Monster

by Francette Phal

[Ing Cruz]

Dominic Armstrong is rich and ruthless. He's not use to being denied things and when he first sees Eden Mercer he knew he had to have her. When his step-brother tries to horn in on Eden, as well Dominic puts a stop to it right away and offers Eden a position as his mistress. Eden counteroffers and throws the marriage gauntlet down at Dominic, never expecting him to actually accept. Eden was in debt and barely keeping her head above waters working two jobs so when Dominic agrees she warily jumps in with both feet. Fast forward 4 years later and Eden and Dominic are still married. Eden knew the start to their marriage wasn't ideal but she had hoped that over time mutual respect and maybe love would grow but instead she's lived with a man who shows her little respect and treats her like a blow up doll. Dominic doesn't have much use for his pretty little wife outside of the bedroom. He figures his money and all the jewels he has showered her with keeps her happy. So when Eden takes off and goes missing for a year he is enraged and surprised at the same time. For him he never expected Eden to leave. When Eden comes back into his life, he is shocked by the changes in her. The gold digger he took her for was no where in site and the person before him intrigues him and challenges him. Will Eden and Dominic be able to move past their misunderstandings and less then idealic beginnings to find something they least expected? Love?

I was really excited to get my hands on Monster after reading the synopsis. Accidental gold digger and tyrant...yes please. From the synopsis and the title itself I was expecting this to be a dark read. I love my dark reads so I couldn't wait to dive into this book. It turned out this was not a dark read at all IMO. Which was fine by me cause I ended up adoring and devouring the story of Eden & Dominic in one sitting. This book read a like a Harlequin romance for me. This is not a bad thing because I love Harlequin romances and still read them. There was definitely ALOT of angst in this one.

I enjoyed Dominic's overbearing and domineering ways. I loved every moment of it. I knew there was a reason for his mistrust of Eden and wow it was a big one. It absolutely broke my heart to know what he went through. That kind of stuff would mess with anyone's mind and heart. His character was very well developed. We got a really good picture of what makes him tick and why he is the way he is with Eden at first. For me I never really saw Dominic as a monster. I just saw someone who has had to deal with a lot and puts a wall up to protect himself. His journey to discovering his faults and realizing what an ass he was, was fun to watch. I absolutely hands down loved his character.

Eden was a strong heroine. I liked that she did all she could to protect herself. I cheered her on when she put Dominic in his place and didn't let him off the hook for his past transgression. She wasn't a walking doormat and kept to her guns. She was a pretty well rounded character.

The pacing of the book was good. I wish there had been more moments between Dominic and Eden. I thought too much time was spent with them apart. Too much of her at her job at the bar. I was expecting a bit more sexy times. There wasn't enough "them time" IMO. With Dominic's alpha traits I would have love more scenes with him being all bossy in the bedroom after Eden was back:) Also the description of Eden's skin color and eye color was overused so much. That kind of got repetitive.

Over all I really adored their story. I can't wait to read more from this author. There was a sneak peek at her next book in the back and boy I'm excited. One of the secondary characters from this book is the hero in that one. I wasn't expecting him to get a story but I am pleasantly surprised and can't wait. I give my seal of approval for this one. :)

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