Blood of My Monster

Monster Trilogy #1

by Rina Kent, Anna Zaborowska-Cinciała (Translator)

From the USA Today bestselling author Rina Kent comes a new dark mafia romance.

I’m out for revenge. He’s out to rule the world.
Kirill and I are as different as day and night.
We shouldn’t have been in the same frame or universe.
But we meet under the strangest circumstances.
He’s my superior in the military and the man who’ll introduce me to carnage.
His charm and exterior perfection shouldn’t have tempted me.
Behind the smokescreen lurks a manipulative emotionless monster.
And that monster might find out all my secrets, including the reason why I’m pretending to be a man.
He might also lure me to the point of no return.

This book is part of a trilogy and is not a standalone.

Genres: Dark Romance, Romance, Mafia Romance, Dark, Enemies To Lovers, Military Fiction, Contemporary

389 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2023

About the author

Rina Kent is a New York Times, USA Today, and #1 bestselling author of all things dark romance.
Better known for writing unapologetic anti-heroes and villains, Rina weaves tales of characters you shouldn’t fall for but inevitably do. Her stories are laced with a touch of darkness, a splash of angst, and just the right amount of unhealthy intensity.
When she’s not busy plotting mayhem for her ever-expanding Rinaverse, she leads a private life in London, travels, and pampers her cats in true Cat Lady fashion.


You can find her below:

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Reviews

[Mareeva · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

I adjust my glasses with my thumb and forefinger to stop myself from choking the fuck out of her.

Oh how I've missed reading romance. No other genre has such cultivated quotes.

Welcome to my review #23567 complaining about stupid heroines. If you're thinking, how am I still not tired of writing basically the same rant over and over and over and over again....Well I am.

Me typing this out at 2am while the hatred is still fresh and juicy


QUICK SUMMARY
Sasha is a woman, disguised as a man in the russian military, searching for clues as to who caused the massacre of her family 4 years ago. She is an easy target of bigger, meaner soldiers, so she begs Kirill like the flop she is (sorry can't wait to start hating), a captain from the special ops team, to train her. Reluctantly he does. As it turns out, Kirill might be linked to the mystery she has been trying to uncover for years, so she leaves with him to New York as his body guard, plunging deep into mafia life.

🛑SPOILERS🛑

Rina Kent is physically mentally spiritually unable to write a serious book, she tries, it just never happens.

*Sasha hiding out from a sniper who is determined to kill her*

Kirill: Use your gun as a distraction while I shoot him
Sasha: NO! I'm as good as dead without my gun!!
Kirill: well throw something quick bitch we ain't got no time
Sasha:


Yea she threw something alright😭😭🤣🤣🤣 did no one tell her that saving the gun is useless when you throw the body it's meant to protect in the first place.

Rina made up some excuse about the sniper being too smart to fall for the gun distraction trick.....BUT YOU COULD AT LEAST TRY BEFORE YEETING YOUR ASS IN FRONT OF A BULLET.

Common sense and Sasha have clearly never been acquainted. It's a wonder she survived in the army this long. But there are also some things she was way too acquainted with; like manners, compassion, sentimentality, and her wild fucking curiosity.

It's amazing how Rina Kent can make the most honourable and great characteristics seem insufferable😍

"Where do you think you're going?" I ask in a collected, completely detached tone.
"I'm going back to bury Nadia and Nicholas, and if I'm ambushed, I'll kill every last one of those fuckers. I'll spill their blood and crush their hearts."

Oh do you mean you're going back to the place where you were in extreme danger but still didn't leave immediately because you "just couldn't leave without saying thank you to Nadia and Nicholas🥺" so you were both ambushed and it was all your fault?🫶

All the problems could have been avoided if Sasha obeyed Kirill's orders. She always complained about him being heartless, but in reality he is just not STUPID, like you....and your manners🙄

Do you see what I mean about being unserious? You can't even make one good logical decision, who's heart are you going to crush. Idiot.

Okay I should probably stop referring to the heroine like she is a real person, I think I'm dissociating from reality


As I've said Kirill was meant to be a hardass, emotionless soldier/mafia/dictator....I hate how Sasha got special treatment from him. She got on his special ops team, promising to be better, then signed her life away to him,

"I will be your boss, and I will demand complete obedience."
"I understand"
"I'm not joking, Sasha. Out of here, it's not martial law. It's my law. Your life will be mine."

but in conclusion, all she did was disobey, show attitude, and be irrational at the worst possible moments. I wish he punched her that one time, maybe she would have LEARNED.

"Not only did they help me, but they also helped you and offered you warmth and shelter from a deadly storm. How are you supposed to protect your soldiers if you can't display gratitude to your benefactors?"
Kirill lifts his hand. "You little-"
I close my eyes, waiting for him to punch me for the insolence. I wait and wait. And wait... But the impact doesn't come.

He has protected his soldiers for decades and will continue doing so by being useful. Unlike you.

At some point I hoped and prayed for Sasha to have ONE WIN in anything. Show me all that training did something, Give me a smidge of improvement, a taste of character development. But she kept on collecting those Ls like pokemons😭😭

When he's within touching distance, I slip in front of Kirill, hold up a hand against his chest, and say in my deepest, manliest tone, "Step back."
The man's deadly expression falls on my hand. "Why, aren't you a tough little shit?"
He starts to twist my hand with ease, but I slip it out and manage to grab his and then twist it to his back.
Before I can pin it, though, he whirls around and punches me in the face, sending me flying against the pillar."

This was her attempt to protect Kirill as his bodyguard. How is your blood spilling and heart crushing going dear?


Some scenes were so so painful to read, I would consider changing identities a second time if I was Sasha. Like her humping Kirill while he was asleep, when they never outwardly showed any romantic interest towards eachother. I had to hide under my blanket because I knew what was about to happen, and I was not ready.

She got caught


Rina Kent needs to stop doing this to me, this is an attack against me, my family, my pride, my mental health. HOW LONG IS SHE GONNA KEEP GIVING ME SECOND HAND EMBARRASSMENT??????

For a person whose whole mission was based on avenging her murdered family and preserving her real identity in order to keep her remaining relatives safe, she sure did give no fucks💀

I have so many questions

Sasha:
✅making decisions when warned not to and without doing a smidge of research of what she's getting into. Oh you know, decisions like moving to a different continent and promising her life to some mafia dude

✅contacting her relatives and getting caught. What a fucking loser honestly. Who in their right mind takes such dangerous calls in plain view? "Oh but I checked and I was alone🥺" yea, people walk. From one location to another. On their legs. Go to a locked bathroom with the tap on or something.

