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Boston Belles #3

The Monster

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“Maybe we were never meant for each other. But that night at the carnival, when you showed me who you were, I figured out who I wanted to be.”

The most important thing I’d ever read was scribbled on the door of a portable restroom, engraved into plastic at a carnival on the outskirts of Boston.

Lust lingers, love stays.

Lust is impatient, love waits.

Lust burns, love warms.

Lust destroys, but love? Love kills.

Maybe it was always my destiny to fall in love with a monster.

When other kids stayed awake at night fearing the pointy-toothed beast hiding in their closet, I longed to see mine.

I wanted to feed it, domesticate it, understand it.

Sam and I were only allowed to love each other in the dark.

Once our story unfolded, and the truth came to light, I was the one to cut the cord.

My name is Aisling Fitzpatrick, and I have a confession to make.

Sam Brennan is not the only monster in this story.

399 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2021

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About the author

L.J. Shen

47 books48.6k followers
L.J. Shen is USA Today, WSJ, Washington Post and #1 Amazon Kindle Store bestselling author of contemporary romance books.

She writes angsty books, unredeemable anti-heroes who are in Elon Musk's tax bracket, and sassy heroines who bring them to their knees (for more reasons than one).

HEAs and groveling are guaranteed.


She lives in Florida with her husband, three sons, and a disturbingly active imagination.


Keep up with L.J. on all platforms:
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Facebook➜ https://goo.gl/fKCSo4
Website ➜ www.authorljshen.com

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Profile Image for Phuong ✯.
660 reviews7,412 followers
June 22, 2021
1.05 stars

The Hunter: I'm the worst book in the series
The Monster: Aaaaaaand I took that personally...

What is it with authors having a hyperfixation on a certain word and overusing it in their books. The word "Monster" was used 103 times. This book has around 373 pages.. breaking it down that means that the word monster was used 0,267x/page. Sam Brennan–the math genius that he is– would be proud of this calculation. All hail to the math King Monster! 💫

The way L.J. Shen tried to portay Sam as this big bad monster. How Aisling constantly calls him a monster. How his nickname is monster. Imagine having an orgasm and chanting "Monster, Monster, Monster" .... Now let me quote Zara who perfectly summed up what or who Sam really is "If you really wanted to make him a monster then you should acutally have made him a monster... really a psychopath. He is a weirdo, that's all he really is."

‼️ MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING: ‼️ Don't read any further if you don't want to know anything about the lovely "twists" and "turns" of this wonderful story w these complex and innovative characters that are not a Vicious copy. Not at all. *sarcasm over*

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CHARACTERS
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💩 Sam - Prince Charming Has Nothing On Me - Brennan 💩

First off, the prologue had no business being THAT long. I don't lie when I say after the prologue you've read 10% of this book. 💀

Our dear Sammy here had a pretty shitty childhood. Dirt poor. Hungry all the time. Neglected. His mommy Cat hated him and gave him drugs & alcohol to get him to calm down. When he was seven he realized that he was an addict. When he was eight he kicked that habit all on his own by refusing to take more drugs when Cat tried to give it to him. BWAHAHAAAH excuse me. 🤡🤡🤡 Grown ass adults can't even overcome their addictions with a lot of help and here you are telling me that this gangly fragile eight yrs old boy did it all alone with HIS SHEER WILL POWER? I'm laughing in cocaine. Of course Cat is the reason why he hates woman and turned out to be the misogynist sexist pig that he is now. The mommy issues with this one are miles high. 🥴
If there was one thing I know for certain, it was that Nix–little mosnter–would never turn me down.
She would be there next week. And the week after that.
To be used, abused, and devoured.
She'd always be mine.

Aw Sammy boy knows Aisling is his #1 cheerleader. Isn't it great to know that there is always someone to have your back and that you can abuse? Sounds lovely.
He was build like a rugby player, I was build like a rugby field.

Can someone educate me how a person can be build like a rugby field? I tried to google it, but sadly for once my bestie Google couldn't give me an answer, it only came up with this information.



Does that mean Sam is green and square???? What a plot twist I didn't see coming! Hulk, Sammy is coming for you.
"If it isn't my favorite tight hole. Been eavesdropping, Nix?"

My favorite tight hole. 💀 Do I have to say anything to that? I don't think so.
"I'm glad I caught you here. I have an update about our situation."
"Our situation?" I arched an eyebrow.
"Our fucking arrangement," he spat out, exposing his white fangs with an unpleasant chilling smile. "It's canceled. I'm not interested anymore. You were a great sport. Five out of five stars. Would highly recommend. Unfortunately, I have some pressing issues right now and no time for complicated pussy."

Sam and I would be best friends, cause that's exactly what I would say about him. character 5/5. Would highly recommend to be his love interest. Great guy. Love him.
"You taste like an ashtray," she purred into my mouth. Viper-like, her words dripped venom while she still devoured me hungrily, not letting go.
"Maybe so, but you taste like an easy lay, my least favorite flavor of woman."

The respect Sam has for Aisling. It shines through every single word out of his ashtry-filled mouth and it's music to my ears. He knows her worth. She knows her worth. We all know her worth. 🤩
"You've been running after me with your skirt up, begging to be fucked since before you got your period."

"I am going to get the truth out of you, Aisling, one way or the other, but until I do, you lose all cumming privileges. Not by my hands, anyways, and let's admit it–your sole purpose in life is getting fucked by me."

"Belle is damaged goods and also none of my fucking business. If you end up catching the clap in Badlands' restroom, your family will come crying to me"
"You're a sexist pig."
"And you are still interested. What does it say about you, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Jr.?"



Sam is just another Vicious clone. I love Vicious, but there is only one Vicious and he is the OG asshole and he is on a comletely different level than Sam mobster wannabe Brennan. At least Vicious' character was more realistic, the newest Heroes have all Vicious's traits, but are way over the top and ridiculous. Nice try, but another fail.

🐶 Aisling - My Dignity Left The Room - Fitzpatrick 🐶

Aisling has been obsessed with Sam since she was 17 yrs old and met him on a carnival ride and he kissed her. She's been panting after him for over a decade and now with 27 yrs she is finally making her move on him and it's the most pathetic thing I've seen.
I continued loving him from afar, like the sun loved the moon. Coexisting, but distantly. Eternally star-crossed, but never close enough for comfort.

Can someone checked this quote above if it's really from L.J. Shen or maybe she stole it again from someone, cause it sounds way too poetic for Miss Shen to come up w it on her own.

Sam owns this club called Badlands and he put Aisling on the blacklist. On Halloween Ais and Belle go there dressed up and Ais gets assaulted by some random guy there and Sam steps in. What does Ais do when they are alone? She throws herself at Sammy boy without shame, cause she realized that Sam doesn't recognize her in that costume. Even when he rejected her, she keeps embarassing herself, but just read this quote from chapter 1.
"There are no men like me."
"I can make it good for you," I insisted.
"Doubt that." He tilted his head sideways, laughing quitely. "Out."
Brazenly, I pushed my panties aside, to show him most of my behind, while playing with myself. The sound of my arousal meeting my fingers filled the air, making it known that I was very much ready to be taken.
"Please ..." I let my head fall sideways, biting down on my lower lip as I provided him a good angle to watch me masturbate.
He said nothing.

PLEASE HELPPPPP!!!!! CALL 911 I feel so embarassed for Aisling! 😭😭 Girl where is your pride? Your dignity? That "He said nothing" said everything ... just feel like hiding under the cover and never getting out again on Aisling's behalf. 🥴
After Aisling gives him a BJ and Sam finds out that it's Aisling, home girl is begging him "Sam, Please. Just one time." omg Aisling took a hammer to the word self-respect and pulverized it.
Ais wasn't a virgin when they had sex for the first time on Halloween, but all the guys she ever slept with was just some practice to prepare for Sam. ALL BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO MAKE IT GOOD FOR HIM. I- I give up on this girl okay. Ais even let Samuel fuck her ass the first time they're together... She really is a lost cause. 🤚
I wanted anything he was willing to give me.
A fling, a relationship, and everything in between, just as long as he'd have me.
Pathetic? Maybe. But I wasn't hurting anyone. No one but myself.

