January Rayne is a pseudonym I decided to use because it sounds better than my given name. I’m a lover of all romance and write in the genres I love most because why limit myself? I want to write anything and everything, from badass men and women to characters who want to rip each other’s clothes off. I plan to ‘take it all’ like the good little girl I am.
⭐️ 4/5 — Listen, I'm simple. I see a morally black hybrid monster FMC and I click "Read." 🖤😌 But then you tell me her fated mate is a human MMC who is literally YEARNING to be claimed by his own personal monster? A man who just wants to be called a "good boy" while fearing for his life (kinda)? SOLD. 💸 The dynamic here is immaculate. 🤌🏻💋✨️
🌶 4/5 — A dominant Succubus with a breeding kink. 💦 But wait, there's more! She has tentacles AND suckers... inside her vagina. 🐙😺 And don't even get me started on the prehensile tail. She’s NOT just using it for balance, babes; she’s using it to poke his prostate like it’s the reset button on a router. 🔘💥😏🔥
💭 My Ramblings 💭
(Copy-pasting this for the whole series because the audacity is consistent across the board. 💅)
Let’s be real for a second: "Socially Appropriate" left the chat in Chapter 1. 👋🏻 These books don't just cross lines; they sprint past them, set them on fire, and dance in the ashes. 😌🔥💃 If you have standard human boundaries, you might feel a little uncomfy. Or a lot LOT uncomfy. 🫣
BUT.
If you are a fellow person of culture (read: a horny little degenerate like me 😝) who prefers their romance feral, their MMCs unhinged, and the obsession levels at "I will burn the world down for you, and then some" then pull up a chair, bestie. 🪑👯♀️ We are eating good tonight. 🍽️😋😈🖤
⚠️ PUMP THE BRAKES THOUGH! ⚠️ PLEASE. I BEG OF YOU. CHECK THE CW/TW AND THE SPICE & KINK LIST BELOW!
Look, I love the smut, but I love your mental stability more. 🫶🏻🧠✨ Your peace is priority #1. Also? In this economy? Why waste your hard-earned coin 💸 and precious time on a vibe that might make you yack? READ THE LABEL BEFORE YOU EAT THE CANDY. 🫵🏻🤨🍭
❤️🔥☠️ LOVE ME LIKE YOU’LL END THE WORLD FOR ME 🖤🔥
Quote (Fitz): “What is it like being loved? Not friend love or parental love, whatever that’s like, but the all-consuming, rageful, will-do-anything-for-you kind of love. The love that knows no bounds. The love that will kill everyone if it means my heart got to beat one more time. The type of love people heal from. I want that.”
💭 Um—hello?? Fitz out here asking for the kind of love that’s basically: “if you breathe near my person, you’re gone.” ☠️ This ain’t romance, this is emotional arson. ❤️🔥 Like… “baby I want that homicidal, unhinged loyalty where my lover would burn a city just so I don’t get sad.” Boy, SAME, TF. 😭😫🫠 This man is begging for the limited-edition “I’d kill for you” DLC and honestly? Mood. 💅🏻 10/10 dramatic. 12/10 relatable. 15/10 would print on a T-shirt. 💘👕💀
🌶🔥 WHEN HOLLY SAID ‘SIT BOY,’ FITZ SAID ‘HOW LOW?’ 🧎🏻♂️🫦
Quote (Holly's POV): “My own monster,” he gasps when I take him to the back of my throat. “Fuck, that thought alone will make me come.” “Not yet,” I tell him, licking the bead of precome from the slit. “I don’t want you to spill down my throat. I need you to breed me, Fitz. Are you going to fill me to the brim? Are you going to make sure you claim my womb?” “Such a naughty boy. You can’t wait, can you? Only good boys get to come.” “I’m the best fucking boy. I’ll be your good boy. I need you so much. I need to feel you.”
