To defeat a monster, you have to be twice as monstrous. To love a monster, you have to share your soul. —Lana Myers

This is the problem with reviewing all 5 books at once. Is this the one where Lana has her Dr. Evil monologue?? I don't even know.

What I do know is Lana is bad ass, Logan is super in his feelings, Hadley and Jake are incredibly loyal and protective sidekicks, and the more details we learn about Lana's past the more we wish that we knew about the kills completed prior to the first book.

Things are getting even darker. At this point I believe anyone with a soul is feeling morally grey and hoping the serial killer completes her masterplan and that Logan will continue to love her.

Okay shit is going down! We have all the gory details of what happened to Lana and her family. We are mad, we are sad, we got a bit quesy, but we all want justice.

Also there seems to be more members on TEAM LANA. Our fingers are crossed that Logan aka SSA Bennett's love will outweigh his sense of duty when it comes to finding out the truth, because he is sooo very close.

There is a lot of death, corruption, and lies in this one. We have now entered a kick ass action movie with a Angelina Jolie or Charlize Theron as the lead. That's the type of bad bitch energy this one has.

Any demon is capable of cruelty, but only an angel is majestic enough to rain down vengeance for the innocent. —Marcus Evans

The FINAL COUNTDOWN has begun, and our hearts have been ripped out of our chests and are on display. The events of this book will have you holding your breath while simultaneously gasping, begging for air in our lungs. There is so much disappointment, anger, and devastation. But the finale will have you out of your seat shouting, begging, praying for everything to go well.

We want nothing more than for Lana to get a happy ending. Even if that means she has to stand alone covered in the blood of her enemies while that POS town decays. What about SSA Bennett?? Yeah, Logan, f that guy. I mean sure she loves him, but I have already replaced him in my heart with Jake. Oh, why must he be gay?? How awesome would it have been if he and Lana could have just been a beautiful murderous couple?? But no, they are besties, non-bio siblings, lifelines.

I guarantee you that every time you think you know how things are going to play out, you sir are incorrect. There are soo many scenarios yet what played out was not even on the radar.

Every single secret will be exposed. Every single crime will be laid bare. Every single participant, direct and indirectly will pay. And you will enjoy uncovering, discovering, and reveling in this story's end.

I NEED this to be made into a movie immediately. I want to wake up tomorrow to a press release that Netflix has purchased the rights.

I am so grateful that I took the plunge to read this series. I beg anyone who has this sitting in their TBR list to bump it into your immediate choice.

If you are reading my reviews in order, then I have already summarized my heartache over the loss of CM Owens. I am truly in awe of how well written this series is. So much research and care were taken in the creation of this series simply for the reader's indulgence.

I have and will continue to recommend it and am just as shocked as everyone else, that I rated every single book in this series 5 stars. I guarantee you that each star was well earned and deserved, and each book pulled an involuntary physical or emotional response from me and that ain't easy. Don't believe me??? Ask my significant others LOL

“Everything she does without me is an act, a fucking way to get through the day. I know it because I do the exact same thing. " - Jax Stonewood

It's past 2 am, I'm ready to crash but my brain will not allow it until I get all these words out within minutes of finishing this book.

First, please understand that I'm not a fan of second chance romance. It hurts my heart to see love shattered or ripped away. Sure, it's satisfying to see the couple work it out and get their HEA but the road to it is just so broken.

Second, MAJOR SHOUT OUT to the author Shain Rose who shed light on the horrors that occur on Native American reservations and educating readers on the overlooked issue of Missing Indigenous Women. How many times have we seen the news follow the loss of blonde haired, blue-eyed, all-American woman such as Natalie Halloway and Gabby Petito while the masses remain ignorant of many indigenous women and women of color who simply disappear like ghosts and the families are forced to accept the loss or fight and demand for justice only to have their cries land on deaf ears?? In the author's note, Shain states that she used real stories, by real women. This knowledge defiantly made a lot of actions hit harder.

Aubrey is a complex female lead. Due to the abuse, she suffers her true nature is stifled and at times we get peeks of her straightforward, honest, quick-tempered self. But like a switch she gets triggered and retreats into herself and puts on the mask of being the perfect, soft-spoken, mild-mannered lady of culture.

Having just read the Mindfuck series prior to this book I couldn't help but label Jax Stonewood a profiler. He is a people watcher, a manipulator, and an alpha personality with some REALLY BIG DICK ENERGY. He was a chameleon, a sweet talking, caring, romantic one chapter and an arrogant, douchebag the next.

- Side bar- I read Heart of a Monster and Love of a Queen first. While these books are able to be read as standalones, I highly suggest anyone who has never read a Shain Rose book to start with this one. It introduces sooo many characters and lays an incredible foundation that will provide even more clarity and impact while reading that duet. --

I liked Aubrey and Jax together. My heart hurt seeing their trauma and struggle to survive in life. I appreciated that both characters had physically moved. It annoys me when there's a long period apart and then when the couple reunites the girl says something along the lines of saving herself for the guy or that there's been no one else. Aubrey and Jax are real life. Their conversations about sex and the magnetic pull they have is probably the most laid bare honest shit one will ever read.

Shain has a way with her characters that keeps them authentic and relatable.

Now that I've praised the book. Can I just say that Aubrey let me down? She had so many moments in this book that I was super satisfied and wanted to buy her a congratulations shot. But towards the end she became paranoid, irrational, and made poor choices. She was so fixated on herself that she completely overlooked important details and dates, she picked fights in my opinion, and was just very extra and dramatic. I was not happy with the last 20% of the book at all. I actually got so annoyed I had to take a step back and watch Reels for a good 20 minutes before going back to finish the LAST 15 pages.