You know what? That's a lie. You're hurting my faith in humanity.
I was in love, not a doormat. There was still a slight distinction between the two.

Not in your case, sweetie.
Why wouldn't he? I'd never denied him anything. Not when he intended to sleep with someone else the night I showed up at his apartment. And not at the charity event, when he brought a date who looked freakishly similar to me.
And tried to sleep with her, too.

Now the blurb is very misleading as it portrays Ais as another monster. It's such a joke. Something in her past made such an impact on her that she works in an underground illegal clinic now where she does mercy killing (euthanasia) and that's why she is a monster too. 💀🤡 none of her family members know about it, they all think she is a OB-GYN at some hospital and that's the big mystery about Aisling.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
THE ROMANCE
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

This whole book was a convulated mess. The romance is a whole ass mess. No one is surprise here.

Apart of the first time Aisling and Sammy have sex which was a cringe fest. The romance took a backseat in the first 60% of the book, because of the dumb af plot that the author is trying to insert in this series. Samster is getting revange on Daddy Fitzpatrick, because he got letter from dear mommy Cat who said that she had an affair with Gerald Fitzpatrick and that she was pregnant with his child and he beat her up so badly that she got a miscarriaged, saying that Gerald killed Sam's brother. There was SO MUCH FITZPATRICK FAMILY DRAMA that it completely took away from the romance. Aisling had to babysit her mother all the time, because apparently Ais is the parent in their relationship and has to bath her mother, fed her, put her to bed, cuddle with her when her mother is depressed.

At around 50% Sam brings another woman to the family dinner and parades her around Aisling and humiliates Ais.
Sam looked down at Becca, tugging her close.
"I hope so," he whispered, placing a chaste kiss to her mouth. "She has everything I look for in a woman. Beautiful, well-educated, and honest. Bonus points: her family is not a complete mess."

When Aisling has enough and wants to go, she finds Sam and Becca in the other room. Becca laying across a mountain of coats and blazers, her dress pushed up her thighs with Sam standing a feet from her and a hand on his zipper. Ais–being the #1 supporter she is–throws a condom their way and dipps. Soulmatism at its best. 🤩 Your soulmate is about to fuck another woman and you're helping him out with condoms. SamxAisling bringing romance to a whole new level! Pioneering the way for future L.J. Shen's couples. <3
"For your information, you're the only person to bring the crazy out in me."
"Dangerous dicks tends to do that to good girls."

The writing never fails to send me to my grave. Dangerious dicks is truly something else. Where does one come up with that? The author made so many weird ass hell metaphors and comparisons, I really don't know if she pulls them out of her ass or what.

And here's the PROBLEM: for the majority of the book Sam doesn't give a fuck about Aisling, tries to sleep with other woman (50% with Becca) and then he makes a 180 and SUDDENLY it has always been her?! Believable my ass. From one moment to the next he realized that everything he has done in his life was always for Aisling's sake.

Him taking the job as Gerald right man? He's done that because he wanted to be closer to Aisling.
Sam putting Aisling on his club blacklist? Only for her protection and he couldn't see her pure soul dirtying it up with these guys.
Sam manufacturing all the revenge against Gerald? That he has done, because he wanted to distract himself from the truth that Ais could never be his.
"All these years, Nix, I thought about you. Every time I fucked someone else. Every time I brought someone into my office. I'd close my eyes and it was you I'd see. Then I'd remmber your family would destory us if I had you.

BULLSHIT!! If you're a manwhore just say it. I can't believe this book made me like Hunter, cause that dude is stupid and has STDs, but at least he is proud of it and doesn't bullshit around. Dear little Sam wants me to believe that every time he fucked some random woman that it was always Aisling he was thinking about? Aw, so romantic. 🥰

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
SO MUCH IS WRONG WITH THIS BOOK
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

🌟 The Hypocrisy 🌟

The Emmabelle hate is getting exhausting. It's okay if all the men in this series are manwhores and stick their dicks in every orifices possible, but if a woman does the same she's a slut and all the men are hating on her. RED FLAG. HUGE RED FLAG.
Belle is probably the only female character apart from Jesse who is different than the typical L.J. Shen heroine and she's getting treated worse than dirt. You really hate strong and independent women that much huh?

👨‍👨‍👧 Worst Brothers 👨‍👨‍👧

Not for the first time do I realize that Cilian and Hunter are the worst brothers to exist. We all know from The Hunter how self-centered Hunter is and Cillian is not better, because he only gives a fuck about himself and Persy and Astor. The Fitzpatrick have the worse sibling bonds. Hunter and Cillian leave Aisling alone at home for years with her toxic parents and don't even know how bad is it for her

👰🤵 Mother and Daddy Fitzpatrick 🤵👰

After all this drama, I was expecting something in this book to go right and give the Fitzpatricks the divorce they need. Everyone is cheating one everyone and living in that household is not healthy, but at the end Gerald and Jane pull through, because they need each other and they love each other in their own fucked up way. 🤡 I wanted both of them to drop dead, but okay if that's the message you want to leave behind.

⚜️ The Girl Group ⚜️

Is the name of this series not Boston Belles? You barely see any interactions with Belle, Aisling, Sailor and Persy. And if they are all together they talk to Ais like she's a child and needs to be protected. They are all condescending and act all high and mighty when their love stories is a joke too. So please shut the hell up. After it was announced that Boston Belles was about a female friend group I was excited, cause it's always about male friend group, but this series is not delivering on any great woman supporting woman relationship.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
WHY THE 0.05 EXTRA
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

💡 For this little scene
Afterwards, Sailor and Troy served dessert while I crawled around on all fours. Rooney rode me, using my hair as reins, her laugher rolling down my back.

I don't even like Sailor and Troy. I hate Sam, but I'm trash for cute little kids. 😭

💡 Towards the end when Sam is "courting" Ais, he's renting a whole amusement park and kind of reenacting their first meeting. This whole book I've read with a straight face, rolled my eyes or banged my head against a table and idk why but that scene I find cute or as cute as I can find a scene between two characters that I hate.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
CONCLUSION
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

The characters? Recycled.
The romance? A joke.
The friendships? Condescending.
The sibling relationship? Not found.
The parent-children relationship? Non existent.
The writing? Same old shit.
My review? Running out of space.

┍━━━━━━━━━━━━━┑
BOSTON DUMBASSES SERIES

#1 The Hunter – 1.5 stars
#2 The Villain – 2.5 stars
#3 The Monster – 1.05 stars
#4 The Rake – tbr
┕━━━━━━━━━━━━━┙
Profile Image for M..
507 reviews701 followers
June 15, 2021
Just some general thoughts after reading this:

@ Miss Shen you better leave the mafia trope to authors who really know what they're doing. I don't care about dark (sometimes toxic) romances because it seems like that's all Lj can write, but more than anything this was ridiculous. Are you really trying to convince me that Sam was related to the mob? with the way he acted and the things that came out of his mouth? with the way he embarrassed himself? with the way Ash played him?

─ 1st half with all the setting and family drama was SO boring, only after the 60% mark this went up a bit. This would be a 2.5 – 3 star reading for me; entertaining, but it didn't leave an impression on me and I'll probably forget all about this book by tomorrow morning.

─ Sam is a carbon copy of all the previous male characters from Shen who are part of the Secret Billionaire Geniuses League, but with a better sense of humor. Literally nothing new, she's not even trying at this point, miss Shen really said recycle rights ♻️!!
Secret Billionaire Geniuses League: Vicious, Keaton, Troy, Cillian, Sam.
Himbo Tea Party: Knight, Dean, Hunter, Chase.