✅executing 6 months long plans to get into Kirill's office for documents she assumes might be there. What even is this plan?? She doesn't know what files she is searching for or if he is involved😭 She doesn't know anything at all!! What leads is she following to waste so much time??

ARE YOU OKAY FAM LIKE ARE YOU ACTUALLY ALRIGHT IN THE HEAD MATE????

This is what RK does to me. Turned me into a dissociative brit


But nothing. Nothing. Infuriates me more than strangers shoving their noses into someone's family business.

Obviously that's exactly what Sasha did.

"But Kirill he is your brother, you should care about him"

"Kirill you need to save your mother!! Family is love🌈"

Not everyone has perfect families. normalise having shitty attitudes towards shitty parents and not feeling obligated to them simply for existing.

Occasionally Sasha cracked me up too though:

“If you find solace in these delusions, then, by all means, keep believing them, but the reality is the following: you are mine to do with whatever I please. You’re my fucking property, Sasha. Is that clear?” Hot moisture stings the corners of my eyes, but I refuse to show him the damage his words inflict on me. While I’ve always known Kirill to be a methodical, cold-hearted monster, this is the first time I’ve witnessed it firsthand.

Girl🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 he kidnapped his mother and sent a pic of it to his brother. Him calling you out is what got you? LMAOOOOO

Okay so Imma say something positive now because I need to explain the 3 stars. Was this book a bunch of cliche clumped together? Yea, but it was entertaining. And Kirill was cute sometimes.

I'll trap her so deeply. She'll have no way out. Sooner or later, she'll have no choice but to forget about her lover and be with me

We love a jealous determined king who is ready to eliminate the competition he made up in his head.

We really should've brought more men with us. And is Yuri really supposed to stay in the car-"
My words come to a halt when he does something that stuns me into silence.
Kirill leans down and bites my ear.
[...]
"What...what was that for?"
Your silence."

Period. Shut her up. Punching her would've worked better but I guess this works too.

I didn't mention the side characters since they didn't make much of an impact on me, but they weren't boring, that's for sure.

One more positive is the author improved in her research abilities, good for her.

All in all: is praying for Sasha's recovery from her major loser syndrome too much to ask of RK?

[⚔Irunía⚔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Books where a female disguises as a man are just so funny to me as a concept. Before going in, you just know that everybody and their mother is gonna be blind at best, hella dumb at worst and delusional as an immutable law.

all the characters: what do you mean it's obvious she's a woman? 😮🥺 But she wears those bindings around her titties 24/7, she chopped her hair off and her voice is gruff as hell!! 🤡 How tf are we supposed to figure out that she's a woman when the girlie did such a good job turning into a believable (military!) man? 😍 she can do push-ups too, 😍😍 wdym an hourglass figure is uncommon among men? SHUT UP 😡😡

Researches that identified that there are 6,500 genetic differences between men and women: 😮

6,500 genetic differences between men and women: are we a joke to you?

trans people going through the transitioning process: huh?

Anyway, I'm cutting RK characters some slack here because, apparently, they're no scientists. Our military guys were too busy building their muscles to notice a woman dressed up as a man parading right in front of their eyes and training with them for days/weeks/months. 💪🏻

Pls don't mind me trying to make sense of the inner workings of the "female in disguise" trope in particular and RK's book universe in general. I know it's not that deep, and everyone who's familiar with RK understands how absolutely crucial it's to practice suspension of disbelief before even thinking of delving into her books.

I just love clowning myself and following in the footsteps of my fav man Sisyphus —repeating the same meaningless task , in my case — trying to find common sense in the contemporary romance genre only to come up empty. 😍 A fan of Greek mythology and absurdism inside me is too strong of a bad influence.

But before I proceed to briefly highlight my likes and dislikes,

IMAGINE MY SURPRISE when I realized that RK included at least one character with two functioning brain cells in this book and that character, blessed be his soul, turned out to be our Russian mafia prince hero — Kirill. He immediately discovers what a big fat terrible secret Sasha has up her sleeve so no "wtf, am I gay" hysterical revelations for us from this guy. ❤️ Thank god for small mercies, love me some originality (but in strictly small doses).

the plot

I would have lowkey loved how action packed this book is in comparison to most of this author's other stories if the said action wasn't so painfully predictable: Sasha fucks up, Kirill deals with the consequences.

Let's just say that every precarious situation the MCs had to go through was 100% sponsored by the heroine's inability to listen, systematize and analyze basic information and her insubordination. Insubordination and lack of discipline IN THE ARMY that go unpunished? HUH? 🤡 Babes, those are fundamental for that institution. It was so unprofessional of Kirill as her superior to let those major fuck-ups slide.

Sasha literally kept putting her (mostly) and her team members' (occasionally) lives at risk throughout the whole book. Ok, bitch, you fucked up one time. Two times. Three times BUT IS THERE A LIMIT? 🙂

If a chimpanzee can learn, why not Sasha? 😭

Was her defiance supposed to make her look like a badass female? Because a naive me thought that a badass in the traditional sense of the word means

— having the balls to acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them, accept them and, if needed, follow the orders of a man who's older and has more expertise and experience than you ESPECIALLY because hello, bitch

🎵A vacation in a foreign land, Uncle Sam does the best he can
You're in the army now, oh-oo-oh you're in the army now🎵


I'd love the action scenes more if the dramatic and edgy quality to them didn't rely solely on Sasha's lack of basic comprehension of ANYTHING..

Sasha

It's almost embarrassing that Sasha, our naive little doll with debris inside her skull, manages to fool everyone except the hero into believing she's a man when she literally has zero self-control, strategy or sense of purpose and direction in life. 😂

Pls don't tell me she's supposed to find and exert revenge on her family's murderers with her feeble deductive skills. She barely manages to survive in the Russian army, which is not even her proper achievement. If it weren't for Kirill's soft-heartedness that takes pity on this poor, begging female creature at his feet... (or rather his subconsciousness, responsible for calculating how her female anatomy could be of use to him in the future.. my wild guess) we'd be reading about our girl in some criminal chronicles... 😏 Woman power at work, bitch. 👄

I wish one day authors would understand that kind-hearted, naive but strong heroines aren't necessarily tantamount to reckless little Mary Sues whose survival and salvation are the courtesy of the plot armor and the hero's long-term plans to dick her down.

