Theirs was a secret they’d kill to protect. One.Two.Three cracks of thunder. Three reasons to run and hide.When the lightning illuminated the night, I saw their bloodied faces. They were no longer the boys from next door. As quick as the storm rolled over the neighborhood, a crime of passion was committed, Lucas and Mason Carter dangerously altering the course of all our lives.Ten years later, on … lives.
Ten years later, on my twenty-sixth birthday, when detectives come digging for information on a cold case, I find myself once again unwillingly tangled in the spider’s web.
I hold information on a heinous crime. I have become the number one target. More specific, I have become Mason Carter’s obsession.
While one brother seeks to destroy me, I have to believe the love I share for the other could somehow save us all.
When running proves futile, I’m left with a choice. Reveal the deadly truth, or dare to take on the monsters lurking in the dark.
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Monsters is my first book by Melissa Jane and she has a new fan. I kept seeing this book on social media, the blub alone had me wanting to read this and I am so glad I did. I don’t usually read a lot of psychological thriller romance but this one was really good.
Gemma saw something when she was sixteen that she should have never seen; ten years later she has two detectives knocking on her door asking about her best friend Lucas Carter and his evil brother Mason Carter.
This book jumps from past to present but its easy read and will keep you turning the pages. I couldn’t put this book down; I was intoxicated after the first chapter. There are some triggers that most readers find uncomfortable but it makes you understand the characters better.
If you like your romances on the darker side, you need to read this book.
Monsters by Melissa Jane is a fantastic edge of your seat read.
I was going in blind with this as I have never read anything by this particular author before.
So I wasn’t quite sure where this was going to go in terms of plot.
It quickly became clear that there was never going to be a dull moment with this and I was in a constant state of edgy nerves at the turn of events throughout.
It was like one of those thriller movies or a horror where you cant look,
but try to catch a glimpse from behind the cushion your hiding behind.
With this book,
Gemma, who grew up with the Lucas and Mason ten years after she witnessed her neighbors one stormy night doing something that she is not quite sure of.
The next day was the last time she saw her best friend Lucas and his monster of a brother Mason who before leaving threatens her life if she breathes a word to anyone.
Ten Years later she has her life together, a job she loves a handsome boyfriend she’s happy.
The unthinkable happens when the police pay her a visit asking questions about Mason and Lucas.
The detectives are digging into a cold case and as such bring a certain old dangerous nemesis back into her life.
Through flashbacks we see the friendship between Gemma and Lucas blossom with a volatile Mason on the outside.
I was literally on the edge of my seat if it was a film I’d be watching behind my fingers.
As events quickly escalate it becomes quite apparent that Gemma’s life is in danger as Mason ramps up the fear.
Mason is volatile to say the least, he’s scary and manipulative I actually can’t think of one redeeming feature of his personality but I’m a sucker for the scary guys so of course I liked him.
Lucas is the sweet guy next door and you just know that Gemma is the love of his life.
How long has Mason been lurking in the shadows watching, her own personal stalker.
This was a wicked game of cat and mouse and I loved every scary word.
So by the ending I was happy with and though Monsters was a tad predictable in places I was still suitably shocked with where the book led me
I also feel events of the past played a big part in the unraveling of a certain individuals psyche.
Monsters is told in present time and also a series of flashbacks, so you gradually get the full picture.
Its a tale of love, obsession and danger that is oh so easy to get lost in.
I couldn’t put this down today and have spent my Sunday evening reading.
Through Gemma memories, we very quickly feel like we know Mason and Lucas Carter intimately.
And as events intensified I was biting my nails so great were my nerves.
So overall a great read . Good story strong characters, bits that make you jump and a happy ending
All opinions expressed are entirely my own. First but definitely not my last by this author
Cinq colossales étoiles! Ce livre est addictif et sombre. Préparez-vous à être pris dans une toile sombre de mensonges, suspense et drame.
“I like you best when you’re scared.”