─ Aisling was a surprise. The previous books made her look very naive and meek, but she actually had a backbone, only it disappeared every time Sam was near her vecinity (just like her dignity), but thanks to I-don't-know-what-or-who, at some point she shook the dust out of her brain, got out of Sam's spell and stood her ground.

"I confessed my love to him, gave him my body, offered him my soul, sought him out over and over again.
I needed to gather whatever was left of my pride and move on with my life."


─ I liked Sam and Aisling individually, but the romance didn't hit hard for me. I didn't feel much chemistry, and although they had a good banter & bickering I grew bored of it after a while. I was waiting for at least ONE swoony moment and it didn't come.

─ So many tropes going to waste. A mafia romance? with not enough action. Unrequired love trope? not really. Dark x dark dynamic? not according to me. Secret affair? barely.

─ Let's not get too deep and ethic but all the talk about Aisling being a monster because of what she did... sorry, but in my mind it was just the opposite, she was risking her own life and freedom to help others, and kinda demonize this and make her look like a monster JUST to match Sam... no thanks.

─ "The latinx"... um excuse me, but what exactly were you trying to accomplish here? just another example that you don't even take the time to do a proper research... No, scratch that out, I bet there ain't no research AT ALL here.

─ The side characters. I think it's obvious that Shen realized that Cillian and Persy are her new ViciousEmilia and I don't blame her for profit with them, I loved those crumbs. BUT BUT BUT:

─ Some characters here were a bit annoying; like Sailor, -who I liked in her own book-, but not so much in the others. The girls in general, treating Aisling like a baby and taking the mother and pity act too far. Cillian was like the Cillian from The Hunter, and the overprotective brother act got old really fast when the heroine is 27 years old!!!

─ I don't hold any hope for the next book and also have no expectations because I feel like we are barely seeing something about Devon and Belle. The version of Devon featured here was different from the fancy version featured in The Villian, and as for Belle... Seriously, I don't know where all these comments about her being "easy" are heading. Does Lj hate her for no reason? Did this start as a joke and she didn't know how to stop? is Belle going to be a secret virgin, and these jokes and the fact that she owns that club is just a facade?

─ I was really waiting for one of the Fitzpatrick parents to drop dead. Since the first book in the series we have seen that they are a poor excuse for human beings, doing horrible things to their children, so why do I feel like she tried to make them look better near the end of this book? and all the things the mother put Aisling through? Just send them twenty feet underground!! Cillian's already in charge of the company or whatever, there's no need for them to keep stealing air.

-----------------

second thought: ok so now that the cover and blurb dropped we can add secret affair and second chance romance too? and kinda dark x dark dynamic?? EXCUSE ME

first thought (12/17/2020): Sam and Aisling unexpected pregnancy mafia romance 2021 anyone!?!?
Profile Image for Natasha.
323 reviews503 followers
June 13, 2021
DNF at 40%

Aisling pls stop being so pathetic and grow a backbone. Don't be so desperate you're embarrassing urself!🤦‍♀️

"My fascination—no, obsession—with him knew no bounds, something even I couldn’t deny."

"I wanted anything he was willing to give me.
A fling, a relationship, and everything in between, just as long as he’d have me.
Pathetic? Maybe. But I wasn’t hurting anyone. No one but myself."


I mean you said it urself🙄

"I’d dated the two Harvard prodigies I knew were experts in the sex field and coaxed them into teaching me all their dirty tricks. I took notes, morphing from a shy, fumbling newbie to a nymph in bed.
I’d bit and licked and teased and tickled where necessary.
Not for them—for him."


I have no words for this. Her whole life is based on Sam.🙄 He has her blacklisted from her club but it's Halloween so she is in mask, comes only for the purpose of seeing Sam, he recognizes her and:

“Sam, I—” I shook my head. Merde! “Please. Just one time.”

And she lets him fuck her in the ass🤦‍♀️

“Your pussy might be used, but this asshole has never been fucked. I can tell.”

“You had to leave me a first to take, didn’t you, Aisling Fitzpatrick? You poor, romantic soul.”

Sam, stop being a mysogynistic asshole. I swear i read it somewhere that Lj Shen writes the same asshole H and i can't unsee it now. He was just like another version of Cillian, Vicious and Wolfe. He was not badass he was awful, demeaning and mean.

“If it isn’t my favorite tight hole."

"She was hopelessly fucking obsessed with me."

I just skimmed the second half and that plot twist why Aisling was the monster was... 🤦‍♀️
First i guessed it from the beginning so i wasn't surprised at all and what was the reason, so she can match Sam's darkness??🤦‍♀️🙄 no, i didn't make her more interesting only more stupid.

I can't even say i'm excited about Belle's book bc everyone always talk shit about her and Lj Shen is not capable of writing badass, independent women who don't pine for the H the whole book!!!
Profile Image for Matilda.
269 reviews2,484 followers
June 16, 2021
I have never wanted to give a book 0 zero stars more than this book

I actually didn’t like a single thing about this book. The MCs are annoying and cringy. The plot was nonexistent. The side characters were horrible. I want to have a book burning of just this book

⚠️ SPOILERS BELOW ⚠️

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Aisling ‘the embodiment of desperation’ Fitzpatrick (h)

Aisling met Sam Brennan (H) when she was 17 years old at a carnival. Since the literal moment she saw him she somehow developed feelings for him?? They’ve barely spoken 3 words to each other and she’s like…

I wanted to strip for this man, and I’d never wanted to strip for any man, for any reason, especially not romantic reasons—and I didn’t mean just my clothes.


She wanted to be romantically involved with her after speaking a few words to him 😭 literally how?? You don’t even know his name!

Unknowingly to Aisling, Sam is her friend Sailor’s brother. When she went to Sailor’s apartment and saw a picture of Sam and her, she got JEALOUS because she thought Sailor and Sam were dating.

That wasn’t the thing that bothered me the most about the idea of Sailor and Monster being together. It was the fact that he had a girlfriend. That he had moved on. Of course he would. All we shared was a kiss and a theme park ride.


I’m sorry what?! You kissed him once and you’re jealous that he might have ‘moved on’. I don’t want to be here

A year after their meeting, Aisling and Sam meet again at her dad’s house. Sam is part of some kind of criminal organization and Aisling’s dad hires him to fix his problems. I have truly never seen a heroine more desperate than this girl. He fucking rejects her and rejects her and she goes…

“One last kiss,” I murmured. “I won’t tell. You know I’d never tell.”
Then, after he rejects her for the 183828x she has the audacity to insult him.
“Because you’re a half-literate, barely educated dropout. You probably don’t even know the multiplication table. That’s why you do what you do. You don’t have a choice.”


Calling someone dumb because they don’t want to kiss you, sweetheart have some fucking self-respect and WALK AWAY.

Years go by and in her inner monologue she talks about she’s in love with him, despite them not speaking much since they first met. Woman, are you in love with him or the idea of his dick because I’m truly confused how you can be in love with a man who doesn’t give an absolute shit about you.

Should I bring up the fact that she also tried to manipulate him into having sex with her while she was in a Halloween costume, KNOWING that he didn’t know who she was??? This just did not sit right with me. Once again, when he figures out it’s her, she begs him for just one more time.

”There are no men like me.”
“I can make it good for you,” I insisted.
“Doubt that.” He tilted his head sideways, laughing quietly. “Out.”
Brazenly, I pushed my panties aside, to show him most of my behind, while playing with myself.

“Please …” I let my head fall sideways, biting down on my lower lip as I provided him a good angle to watch me masturbate.