Honestly, this girl needed a bodyguard herself. The fact that Kirill hired her as one just shows how much men think with their dicks. 🤣

I mean... that's kinda cute and wholesome of him to protect his own bodyguard so I gotta stop bitching. I love that type of protective shit. But, boys and girls, hear me out. He should be protecting her from a real danger, not from her rotten brain ok 🥺

Kirill

I really liked Kirill, he has some funny lines and the scene where he fucks Sasha from behind with his fogged glasses on might arguably be a solid explanation as to why this book is worth your reading time. I mean... check your priorities first.

He is an efficient captain for one, we love a smart man, and his dirty talk didn't leave me completely impartial either. Hearing "Solnyshko" falling from his lips... Mans knows his game, gotta hand it to him. 👄👄
Overall, I liked Sasha and Kirill's dynamics.

That being said, I thought that Kirill doesn't live up to his image of a manipulative "cold-blooded monster". He is a cinnamon roll in the making, he lets the girl he likes ENDANGER AND FUCK UP HIS MISSIONS without batting an eye. Maybe he's not as manipulative and in control as he likes to think because people jeopardizing your work need to be fired or put on a leash. Maybe making them orgasm 19299020 times a day ain't an effective tactic. 😮😮 Shocking, I know.

Plus the pure comedy of RK believing that she knows how to write dark male characters never ceases to amuse me. 😂 It's ALMOST endearing, that ABSOLUTE DELUSION she harbors. The only triggering factor in her books that might actually cause a real long-lasting damage is that writing style of hers.:D

Anyway, if you like softies who everyone considers a baddie, you'll be in for a treat. Watered-down anti-heroes for the win. 🥳

last but not least.. the SLOW-BURN

What's this? Have I somehow ended up in a parallel universe?

"The space between her legs" starts tingling only at 28% mark *gasps audibly*.
Mark this day on your calendar, finally RK heroine that has some real fucking STAMINA, which isn't saying much, to be honest, but still. ✌🏻 Y'all, she's a true soldier, she waits a little before she starts drooling on her monstrous prince charming. 😭✊🏻

And no shit, the main characters start talking about sex only at appr. 60% mark and actually wait respectfully till 70% mark to start fucking in earnest.
Colour me surprised: them waiting before acting like horny rabbits in the last chapters is giving

✨ slow-burn ✨

The trouble is that I didn't feel much chemistry between Sasha and Kirill outside the bedroom.

Their sex scenes were VERY HOT ngl. Something about Kirill taking charge and Sasha being all sweet and submissive in return hits different (fucking FINALLY she follows his lead at least somewhere. Her submissiveness in other matters would have come in handy on more than a few occasions too, but alas).

Kirill's possessiveness and physical attraction toward her come out of nowhere. He sees her half-naked form for the first time, calls her a "she" in his head for the first time too and that's all it takes to fall for her.

I'm not exactly complaining: I just didn't feel any sparks flying between them neither before nor after that scene. Slow-burn is all dandy and cool when it has some proper buildup with a lot of tension-filled moments and chemistry involved, otherwise it's just smut put on hold till the last chapters.

Overall

I found some aspects pretty enjoyable, but I struggled with the book.
It was boring and bland in parts, and I'm not a fan of drama and action relying on characters' stupidity. It detracts from the thrill and unpredictability of the plot per se.

I must admit the writing style here is better when compared to most of RK books, and I love that for us. ✨
Less space is given to wacky poetry, though you can bet your ass RK still waxes poetic about how "cold-blooded" and "monstrous" her cinnamon roll of a hero is. I guess we should collectively congratulate RK: I bet all my money on the fact that never once in her life has she had to deal with real cold-blooded monsters. But as I said, there isn't that much inner monologue that would include the "blood monstrosity" narrative to make it completely insufferable. The glass is half full. ✌🏻

Moreover, I think it's sort of bold and badass of RK to write about Russian characters in a positive light, considering the current geopolitical circumstances. It's cool to see that not everyone chooses a safer option of villainizing the whole nation in a public space. Who'd have thought RK's thinking is so progressive.

The storyline doesn't revolve around sex and is pretty original, so don't let my review dissuade you from reading it, besties xx

[Larissa Cambusano · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ this had no business being so good and so funny!!!!

[ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mulan and Li Shang did it better.

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (New House-Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright ... I'll be completely honest - as always, of course.

This story went by so fast for me that I feel like either:

A. My mind drifted and I missed parts of it.

Or

B. It just lacked in areas?

I'm intrigued enough to keep going and to see what happens, but this is not my favorite RK book.

Also, the pronouns kept screwing me up.

+ ° . ๑・° ⊹ . + ° . ๑・° ⊹ . + ° . ๑・° ⊹ . +

➻❥ “There must be something wrong with me, because even though I know he’s mad, I still like his rough side. A part of me yearns for it while another part is scared of it.”

➻❥ “So what happens now?” I ask after I finish cleaning the blood. “Now”—a slow smirk tilts his lips—“I take over the world, Sasha. And you’ll be right by my side.”

[Lilyya ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

rina??? kent??? managed to write ? the first 80% of the book ??? SMUT FREE ????????? it’s a multiverse.
————-
here for the Mulan retelling🙇🏽‍♀️

[Clace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.85!

This was really good for Rina's standards. The mulan vibes were there I just wished we saw more of it. It was there only for 35% of the story but it was actually very enjoyable. The problem with Rina is that duologies are not enough for Rina's yaps and series is too much for Rina yapping so trilogies are perfect for her because I actually have a sense of Idea for the first time where her story is going and how it's going. It's actually fun to read!!

Kirill, I liked him a lot. Idk why Rowan hates him but I think he does smthing in book 3 😭 so let's see but he was very fun to read. He had typical RK men qualities but he was better than most of them as well as for Sasha, idk how she convinced everyone that she was a male soldier 😭 like bitch please the way she started crying at every minor inconvenience. I NEED SOME DEVELOPMENT RINA!!!

The romance was so good!! This is what happens when RK does give us slow burn. Like don't get me wrong there was list but not that much and not that early on. The tension was seeping through the pages. It was so fucking hot and oh my god, The spice actually paid off!!! It was not the best romance but it was very well written imo because I enjoyed it so much. It had aspects of forbidden romance and enemies to lovers with forced proximity and intense sexual tension and now Idk what will happen in book 2 because the cliffhanger 😩

The only reason that this is not a four is because of Sasha like 🙏🏻 just stop.