That was disappointing. Please understand that I'm not saying this isn't a book worth reading or that the ending is bad because for some who aren't super put off by irrational decisions and behavior that rush to the end may be there. But for me it just wasn't. Jax fed off of Aubrey's negativity and the toxic oozed out of them.

The biggest irony of this book is the entire reason these two parts is because they don't want to be toxic. However, when I read the first 25 % and their time together, I didn't see ANY toxic behavior. Maybe a bit of enabling but I feel like it was part of their healing and could have easily been worked through. This little tidbit could be another reason why the ending was so difficult for me.

Overall, I fell in love with the entire crew and want to read all their stories. I adore Shain for giving us real life adversity and truly focusing on the advocacy of women and children.

Highly Recommend

"I’m her family now. I’m the one. Her man. Her everything." - Jett Stonewood

I was first introduced to Vick shortly after discovering Shain Rain on Instagram and immediately reading her newest book at that time. This meant that I was now reading things out of order. *each book can be read as a stand-alone so no worries but reading in order provides additional insight into every character in this connected readerverse.*

Vick is smart, loud, colorful, bubbly, optimistic, and is the life of the party. Her positive energy lights up any room she walks into and is contagious. She is a Barbie doll, she is trained in doing hair and make-up in addition to being a lawyer. She works out and dresses to show off the goods, not for attention but because of how it makes her feel. Her biggest personality trait that stuck with me is that she is excitable and incapable of speaking at a normal volume. I can so relate to that as my whispers are usually loud. She has a kind heart and wants that American dream, a husband, a house with a picket fence, and 2.5 kids. * I kind of wish she wanted a lap or border collie too, but it was never mentioned*

Jett is a realist, workaholic, pessimist, health nut, cynical, alpha, domineering, kind of an asshole, and the dark spot in any room. He is all about business yet is incredibly fierce and protective of his loved ones.

This book is listed as Enemies to Lovers. I disagree with that. While YES for a brief 10 minutes you may be disgusted of Jett's treatment of our girl and want to kick him in the balls for his douche behavior, however the "enemies" aspect literally only lasts a few pages. And to be honest the way she handles his shade is phenomenal.

The situation is, both parties recognize and embrace the physical attraction, and undeniable pull, however both parties are fully aware that they don't have the same end game.

While the violence and social injustice in this book is minimal in comparison to the others in this series, there are still heavy real-world topics. The corporate greed and corruption or drug companies that essentially put a price on life.

Vick's backstory was unexpected and tugged at my heartstrings. She is definitely a survivor and I love that she chooses to embrace the positive in life. Jett is a grump but that's always been his personality. I love it when opposites attract and that she gets to see and share a different side of him than most.

Overall, I was very happy with this story. A pattern I've noticed with this author that her endings aren't wrapped up in a perfect package, which I appreciate because that's real life.

“You might not be my girlfriend, woman, but you’re definitely my partner. You have been since the day I met you.” - Jaydon Stonewood

My heart was not ready for this one. Jay has always been the fun, understanding friend. He's not like his brothers. He isn't super alpha or business minded. He is the baby of the family, carefree, and pursued his passion of becoming an actor.

We knew he was in LA. (If you read these books in order) We know that LA is known for the party scene and subsentence abuse. With that said, reading that he was partaking still caught me off guard. There is just something about his vulnerability, his personal struggle with guilt, and the need to be everyone else's happy that was really deep.

Meeka surprised me. She has a type A personality, low self-esteem, a kind heart, and a need to belong. I wanted to wrap her up in a hug and then keep her safe in my pocket. I can't think of a way to not directly say that she is a victim of domestic violence and seeing her struggle to walk away is frustrating and difficult because it's so real and relatable.

This love story is about two broken people struggle to become whole separately while navigating the complication of romantic feelings and the desire to be more than friends while knowing that the timing is not ideal.

I know several recovery programs say NOT to form any new relationships in the year of sobriety while others argue that forming/strengthening bonds can help. I've never attended so I can only express hearsay.

Anyways, I will say this for me was the most emotional love story of the three brothers because of the deep examination in personal flaws, acceptance, love, and trust.

There are several funny moments, despite the heavy topics there is still plenty of smiles.

"You’d think watching your husband hooking up with someone who wasn’t you would give you that suffocating feeling of jealousy, crawling through your chest and squeezing your lungs. But that certainly wasn’t happening now. All I could feel were my inner walls tightening, and my panties soaking through." - Jessica Lockwood Harper

If you are as committed to Ben, Ryan, and Jess as I am then you will be incredibly pleased by the value of this book. It included 3 short stories, 1 novella, and a bonus scene. All giving us sprinkles throughout the relationship they have starting after the shit show that was Christmas even brining us past the Push epilogue of their HEA.

First thing I loved most about this book is we get MORE of Jessica's POV. Push was dominated by Ben and Ryan (understandably so) however Jess is the HBIC in their triad. Her thoughts and feelings matter so it was refreshing and exciting to get more of her.

Our girl Hailey is more present in this. She and her new love interest had me in tears from laughing so hard. I love her relationship with Ben and his struggle to see her as a grown up. Their banter was sweet and easy and just nice to see.

We also get more of our boy Tate. I loved Tate in Push, I actually felt bad for him. He was used as an emotional stand in. I believe, despite his antagonistic manner, he's not a bad guy, and I want him to find peace and love in life.

I don't want to talk too many specifics in the multitude of info provided, because there is so much to unpack and as announced at the end the Lockwood Harper story is still progressing. So, I will simply say that I enjoyed ever story. It's nice to see what happens after the HEA and how their day-to-day life is progressing. And this book was really freaking spicy. Lots and lots of smexy scenes. As you can imagine when three people are involved, there are tons of possibilities.