I LITERALLY WANT TO THROW UP FROM EMBARRASSMENT

Even she realizes that she’s pathetic and desperate

I wanted anything he was willing to give me.
A fling, a relationship, and everything in between, just as long as he’d have me.
Pathetic? Maybe. But I wasn’t hurting anyone. No one but myself.


This girl only wants scraps from this guy ughhh

Sam ‘I really hate women’ Brennan (H)

The hero has no redeeming qualities. He’s a misogynist and he treats Aisling like she’s dirt under his shoe.
“If it isn’t my favorite tight hole. Been eavesdropping, Nix?”


And also, my personal favorite
“…you taste like an easy lay, my least favorite flavor of woman.”


Don’t you just love when they’re romantics😍😍

He used another woman to make her jealous and even kissed her in front of Aisling. He talks down to her and only gives her the bare minimum because he knows she’s obsessed with him.

Rating my favorite nicknames Sam gave Aisling:
1. Kiddo
2. Missy
3. Kid

Kiddo edged out the others because he said it directly after they had sex ☺️😩



So in the plot there’s a sort of revenge story that begins taking place when Sam finds letters from his mom that claim Aisling dad and her had a sexual relationship for years and he fathered a child with her. When Aisling’s dad found out about the pregnancy, he beats Sam’s mom and causes a miscarriage. Sam now wants revenge, so he tries to ruin the dad’s life by exposing his affairs, stealing family heirlooms, and poisoning him. Sam makes himself out to be this super smart ‘monster’, yet he doesn’t realize that his mom was lying about ever being pregnant and being beaten up. Ig she had gotten her tubes tied so she couldn’t have ever been pregnant.

Now, no law enforcement agency has been able to catch him for any crimes yet Aisling, some pathetic excuse for a doctor who leaves her patients in the middle of meeting to handle family drama, was able to come up with and execute a plot that exposed Sam as being the mastermind behind her family’s slow demise. This whole thing was super unrealistic and made no sense at all

There’s more to say about him but I’m already forgetting the book

The romance

The MCs didn’t even get together until the last 15% of the book. I’m supposed to be reading a romance novel, yet the heroine despises the hero and doesn’t want anything to do with him?? Just the fact that Sam used another woman and convinced Aisling that this girl was ‘the one’.

Sam also threatened the heroine’s life by holding her over a railing, trying to get her to confess what her real job is because she lied about working at a hospital. Aisling also tried to kill Sam by pushing him off a roof. Their whole relationship felt non-existent.

The side characters

ALL THE SIDE CHARACTERS ARE SHIT. Aisling’s mom is a manipulative bitch, and her dad is a manwhore.

Aisling’s brothers Hunter and Cillian are selfish bastards. They refused to take responsibility for their parents and put all the responsibility on Aisling.

Aisling’s friends (Bella, Persy and Sailor) are the worst friends I have ever seen. They treat Aisling like a child and try to convince her that Sam ‘isn’t the one for her’ by talking about them behind her back. Aisling had to call them out on their hypocrisy and then OF COURSE she forgave them and everything went on as normal.

In short, this book is shit and the review is probably shit bc it mostly consists of me ranting about how much I want to bleach this book from my brain.

Profile Image for Bibi.
1,288 reviews13 followers
June 28, 2021
Other reviewers have said it but it’s worth repeating: the second hand embarazzment (see Tanaz’s review) for these characters was high af. This was baaaad, guys
Profile Image for Daria.
109 reviews26 followers
June 11, 2021
I read this since the ARC leaked.
I liked the world-building, it was very easy to picture everything, but that was about it. I imagine after years of writing only billionaire romances L.J. Shen picked up a thing or two on how to do it well.

Other than that Sam was the same as every other male character this woman has written, just a little bit more misogynistic than the rest (real charmer that refers to women as "tight holes", can you see me swooning?).

Aisling again was like all the previous L.J. Shen heroines, no backbone whatsoever, let the hero ridicule her, until the last 30% where they miraculously find their spine just so we can get some generic grovelling.

Overall this was an unmemorable read, that shouldn't be making L.J. millions, but unfortunately it will. I really hope she doesn't mess up Belle's character because she's the only side character I liked in this book. Everyone else was insufferable.

PS: Can't wait to see how much plagiarism was in this book after all the book detectives get to it lol.

Profile Image for cait.
222 reviews67 followers
June 14, 2021
1 STAR

at this point are we even surprised anymore? it seems all lj can do now is write books that are carbon copies of her previous successful books but, wait for it, still manage to do it horribly! i genuinely have so many issues with this book so let me lay them out.

1. the whole "aisling is a monster" bit

mild spoilers going ahead but anyways well we know sam is the big bad monster but lj eventually leads to a point where she shows and tells us that *gasps* aisling is a monster too! and it's all because she does the horrible(is it really?) act of performing euthanasia on willing and vetted patients.

miss lj shen, would you care to explain to us how this makes her a monster? because if I'll be frank, all i see is a woman who is doing something that is quite literally called MERCY KILLING and i don't know if it's just me but i actually respect her for doing so. at the end of the day, she is helping take a life, and no matter how much the person would like to do so, this will for sure still have an effect on her. so another follow up question, how is euthanasia equal to the mafia? i mean is it just me but there is literally ZERO correlation and calling aisling a monster is just so far-fetched.

2. the constant butchering of previous characters

now don't take me for someone who cares even the tiniest bit for hunter or sailor or cillian or even persephone but in melody's oops i meant sailor's book i actually didn't find her as horrible as the other characters but reading the monster made me so frustrated with her and their whole girl group. aisling was treated like a child by people the same age as her and in my opinion, she should have snapped harder.

3. the slut shaming

this was one of the things that bothered me the most. the constant slut-shaming of belle and all because she likes to have s*x???? like please this didn't just make me frustrated with the characters but lj shen herself too. by constantly writing scenes and moments where belle is belittled as nothing more than a "barbie doll" and called a bunch of names for enjoying s*x, this helps propagate the idea that women canNOT enjoy carnal pleasures which simply, isn't true because 0rgasms are great.

4. the lack of chemistry

was it just me but there was barely any chemistry at all? the girl became obsessed with him because he kissed her..... please i think that explains the entire thing.

AND LASTLY,

5. the fact that this was written by someone who is a bully, a zionist, a plagiarizer, and I'm sure so many more horrible things we haven't heard about yet.

there are so many authors out there who write great books and mind their own business or spread positivity and support other authors. choose to support them.
July 23, 2021
“The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls.” -- Edger Allen Poe



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💋💋💋💋💋
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📙📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 👨🏻👱🏻‍♀‍🧔🏻👩🏻👱🏼‍♂‍

The heroine: Aisling Fitzpatrick (a.k.a. Nix) - she is the daughter of an oil magnate in Boston. Her father doesn’t think she is good for much since she isn’t a man and her mother keeps her close. Aisling finished med school and is an OB/Gyn Resident at a local hospital.

The Hero(es): Sam Brennen (a.k.a. Monster) - adopted by the Mob Fixer Troy Brennen and his wife Sparrow. Sam is now the biggest Mobster in Boston and owns several successful clubs. He also works as a fixer for Aisling’s Dad and brothers.

The Story: Aisling and Sam met at a carnival when she was 17 and he 25. He was her first kiss and then she saw him kill someone. She met him again a year later with her family. In the years she was in medical school she saw him often at gatherings but rarely spoke to him.

At first, the thing I didn’t like about this story was how Aisling got a crush on Sam from the get go and was way too desperate for him. She actually begged him. It is one thing for a heroine to have a crush or to be attracted to the anti-hero, quite another to show him how much she wants him when he seems not to want her.

Though the story is a good one and I really enjoyed how it all played out. L.J. Shen is certainly a master of the anti-hero and Sam is as dark and dangerous as any she has written about in the past. He is also a class “A” Alphahole to Ash through the majority of the book, and it is so nice to see him fall. I also like the fact that Aisling makes Sam work for it.