Pls, write more slow burns 🙏🏻 I need book 2 because I want ANSWERS!
____
A Mulan retelling?!? And what shocks me the most is that 80%of the book is smut free?!? Because all of Rinas books have some smut in the first 100 pages 😭 Am very excited to start this!!

[manas (suffering) · Rating 4 out of 5]

the feminism left my body anytime kirill opened his mouth.

[youssra · Rating 4 out of 5]

– 4 stars ✰

Mine.
This woman is all fucking mine.

I know this is gonna disappoint a lot of you guys but i actually prefer Kirill over Adrian😩 Ugh i just love kirill and his attitude so much.

”Don’t go.” It’s two words, but they’re so charged that they hit me in the chest.
“I…will come back in three days. I promise.”
“Don’t. Go.”

[Samantha (bookgramsaga reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (reread)

Holy cliffhanger Batman 👀

''Why would a monster need a sun?''

Safety warnings:
- H 28 / h 20
- No cheating
- No OW/OM drama
- Violence/D*ath
- Loss of loved ones
- PTSD
- Mention of assault/physical abuse/mental abuse
- Cliffhanger

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

SPOILERS BELOW ⬇️

''Now, I take over the world, Sasha. And you'll be right by my side''

Ever since we were introduced to Kirill and his mysterious bodyguard Sasha I have been hoping for their story. We got glimpses of what was going on in both the Deception Trilogy and Thrones duet. We find out that Aleksander aka Sasha is actually a woman pretending to be a man whose real name is Aleksandra. What don’t we know is WHY? Why is she pretending? Why is Kirill who seems like a psychopath allowing this? Is he blackmailing her? What is going on?

Well, we got answers:
She is pretending to be a man and joined the army because her entire family was murdered when she was 16. She took it upon herself to join the army and find out who ordered the hit as it came from someone from there and stay away from the world that would want her dead.

The story is from years before we get their intro in either of the previous mafia books by Rina. Sasha is 20 and Kirill is 28 in this book. He is her captain in the army and they go through a lot during that time and later head out to New York so Kirill can take back his power and sit at the table with the Pakhan and others.

I have to say I thought the reveal for Sasha being a woman would go differently, maybe Kirill doubts his sexuality and then finds out or it happens by accident? but nope. Kirill knew all along from the moment he met her that she was a woman BUT he respected her choice to go by as a man and never mentions it to anyone. He doesn't judge her situation, but he is curious for the reason but just never brings it up in the beginning. He actually the ''he'' pronoun durig this POV when talking/thinking about her because he respects her choice.

It's confirmed to him completely when they are forced to hide during a mission gone wrong. She explains she is a woman but is forced to live as a man for safety and who knew we needed a one bed trope for these two? And we got it! They both find each other attractive and obviously want one another.

A lot of this book is just the build up to their relationship. We spend some time in the army setting back in Russia before Kirill is forced back to the States to take over his dying father (who btw plotted to kill his men during the mission to force his hand). Kirill hates his mother and has complicated feelings towards his brother. They both want him gone but he wins the vote and gains control.

Sasha joins him and the rest of his men back in NY and this is where their relationship becomes sexual, and the tension was everything. He keeps her close and guarded, he makes sure nobody finds out about her gender and basically protects her at all costs. He even punches the hell out of Damien when Damien punches Sasha lol

We get to see the scene where Rai (drunk) walks into the office where Kirill/Sasha are about to have sex and this is where she believes that Kirill is gay and with his bodyguard and instead of shoving Sasha under the bus, he protects her. Allows Rai to have something over him and owe her a favor.

''Such a good girl, my Solnyshko''
''Mine. This woman is all fucking mine''

Honestly their sexual tension was everything and I loved how there was no mention of any other woman during the entire book, he is utterly obsessed and madly desperate for Sasha and any alone time together. They keep their sexual relationship going for MONTHS but we also find out he wants to put a wall between them. He never spends the night in bed with her or opens up to her....it's hopefully going to change in the upcoming books.

So, a little backstory about Sasha and her current situation, out of all the people who were murdered only 3 (4 including herself) survived: Her uncle, her little cousin, and her grandmother. These three are in hiding and seem to be desperate for Sasha to stay hidden as her true self as well but I had a bad feeling about her uncle, and you know what? I was right.

The last chapter is basically Sasha asking for 3 days off to go on holiday and Kirill surprisingly accepts and even drives her to the airport. He is silent the entire time and it's awkward until their reach the airport and he begged her to not go.

''I want to keep looking at his icy eyes and fantasize about softening them one day''

Why? Well, I should mention Kirill believes she has a lover she is hiding from him, someone she loves and misses since he overheard her on the phone, and she shot the phone to protect the number. Who was she talking to? Her little cousin but she never tells him, so he thinks for months that she is really just using him for sex and wants her lover instead and that is where she is going during her 3 days.

''Every fiber in me breaks, willingly offering itself to this monster''

Back to the scene where he asks her 3 times to stay and not go and she leaves. She heads out to Russia, quietly gets to her uncle’s location, and realizes things are wrong. He seems better and dressed like a mercenary and has men around him with guns and he basically thanks her for getting him alone. HUH? Well guess what? Kirill followed her all the way there all alone and the last second of this book is him being shot at.

''Revenge, my darling. That man was the mastermind behind our family's massacre''

WHAT?
Okay so here is what we know:
Kirill's father might have orchestrated the whole massacre that was brought to Sasha's family.
BUT her uncle reveals it was Kirill at the last second.

Did Kirill have a hand to play in it? I don't think so. I hope not.
I think her uncle did, but it went wrong? The deaths weren't supposed to all happen but maybe only his brothers and Sasha's side of the family so he could take over?

We know this timeline is YEARS before Rai finds out Sasha is a woman after they were kidnapped....I wonder how Kirill and her both keep working together if her uncle reveals Kirill was the reason her family died?

Questions I need answers to:
1) Does Kirill escape with the help of Sasha and plot to destroy her uncle when the real truth is revealed?
2) Do they stop their sexual relationship after these events because he no longer trusts Sasha and keeps her around to punish what he might take as a betrayal?
3) Was Sasha's attempt to protect Kirill during the kidnapping and take his place instead her way of showing him she loves him, and she hopes he will forgive her? Because she does say ''forgive me'' right before she runs to get captured.

We do know that in book 3 that she refers to her ''monster'' as her husband soooo how do they get to that? Is she finally revealed as a woman?

