"I could wash the filth of my twenty-six years away.
I could be clean.
But that wasn't an option for me.
Some people needed to wade in the muck so that others could live untouched by it.
My life was to sacrifice to a greater good."
This was my first read by
Jessica Gadziala, and it CERTAINLY won't be the last!
I absolutely LOVED the heroine, Alex. She was strong, sassy and such a bad-ass!
And Breaker...omg yum...
I LOVED this book and I truly cannot wait to read more books by this author! Great way to start off the New Year with such an amazing read :-) -
I am really late to the party but I am glad I read this one. I had my doubts about reading this. Somehow, I thought it would be violent or way too much for me. And it was full of action, just not in the way I thought. So, yeah I loved it!
And hold my coffee while I tell you how much I loved Alex. She was smart, quick, independent, strong and a little short tempered but quick to cool down too. Alex may be my most favorite female MC by this author, yet. She definitely is till now and I've said a hundred times, I'll say it again- I have never disliked a man written by Jessica Gadziala and that isn't going to change anytime soon. Their relationship is so refreshing to read about and their banter was like the heartbeat of the book for me. I loved every part of their dynamic and hopefully I'll see more of them in the books to come.
