Gods & Monsters by Saffron A. Kent

I loved this story. It’s your typical boy meets girl… with a little porn mixed in. No. Not as in steamy romance, although this fit that bill as well. As in the characters do a little porn. Anyway, it wasn’t some hugely fresh angle on a romance that made me love this story, but more how Kent went about character development.

The characters grew up together in small town America, full of judging eyes and whispers behind closed doors. So there was literal growing up the characters had to do. But they also needed to mature, like all of us, as the move out of teen years and into adulthood.

Our main characters spend so long fighting to be together that they don’t know how to be themselves. I found the story a very interesting look at how that played out.

Sure. There were things I didn’t love like the use of the title words too often it felt a little like “duh, I get it.” Or the controlling nature of our hero. But mostly, I enjoyed that his controlling nature drove conflict in the story. That it forced growth for both characters. That it was uncomfortable, and rather than making him acceptable as “alpha hero,” Kent made it his flaw that breaks them apart.

If you like romance or coming of age stories, I’d recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.