Also the timeline:
This book takes place first in the army. A few months over goes by and they end up in the failed mission.
They then leave for NY after being rescued
We find out this is before Adrian was married and Kyle came back.
It’s either right after Kyle left Rai which is why she got drunk
Which means it’s 6/7 years before the events of Thrones Duet
After a few months of being in NY - Kirill and Sasha have sex
6 months go by while Kirill and Sasha are still intimate which then she asks for a few days of holiday and all goes to hell once she arrived in Russia a couple days later.

It’s safe to say the timeline for the first book is before any of the events of Deception trilogy/ Thrones duet happens !

Anyways! I have SO many questions and I can't wait until April 6th to get the conclusion!

Also couple side notes:
- Adrian was mentioned and made quite a few appearances and I can assume this is before Lia existed in his life but still made me super happy!
- Kirill doesn't need to wear glasses but only does it to look more human lol
- I loved the friendships Sasha made with a few of Kirill's close guards. They accept her as is and never think low of her. (They all believe she is a man)
- Kirill's younger sister? She was insane and I loved it.
- The scene where she gets on her knees for him? Holy shit.

A lot happened in this book, and I missed a bunch of stuff BUT it's so good. Don't expect a lot of romance in this one or feelings being revealed. This is the itty gritty timeline for these two...they have so much more to get through to get to their HEA.

[ˋ✧*⁀➷ ʙᴇᴛᴛʏ (med school got me good) · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT CAN YOU HEAR ME SCREAMINGG ??????

[annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

This book was amazing! I was hesitant to start this trilogy, but this book turned out to be super captivating. I enjoyed every second of reading it. Everything is explained so simply, though the main element in the story—disguising—is quite unrealistic. I'm going to overlook that because, yes, things like that happen in books 😗

╰┈➤ SASHA or ALEKSANDRA IVANOVA:

❝If my gender is discovered, I will be killed. It's as simple as that.❞

Sasha, this cutie 😭 Sasha, disguised as a boy named Aleksander, is in the military to get closer to higher-ups and gather information about her family's massacre, to seek revenge on those responsible. Her sole purpose is revenge! I personally loved her character, and while she had some characteristics similar to Rina's fmcs, she was unique. She had a great childhood with her best brothers and cousins... until they were all killed when she was 16. I admired how she aimed to become stronger every day, pursuing her goals regardless of others' opinions! 💗

Her reflections on her past and the best moments of her life weren't all thrown aside in this book. She wasn't a grief-filled statue. It was heartbreaking when she recalled the best moments of her life, playing, dressing up, and laughing carelessly.

❝It wasn't until about four years ago when I lost them that I realized just how privileged we were.❞

Of course, she had her dumb moments 😂 and I'm not even mad! I laughed at that scene — when Kirill told her to stay still because a sniper had targeted her, and she should throw a stick or her rifle to distract him, guess what she did?! SHE THREW HERSELF AT THE SNIPER AND GOT SHOT! 🤡 hwhsbwha

I know, I know. This is super unrealistic that Sasha is disguised as a boy but has an hourglass figure, girly features, a soft cute face, blah blah fucking blah (Damien's style). But YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT RINA IS THAT CREATIVE 😂 and everything is possible in her world.

╰┈➤ KIRILL MOROZOV:

❝Thanks for the info. I’ll call when I find any fucks to give.❞

Sweetheart, your 'I don't give a fuck' attitude is really attracting me! 😭 This man is incredibly unbothered by everything, so emotionless that he wears glasses to appear less intimidating 🥺 He's the heir of the Morozov Empire, but he was previously a Captain in the Military. His povs are so funny, and I'm loving his "IDGAF" attitude. Also, the fact that he cares about Sasha in some way and doesn't treat her as fragile—seriously, those training sessions were the least I expected from him. He also chooses not to reveal her identity because 'it's not his business' and hasn't even considered taking advantage of it. He shows appreciation when necessary, and he clearly loves and cares about his siblings. I really liked him, and all his self-confidence and self-talk didn't make me cringe!

❝Is he...blushing?❞

— The fact that he refers to her as 'he' in his points of view is 🙌🏻.

His childhood, to say the least, wasn't good, and his current emotionless state is a result of his father's actions. He was mentally and physically tortured a lot to become a suitable heir for his father. 🙂

╰┈➤ THEIR MEET-CUTE:

It wasn't romantic lol. Sasha was actually being bullied by other soldiers, and Kirill happened to walk by. He punched their leader and continued on his way. Sasha followed him and asked him to train her, to which he immediately refused. However, he later somehow agreed, and that was that—no tingling, lust filled thoughts 👀. Kirill was about to return, so he recruited five soldiers, but in the end, he chose Sasha for her improvements! But due to his father's pressure, he had to go back to New York from Russia to become an heir, and all his men left with him. Sasha chose to go with him too.

Honestly, this book was more focused on the plot. It did have sexual tension, jealousy, possessiveness, but it didn't have all that dominating and suffocating behavior. Sasha was submissive, yet not a pushover, and that's what I loved about her. The revenge aspect took a little backseat, considering she was more intent on getting close to Kirill and everything was highly secured, but at least she never lost sight of her main mission.

THE SMUT SCENES 😂🤭 Sasha actually fainted the first time they got intimate, as they were in a sauna and he wasn't stopping at all. When they finally had sex, he was so into it, going again and again because he was addicted to her. Both of them are confused and uncertain about where they stand with each other. Sasha casually told him 'It was convenient' to have sex, which made him furious 😂, and they ended up in a 'we use each other' relationship. And it didn't happen till 60% of the book!

╰┈➤ OTHER THINGS:

— Kirill ran for one hour while carrying Sasha when she got shot. Kirill ran for one hour while carrying Sasha when she got shot.

— Maksim and Sasha have a really good friendship. (Take that Aiden-Cole!) Kirill is so jealous of Maksim 😂.

— I loved how Kirill was pleading with Sasha at the end, begging her NOT to GO to Russia for 3 days! And he even followed her... (hehehehe, the ending was great. I'm starting book 2 right now.)

— ❝I hope she trips on her heels and breaks her ankles. Or better yet, hits her head and dies.❞ — I burst out laughing when he thought this about Rai! 💀💀

— ❝He’s already on my side. He just doesn’t know it yet.❞ I'm a Kirill-Adrian stan from now on. Aiden-Adrian who?

— I love how Kirill cares about Karina and still hugs her even when she threatens him and curses him. I can't wait for Karina to forgive her brother. Also, I'm dying because I know Karina has a crush on Sasha! 💀 Kirill would surely lose it if he found out his sister's feelings!