💭 The power this scene has?? Holly out here talking like she’s the CEO of Chaos & Seduction Inc., and Fitz submitting his résumé with shaking hands like “PLEASE HIRE ME.” 😣 The way he folded faster than wet cardboard is insane. 🤭 She said “good boy” and Fitz turned into a golden retriever with a PhD in BEGGING. 📝🧎🏻♂️🙇♂️🙏🐕 The desperation??? The feral energy??? The unhinged devotion??? 🤌🏻😩❤️🔥 Holly didn’t dominate him—she installed herself as his operating system. 💻 He’s running on pure “yes ma’am” firmware now. 💀😏🔥
- ⚠️ Detailed spoilers below ⛔️
RC and MCs: 🏵🔧 MF 🏵🔧 Holly yo and Fitsgerald Wallsworth the Third aka Fitz 39yo 🏵🔧 Holly: Used to be a bartender at night and pole dancing instructor during the day at her own dance studio. 🏵🔧 Fitz: Co-owner of Snapdragons Garage mechanic shop with his best friend Rhett 🏵🔧 Holly: Dom, pierced nipples, - Succubus characteristics: fangs, black horns on forehead, thin prehensile tail with pointed tip, can invade dreams, and feed of sexual desires - Chameleon characteristics: blue hair, purple skin and can change color to blend in - Harpy characteristics: feathered wings and some ability to see the future. - Siren characteristics: scales, fins, and a special voice - Squid characteristics: tentacles + suckers inside vagina, squirts black ink from vagina when orgasm, tongue can shifts between a tentacle with suckers and human tongue 🏵🔧 Fitz: Sub, light brown eyes, shaggy chocolate brown hair, freckles across his cheeks and nose, dimples, muscular
Genre, tropes, and microtropes: 🏵🔧 MF dark paranormal romance 🏵🔧 Monster romance 🏵🔧 Shape-shifting 🏵🔧 Monster/human 🏵🔧 Fated mates 🏵🔧 Codependency and separation anxiety (due to mate bond) 🏵🔧 Scientific experiment/mad science 🏵🔧 Monstrous anatomy (hybrid monster—Holly is a monster DNA experiment, she's part succubus, chameleon, harpy, siren, and squid) 🏵🔧 Genetically altered and enhanced MMC (Holly's body can regenerate and heal itself. Enhanced eyesight, hearing, and smelling abilities/senses.) 🏵🔧 Severely abused and traumatized FMC 🏵🔧 Hurt/comfort (mutual) 🏵🔧 Trauma healing 🏵🔧 Found family 🏵🔧 Morally black FMC 🏵🔧 Stalker FMC 🏵🔧 Extremely J/P, obsessive, territorial, unhinged FMC 🏵🔧 Extremely protective FMC 🏵🔧 Mine mine mine 🏵🔧 Extreme touch him and die (literally, body count: 3) 🏵🔧 Only soft for him 🏵🔧 Femdom 🏵🔧 Domme/sub dynamic 🏵🔧 Golden Retriever MMC 🏵🔧 OTT 🏵🔧 Pet names: Doe eyes, wildflower, wild
Safety info: 🏵🔧 Angst: High 🏵🔧 OPD: When Holly was kidnapped for the medical experiment, she was assaulted so many times she lost count. In the prologue, one of the doctor is touching Holly inappropriately while she is dying. 🏵🔧 Cheating/sharing: No 🏵🔧 Third act breakup: No 🏵🔧 Ending: HEA 🏵🔧 Epilogue: Yes 🏵🔧 POV: Dual, 1st person 🏵🔧 Series structure: Interconnected standalone
Spice and kinks: Inhuman genitalia, Domme/sub dynamic, scenting, tentacle play, masturbation (Holly, while flying), jerking off (Fitz, while Holly secretly watching him in the bathroom), voyeurism, dream invasion, breeding kink, femdom, praise (good boy), somnophilia, tail play, anal play (Fitz, with tail), prostate stimulation, scenting, marking (scent, hickeys (from the suckers on her tentacle tongue), cum, (she puts her cum in his shampoo)), claiming mark (black lines spreading on Fitz's dick)), blowjob, dirty talk, cum plugging (in vagina with tentacle), facesitting, choking/breath play (with tentacle), blowjob, fingerfucking, squirting, kitchen counter sex, floor sex
CW/TW: Explicit sexual content, SA (happened to FMC, in the prologue), body horror, stalking, breaking and entering, dark/taboo themes, non-con, somnophilia, mutilation, rape, trauma, murder, graphic violence, gore, involuntary inhumane medical experimentation (happened to FMC), torture, PTSD, kidnapping, captivity, police involvement, car accidents
- Quotes: ⚠️ Spoilers ⛔️
