Brick

This is my first read by this author. I have got to be honest. I am not one for third person books. I prefer either either first or second person. With that being said, Brick has changed what I originally preferred, and I will be more willing to read other third person books. Brick is not your light read, in fact it was rather dark. It is twisted really twisted, and it may be trigger for some readers. With that a side, this author took a risk with the risky subject matter and it paid off. Brick is a page turner, that’s for sure. This suspenseful book had it all, the angst, the fear, the bravery, and great chemistry.

Brick is not your average hero. He is brutal, with a reputation that proceeds him. A complex enforcer for an even meaner loan shark at night, and a construction worker during the day. He lives by the rules for one reason, and one reason only, to keep his family alive. That goes without saying, that his heart speaks differently than his brain.

Liv, when I think of her, the first word that comes to mind is brave. She has been through the ringer and wants to enjoy life, actually really learn to live a good life. She is a teacher through and through, she wants to make a difference in her students life. She has a lightness to her that you do not see often.

When Brick meets Liv, he can instantly feel her lightness, but she is from a different world than he is, and being with him can get her killed. When her actions put her in his world, things take a different turn. Can Liv be the lightness to Brick’s darkness?

I know I was kind of vague in this review, but this is one that needs to speak for itself. Let Brick show you his world, so you can understand him the way I do.

*I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK

*Reviewed For Reviews From The Heart

Oh my lord… Have a look at this cover… Dayum… Hot hot hot… The things I would like to do… But lets talk about the book… Right?
It’s always a pleasure to meet new authors and if I have a chance to do it I just dive in…
And one look at the blurb and I knew that I needed to read it.
Like I said, Jen Davis is a new author to me and let’s just say that I’m hooked… Oh boy…
Brick is her latest release and it’s the first book from the Cooper Construction series.
This book explores the lifes of Brick and Liv.
Brick during the day works at a construction site but at night he’s and enforcer for a loan shark. When his boss tells him to do something or collect a debt he can’t contest it. He needs to do it but one day…
Liv is a high school teacher that was given a second chance. She faced death and came back as a winner and that made her rethink her life. She needs a change…
Oh boy… This I wasn’t expecting… It was so good.
Sublime plot, very engaging and dark.
Each chapter was a punch in the gut and I couldn’t stop reading it.
Everything that happened was insane and I was biting my nails, scared and curious at the same time.
This story presented us with danger, madness, crime, punishment and abuse as well as love, second chances and desires.
Chapter after chapter, things were happening and dayum… The hot stuff was off charts.
I’m in love with this series and I want more.
Jen… Oh boy Jen… You my dear are a genius. This series started the best way possible and I can’t wait to read book 2.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This is the first book in a new series and is Liv and Bricks story. Brick works at a construction site by day, and by night he is the puppet of a drug lord where he is the enforcer in order to keep his family safe. Liv sees Brick at the construction site where her brother works, and the chemistry between these two is explosive. This is a well written story which is intense, gritty, dark, and filled with drama, danger and violence, which is not for the faint-at- heart. I look forward to reading the next book in this series, and recommend this authors’ work for all.

Brick is in a bad situation and has been for a long time. He’s an enforcer at night and construction worker during the day. His day job makes him feel normal and it’s for him and him alone. He has no one but his grandma and he’ll do what he needs to do to keep her safe.

Liv is no longer living on the safe side, she wants to take some chances. When she sees Brick, she knows that he’s not safe and she wants to know more about him. She’s decided to go after what she wants and that’s him.

Will these two get their HEA before Brick’s night time and day time worlds collide? Will he be able to keep her safe from not only his night work but from her trying to help a student that has connections to the wrong kind of people?

Will definitely keep reading this series!