— Damien, ayo you cutie 🥹

❝Your skin looks red.❞
❝That’s because...I’m hot.❞
❝That you are.❞

RATINGS

• Blood Of My Monster — 5 stars
• Lies Of My Monster – 5 stars
• Heart Of My Monster – TBR

[veerali · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know what...hell yeah.

[lulu ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

જ⁀➴ 4 stars

“I want to keep looking at his icy eyes and fantasize about softening them one day.”

~ this might be my first rk trilogy that ill actually love.

[T.S · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75 ☆

[mara · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf 48%, i just can't.

this was such a disappointment, i wanted to love this so bad but the fmc was pissing me off and while i did kinda love the mmc, he also got on my nerves when he was describing her.

you would think they would both be giving scary, feared, strong main characters but all i got were immature, stupid, slow, and definitely not feared.

she's supposed to be getting revenge for her family so she's pretending to be a man in the military (God knows how) to find out who ordered the attack. now, you would think she would become a hacker or something better and easier, but no ! she decided to make her life, and mine, harder by pretending to be a man.

she threw herself to get shot instead of throwing her gun !!!!! is she the stupidest person possible? yes.

this is how she disguised herself- short hair, bandaged chest, and a "masculine" voice. how ugly can you be for these highly trained military men to actually, wholeheartedly, believe you're a man ? and it's said multiple times that she's the smallest one there. not only that, but the mmc keeps saying she has soft features. on top of that, he was 99% sure she was a she, and he still called her a he in his inner monologue, like what the fuck for ??

honestly, i don't mind kirill, the mmc, but he can be annoying sometimes. mostly when he's describing her "softness" like shut up

'I’m struck by the sheer softness of the fucker, especially when he’s not being rigid and going through all the motions to appear tougher than he actually is.'

'No fucking kidding, he actually moans. The sound is soft, too, like…'

his character was so wasted, this is not how he's supposed to be talking and carrying himself.

'Despite her short brown hair, she looks more feminine than most women.'

wtf does that even mean? not him saying we're ugly when she was believed to be a man with her ugly ass face please.

she acts too immature to be getting revenge for her family. she needs to be put in daycare because this is unbelievable. she's crying and talking about her problems with him for absolutely no reason like who said this wasn't the man that ordered ur family to be killed babes or are u just so naive? go kys please. she got too comfortable too fast.

"I just can’t stop thinking about how it’s all because of me… Everyone dies because I exist in their lives…”

she makes everything about herself. she was supposed to die too LMAOOOO like you were not spared, they just thought you were away, get over yourself.

all in all, the mmc was wasted, the writing was atrocious, the fmc was absolute ratty garbage, and this entire mulan idea was not ideaing because nothing about it made sense.

[EmBibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Sasha meet common sense. Common sense meet Sasha. Thank you.

No but seriously is Sasha for real?? I have low tolerance for dumb characters who ignore their brain cells and common sense and insist on making dumb decisions. She wasn’t good as a solider, nor as a bodyguard, nor as person seeking revenge, and nor as a simple human being with functioning brain cells. Only thing she was good at is making me sigh and face palm occasionally.

But, anyway, this was actually really entertaining. I liked all the parts in the Milatery and the fact that Kiril knew from the very beginning that she was a woman (shockingly!!) I actually liked Kiril and no he wasn’t the monster he’s rumored to be. I liked the part where they had to stay in the cabin and pretend! Also, the slow burn?? And when they finally get together? Those two have such an explosive chemistry that I was so into.

Also, I want more of Damien please.

[Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A monster I can’t resist.”



The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙🤎🖤❤️💜
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📙📘
World building: 🌏🌍🌏🌎🌍
Character development: 😍😚😉🙂🥰

The heroine: Sasha (a.k.a. Aleksander) - she is from a wealthy Russian family, most of whom were murdered in a massacre. Her uncle tells her that the only way to protect herself and the rest of her family that somehow survived was to join the Russian Army. She is undercover as a man named Aleksander, her hair has been chopped off, she wears bindings around her breasts and is doing her best to not be a weakling, though she is thinner and smaller than all the other brutes in her unit.

The Hero: Kirill - He is the heir to a Russian mafia family in the U.S. To get away from his father, he joined the Russian Army and is now a captain of the special ops. He is every bit as dangerous as that sounds and has honed his body into a killing machine. He is surrounded by loyal men in his unit.



The Story: Sasha is being harassed by some of the men in her unit when she first meets the Captain. She asks him to train her because she doesn’t want to be a weakling and he is pretty sure the kid is really a girl, so he tells her she should leave the army. Though Sasha knows the army is the safest place for her, she continues to try to improve her strength and stamina.

I read the deception trilogy and knew about Kirill and his bodyguard Sasha since then, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read an entire trilogy or even a book about them. However, I love everything Rina Kent puts out there, so I started this one with a grain of salt and ended loving it from the start. The story started with a bang and I loved the first few meetings between these two. They are both strong characters, though both suffer from nightmares about their respective pasts.

There was a lot of action in this book, the story was intriguing and kept my interest from start to finish, as with most Rina Kent books. Kirill was obviously the same guy that we saw in earlier books about the Russian Bratva (Deception Trilogy, Throne Duet). He was always a handsome but dangerous guy with his own secrets and was always looking out for number one. Kirill is the same in this book, but we get to see inside him in this one and find out why Sasha was with him and still pretending to be a man.

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[Lacey (laceybooklovers) · Rating 4 out of 5]

FINALLY found a rina kent series i enjoyed so much!

*****

a mafia romance that's also inspired by mulan? i'm listening 👀

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars- -At least RK didn’t let me down; unlike Disney…

Are my eyes deceiving me? Is this written by Rina Kent? A slow burn??? I don’t think I’ve ever read a slow burn by her 😅😬. And the writing style had me questioning the name on the cover, but I decided to just trust the process. I mean, a Mulan retelling 😮‍💨- I was invested before I even started (I’ll never forgive Disney for not including my boo Captain Ali Shang in the live action!!! My teenage fantasies went down the drain 😑; I have yet to watch it 🤷🏻‍♀️). Now, I need to read more of these 👀.

Sasha/Aleksander (20) has been in the military for 18 months now and has been pretending to be a man, all so that she can seek revenge for the murder of her family members. When she was 16, her loved ones were massacred by a sadistic man, and she wants to find him. In the meantime, she’s training so that she becomes stronger and also find her missing brother.