All I can do is hope that is the truth because I want to be mated. I want to belong to someone to the point where my soul is lost in theirs. I want my soul to be so intertwined that if they died, I’d die. - I don’t tend to do well when someone is upset with me. I spiral and want to do everything I can to make their happiness return. Then, I become annoying. It’s a vicious cycle I’m trying to break. - I’m starting to think someone like me won’t get to experience love. I’m too much for people. I’m always going out of my way. I’m a big people pleaser. Love isn’t meant for people who allow themselves to be taken advantage of like I do. - “You’re all mine, Fitz. This body. This cock.” Her tentacles wrap around my dick, giving it a teasing squeeze. I whimper. “I want your come, Good Boy. I want it so bad. You know I can’t live without it.” She slides her tight cunt down on my shaft and my fucking toes curl against the tile. Holly rocks back and forth. “Give it to me. Fill me. I want every drop. Be a good boy and breed me.” The praise has come shooting from my cock, my orgasm wracking through my body and causing my knees to go weak. “Holly, oh, fuck, Holly. Take every drop. It’s yours. Every fucking drop of me,” I moan so loud. - He’s the reason for my existence. I was created to be his and his alone. - But then I’d just wrap him in my arms and take care of him forever because he is mine. He’s fucking mine. I’ll stop at nothing and no one to get to him. If anyone dared to take him from me, I’ll kill them. I’ll murder everyone on this planet in cold fucking blood if it means he would live a happier life. He has a monster now and there is nothing in this world that matters more than his life. - “I would kill for you, Doe Eyes.” I press my forehead against his, tracing his jaw. “I have killed for you.” His cock jerks wrapped in my grip. “You like that, don’t you? You love being the center of my attention. You love that someone would go that far for you.” He nods, stretching his neck to try to kiss me. “I do. I want you to consume me until I can’t live without you. You’re my reminder to breathe.” - I gently lie Fitz down on the couch, smirking when I straddle his face. “Be a good boy and lick every tentacle. I want to feel your tongue inside me before I ride your cock. I’m so hungry for your come, Doe Eyes. Will you give it to me?” “Fuck yes, I’ll give you whatever you want, Wildflower. I’ll fucking paint you with my come and lick it off if that’s what you want.” I gasp, playfully covering my mouth with my hand. “Why would I have you lick it clean?” A tentacle wraps around his throat, tightening until his face turns red. “When you can just spit into my mouth so I can be full of you in more ways than one.” His eyes roll to the back of his head, my tentacles unraveling from his throat. - “Sit down, Wildflower. Smother me with that pretty cunt. I want to feel those suckers on my tongue.” He gives my ass a smack and my tail slithers up his legs. - “Good boy. Now, take a deep breath. I’m going to suffocate you.” His eyes become glassy as his face turns hungry. His hands are locked onto my ass, gripping them so hard, he will leave bruises behind. - I happen to like that I smell like someone. I am obsessed with the fact that there is someone out there who wants me so badly that they mark me to warn everyone else away. I belong to someone. I’ve never belonged to anyone. - “I have my own monster,” he mumbles against my shoulder before kissing my collarbone. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted you. You’re everything.” He holds me tighter, his cries becoming louder when my tail moves faster. “Holly. Holly.” He shakes his head. “Oh, that’s it. Fuck, oh, God, you feel so good. Give it to me, Wildflower. Make me come. Let me fill you up. I want nothing more than to get you pregnant.” His hand cups my stomach. “I want to see you round with my child. I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to get enough of you knowing you’ll be carrying my son or daughter.” - “I love you wild,” he murmurs against my lips. “As in, it can never be contained.” I drag my knuckles down his cheek. “I love you too, Doe Eyes. I’ve loved you since the moment I scented you.” - “Do