Sweet baby Jesus! I can still feel the goosebumps on my skin. “Monsters” by Melissa Jane is a darkish twisted tale that took my breath far away. I devoured each page with deep passion. I was captivated since I read the synopsis. It screamed at me: “read me right now”. I spent the most pleasurable time while reading this book. I couldn’t stop to bite my nails. It twisted my insides in the most delectable way. My soul is queen on Dark Romance and “Monsters” fed perfectly my darkish cravings.
I can’t imagine a greater delight than reading a book like this. The plot is exciting, unique and well developed. Melissa’s writing is brilliantly addictive. She delivers a masterpiece wrapped in an original and beautiful cover. Everything about this book screams “perfection”. Des livres comme celui-ci devraient être écrits plus souvent! It’s hard for me to only give five stars because “Monsters” deserves galaxies complètes. The narrative goes from past and present and the pace is fast.
The heroine is fragile and at the same time she is strong (a dangerous and powerful combination). She is a complex girl who is trying to leave the past in the past but how could she if it’s coming for her in the shape of her darkest nightmare. The Carter brothers ruined her. While one protected her, the other scared her. She is a confused damsel in need of a knight who can rescue her from the monster in the dark.
“I see a flicker of fear in those pretty green eyes of yours, Gem. I like that.”
Are you team “good-sweet-boys” or “bad-dark-boys”? If you like both of them, Lucas and Mason will ruin you just the same way they ruined Gemma. They are like water and oil. Lucas is the knight all good girls dream about. Mason is the bad boy all the naughty girls dream about. They share the same genes but their souls are highly different. Tenderness versus malice.
“A little something from me to you. Something to remember me by.”
So, be prepared for an intense thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat. “Monsters” is the kind of book that literally makes you cried like a baby. I was left drained and emotionally exhausted. The characters are complicated and difficile.
If your soul craves an all-consuming read, this book will satisfy you. I urge you to grab this book. It is a must read you must not miss.
~WRITING – PLOT – PACE~
While I enjoyed this one a lot, I will admit I was expecting something darker and more twisted. This was pretty much a straightforward psychological thriller with a touch of romance. Albeit a very well written one. It was also very well paced. The plot was very engaging and kept me turning the pages. I will say I figured out what the “twist” was going to be very early on but that didn’t take away any from my enjoyment of it. We jump back and forth quite a bit which would usually annoy me greatly but it worked very well in this instance. The past is also where most of the teen romance aspect of this one takes place.
~MAIN CHARACTERS~
Since this really wasn’t a romance there really wasn’t a “hero” or “heroine” in the traditional sense. All three of the main characters were intriguing and well developed. I really enjoyed Gemma and Lucas’s friendship and budding romance. I would have liked to have seen a little more time spent with Lucas in the present as I felt his and Gemma’s reunion and the aftermath was maybe a tad bit rushed. Mason, well Mason was Mason. He was suitably evil and creepy. I think perhaps what he had been up to for the past ten years could have also been fleshed out a bit more.
~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
There are a lot of secondary characters in this one that all play small roles here and there. They added a nice background and kept the story moving forward. But the plot is mainly centered on Gemma, Lucas, and Mason.
~HEAT LEVEL~
Super Low. There is basically only one semi-explicit sex scene in this one and that isn’t until very near the end. Like I mentioned though this felt more like a psychological thriller with a touch of romance.
~ANGST LEVEL~
Low to Medium. All the angst basically comes from Mason and his behavior towards Gemma.
~IN THE END~
I liked it quite a lot. Was it exactly what I was expecting (super twisted and dark), well no, not really. That said, it was a very good thriller that was very well written and paced. Had an engaging plot that kept me hooked. Had interesting characters and an ending that perhaps was a tiny bit rushed, but still left me satisfied. Yours truly gives this one two solid thumbs up and I will definitively be checking out other books by this author.
