Monster
Hidden away from society by his criminal father, there lives a man who has never entered the outside world. Now, having taken over his father’s business, he has all the money and power he could dream of, yet still he refuses to let himself be viewed by the rest of society.
Lily
Traumatised by an event in her past, Lily Drayton has a phobia of being touched. Though she helps people … helps people externally with her skills as a laser therapist, she refuses to let anyone in, emotionally or physically. When Lily is kidnapped on the way home from work one evening, she discovers she’s not the only person who keeps themselves cut off from the rest of the world.
Defaced
A man owns her now—a man both dangerous and enigmatic. Drawn by his dual beauty and hidden pain, he awakens something inside her, something she believed was long dead. Brought to a room without windows, she’s given an impossible task: to make her owner acceptable to the outside world.
Can altering his face change who he is as a man, or is he truly a monster, both inside and out?
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It’s really good
Loved it!
This was a very interesting, entertaining, well written story. I’m looking forward to reading Denied the next book in the series. Marissa Farrar is a new author to me and I loved the book.
Wow did I love this book! It is defiantly a darker romance. The story though is amazing. This gives you the feeling of wanting to feel bad for the character but yet knowing you shouldn’t because of his past. Even though there are not a ton of characters i did not feel the loss. These were written beautifully. The author made me *feel* for him over and over. Lily as well with her ordeal but his…well it brings out my bleeding heart.
I listened to this wonderful story on audio. It’s my first time listening to Artie Rose. She did great. Her different voices really added to my enjoyment to this story.
I bought this and the follow-on books, but haven’t read those yet. I liked the characters enough in this book to buy the rest. It’s not a cliffhanger, so I didn’t HAVE to read the next ones right away. I liked it enough to buy them all and will read the whole story at some point. Not exactly a dark erotic story – more the typical romance story where hurdles have to be gotten over.
This book has many of the trappings of a “dark” romance. Kidnapped woman, rich powerful man, isolation, abusive past, and illegal business activity. It’s always strange to me how the tortured soul in these books seems to turn everything around on a dime. One chapter he’s punishing the girl and after the climactic events he’s processing his undying love for her. Don’t get me wrong, I love dark romance. I just wish the writers would take more time with the character development.
Truly a nice read – good story line.
couldn’t get into it
Lilly is excellent at making other people’s physical flaws disappear. She loves her job and her clients. She lives a lonely personal existence; however, her work is her life. She gives it a 100% of her devotion. Her kindness and desire to help others leads her into a trap that changes her entire life. Enter Monster, a physically and emotionally scarred man that is trapped by his own fear and anxiety. Monster has lived a life filled with physical and emotional pain. His desire to change his circumstances intertwines him and Lilly more than they want to acknowledge.
Defaced is the first novel in the three-novel series regarding the love affair of Lilly and Monster/Merrick. The storyline, to me, is a modern version of Beauty and the Beast. The novel starts off with Monster as a small prepubescent boy and his relationship with his father. For a bit the story vacillates between Lilly in the current and more of Monster’s past with his father. The author does an excellent job of writing this story. However, I could not get into. The small bit of dialogue in the novel seemed stilted. The author made it obvious that Lilly found Monster physically attractive, however, I am not sure how that physical attraction quickly turned into love. Also, Lilly’s back story was kind of vanilla to me considering her severe aversion to physical contact. Monster’s “business” seemed suspect as well. I am not sure he knows what the family business entails. I kept reading because I hoped the story would become steamy or erotic, but I ended up skimming and skipping a bunch of pages towards the end. WORD OF CAUTION: This novel contains a lot of physical violence towards women and children. If you are triggered by any of that, read at your own risk.
Good story. Enjoyable read. Sometimes felt a bit rushed but still a good ride.
DNF. I’m not into abuse. The “turns to love” thing really turns me off.
I enjoyed the book but had not realized it was part of a series. Will most likely at some time purchase the other books in the series. The characters were realistic and the story line was original.
Although this is a dark read, I’d put it on the light scale, especially for those who are used to and are passionate about dark reads (especially the darker the better variety). That being said, I thought Marissa Farrar did an excellent job making me really connect with the characters.
I loved Monster, especially seeing his childhood. It really added a good depth to him. Although the author was a little more vague with Lily until towards the end, that didn’t bother me. I think that actually worked in her favor. I prefer seeing a strong image of a female character and while I can see Lily being somewhat of a polarizing character, I enjoyed her even when I didn’t always understand her actions. For me, people are complex and expecting them to respond to stimuli based on the assumptions on how I would have responded doesn’t work. I like seeing the author present her own viewpoint and her own character development.
I will say the ending was extremely abrupt. I’m looking forward to the rest of the series and hopefully seeing more. The best part to me is the fact the author cared enough to take the characters on a journey that was not one dimensional. I love the fact I could go from distaste to compassion to even respect in the end for how the characters overcame obstacles. I do wish it was a little darker based on the premise and definitely a little longer or at least not such an abrupt ending.
I’m excited to read the next!