The romance between Sam and Aisling was super steamy and the back and forth between them was so great. One thing I like about L.J. Shen books is how they focus so much on the romance between the two main characters and though there are side storylines, there is plenty of interactions between the two main characters and you can see the relationship between them build throughout the story.

I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

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Profile Image for zaraa.
397 reviews
June 12, 2021
0.5/5

dnf @ 32%
i tried to buddy read this with phu, but i just couldn't go any further —i gave up. and, this is definitely a "it's the book and not me" situation.

honestly, this series is SO unlikable and this book just showed that. there's nothing good to say about sam and aisling not that i had any expectations before, but seriously this was a clownfest.

“you’ve been running after me with your skirt up, begging to be fucked since before you got your period.”


i don't know who thought sam brennan would out serve every male character in series, but please come collect your man because this is NOT it.

the only reason why i even bother with series is because of cillian despite the author trying to clone one of my all time OGs, to me he still stands out more than anything and anyone in this entire series which is why 95% of the time i ignore the plot and the main couple and just skim through for his scenes especially the ones with little astor in this book.

in conclusion, this book made me miss vicious a lot actually anything associated with this author just makes me miss the spencers which is why i dnfed this one and picked up angry god instead so to sum it up i think we can all agree on that this author needs to take a long break from writing or refrain from writing atleast until she gets it together.
Profile Image for Dawn.
530 reviews
June 14, 2021
Yeah based on reviews I’m skipping. Sounds boring. Not a fan of books that pick up 9 years later, and where they’ve both been sleeping around.
Profile Image for Yeasmin Alo.
199 reviews332 followers
Want to read
December 17, 2020
17Dec,2020

DoctorxMobster huh?

Life taker VS Life giver?

Keeping my
Hopes High
Expectations low 🎆

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 December 2020

Okay so
If I say I am confused then it will be the understatement of the century
Who is it ?
Sam and Aisling
Or
Sam and Belle ??
Fugggg

dauti5VPArvHnqG



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30 Sep 2020

Aisling 😣 come on L.J 😑
She is barely a girl she is a kid but
Sam 😍😍😍😍
Junior Troy ✅✅✅
Mafia Romance ✅✅✅
Lots of Action✅✅✅
And Steam baby 👀👀👀
And Hopefully Age Gap 😍😍 and #daddykink
Fingers crossed 🤞🤞🤞🤞
So Imma sit here waiting

Profile Image for Llakshmi.
448 reviews410 followers
June 17, 2021
Okay here me out, I don’t have a problem with assholes. Hell, shen’s vicious happens to be one of my favorite dark/bully romance. But I think that was more because Emilia had a backbone, or thoughts besides Vicious. I mean who spends their entire life thinking about a man who didn’t even give them a glance. Its like spending your life thinking about that one guy you had eye contact with at the airport.; it’s a waste of time.

Im not going into the story because its pointless, but let me tell you this: I skipped 5 chapters in between and it felt like nothing was missed. I just don’t get it? Shen usually writes pretty interesting characters but this entire series has had the most cookie cutter- cliché characters. They literally feel like a carbon copy of her sinners of saint series.

“All these years, Nix, I thought about you. Every time I fucked someone else. Every time I brought someone into my office. I’d close my eyes and it was you I’d see”



--- Oh how charming he is---

Why I gave 2 stars?
-> Ainsley did talk back sometimes
-> The groveling in the last 3 chapters
-> He made a bet in blackjack to marry her
-> She threw him out of her window
-> He got shot

What I didn’t like?

Pretty much everything else.
I gagged everytime she called me ”Monster” in bed. I mean really ”oh, monster. Monster,monster,monster” ; she chanted apparently.
And Im pretty sure I’ve read about her thinking about Sam atleast 4 times in the first fucking chapter. and Vicious Sam's POV was just "i need to destroy her once and for all"

I just wasn’t invested in this and didn’t give a shit about any of the characters. So yeah. I didn’t like it

“You’re always going to keep me on my toes, aren’t you?” She sighed but looked happy about it. I grabbed the hem of her dress and pulled her down for a filthy, deep kiss.
“Not at all. Sometimes I’ll keep you on your back, too. And on all fours. But whatever your position, I promise you’ll fucking enjoy it.”

Profile Image for Orquidea Mejia.
22 reviews8 followers
June 15, 2021
There's better authors and books out there.. support them . Im surprised ppl are still reading her redundant books
Profile Image for ❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books.
2,322 reviews9,242 followers
June 11, 2021
4.5 MONSTER & NIX STARS

I'm not going to write up my review as I normally would, I don't want to divulge spoilers, but be prepared to fall in love, to love, to swoon, to cry.

Admittedly I tiptoed into this where I normally race towards the darkness, but we all know how damaged Sam is, and I wasn't to sure I was ready for him, Sam's what we loosely term a fixer of sorts, he'll go in get his hands bloody and fix what others can't. His background story is dark, raw and downright emotional. But delve a bit deeper and we see a softer side emerge.

Shen did such an outstanding job developing Sam's character. From the gutter to the lap of luxury, addiction running rampant in his blood, to instilling fear in everyone he meets. He's a man you don't want to cross, once you do revenge is his for the taking, even if it means destroying everything in his path.

Aisling was the perfect character for Sam, she was a little bit broken and had a wee bit of darkness hiding within herself, she's always had her eye on Sam and getting her hooks into him she had to up the anty. They sizzled, they had blood and tears pouring out of their souls, they were imperfect but perfect for each other.

This was completely different to what I've read by Shen in the past, she's put her all into this book and you can tell, I felt everything these two characters threw at me and I couldn't get enough!! This is best to be read as a series in order.

2e0pm6g
Profile Image for Rain ♡.
149 reviews8 followers
Want to read
June 19, 2021
Edit: So I got a notification that this book is live and after reading the reviews, I don't think if I'm gonna be reading this anytime soon, so thank you next!
______________________
Before reading:

Dear Aisling,
If this book is about you and Sam, please don't be a pathetic heroine, and please don't follow him around like a puppy asking for his love, because after reading The Villain, I have very low expectations for you!
Yours,
Rain
Profile Image for Hannah.
173 reviews100 followers
June 16, 2021
When even your ✨plagiarized✨ shit is boring AF,basically a horribly copied version of your older works and puts readers to sleep....
I don’t even need to bother pointing out how trashy this is because you can see that by just looking at the top reviews here.
Although I wonder when all our one star reviews will ✨magically✨ disappear? Cause we all know Ms. Shen and her minions won’t accept anything other than full five stars.
Profile Image for Shabby  -BookBistroBlog.
1,585 reviews856 followers
June 13, 2021
It's not everyday you read a story that makes your heart skip a beat or leave your mind in a twist.
One of the most addictive and enthralling book from Shen, it kept me invested with titillating passion and riveting turn of events. A virtual Rollercoaster of events happening at warp speed kept my mind in a tizzy at all times.
Lj has carved a niche for herself and named it Alphahole Sector. Much to the delight of readers and consternation of some peers. She's unapologetically changed the character ingredients of a villainous hero.

description

Sam Brennan, an adopted child of Troy and Sparrow Brennan from Sparrow is our larger than life Angry Young Man , the downtrodden, abandoned child who doesn't believe in karma doing the job for him. This omnipotent hero extracts revenge on his own terms, by his own hands. He presides over his domain ruthlessly, with indomitable cunning, with hands soaked in blood and heart full of hate.
"He was a mystery, and mysteries were meant to be unearthed, uncovered, and unfolded. I’d finally caught his attention—snatched it against his will—grasping onto it with bloodied fingers, and I had every intention of keeping it."
Her prose as always is fascinating and mesmerizing, delving into the wronged person psyche. Leigh holds nothing back, be it in slashing dialogue, cutting verbiage or disembowelling sentiments.
YES, some emotions legit gut your insides. I cringed and recoiled at the stark poignancy of the mission that the heroine Aisling Fitzpatrick has undertaken at a high personal cost.
"You’re a monster and I’m a monster. We’re both demons, looking for our next pound of flesh."

description

Aisling intrigued me. Her role reversal, her self sacrificial lamb like personality had to be seen to be believed. Overburdened and under appreciated, she's the quintessential dark mare of the Fitzpatrick clan only to be pawned or used as a reliable favour.
"The doomed girl mourning her unrequited love"
I saw my own reflection at times in her, so she shall remain close to my heart from all the Boston Belles .
It's hard not to give anything away, even though the story is vast, Leigh keeps it centered around the lovely couple.
You can never keep a good writer down and that point is repeatedly proven by shen. Rest of them can go suck on a lemon.
4.5 stars for The Mine Of Lost Souls
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Profile Image for Shaikha.
125 reviews37 followers
June 23, 2021
2 stars

victim
/ˈvɪktɪm/

•a person who has come to feel helpless and passive in the face of misfortune or ill-treatment.
Synonym: Sam Brennan.