Gemma hasn’t seen the Carter brothers since the night ten years ago when she witnessed the brothers committing a crime. Now twenty six, Gemma has moved on. She’s got a good job in an art gallery which she loves, a boyfriend and things are going well for her. Until the police show up asking questions which sets of a chain reaction. Suddenly Gemma finds her job in danger, her boyfriend’s not the person she thought he was, her boss is a creepy jerk and her life is crumbling around her.
The Carter brothers are like chalk and cheese. Lucas is the more chilled out, easy to like brother compared to aggressive older brother Mason. I tried so hard to hate Mason. I really did. I failed miserably. I loved him. I didn’t like him but I couldn’t help loving him a little.
Monsters will keep you on the edge of your seat. While there is only a little romance in this book, I actually didn’t miss it. There’s so much going on, building you up ready for the big finale. The mystery, suspense, fear and confusion had me turning the pages at high speed racing to get answers, never knowing what’s going to happen next.
What defines a monster? Is it the pain and fear they feed on? Is it the treatment of others? Is it the treatment they received that created the monster? In this story the monsters are defined by their actions. What he fights is who he becomes. He tries to destroy the beauty he sees and lets his jealousy and ugliness lead him. How do you protect yourself from the monster. I really had no idea what this book would be about I mean the blurb gives you hints but as you read the book and meet the characters it is plain to see this author wants to put you through the emotional winger. The story goes back and forth in time providing you with a story that keeps you off kilter in the best of ways. You can’t help but live through each agonizing moment as your heart is ripped out and put back together. It isn’t as dark as I thought it would be but it isn’t an easy read.
This is my first read by this author and it was AWESOME SAUCE. The characters and the emotions and the story. I had to stop and take a breath at times when I realized I was getting dizzy from holding it. The mama bear in me wanted to kick some serious butt in one minute and hold them close in the next protecting them from their darkness. Great story I highly recommend.
Wow, just WOW!! I am fairly new to Melissa, though I have met her and purchased her books I’d only so far managed to indulge in a co-authored offering which I loved, but this book gripped hold of me and would not let go! Had it not been for the fact that I fell asleep, kindle in hand, I would have devoured this in one sitting, and with the dark nature of the subject matter, it wasn’t a restful sleep!
This book tells the story of the dark, delicious and destructive three-way relationship between Gemma Sinclair and brothers Lucas and Mason Carter. Growing up as neighbours, Gemma and Lucas are kindred souls and best friends, brothers Mason and Lucas are equally bonded in their loyalty to having each others backs against their tumultuous home life, and then there’s the tense, frightening and poisonous interactions between Gemma and Mason that festers under a veil of hard held secrets.
As we move back and forth from the present to the past to divulge the force behind Mason’s obsession and torture of Gemma and his attempts to derail her life now, the tension builds, the secrets are revealed and it’s a wonder our heroine is holding it together at all.
In stark contrast of this, the glimpses from her youth of her beautiful bond with Lucas, had me heart broken and spinning.
Mason was the perfect villain, obviously biologically maniacal and latently homicidal, through Melissa’s visceral description he looks out of the page at you, and he scared the Bejesus out of me, and I love my dark characters!
Lucas is the exact opposite, the intense light to Mason’s blackness, he almost has an ethereal gentleness and vulnerability about him that felt old worldly, gentlemanly and altogether innocent.
When events of the present finally force Gemma to track Lucas down, their bond rekindles and from the slow burn of their early relationship, I was surprised but not disappointed at the swiftness of their inevitable reconnect, it felt long overdue, justified given their sacrifices and the intensity appropriate.
With the scene set for an explosive and emotional finale, although somewhat foreseeable, it is no less intense and satisfying!
Holy S**# was this book a great romantic suspense!
All I can say is that I always LOVE Melissa’s books and this one was no different!!!
Monsters had me trying to guess what was going to happen. I will say that I guessed wrong so many times and am glad I did because each time I had to keep reading to find out what happened. Melissa was able to depict a love story into an amazing suspense that had many twists.