I have those hickeys all over my neck?” He touches his pulse where I sucked the hardest. “Yes,” I purr in delight. “You look pretty with my necklace around your throat.” He blushes, biting his bottom lip. - “I’m always around, Fitz. You’ll never be alone again.” I place my hand over his and I’m not sure what caused it but he breaks. A soft sob breaks free from him. “You said I won’t ever have to be alone again,” he answers, looking away from me. “I’ve always been alone.” - She’s coming to save me. Isn’t that wild? I’m the damsel in distress and I don’t mind one fucking bit. - She’s so damn sexy when she is protecting me. I’ll need to put myself in these positions more often. - “I’d cross the pits of Hell and the unknown of Purgatory for you just to get a glimpse of your face if that’s all I was allowed.” -
Holly, damnnn tis bishhhh don’t play about her mannnn. You guys should know our monster stalkers all have over the top possessive and jealous tendencies, how I like it.
“I’ll make him love me. He’ll learn to love me in time. He’ll know that I’m meant for him, that I’m the only one who can love, own, and fuck him like his delicious body craves.”
Holly is badass heroine who has mix dna of siren, harpy, light purple skin, succumbs, and squid.
Fitz you guys have met him previously if you read snapdragon aka Rhett’s friend. He owns snapdragons garage & he’s a mechanic.
He has dreams of his mate where holly comes in & invade dreams & feed off sexual desires. I died laughing when he thought he was dying and/or having a disease, you have to read to know what I’m referring to. 🖤
“I think I love you, Wildflower. I’ll be happy if I only ever see you in my dreams.”
thanks so much on the arc, these are my honest take and feels!
Such a good book! I love love LOVEEEEE the trope reversal. Where the FMC is the morally BLACK, stalker, obsessive type. Speaks to my black little heart.
Holly is great. Fitz is even better. A man who sits down and wipes to pee? Hell yes.
I love a cinnamon roll MMC, and he truly was perfect. Loved their dynamic.
Thank you for giving me the chance to get my hands on this ARC again. I’ve loved being an ARC reader for you for the last few releases. 😊
Okay, so I was pleasantly surprised by this, and I really enjoyed it. Holly was possessive, obsessive, and a stalker. She literally couldn’t tolerate anyone standing in her way of getting her mate. Fitz and Holly fit perfectly together—they’re the perfect example of a reverse grumpy x sunshine dynamic.🙂↕️
I loved that Fitz never even wanted another human as his mate—only a monster—because he wanted to feel loved and be someone’s everything. And the fact that he accepted Holly with open arms and everything made me laugh out loud.🤣🤭
Tbh, Holly was also super entertaining to read. I loved her inner monologue about how much she wanted Fitz and how she killed anyone who stood in her way.😙 She wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted, and I loved that. I also felt bad for her and for the others who experienced torture at the facility, and I’m so glad it’s gone now.
I also want to see more of Fitz’s sister and her son, Elijah—and, of course, more of the Four Horsemen and the Reaper, Lorcan.
𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨:
- There is no real OWD only jealousy: Fitz is a mechanic, and when he has an appointment with OW1, who needs her tires changed, she tries to flirt with him. Fitz feels uncomfortable and tries to brush her off. Holly sees this and makes her kill herself just for thinking about Fitz.
- Then there’s OW2. After Holly claimed Fitz in his sleep, a mark appeared on his dick, which freaked him out, so he went to see a doctor—who happened to be female. He tried to switch to a male doctor, but she wouldn’t budge. Eventually, she saw and touched his dick to examine the problem. Nothing happened because Fitz only has eyes for Holly, and from his side, it was purely professional—he just wanted medical advice. But Holly saw this too and killed the doctor for even thinking about Fitz.