Thank you, Jen Davis, for this wonderful read.
Great characters, Brick Barlow aka Jonathan is the strong muscle who has a heart, he’s being used by an evil man to hurt people, collect money, sell drugs and fight in bare-knuckles matches. Brick keeps everyone away so Sucre can’t use them against him. Until he saw Olivia Turner, Olivia or Liv is a good solid, moral person, she teaches high school English and she’s gone through fighting for her life against cancer. She’s a fighter, butt she was afraid to really live before now with a new lease on life and her best friend Carol, she’s learning really live a full and happy life with no regrets. Isobel aka Izzy is Liv’s older sister, she’s strong physically and emotionally, she owns a gym and teaches self-defense and Krav Maga classes, Will Liv’s older brother, looks like the all-American guy next door, but he just got out of prison, was in for ten years. Will works with Brick on the same crew at the construction company, that’s how Liv and Brick met. Carol is Liv’s witty best friend who is hiding a secret. Kane is the bad boy biker who Brick works with at the construction company and they become friends. Robby the foreman’s assistant at the construction company who is in his early twenties, friendly and gay, Robby looks up to Brick like a big brother. Sucre de la Cruz is the manipulative evil crime boss who pushes Brick and threatens everyone Brick cares about to keep Brick under his thumb. Tre is not just evil, he is a pure sociopath. He is depraved and demented and such a twisted psychopath. Tre started working for Sucre as hired thug or muscle, but he loves to hurt people, he is also the older brother of Devon. Devon is an amazing student in Liv’s English class as a junior, but he doesn’t come back to school his senior year because he is being recruited by Sucre.
The cast is set, and the story is a nice blend of doing what you should do, doing as your told to do, no matter what and protecting those you love with everything in you. Does Brick and Liv get their HEA? Grab your copy of Brick and see what you think.

Brick is the number one enforcer for Sucre who is a well known drug lord/loan shark. Brick has done many things he isn’t proud of. He’s broken countless bones, hurt countless people and even killed when told. He is a monster, self-proclaimed, he doesn’t deserve anything but this life and he does it all to keep his grandmother alive and safe. She’s the only family he has left.

Liv is a high school teacher, she’s stared death in the face and beat it once and she knew she needs to start living a life worth living with this second chance she’s been given. She is trying to be a better version of herself and trying to make changes that she hopes will better her life.

What do you do when you grew up in the wrong neighborhood and the only thing you know is the drugs, violence and other unimaginable cruelties? How do you rise above and become a better person when you don’t even dare to dream?

I loved the intensity and darkness of this book! It was not your typical love story. I appreciated the fact that Brick wasn’t the typical stuck up alpha male who thought he was better than everybody else. I loved the way Brick didn’t see himself as attractive or anything special but Liv saw something totally different. It was a reprieve.

The way Brick was completely confused as to why she would even be looking at him in the first place made my heart happy. I couldn’t help but smile and feel giddy as the characters developed. I loved the dynamic between the two and I loved how awestruck Brick was anytime Liv looked at him without disgust or when she spoke to him voluntarily and didn’t cower away when he tried to tell her how horrible he was. She saw past all the bullshit that he fed himself about what kind of person he was. She didn’t see the monster, she saw the human inside when Brick thought he had lost his humanity long ago.

The suspense kept me flipping pages until there were no more pages left, I felt raw and exposed and oh so scared at times. I hated the game, but it had to be played in order to live and it was repulsive and exactly what I would expect in a situation like that. The ending was KILLER! It had me gasping and “no way”ing the entire time! I was dumbstruck. It was way more than I ever wanted or expected and I loved the fact that I was on the tips of my toes pacing around the room at 3am because I was so tense and antsy. I couldn’t read this book fast enough! I had to know what happened and then had a total book hangover once it was over.

There are dark and suspenseful and downright unimaginable things that happen throughout the course of this book, but it is so worth reading. I knew it wasn’t going to be a sweet and sappy love story but I never could’ve prepared myself for the intensity of this book. It was like going on the most highly anticipated roller coaster, it takes your breathe away and the entire ride you are too shocked to feel or do anything but once it’s over you feel more alive than you ever thought possible and you can’t wait to do it again. This book was my highly anticipated roller coaster, I can’t wait to read it again! I hope the second time around is just as exhilarating as the first!

This is my first read by this author. I have got to be honest. I am not one for third person books. I prefer either either first or second person. With that being said, Brick has changed what I originally preferred, and I will be more willing to read other third person books. Brick is not your light read, in fact it was rather dark. It is twisted really twisted, and it may be trigger for some readers. With that a side, this author took a risk with the risky subject matter and it paid off. Brick is a page turner, that’s for sure. This suspenseful book had it all, the angst, the fear, the bravery, and great chemistry.

Brick is not your average hero. He is brutal, with a reputation that proceeds him. A complex enforcer for an even meaner loan shark at night, and a construction worker during the day. He lives by the rules for one reason, and one reason only, to keep his family alive. That goes without saying, that his heart speaks differently than his brain.

Liv, when I think of her, the first word that comes to mind is brave. She has been through the ringer and wants to enjoy life, actually really learn to live a good life. She is a teacher through and through, she wants to make a difference in her students life. She has a lightness to her that you do not see often.