The main question is who really is the Monster of this story?
Mason and Lucas Carter had a tough life growing up. With each brother being completely different this tough up bringing had their lives turning out the complete opposite of each other. One brother became very successful while the other brother was out for revenge.
Gemma Sinclair was the girl next door. She was best friends and in love with one brother and completely afraid of the other. What happens when the one she is afraid gets his hands on her and then threatens her if she ever tells? Gemma had moved on with her life and didn’t think about the past until the brother seeking revenge reappears, and now her life has been turned upside down. The only way to out of this miss it to find her best friend and love of her life and put an end to it all before his brother finds out and end both of their lives because of the secrete that she had kept for the last 10 years.
So, again who is really the monster and who will survive the revenge being sought?
Overall, this book was one of the best I have read so far this year and I can’t wait to see what Melissa comes out with next. The writing was Terrific and the plot was spot on. The twists added so much to this plot that kept the story growing with more suspense.
AMAZEBALLS STARS
Monsters by Melissa Jane was a fantastic edge of your seat read.
I was going blind with this as I have never read anything by this particular author before.
So Originally I wasn’t quite sure where this was going to go in terms of plot.
but it quickly became apparent that there was never going to be a dull moment with this and I was in a constant state of fright at the turn of events throughout.
It was like one of those scary movies where you cant look, but try to catch a glimpse from behind the cushion your hiding behind.
With this book, we catch up with Gemma, ten years after she witnessed her neighbours one stormy night doing something that she is not quite sure of.
The next day was the last time she saw her best friend Lucas and his monster of a brother Mason who before leaving threatens her life if she breathes a word to anyone.
So detectives are digging into a cold case and as such bring a certain old dangerous nemesis back into her life.
As events quickly escalate it becomes quite apparent that Gemma life is in danger as Mason ramps up the fear.
How long has he been lurking in the shadows watching, her own personal stalker.
So that’s basically the main gist.
Monsters is told in present time and also a series of flashbacks, so you gradually get the full picture.
Its a tale of love, obsession and danger that is oh so easy to get lost in.
I couldn’t put this down and stayed up late into the night to finish.
Through Gemma memories, we very quickly feel like we know Mason and Lucas Carter intimately.
And as events intensified I was biting my nails so great were my nerves.
So the ending here I was happy with and though Monsters was a tad predictable in places I was still suitably shocked with where this went.
I feel events of the past have a big part to play in the unravelling of a certain individuals psyche.
So Yeh great read this folks.
I was provided with an ARC of “Monsters” By the author of which I have reviewed voluntary.
All opinions expressed are entirely my own.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
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On a dark and stormy night you witness the unthinkable.
Lucas, your best friend.
Mason your enemy.
Brothers, your neighbors covered in blood.
You know what they have done.
But you can’t speak of it.
Because you know if you do, then you’ll be next.
It’s a secret you must bare.
Your life depends on it.
A case of choosing between life and death.
It all hangs in the balance.
So the secret is kept deep within.
A secret that you will carry.
A secret that will haunt you everyday.
A secret that you will keep guarded because your life depends on it.
If you keep quiet then the past won’t come.
It will lie dormant, never to be revealed.
But everything is about to change.
After ten long years, Gemma is going to finally come face to face with her past.
Gemma is finally going to be faced with the monster that tormented her all those years a go.
Gemma is going to be faced with the scars that he left.
Gemma is going to have to make a choice.
Fight or flight?
What will she choose?
Will Gemma come clean about what she witnessed?
What will be Gemma’s fate?
But more importantly…….
What happens when Mason comes looking for his ‘Little Wren’?
An absolute phenomenal read that left me speechless. It consumed my heart and soul. It was all things raw, gritty, disturbing, gut wrenching and pure evil. An edge of your seat read that just kept me guessing until the very end.
So full of depth and description I was glued to every page turned.
Melissa Jane completely captured me with this novel.
A powerful read that I cannot rate highly enough.
5 gruesome stars