“My heart lurched, urging me to take advantage of the situation. The opportunity was overwhelming. To have Sam without really having Sam.
I knew Boston’s favorite monster was notorious for sleeping with every willing woman. Why not me?”


“Get out of here.”
I spun my head around, my skirt still bunched up my waist, my ass in his direction.
“I know men like you,” I hissed seductively.
“There are no men like me.”
“I can make it good for you,” I insisted.
“Doubt that.” He tilted his head sideways, laughing quietly. “Out.”


“I was going to make him see himself the way I saw him. Then maybe, just maybe, he could see me for who I was. A woman worthy of his attention.”


“Now that he let me in, I was going to destroy every single one of his walls and finally make him mine.”


Tell me how can you feel anything but sympathy for my boi Sam after reading these quotes? You cannot tell me that Sam isn’t a victim. You cannot tell me that Ash forcing herself onto Sam—a person who made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t emotionally or physically available—is not emotional abuse. I find it hard to express any kind of hate for Sam. My mans was abused into loving Aisling.

cringey
/ˈkrɪn(d)ʒi/

adjectiveINFORMAL
adjective: cringey; comparative adjective: cringier; superlative adjective: cringiest; adjective: cringy

•causing feelings of embarrassment or awkwardness.
Synonym: Aisling Fitzpatrick


“Brazenly, I pushed my panties aside, to show him most of my behind, while playing with myself. The sound of my arousal meeting my fingers filled the air, making it known that I was very much ready to be taken.
“Please …” I let my head fall sideways, biting down on my lower lip as I provided him a good angle to watch me masturbate.
He said nothing.
Small mercies. He is giving you another chance. Don’t blow it.”


And to think she is a 27 yo doctor….believe me when I say I have read about teenagers who have more dignity and self-respect than her.

“Because no woman is worth it, least of all one that is the spawn of a man I’d like to bleed dry of his money.”
He lit up his cigarette. His gothic, wintry gray eyes felt like ice cubes rolling down my skin.
“You know, I would never tell if we hooked up.” I swallowed my pride.”


Nah, honey, you swallowed air. Hate to break it to ya but you have no pride whatsoever.

In addition to having no sense of dignity, Aisling is also, unsurprisingly, really obtuse.

“I was in love, not a doormat. There was still a slight distinction between the two.”


Um, could have fooled me.

While everyone has been slandering Ash and Sam for being complete shitheads, I would like to express my hate for Ms. B The unadulterated hate I felt for a dead woman clearly tells you how morally depraved I am but IDC!
I feel like she is responsible for setting Ash on the path of veritably destroying Sam. And for unleashing immeasurable pain and suffering (uh, Ash) upon Sam.

“Why did I share with him my story of Ms. B, then?
Because you love him, mon cheri, and when you love someone, you want them to get to know you, so maybe they’ll fall for you, too.”


I am glad she died when she did, because if she was alive I am certain she would have asked Ash to lock Sam up in a cellar and beat him until he confessed his undying love for her.

Does slandering a dead woman make me a monster? Perhaps Sam and Ash are not the only monsters in the story? Would chanting ‘I am a monster’ make me a monster? Just like Sam and Ash?

“He hadn’t said he was sorry for my loss like everyone else had. “And who are you?” I breathed.
“I’m a monster.”
“No, really,” I protested.
“It’s true. I thrive in the dark. My job is to implement fear, and I am some people’s nightmare. Like all monsters, I always take what I want.”


“We monsters do what we have to do. You know that better than I do.” I shrugged.
“You’re no monster,” he hissed.”


“I’m not a man. I’m a monster.” He stopped beside me, not removing his gaze from my face for a second. “Look at me, Nix.”


Every time the word monster was mentioned I imagined Sam and Ash huddled together, thumping their chests and growling ‘we are monsters, aaAaAaaAAaaa’

Who was Ms. Shen trying to convince of Sam being a monster? Herself or the readers?

After almost a year of desperately waiting for this book, this is what I get!? A h with no self-respect and a H who miraculously overcame his drug addiction at the tender age of eight. Reading that made me think that maybe the author must have been under the influence herself because honestly did she think we’d buy that BS? It takes most cognitive adults years of rehabilitation to get rid of their drug problems and here she is telling us that Sam kicked his addiction, without any help, at eight!?!?!?

I would have given this book 1 star but I imagined Sam as Theo James and I couldn’t bring myself to hate him! So that extra 1 star is for my daddy Theo, not Sam, mind ya!

Anyway, this was a perfect waste of my time. Be smart and don’t read this, lol! Or do if you like reading about Monsters. BahAhaHaha.


…………………………..………….
Update: Aisling better not disappoint. 👩🏻‍🦯

Pleaseeee let this be about Belle and Sam. Pleaseeee let this be about Belle and Sam. Pleaseeee let this be about Belle and Sam. Pleaseeee let this be about Belle and Sam.
Profile Image for Amani.
240 reviews4 followers
June 14, 2021
I think every couple in a series has potential, but it’s almost like Lj gave up writing the monster after she finished with the villain, because it did not feel like a book from the same series at all. While The Hunter and The villain followed an interesting formula and development, the monster took me by surprise when the development went backwards and focused heavily on....family? It was interesting to say the least but I did not feel anything for Sam and Aisling, nor did I feel anything for them as individual characters.

Criticisms of the plot:

- I didn’t like how the plot was heavily focused on Sam’s desire for revenge against the FitzaPatricks. Lj has a habit of building up friendships and relationships but then deteriorates them in her other books. And that’s what happened in the monster. It was way too focused on Sam’s revenge against mainly Jane and Gerald fitzaPatrick which was interesting because I would have never seen it coming.

- after the ending of the villain I was convinced that the monster would be pregnancy trope since we got little hints about Aisling wanting children and belle saying soon, Lj’s teasers also made it seem like what Aisling was doing made her a monster - I was confused because it did not. I think her trying to make Sam and Aisling the same would have worked had she gone with the typical bonnie and Clyde relationship authors enjoy writing but it just did not work in this story at all because when you find out why she’s a monster it doesn’t make sense at all.


- the first part of the book does focus on family a lot more then the relationship itself. I understand that the root of the story was Sam’s revenge but even then, I did not connect to the plot and did not feel like I was reading a book that felt similar to the series at all.




The relationships:

- belle and Aisling did not feel like friends at all. The belle’s were in fact a good way for Lj shen to finally incorporate a very interesting dynamic between these female characters because they are all so different from each other. But the friendships weren’t what I was expecting, in fact I felt like in the monster a lot of these relationships were under developed which shouldn’t have been the case because we are now on the 3rd book of the series

- I did not like Aisling grovelling because she truly had nothing to grovel for. I felt bad for Aisling at some moments but it was clear she had her own problems with her family and I wish Lj had focused on those rather then her relationship with Sam since all he did was ignore her and make her grovel for him and prove to him she was worth it when he wasn’t worth it at all. I didn’t like his attitude either nor did I like the way he treated Aisling. Realising he was in love with her and wanted to be with her in the last 40% of the book was a no even if he knew all along he loved her and wanted to be with her from the very first page. I didn’t enjoy Sam and aislings dynamic at all and secret relationship just didn’t work in this scenario.