There are men who gang up on her (or “him”) because she’s small in size, but luckily, the captain, Kirill (28) is ready to dole out punishments against the bullying (Disney. You should’ve had the captain in the live action- he could’ve represented so many populations! Sigh. Okay, I’m digressing here).

What I liked: possible spoilers
—Kirill. This man won my heart. He’s protective, understanding, and calculating. He knows what’s he’s doing 🤷🏻‍♀️. The fact that he still wants Sasha around after all her shenanigans (and almost getting them killed) is admirable. We can’t hate a hero who isn’t wishy washy, and Kirill’s NOT when it comes to Sasha. No other woman for this hero… just the way I like ‘em 😉. Plus. He endured a shit load of horrible injustices growing up with that man as his father 😑😑😞😞😞. Extra points from me

“Does joking include a bloody nose and lips, soldier?” He’s asking Matvey, but he’s still looking at me. “Sometimes, yes, sir,” Matvey replies confidently like the lowlife he is. “Very well.” The captain finally pushes back, but before I can breathe properly, he swings his fist and punches Matvey across the face so hard, he reels back from the power of it.

—the slow 🔥burn. Look. Im not always in the mood for slow burns because they’re not always done right. In fact, I prefer them to be medium burn, with the occasional fast burns, so that I don’t experience b9ng anxiety. But here, it made sense and it worked! Oh LAWD. Captain Kirill correctly guessing Sasha’s not a man and having lingering looks/touches had me burning up. Say whatever you want, but having the physical part of the relationship gradually become more *ahem* physical was 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨. I’m not gonna tell you how many times I reread the sauna scene🥵💦… or the office scene 👀… or the bathroom scene 🔥… (might as well bring in the limo scene too 😉) because I’m a lady after all 💁🏻‍♀️. Just know that these scenes will live rent free in my head… for a looong time

—the sauna scene 😉. I’m making it its own bullet. The determined way Kirill ate his cereal beats any Olympian champ trying to eat his breakfast. And the flawlessness 🔥😮‍💨. If only all men were as determined as Kirill 💅 he did not come to play. He beat the competition 💁🏻‍♀️. You get first place Kirill 👏🏻

—the 🔥 talk. I was actually worried we wouldn’t see any. I mean, I was looking at the % and wondering if RK was going to make an appearance at some point, and boy, did she ever😉. Kirill came out swinging with the 🔥 talk 👀.

—he calls her “sun” 🥹❤️

”Look at who owns you, Solnyshko. Look at how your body submits to me as if it was made for me. You are mine, and you will always be fucking mine. You’ll never belong to anyone else but me.”

See!!! Isn’t he sweet?

—how JP Kirill gets. He almost blows a gasket when he finds out Sasha is hanging out with the men when she doesn’t need to. I luuurved it 😈. It led to the amazing sauna scene that I mentioned above ^^^
MINEMINEMINE

”Does the silence mean some other bastard has seen your tits, Sasha?” His fingers dig into the sensitive flesh of my breasts. I shake my head. “No.” “Only me?” “Only…you.”

—the side characters. Omg. Kirill’s sister Karina needs her own book. This girl is V I C I O U S lol. I wanted to hug her! Maksim and Viktor had me side eyeing them a few times. I can see some potential there too 👀. And then, an honorable mention is older couple 😭😭😭😩😩😩

—Sasha’s courage. This girl is hardworking. I know it should be one of the first bullets, but 🤷🏻‍♀️. I don’t make the rules lol. When she encounters problems, she finds solutions. Not strong enough? Train more. Not fast enough? Practice more. This girl embodies that it’s never too late and practice makes perfect

—the audiobook is DUET NARRATION!! Hearing Sebastian York only speak male parts gives this book extra points 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻. I love his Russian accent too 👀

What I wanted more of:
—less time jumps. As usual with RK, we get the whole “6 weeks passed” “months passed”, meanwhile, I’m still stuck on the previous paragraphs that apparently happened in a different month! Sigh. Why this bothers me is because we lose some of the buildup to the MCs relationship, in this case, how Kirill and Sasha went from being physical in private to changing back into who they usually are during the day. What does that look like? How do they sneak in all the 🔥? When did things change between them? I. Want. To. See. It. All!!!

—monster who? Kirill?? No way. Where’s the monster??? The one who protects Sasha? Lies for her? Chases her? Pleasures her? Where is this monster m?

Overall, I enjoyed it a lot… now I’m irritated with myself because I have to wait for book two 😏

⚠️safety squad⚠️
-no cheating/sharing/owd/omd
-the H is very JP and sideeyes all men near the h but no true omd
-death/bloodshed/violence
-loss of friends/family
-mental health/anxiety
-praise kink/breath play/hand necklace/biting/marking/degradation ish
-virgin h
-no condom/H is clean/h on the shot
-Cliffy

[aleksandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5

Me when Adrian and Damien were mentioned



That’s it, that’s the review.

[❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

MY REVIEW AND OTHERS can also be found on my blog:
╰┈➤KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS

ღ 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 ღ Is the first full length mafia romance book in the (Monster) Trilogy. Spoken in Dual Perspectives. In this you'll meet Sasha aka Private Aleksander Abramovic Lipovsky (20) & Captain Kirril Morozov (28). Ends in cliffy.

OMFG!! I knew going into this that it would be a winner, and it delivered exactly what I craved and wanted.

There were a few discrepancies when it came to her disguising herself as a male and his thought process, ( he knew she was a female but still even in his mind addressed her as a man). Was just a wee bit messy in some places.

But other than that this was so freaking good.

Her only resource for survival was to join the Russian military, disguise her true identity due to a masacre which took out her family, and hope to god she doesn’t get caught. Because to be caught could get her thrown out and potentially getting her killed in the process. One scene definitely had my heart rate spiking not so far into the book where it all could’ve unraveled.

'𝑰'𝒎 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆.
𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅.'

Kirril with add an extra thump to your heart, and with Sasha you'll end up admiring her for her sheer determination/will power to prove that she belongs in this mans dominated sector.

Under normal circumstances these two wouldn't've met, but these aren't normal circumstances...

Beyond unique and has me gasping for the next book because this cliffy is beyond brutal!

