Book: Vengeful Monsters
Reviewed by ErikaWasReading
Rating: 4/5
Ash Conrad would do anything to protect his brother, including joining the Legacy of Power, an elite secret society for the heirs of top crime families. At the first trial, he catches the eye of Rurik Locke, whose family founded the society. Rurik is chaotic, unapologetically unhinged, and utterly obsessed with Ash.
Is his golden retriever nature enough to break through Ash’s carefully constructed walls? And as secrets are uncovered, is Rurik’s violent nature enough to keep his new love interest safe?
“My mom had me tested” is going to be my new response to everything. Rurik was delightfully unhinged, and his Pollyanna nature made it easy to overlook the stalking. From his first moments on the page, I was cracking up, and I couldn’t wait to see what chaotic statement would come out of his mouth next.
As Ash lets Rurik in, we start to see more of her personality beyond the royal facade and sense of duty. The story explains so much of his character and need for routine as it unfolds, and I felt so much sympathy for him.
Vengeful Monster is a dark romance where the world is dark, but the romance between the characters is not. A lot of my notes include things like, “oh no,” “X can’t be happening,” and “please don’t let…” While the larger plot is dark, JR Gray does an excellent job balancing overall story pacing with enough clues for readers to understand what is about to be revealed.
I really liked a lot of the side characters (like Ash’s cousin Viv), and I am so curious to learn more about Legacy and the larger criminal underworld. I felt like we got a lot of great little glimpses of future storylines, and I can’t wait for more in this world!
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I received an advance copy of this book from The Author Agency at no charge. This is my honest, voluntary review.