Imperfect Monster

A Dark Romance

By: Jennifer Bene

Narrated by: Danika Keane, Burke Stevens

Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Cold, ruthless.

I’m Paulo García’s monster, and I’d swallowed that bitter pill whole, learned to deal with it...until she stormed into the house like some avenging Valkyrie. 

Brave, beautiful.

Nicky just wants to save her brother. She showed up with an envelope full of cash and a smart mouth and found herself in a den of monsters. I wish I could say I was the best of them, I wish I could protect her - but I’m far from perfect.

©2018 Jennifer Bene (P)2019 Insatiable Press

SORRY.. BUT IT'S A NO FROM ME

In my Romance library, are audiobooks from a wide variety of sub-genres - all hand-picked from Audible’s extensive virtual Romance aisles.. and included in my library are a fair few ‘dark’ ones purchased whenever I’ve been in the mood for something gritty and raw. There are some great ones and some not so great “meh” ones.. and unfortunately, this dual POV book, falls into the latter category.. it wasn’t all bad - but it wasn’t all good either. This felt like a cruel gang drama with suspense, violence, criminal intentent, rape.. and just too much sex. But the narrators were good.

Nicky’s brother is hospitalized after being badly beaten by a Cuban Gang who he owes money to.. but unsuspecting naive (... or maybe just stupid) Nicky mistakingly thinks it's a person not a gang and storms to their house to pay the debt.. unaware that she’s about to get trapped in a nightmare. Beautiful, feisty and brave Nicky tries to escape.. but instead she becomes a prisoner in a dangerous world of threats, secrets, gang politics and sex.. and for Nicky, there will be no escape.. except maybe her death. However, one amongst the monsters who all want her stands out.. Andre, he’s cold, aloof and darkly dangerous.. and he wants to possess her. He also wants to protect her, sexually abuse her, choke her and let his violent darkness out. But, this monster has secrets too, he has a twisted evil leader.. and he makes a deal with the devil - but it’s Nicky who will ultimately lose. There will be revelations, bloodshed and death will come for some.

Worth a credit? Throughout all of my other dark listens, there’s always been an invisible line not to cross.. consent is that line for me - and usually it’s been sought and given. However, I felt ‘very uncomfortable’ with this brooding alpha’s shady actions - even if she did enjoy it in the end. And that disrespect disappointingly lurked in the background of my mind corrupting the story which sadly put me off the hero. I also didn’t feel any special connection between them other than that of prisoner and abuser.. and my mind unfortunately started to wander. So, for me, it’s a NO not creditworthy.. but we’re all different and you may be shouting greatness after listening to this book - and that’s all good too.

Same story, different title

Tired of these same stories where the kidnapped girl immediately falls for her captor and pretends to not know why blah blah. It's been told over and over. Had to return the bok.

Very dark romance!

If you have triggers for noncon sex and violence, this won't be a book for you. Jennifer Bene has written a dark romance about the violent world of a drug lord, the people that work for him, and a naive woman that becomes a prisoner. Nicky has no idea what she is getting herself into when she tries to save her brother. She will grow up fast in order to survive. Andre is drawn to Nicky and buys her to save her, but can he save her from himself. His job has blackened his soul to the point he sees no redemption. He lives in a very violent and cruel world that isn't for the faint hearted. The sexual scenes are explosive. This is how I would imagine that this world would be like.

The narrators really make you feel the emotions that these characters are experiencing. They will hold your attention throughout the story. I liked this book. Jennifer doesn't sugarcoat this life. Jennifer is a queen of dark romances that eventually have an HEA.

Imperfect Monster

My first 🎧book by Jennifer Bene and I have mixed feelings about it.🤔 TRGGER WARNINGS⚠️…If you’re a sensitive reader you might want to checkout the author’s website for a complete list. Back to the review…This book is a very dark gang/drug lord story. A stupid young lady finds herself in a den full of horny vipers waiting to eat her up literally! I liked the narration but I didn’t love it, in my opinion I feel it could’ve been much better. The storyline was okay, it kept me interested but I felt there was something missing. The ending was so rushed which I hate and it feels incomplete in an odd way and we only get a HFN.😑 Is it worth the credit? For me it’s a NO, sorry not sorry.

Liked this quite a bit.

New author and narrators for me.
Ooh, Mexican gang. This was a hot listen with some action. Hehe...😏 I don't want to give it away.
Trigger warning for rape.

Great narrators...if You like dark youll love it!

Its not a “new” storyline by any means,captive falls for captor, but well done. I like that the mafia dudes were Mexican instead of columbian or Russian. Was a nice change

Excellent dark erotic capture romance

Top notch dark erotic capture romance. Andre is an excellent anti- hero and you can’t help but love him. Bene is a master at this type of story. It’s not a pretty story but it’s captivating. I read it as an audiobook and it was excellent. I highly recommend this book.