 

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[♡Gabi♡ [life & work is chaotic hiatus] · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ✰

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂’𝒔 𝒅𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑶𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆.

if rina kent writes it… 9/10 times I’m reading it and I can’t believe i put starting this series off for so long because wow did i just devour this UP! it’s by no means perfect and i wasn’t 100% feeling our FMC at first, but slowly i started warming up to her, especially when she becomes more defiant and feisty, and the MMC is a signature rina kent character: with the dark past, all hardened, broody, stoic, and daddy issues galore (not that I mind 🤪🤷🏻‍♀️).

book 1 in the ‘monster trilogy’ ends on a cliffhanger that had my mouth dropping so ofc, i will immediately be jumping right into book 2.

our naive, but strong-willed FMC sasha has enlisted into the russian military under the disguise of a man, looking for answers into the massacre of her entire family and wanting to find who was responsible for such a horrific act. fast forward a bit, and this is where she meets the indomitable captain kirill and ends up eventually, under his guidance while serving. she later follows him back to America where he is to take over his father’s position in the bratva and serves as his bodyguard with ulterior motives of hopefully, gaining more information on who was behind her family's murders.

low and behold, the two of them end up developing sizzling tension and chemistry, though, for a while, kirill does his best to keep his hardened, cool, and calculated, apathetic-emotionless-monster-persona/exterior with her, but before you know it, sasha is burrowing her way behind all his icy-frostiness and stirring feelings in him he has never experienced before. the man never stood a chance against her determined, strong, resilient, beautiful self. 😫🫠

though the beginning was a bit of a slow start and it took a while before getting to the actual relationship aspect, the latter half of the book really is where it picks up and we see much more development and growth between kirill and sasha and get a lil more insight into their backstories as well. 🥺

i can’t wait to see how book 2 plays out after that ending, as i have a strong feeling it's about to be complete chaos filled with heartbreak and betrayal, but I’m ready for it. 🫢


⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡ ⋆
❥“𝑺𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘?” 𝑰 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅.
“𝑵𝒐𝒘”—𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔—“𝑰 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆.”
😮‍💨🤭

❥“𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒏𝒚𝒔𝒉𝒌𝒐. 𝑳𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆.”
🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️🧎🏻‍♀️

❥ 𝑰𝒇 𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏.
𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒑 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒚, 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒖𝒕.
𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒔𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆.

❥𝑯𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒄, 𝒖𝒏𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒎.
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌.
𝑵𝒐, 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒚.
“𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒈𝒐, 𝑺𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕𝒍𝒚, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏.
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒕.
𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔, 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓.
𝑴𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓.
plssss😭
⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡♡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡ ⋆˙⟡♡˙⟡ ⋆

🥷🏻 mulan vibes
👊🏼 dual pov
🥷 russian mafia
👊🏼 FMC soldier turned bodyguard
🥷 possessive and calculated MMC
👊🏼 forbidden love
🥷 ”you’re mine” and “no one touches you, but me” energy
👊🏼 pet name (solnyshko aka sun🥹)
🥷 a couple action sequences with unexpected twists
👊🏼 cliffhanger ending
🥷 add a lil bit of spice

*check TW before reading*

‘Monsters Trilogy’:
Book 1 - Blood of My Monster Review
Book 2 - Lies of My Monster Review

[currently being delulu · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love how everyone no matter if they gave it 5 stars or 1 star rating all collectively agreed that Sasha was the dumbest body guard there was.

[Marianna Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ Don’t even start with me. RINA KENT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!!! The chokehold this women and her books have over me…. I just know this trilogy is going to ruin me in the best way! Nobody does dark mafia romance like RK. I absolutely ADORED the Legacy of Gods series however the one thing that I found myself yearning for a bit more of with each book was a little more plot, but because each book is technically a standalone I totally understood why the romance was the main plot point! However this book…. Oh good god is it DELIVERING on plot as well as romance and at this point I’m questioning my sanity for being so emotionally invested. Kirill…… don’t even get me started on this man. Sasha is also my favorite RK FMC so far, she is such a bad ass and her story is so unique I cannot get enough!

[sumeyye˚₊۶ৎ˙⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, i don't really know what to say about this book, but I'm sure about one thing: I did NOT like it.
It's a bit complicated to explain because it actually started off pretty well -especially by Rina Kent's standards. I mean, how can a book by this author not include harassment scenes, a rape-prone MMC, and a relationship that goes beyond toxic? How??

The plot and the characters were just… too normal. I kept waiting for a plot explosion, something dramatic that would hit like a bomb, but… no. Everything stayed suspiciously normal 🤷🏻‍♀️

That being said… I didn't completely hate it either. Because yeah, it was normal 🙂‍↔️
I actually liked the FMC, which is a big deal for me. I've read two trilogies by Rina Kent and hated both FMCs (Lia and Elsa), but i found Sasha surprisingly… almost cute 🤭
I mean, imagine a petite girl acting like a boy among huge men. and i still can't believe how none of them realized she was a girl because… she was practically screaming "i'm a girl!"

Anyway, i liked Sasha, but I can't say the same for Kirill. He was interesting at first, but later he turned into a character who made me feel absolutely indifferent. I didn't care about him at all 🧍🏻‍♀️

As for the romance… i wish i could call it a slow burn. Yes, it was definitely slow but where was the burn? Where was the chemistry? Where was the dynamic?
I wasn't impressed by their relationship, just like I wasn't impressed by Kirill. Every time i read a "you're mine" moment, I just rolled my eyes. I prefer books that make you feel the "you're mine" energy, not just say it. And Kirill mostly just… said it.

The plot wasn't that interesting either. Yes, the last chapter made me a bit curious about the second book, but honestly, it was also quite predictable 😐
I'm going to read the remaining two books, but definitely not with much excitement.

[Ri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25★
------------------------------------------------------------
betts💕 gave me a whole summary on Rina Kent and after much indecisiveness I'm starting the Monster Trilogy. I'm literally afraid of this author based on the reviews and reactions of my gr friends😭

[Rina Kent]

BLOOD OF MY MONSTER IS BOOK ONE OF A TRILOGY!
NOW LIVE ┃ A Russian Mafia Romance

➜ https://amzn.to/3AdB6F8

[Gry ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I loved this, but I cannot really stop reading either..?

________________
•°. *࿐pre-read:

I can't start of the year without some Rina Kent, right... right?

[Dora Koutsoukou · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part 1

1,5 🤦🏻‍♀️⭐️s

Kirill was the only sharp one from his unit to detect that Sasha was a woman pretending to be a man????
What about the rest of the soldiers? The Special Ops unit????
Were all of them that stupid or blind that they never suspected anything???

However, the heroine mostly ruined this story for me…

Dumb and dumber!
I will leave it up to you to choose who is who. Sasha or me for reading this trilogy....

I will try to check out the next part, only for the cliffhanger.