the monster & the masochıst

“I already have the world, Theodora. I have you.”

Alexandra can write anything, and I know I will DEVOUR it no matter what it is. She is one of my favorite authors, and I don’t even feel the need to look at what her books are about anymore. I know I WILL read whatever she is cooking. It’s that simple 🤷🤷

The Monster & The Masochist is the story of Theodora Fairview and Cassandra Walker. We met both of these characters in The Mercenary & The Mortician as the MMCs’ sisters, and I’ve been waiting for the day when I’d finally get to read their story.

Cassandra finds herself—or, more accurately, puts herself 😅😅—in a situation where she needs to get married ASAP. And my baby Call, our murderous yet lovable cupid, suggests that his sister marry Theo 😏😏. When Cass brings this fake arranged marriage to Theo, she accepts it for her own reasons and that's how the story starts.

Theo and Cass were the perfect example of opposites attract. They were like day and night, yet somehow so perfectly meant for each other. Two completely different people who fit together like pieces of the same puzzle. I was already so obsessed with Cass and Theo’s banter in Call and Ryan’s book, but somehow, they got even better here. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE? 🔥🔥

What I didn’t know was that I would cry my eyes out for Theo. I should have known better, though, considering who the author is 😭😭 Theo has a very dark and traumatic past that she has never shared with anyone and has kept entirely to herself.

That past is one of the biggest reasons behind her constant suffering. She tries to cope with it through alcohol and pain, but they only dull what she’s feeling for short periods of time. Underneath her playful, easy-going persona is a little girl with a broken heart, and nobody had ever managed to see behind her facade until Cass.

Theo’s story shattered my heart into pieces 💔💔 I was so sad and angry on her behalf, and watching her suffer caused me so much pain. She needed someone to rely on, someone who would take care of her, give her all the love she deserved, and then slaughter her demons for her. She needed Cassandra in her life ⚔️⚔️

Cass is the same old Cass. Still the same badass defense attorney who doesn’t give a fuck about what anyone thinks of her 😎😎 There are very few people she genuinely cares about, and if you’re not one of them, then your opinion simply doesn’t matter.

When you look at Cass’s very nicely put-together self, you wouldn’t expect her to be hiding a bloodthirsty monster inside her. But she does. She is just as crazy and psychopathic as Callum. Guess it runs in the family 🤣🤣 At this point, I fully expect the Gnomes to have some sort of psychopathy too.

Cassandra sees her bloodthirsty desires as a separate entity from herself, almost like a second personality, and calls it “Her Monster.” And Cass’s Monster was honestly one of the most entertaining parts of this story. I LOVED it so much 😍😍

‘It’s just a house spider, little killer. It’s not like it’s a black widow.’ My monster chuckled softly as I stood there, vibrating with anticipation. ‘How the fuck do you know!?’ My monster shrugged. ‘It’s good practice to understand things that have the power to kill you.’ ‘You’re literally a manifestation of my own brain! You know what I know!’

Banter is good and all, but the best part of their relationship for me was the soft moments they shared. Watching them slowly let each other in, learning to trust one another enough to share their burdens and fears, and becoming a safe place for each other was everything. Those emotional moments were made of pure love and understanding, and the comfort they gave me was phenomenal ❤️❤️

She was looking at me like I was her whole world, and I realized in that moment that I would raze the entire fucking planet if that’s what I had to do to make sure she always looked at me like that.

Another thing I loved was how the roles were reversed in their relationship. Since Theo is an underground street fighter, she is the more masculine-looking one between the two of them, and you would usually expect someone like her to be the fierce protector and dominant one in the relationship. But nope. Cass, with her beautiful and stylish looks, is the dominant one, and I LIVED FOR IT 👍👍

Cass and Theo helped each other tremendously with their own healing—that’s an undeniable truth. But they still went to therapy, and it took time to actually see the results of all their hard work. I was so happy that I got to witness that entire process instead of having everything magically fixed just because they fell in love.

Alexandra always does a wonderful job of showing the healing process of her characters. They don’t suddenly heal just because they fall in love. They actually work to become better, healthier versions of themselves. They go to therapy, find better outlets when their traumas get the better of them, develop healthier coping mechanisms, and slowly learn how to live with what happened to them. And that’s exactly why the healing process in her books always feels so real, earned, and satisfying 👌👌

I have never read an FF romance before (I don’t know if there is a proper term for it, but since there is MM romance, I thought FF romance would work 😂😂), but Cass and Theo’s story was a long-awaited book for me. And, to no one’s surprise, Alexandra did it again. This book was phenomenal. Now, let’s talk about the side characters.

I’ll talk about our main crew in a moment, but first, I need to mention how much I loved Nolan. He is another defense attorney who works with Cass. He started out as an arrogant, typical homophobic guy, and I was certain he would continue being like that. But, to my surprise, Alexandra gave the guy a genuinely nice redemption arc 🙏🙏

I was so happy to watch him realize his mistakes and actually work toward earning their forgiveness. By the end, he and Cass even became besties, as he likes to say. 😂😂 I genuinely enjoyed their friendship, and I’m so glad Alexandra took his character in that direction.

“Have you tried stalking her?” “I’m not going to stalk your sister.” “Why not? That’s what I did with Ryan. Look at us now.” He beamed at me, wiggling his fingers in my face to show off his engagement ring. “Now we’re getting maaarrriiieddd!”

I MISSED MY BABIES RYAN AND CALLUM SO MUCH. 😭😭❤️❤️ I’m so in love with them that it physically hurts. I ate up every single crumb we got from them. Seeing them living their happily ever after, after everything they went through to reach this point was so satisfying. They were my first babies from Alexandra, and they will always stay at the top of my list.

NAOMI AND VOX 🤩🤩 We all knew they were going to become a couple, but every single scene between them was filled with so much tension that I was giggling like a maniac. And that ending?! 🤯🤯 OHHHH We need their book AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

And then there’s Iris, our witchy queen. She is practically a main character of her own. I ADORED the few interactions she had with Cass and Cass’s Monster. I need more of her too, please and thank you 😄😄

Iris glanced at me, and a knowing smile curled on her lips. “You and your monster are very observant.” I almost physically recoiled at the fact that she seemed to know about my monster, and the beast in my chest chuckled. ‘She is a delight,’ my beast purred, and I tried not to outwardly scowl.

And that’s all I’ve got to say… Another masterpiece from Alexandra. If you haven’t read this book yet, you are missing out on SO MUCH. Go and eat it up. See you later! 👋👋