Monster in His Eyes

by JM Darhower

We've all been here before – young broke girl meets rich handsome guy and what happens next is inevitable…. Well perhaps that may have been the case with those aforementioned others but they were not … Ignazio (Naz)Vitale.

Everything about the man screams dominance, he is as far from predictable as you could possibly get and getting close to him is going to get your fingers well and truly burnt but damn!

He may just be worth the pain!!!!!

The book centres on Karissa Reed, 18 year old college student, studying and inexplicably failing philosophy.  Struggling with a mother who seems to live with irrational fears (or are they??) of everything the modern world has to offer, Karissa has stepped out on her own to attend college in New York.

But from the moment the enigmatic Naz places himself in her world, and he does indeed place himself front and centre in her existence, life for the clumsy 18 year old will never be the same again.

The story gets you on every front – it attacks all your senses all at once and at times you will find yourself holding your breath, in anticipation.

The age difference between them is not hidden but it is not addressed completely either – like in all good love stories – what is age but a number? – The fact that Naz is actually twice Karissa’s age really has no bearing on their relationship.

Naz is straight forward in a hidden sort of way- and I know that statement may not make any sense but he is hiding in plain sight – only Karissa’s naivety shields her from fully taking in what someone a few years older would have been able to determine from the get-go.

Naz knows no bounds, and makes no bones about it

“I don’t live my life by someone else’s rules. I’m my own boss, my own judge and jury, my own authority”

But with Karissa, his motivation lies somewhere else until the unthinkable happens and he falls in love.

Naz has absolutely no qualms about who and what he is and lays it on the line for her to understand.

"I'm telling you, I'm warning you. I'm not a good man, Karissa, and I never will be. So don't think you can fix me, or that I'll ever change, because I won't. I can't. You have to know, if this goes any further, if you ask me to stay, I'm not going to be able to let you walk away."

But walking away from Naz is not an option- Karissa can’t and even if she could he wouldn’t let her. She is “his” in every sense of the word and while the man can best be described as complicated and intense, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he loves her and not only in his own way but in any which way that counts!

“I thought I could play with you a bit, and let you go, but once I had you, Karissa, I had to keep you. I couldn’t walk away.”

Naz is a difficult character to pin down – a conundrum to explain and understand – he is a walking cliché. Naz himself is the light in the world of Ignazio Vitale, the flipside to the dark world that he as Vitale inhabits. They are two halves of the same person but they are poles apart.

Karissa quickly has to learn to read and understand the demons that control her man.

Because her life has always been and continues to be in his hands – quite literally.

The story doesn’t have the classic cliffhanger ending it is more of a series of “What The F**k” moments, culminating in one absolute humdinger – and I did not see it coming – congratulations to the author on a plot well played!

The book definitely serves you up the passion and desire that you can expect from JM Darhower  and by that I mean that the sex scenes are beyond steamy – Boy Oh Boy!! But over and above that it oozes the darkness, the lust and the angst that Ms Darhower does so well.

It will leave you counting the days until you can get your hand on book two and finish their story.

A story fast paced Romance/Mystery, hold your hand out and let the enigmatic Ignazio “Naz” Vitale welcome you into his world.

But be warned It may be a bumpy ride!!!