- And Fitz has never been in love. He only had a couple of girlfriends years ago, and he’s not a manhoe. He had been celibate for a long time before the book started.
- OMD: When Holly was kidnapped, she was assaulted multiple times—so many that she couldn’t even count—because she was being turned into a monster. In the prologue, we see one of the doctors touching Holly inappropriately while she is dying. Eventually, she succumbs to her injuries and ends up in purgatory.
- No cheating, and no others after they meet.
- It ends on a HEA, but I wish we had gotten a longer epilogue.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was such a fantastic twist on the stalker trope! We have the morally bereft heroine who will do anything, unalive anyone, who gets in the way or mistakenly covets her man. Super hot and smexy with femdom vibes. The hero was perfect for her with all his good, golden retriever energy, while secretly loving how possessive and protective she was of him. Such a great addition to the series. I'm hoping we get more of this world!
I enjoyed the first two books as crazy as they were but this one the FMC is the one experimented on and it's not working for me. Her calling him doe eyes is doing my head in. Plus his cock not being big and long personally offends me 😂😂😂😂 it's why I read these types of books 🤷🏿♀️
I loved the role reversal in this book! A female monster DNA experiment meets a cinnamon roll mechanic. I loved seeing the worlds collide with the Purgatory aspect and always love seeing a bit of Lorcan's sass. This was a fast read and had all my favorite aspects of January's books. The perfect blend of stalking, smut and romance as are all of her books.
I stayed up until midnight waiting for this book to drop on kindle and when it finally dropped at 2 am I stayed up and read the whole thing and didn’t go to sleep until 5 am
And I don’t regret anything. This book was fantastic. The FMC, Holly, is the one who is a DNA experiment this time instead of the MMC and honestly I didn’t know I needed that to be a thing. I loved reading about a psycho woman instead of a psycho man. It was refreshing, interesting, and just don’t right a treat. The MMC, Fitz, was so adorable. I loved everything about him. He was a sweetheart, he desperately wanted a mate, and he wanted to be loved like a mate loves theirs. It was adorable seeing a man, who is by no means weak or puny in stature, be so down bad for the idea of love. I haven’t read a book where the MMC is a hopeless romantic in so long and it was so nice
The plot was the exact same as the others it felt like so I knew exactly what was to be expected there. Im looking forward to the future books that have been hinted at in this book due to the fact that Rhett in the second book freed everyone and let them go. I think there is a lot of room for January to play.
The only thing I wish this book had was … more. That sounds so cliche but I wish we saw more of the couple together. I wish we saw them hanging out and going on dates more. Once Fitz realized what was going on and understood he had a mate he was 100% down for it which I loved, but I also would have loved to see them grow more into the relationship.
Over all a seriously good book and one that i have been waiting so long on. Thanks January for this series lol. I cannot recommend these books enough. Spice was 5/5 obVIOUSly. Miss girl has a squid coochie.
This book was so delicious. I was stoked about seeing an unhinged, monster FMC and I was not disappointed! I’m not going to lie though, sexually submissive is not my thing so I was resistant on that front. But, January handled Fitz well. His submission to Holly was hot 🥵 There were times when he took control so it balanced the dynamic out for me.
Of course, HOLLYHOCKS had a tone of my favorite tropes (just as its predecessors):
✨Stalking ✨Dub-con/non-con ✨Breeding with pregnancy ✨Somno ✨Marking
Final Verdict: I flew through this one and loved it! If you enjoy dark monster romance then HOLLYHOCKS is a must read!
Very quick read monster smut. I appreciated that she was the monster for once instead of the MMC being the monster. Shes the morally black one and he’s the damsel most of the time.
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
I got this book from a blind date with a book at Villains and Vixens.