- Cillian and Sam deserved to be the best friendship Lj has written in her work. But she completely butchered it because Sam was so driven by revenge. His hatred for Cillian and hunter came out of no where which again DIDNT make sense. It was as if Lj tried to throw in a random plot because she had no idea what to do. We went from seeing Sam helping and saving cillians marriage at the end of the villain to completely hating him in a matter of seconds. It came out of no where.


And finally. Sam was useless. You’d think a man who had several people saying he was smart and being one of the most cunning men in BB you’d think he would be ahead of everyone else but he was not. In fact, he was several steps back. Once again, Lj shen has done this several times where she creates an MC and makes him out to be this very complex and very smart character but she never lives up to the expectations she creates. He was always been outsmarted by everyone.


I didn’t feel connected to this story at all and have no idea why the story went in the direction it went in. So 1/5 stars.
Profile Image for Bookgasms Book Blog.
2,836 reviews1,426 followers
May 27, 2021
Gah!!! After reading The Monster I am 1000% certain that there will never be an author like L.J. Shen who will sweep the rug out from under your feet with every new story. The Monster was another amazing story that will completely own you from the very first page! The sizzling chemistry and spitfire banter was out of this world fabulous but the one-two combination of nail-biting angst and gutpunching emotions take the cake!! Sam and Aisling were unbelievable. They will own your heart and imprint themselves on your soul for a lifetime!

What I loved more than anything about this story was how different it really was. Shen is not afraid to take chances and to completely reinvent herself and the kinds of characters we can usually expect from her. You will NEVER see the unexpected direction she takes with this story until you are left breathless with shock and awe. Sam and Ash were not perfect by any means but they were beyond perfect for one another. They were two lost and broken souls who found a kinship and connection in one another that withstood the test of time. You felt their raw and powerful emotions coming right off the pages. I was nothing less than spellbound while reading.

Overall this story was nothing short of remarkable. Shen has proven herself time and time again why she is the best at what she does. Her stories leave an indelible impression on our hearts and souls. This story was absolutely life changing! Bravo! 6 stars! ~Ratula
Profile Image for currently being delulu .
408 reviews114 followers
June 11, 2021
There’s something to be said about LJ shens books


There horrendously bad .. but sometimes I stop and read them if I have an arc or I need to be entertained...


I read the villain and actually kinda liked that one but then realized why was because it was pretty much copy and paste of her earlier books ... so




Honestly I could complain about how sam’s character was a huge disappointment... in regards that this man really thought he was somethin in the mafia world ... but is actually a cartoonish villain



I swear to god he milked the mama didn’t love me sob story a little to much

Pack it up god father nobody cares .... especially when you where basically adopted by people who have you the world and loved you unconditionally and took you as there own son .... so chill out in the corner baby cakes kk




Ash... oh you little bubble of dumb bitch ... how I surprisingly didn’t hate you but baby you gave in wayyyy to easily


Man literally did nothing for you and in less then one chapter ... your like


“ no this time Brennan your gonna have to earn me”

... 😂 tf kk who ever your fooling



Two stars because if nothing I was entertained




Edit

Btw
I don’t support this author
Profile Image for Uma, it's a lavenderbookverse.
58 reviews40 followers
June 18, 2021


Idk that gave me second-hand...something. Embarrasment? Worry?

With that lovely, empowering quote, let me begin my rant

Aisling was such a doormat heroine and Brennan was just bland. The blurb was all about how Aisling is also some kind of a monster but really she is anything but. I don't think I've read a more..idk...pushover heroine. The blurb promised this wonderful second-chance romance with heartbreak and forbidden themes to it and it did not deliver. At all. Also the sexist undertones was awful. The way everyone, from Brennan to Cillian to Aisling to even Hunter (who's the only remaining good thing in the Boston Belles' world, other than Belle and Devon, hopefully imo) was blatantly slut-shaming (I hate to use the term but that was what was happening here) Belle was, tbh, nauseating. Why? Because she wasn't pining after a man and was actually self-sufficient AND had her own opinions?



Brennan is presented as someone who thinks he isn't deserving of love, you know the-I-don't-think-the-finer-things-in-life-are-meant-for-me type, but I never once felt that from how he was written. I get why Brennan had to be presented as crass but his inner thoughts made me, well, gag. Who thought like that? The steamy scenes were...awkward and tbh, not at all good, at best. Also, I don't consider Brennan to have made enough of an impact on me for us to beon a first-name basis, hence why I'm referring to him as Brennan. (reinforcing my total and absolute apathy for his character here)

And I think I kinda like Devon and Belle..and I kinda am excited for them. Like very cautiously. For once, I'd like to see SOME devotion from the man's side in this series. It's been a lot of the women just bending over while the men treated them with utmost disrespect. And that's saddening.

One last thing, MY GOD, I'M SORRY BUT THE LACK OF FEMINISM IN THIS BOOK MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM!

Ok, that'll be all. Thank you
Profile Image for Mia.
2,366 reviews920 followers
June 15, 2021
So I decided to torture myself and what a torture it was. Self-plagiarism is LJ middle name because seriously this yet another attempt from her to have another Vicious or The Villain not like they are good but moving on.
Aisling is definitely her biggest doormat, she literally obsessed Sam since she was teen because he is the first one that kissed her like okay but what I'm supposed do with that. Time jumps in beginning were set up for what annoying book this is going to be.
This is how their conversation go,
Sam: fuck off you are pathetic
Aisling: no why let me seduced you
Plus they have no chemistry literally give us nothing.
Sam is lamest mob guy, I keep forgetting he is one.
There is no reason for anyone to read this.
Profile Image for naz.
377 reviews373 followers
June 14, 2021
obsessed girl? nah babes, more like beggish behaviour. omg the amount of secondhand embarrassment i had reading this was far too much
Profile Image for atomickitten.
760 reviews118 followers
October 2, 2021
1 star is still too much

DN Fucking Effed at 50%

A shitty book from a shitty person.




Let's be very clear here.

I got this shitshow for free and that is the only reason why I decided to give it a try.

Because I refuse to support this woman and those around her and will never buy a book from her again and I do not have a problem defriending those who support bullies, plagiarists and manipulators.

And one more thing: 'bad' doesn't even cover the shitshow that is this book.
Not to mention the author's attitude.

Profile Image for Lauren ♡.
192 reviews35 followers
July 12, 2021
1 STAR ⭐

The Monster is the third book in the interconnected standalone Boston Belles series. It is told from a dual perspective — Sam and Aisling. I thought this series couldn’t get any worse but Mrs. Shen literally pulled the hold my beer, I got this and can make this series trashier.

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THEME SONG
Walking Disaster - Sum 41
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MAIN CHARACTERS
Aisling ‘Nix’ Fitzpatrick = 27-year-old main heroine (h), youngest Fitzpatrick sibling, doctor, caretaker of her parents, has been hopelessly in love with Sam for 10 years

Sam ‘the monster’ Brennan = mid 30s main hero (H), owner of Badlands, underworld boss in Boston, adopted by Troy & Sparrow Brennan, on Gerald Fitzpatrick's pay roll

STORY PLOT

After a tragic event, Aisling met Sam Brennan (H) at a carnival when she was 17. He stole her first kiss and she watched him take someone’s life. She felt connected to him after this event and became obsessed with him. Basically, this messy story is Aisling (h) chasing Sam for 85% of the book and 15% of Sam just deciding randomly that he does actually care about Aisling and wants to be with her. There is also a side plot of revenge where Sam wants revenge on Gerald Fitzpatrick for what he did to his mother (Catalina) and supposed unborn baby brother.