When Brick meets Liv, he can instantly feel her lightness, but she is from a different world than he is, and being with him can get her killed. When her actions put her in his world, things take a different turn. Can Liv be the lightness to Brick’s darkness?

I know I was kind of vague in this review, but this is one that needs to speak for itself. Let Brick show you his world, so you can understand him the way I do.

*I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK

This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased, honest opinion.

I’m not sure where to begin writing this review. This book wasn’t quite what I anticipated. It was also darker than I would’ve preferred.

Brick Barlow is the enforcer to Sucre, a loan shark and drug dealer. Sucre isn’t a good man by anyone’s definition. The things Sucre forced onto others made my skin crawl. He was ruthless and vile plus a lot of other choice words. Brick was attached to Sucre and this hard life without any hope in sight. His boss had ways of making sure he kept you doing what he asked. Sucre used blackmail as well as threats to keep his employees in line.

Brick was a good man at his core but forced to do bad things. He hated his life the way it was and could only dream of escaping with his grandmother to a place they couldn’t be found. Brick didn’t picture Olivia Turner entering his life.

Olivia aka Liv was the local high school teacher and had been through quite a rough life herself. Her parents had both passed and Olivia had been through cancer among other hardships. Olivia met Brick and they had an instant connection. Brick tried to keep Olivia away but sometimes these connections just can’t let that happen.

Overall the story was dark. Mentions of rape and violence are a constant throughout the story. Several times I had to close my kindle just to get that icky feeling out of my head. I liked the story at its basics but it was just too dark for me at times. I did enjoy the surprise moments and the times I didn’t know what would happen next. It was a nice thriller in that aspect.

I thought it was time for something different than my usual go to genres. I am reading more contemporary these days so decided to give this book a go. I hadn’t heard of this Author Jen Davis either before reading this book, so it was a new book & author to me.

The cover features the heavily tattooed visual of the main character in the book, Brick. As I said above the genres listed for this book are contemporary, romance and suspense, which after reading the book I totally agree with.

The main character in this book is Brick, begins the book has a really tough, dark, bad boy, reputation. Seeing as he works as an enforcer or the top drug dealer in the area called Sucre De La Cruz, Sucre for short. Brick also takes part in bare knuckle fighting rings too. He “wins” when Sucre tells him when to “finish” the fight. Of course, Sucre runs the betting at these fights so he makes a lot of money out of them. Having said all this Brick is not as dark as he seems as he is only acting as Sucre’s enforcer and doing the bare knuckle fighting to raise enough money to disappear with the one living person he cares about, his grandmother. Brick’s grandmother is in a nursing home, but Sucre knows where it is and somehow has access to the home and Brick’s grandmother, which means he can take locks of hair, photos of bruises, or of her sleeping in bed. These photographs etc are used to blackmail Brick and keep him exactly where Sucre wants him, at his beck and call.

During the day Brick works on a building site for Cooper Construction building houses. The guys on site know Brick has a reputation but so long as he turns up for work on time, they are okay with him. Brick keeps himself to himself as anyone that knows him or becomes his friend would be at risk of being used for leverage by Sucre. Being on Sucre’s radar is not good for anyone. The last thing Brick is looking for is a relationship. However, when the whole of the building guys, are invited for drinks to celebrate Will’s birthday by his younger sister Liv he goes along, just to maybe do a little flirting. Olivia is determined to make a fuss of her brother now she can as he has recently finished a ten, year prison sentence. Without revealing much more Brick & Liv end up in a kind of relationship, there’s a lot of minor things that Brick thinks he has money etc hidden away from Sucre but it turns out he hasn’t.

The characters I really adored in the book were probably quite obviously Liv, Brick and Devon. Though I have to admit to enjoying loathing Sucre and Tre. I thought the relationship between Brick and his grandmother was so realistic and loved the way Brick really respected his grandmother and took his duty to mean he should look after her as best he can even if it means doing or taking part in situations he finds undesirable.

The book is written from the points of view of Brick, Liv and Tre. Tre is the trainee enforcer that Sucre has tasked Brick with training. Some of the descriptions that Jen Davis uses as the character of Brick says reveal a softer side to him such as, “His eyes drank her in when he walked in the door like she was water in the desert”.

To sum up I really did enjoy this book and I think I would like to read more in the Cooper Construction Series. This book had a great ending to an action-packed story that had plenty of twists, turns, suspense and thrills within it.

I really liked this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect but was pleasantly delighted. I was hooked from the first page and couldn’t put it down. Already got the second book in the series because I loved it so much!