January Rayne did it again with her beastly creations! Only this time, it's a female monster that is obsessed and possessive over her golden retriever mate. What a fun read with the twist of the female being the monster. Truly enjoyed the female being the hunter and her finding her Doe Eyes, Good Boy. Holly is another beastly creation, but she didn't make it at the hands of the scientists and ends up in Purgatory for a bit. After getting out of Purgatory, she returns to the living and scents the greatest smell, her mate: Fitz. Just like all the other beasts, she becomes obsessed with getting her man and taking out any threats that get in her way, or anyone who decides to touch or even look at him. Fitz is the sweet golden retriever that just wants a mate of his own - a monster like Creed and Rhett, but it's probably not going to happen. Until he meets Holly (in disguise), he starts to feel being watched, hearing voices, having very fun dreams about Holly in a monster form, and a random new weird birthmark that starts to show up. Could he have a mate? He just wants to be her Good Boy.
Welcome back to Shallow Cove! I loved how January Rayne switched up the formula and gave us a female monster!! She's just as possessive, obsessive and stalkerish as Creed and Rhett were. She's also just as trigger happy when it comes to anyone touching her mate, as in "touch him and d!e"! Do not touch her man, in fact- don't even look at him! But you really can't blame her because Fitz was made for her! They are perfect for one another. He's a sweetheart of a man who has always put everyone else first. With Holly, he's able to not only feel loved and wanted, but also protected. It's sweet, but still has that spicy, obsessive vibe we've come to love with these monster stalkers!
So I love that we get a female monster and all the new creatures she’s mixed with are interesting as always, Rhett being able to find love is everything he deserves it,him and holly are the best match, but I also felt like the story was super quick and feeling incomplete left me wondering what happened when his sister and nephew finally made it how did they meet holly and what happened when the horseman took holly to the facilities, maybe it will be in another book maybe one with Elijah finding his mate or maybe Heather. I still enjoyed the book and the recurring characters.
I know it's about Fitz and Holly, but every time there's a scene on Creed bickering with almost everyone, I can't help but love him more. I aspire to be a salty murderous fucker like him. 😂
The character building wasn't my favorie though. Maybe it's because of Holly's influence on Fitz since they first met, but Fitz's attitude switched up almost too sudden. It felt rushed. Man went from being the kind and caring person into suddenly lusting over this woman. 🤣
The comedy in this book had me dying. I can't believe I read this book in public and made many kinds of faces. I couldn't control myself. Pretty sure some people saw and judged me, but who cares? Lol-
Wow, can we talk about how wild this is? This is the third book in the January Rayne Monster Stalker series, and I honestly didn’t think my jaw could drop any lower! I really enjoyed the first unhinged female monster, but she was a bit over the top for me. If you're on the hunt for a strong, dominant female character, though, Holly is definitely the one you’re looking for! This has been quite the adventure, and I’d definitely recommend taking the content warnings seriously for this read.
I liked how she was the monster, and she was crazy kind of like creed was. I didn’t like the amount of talk about his normal penis. That was weird. And for some reason once again, they have a shit ton of money as a mated pair because of some strange reason like in the first 2 books. Anywho. I like smut so I enjoyed it anyways. But I think I like monster boys more than monster girls. And the pregnancy trope is getting tired.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Pues igual que los libros anteriores, siguen exactamente la misma fórmula repetitiva, es como si fuera la misma historia pero cambiando los nombres de los personas.
Aunque, me agrado más este libro no sé si es porque el interés amoroso era mujer pero la sentí menos molesta que los monstruos anteriores, me seguía desesperando algunas actitudes pero creo que se comportan así porque al fin y al cabo son bestias/animales y no razonan como alguien normal.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3.5⭐️ FMC is the monster in this one which was different. MMC is super sweet innocent human guy. Still a very weird series that I’m not sure how it got me so sucked into it..
This is the third book that has become very formulaic. Weird genitalia ✅ 5 monsters in 1 ✅ Kills a bunch of people because they don’t feel their humanity anymore ✅ Puts bodily secretions in shampoo or body wash✅ Lead human doesn’t mind monsters ✅ Stalks them even though the MC doesn’t mind✅ Random characters from Hell ✅
I can say I’m done with this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.