This book contains:
— Faulty plot line
— A chaotic "romance"
— Recycled dialogue from previous L.J. Shen books
— Weak-minded desperate heroine & misogynist sexist hero
— Awful secondary characters

Shall, we address each one of these?

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Issue #1: The long monstrous prologue

Did I mention the word - ‘monster’? In the prologue alone, 'the monster' was used 31x times.

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Anywho~ ~ ~

It was split into different timelines
↳ Sam // 9-years-old
↳ Aisling // 17 years-old
↳ Aisling // 18-years-old & Sam // 26-years-old

Now, the dual perspective from different timelines in the prologue did not bother me. However, the length of the prologue greatly bothered me. When I read a book I care more about the quality > quantity. Unfortunately, the quality lacked but the quantity was there in an abundance. The prologue that was read via audio listen was 1 hr & 17 minutes. This is the longest prologue I have ever experienced throughout all my reads. The question is, was it worth it? No.

The lackluster prologue did not leave me wanting to continue this book but I felt in a tortuous mood, so I continued this “enthralling book.”

only Bonus point ✳

I’m generally not a fan of the oversaturated pop culture references in a story; however, there was one reference that forever holds a special place in my heart whenever I see it and that is Legally Blonde. I thought that reference was witty and fun to include when Sam completed all those math problems

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Issue #2: Slut shaming Emmabelle
“Belle is damaged goods.”

HYPOCRISY AT ITS FINEST

Every male hero from the Boston Belle series has slut shamed Emmabelle by making remarks about her sleeping around. It is a little VERY HYPOCRITICAL considering all of them slept around and were basically a man whore before meeting the love of their life… Like what is this double standard & hypocrisy!?

Issue #3: Recycling dialogue from other books

Example #1: The Idea of Kismet
“It’s kismet. Tell me you didn’t notice the rain stopped when we kissed yesterday.”
— ITUE, Mal to Rory in Rory’s POV

“That day changed my life. Our meeting was kismet.
— The Monster, Aisling to Sam in Aisling’s POV

Example #2: Main hero POV on someone talking back
“Mainly my baby brother, who had the advantage of not being able to talk back, hence not pissing me off.”
— The Villain, Cillian’s POV

“Obviously, they had the advantage of not being able to talk fluently and therefore were in low danger of pissing me off.”
— The Monster, Sam’s POV

Example #3: The help
No specific example needed, VICIOUS ALWAYS REFERS TO EMILIA AS “THE HELP.”
— Vicious, Vicious to Emilia

“You can’t tell me what to do, Brennan. You’re the hired help.
— The Monster, Aisling’s POV

Issue #4: DISASTROUS MAIN CHARACTERS - Aisling & Sam

🚬 Sam “the monster’ Brennan (H) 🚬

There is a huge difference in an alphahole hero vs. misogynistic hero who actually gets amusement out of degrading the women he secretly “loves.” Sam overall was the worst hero I ever read about, I truly wish I had a delete button for my brain about him and this whole book.
Ex. 1"You've been running after me with your skirt up, begging to be fucked since before you got your period."

Ex. 2 “If it isn't my favorite tight hole.” . . . His casual sexism would have fazed me had I not known it was a front.

WHY ARE WE NORMALIZING SEXISM ?!? The ugly reality - misogyny and sexism are woven so tightly in America. That being said, Mrs. Shen is only aiding to continue to normalize sexist remarks. We should NOT be romanticizing this problematic language as OK by having the main hero degrade women and the main heroine justify his language.

👩‍⚕️ Aisling ‘extremely desperate’ Fitzpatrick (h) ⚕️👩

DEMONSTRATING DESPERATION

〖#1 - Having sex with other people to become experienced for Sam〗
"I’d dated the two Harvard prodigies I knew were experts in the sex field and coaxed them into teaching me all their dirty tricks. I took notes, morphing from a shy, fumbling newbie to a nymph in bed.

I’d bit and licked and teased and tickled where necessary.

Not for them—for him.
"

I am honestly at a loss of words that she really slept with others just so she would be experienced enough for Sam… That is just sad.

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〖#2 - Willing participant to be ANYTHING to Sam〗
“I wanted anything he was willing to give me. A fling, a relationship, and everything in between, just as long as he'd have me.

Pathetic? Maybe. But I wasn't hurting anyone. No one but myself.”

Maybe !? HA. HA. HA. That was the funniest thing I read for this book. Lastly, Aisling please stop being a L•I•A•R - I feel greatly hurt as I just died a little inside that this is supposed to be a display of “love.”

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〖#3 - Being a doormat as always〗
“I was in love, not a doormat. There was still a slight distinction between the two.”

Honey, stop lying to yourself... ✧ This is a toxic situation and you do not see that because you prefer being a glutton for pain for a non-existent romance. ✧ Anyways, I am here to help you ~ I got you the Collins Dictionary definition so you can distinguish it a bit better.
Being a doormat: “If you say that someone is a doormat, you are criticizing them because they let other people treat them badly, and do not complain or defend themselves when they are being treated unfairly.”

Issue #5: Awful Side Characters

— 👨‍💼 Fitzpatrick siblings 💼👨
“My brother is a character.”

“That’s just a nice way of calling someone an asshole.”

Hunter and Cillian leave Aisling alone at home for YEARS with her awful manipulative parents. They are so self-absorbed in their own lives that they do not even have an inkling of how bad it is for her.

— ☘️ The Girl Group ☘️
Boston Belles, actually, Boston ‘Judgmental’ Belles.

What happened to the girl group? There were barely any interactions with Belle, Aisling, Sailor and Persy. Actually, Sailor and Persy are not even mentioned as a friend to Aisling but rather the respective wife to her siblings. Anyways, who needs enemies when you have sister-in-laws/“friends” who lecture you like a child? Aisling is living the dream with this group… The only bonus was Aisling actually grew a backbone to tell them to cut the all high and mighty act. They had no reason to judge her when their love stories were just as shitty and a joke. When the Boston Belles female friend group was first introduced in this series, I was excited but progressively this group has become disappointing as with each passing book they become less supportive of one another.

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HOW DID THIS EVEN GET 1 STAR?
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⋞0.75 of the star⋟
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
✧ Rooney ✧

I am such a sucker for little kiddos. I do not even like Troy, Sailor, or Sparrow even but the Brennan family dinner was cute. Overall, this was just a wholesome moment, well, until the comment about Emmabelle.
➳ “Afterwards, Sailor and Troy served dessert while I crawled around on all fours. Rooney rode me, using my hair as reins, her laughter rolling down my back.”

⋞0.25 of the star⋟
───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────
✧ Sam being a decent & considerate human being for 0.5 seconds ✧

➳ 🎠 Sam renting the carnival out on New Years Eve 🎠
Although Sam did not grovel too long, I thought this date idea was rather sweet. The idea itself was cute but the conversation & mine ride scene just reminded me once more how much I disliked these main characters.

➳ 💍 The engagement ring Sam picked out 💍
Tbh, the ring sounded beautiful and it was thoughtful. For all of Sam’s faults and I do mean he has A LOT of them, the ring he chose for Aisling was perfect.

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FINAL VERDICT ON THIS BOOK
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•✿• Why did I check out this book/continue the series? ➳ Curiosity got the best of me and I feel I want to finish out this series, just to see how it will all end.

•✿• Would I recommend? ➳ No.



* * *

❀• Boston Belles Series •❀
The Hunter: awful // 2.5 stars ✰
The Villain: extremely problematic // 1.5 stars ✰
The Monster: ✨ trash ✨ // 1 star ✰
The Rake: TBR
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