The Lies We Steal by Monty Jay is live!
An intensely dark, gritty and twisted read, this book will take your breath away!
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Blurb
It’s been months since the day we stood above that empty grave that stunk of burnt flesh and secrets. All of us were dressed to the nines, one of us wearing a wedding dress, a day that was supposed to mark the beginning of a new adventure.
It marked the bitter end of our vengeance.
We have done things that have marked our souls for eternity.
But it didn’t start out that way. Not for me.
It all started there.
The place I could find in my sleep.
Hollow Heights University in the macabre, somber seaside town of Ponderosa Springs.
A college for prestigious, wealthy children to receive the highest education. A town drowning in treachery and secrets that became our damnation.
But it wasn’t the forest surrounding the grounds or even the mysterious hidden mausoleum that haunted me.
It was them.
The ones that lurked in the night, things so wicked, so twisted, so evil, they would become the rulers of my nightmares.
The Hollow Boys.
One wrong move and I landed myself directly in their line of fire.
This is not a story about love, it is not a story of happy endings.
Love just happened to blossom in our sorrows, in our pain, our fear, our blood.
Every terrible thing they ever did, we watched, we helped, we loved them anyway.
Some run from their monsters, we fell in love with ours.
Review
“You don’t have to step into the light to find happiness. You just need to find the person willing to step into the grey area”
4.5 dark and gritty stars
Wow. I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I started this book, but what a read! Intensely dark and gritty, it’s not for the feint-hearted, but for those who enjoy dark, twisted, sort-of-bully romance, this book will be right up your alley!
Trigger warning – there’s a whole lot of stuff going on in this book – graphic violence and torture, murder, psychological torment, childhood emotional abuse, and there’s a feeling of suspense and anxiety about it because you’re not sure what’s going to happen. Honestly, I did struggle with some of the content, and I ended up skimming certain scenes because I just didn’t want that level of graphic detail, but it you can move past that, it’s such an intriguing story, and I couldn’t help but be sucked in.
Briar Lowell came from a simple but loving childhood, and has been given an exclusive opportunity to attend the exclusive Hollow Heights University, where her uncle is on the faculty. Set in a small seaside town just dripping in secrets, the school is populated by wealthy, privileged, self-entitled students, most of whom grew up locally. Briar immediately knows she’s out of her depth, but she quickly bonds with her quirky roommate, and grabs hold of the opportunity for a world-class education.
She soon runs into ‘The Hollow Boys’, four best friends with seriously twisted upbringings that have left them different from those around them. Ruthless and cruel, they are as close as brothers and they do what they want, when they want, and they answer to nobody. They get off on creating fear, and they revel in the shadows where they willingly lurk.
“The sons of the torturously wealthy, Ponderosa Springs’ worst nightmare. They are the Black Death of this town. Not because they are popular, but because they have the power to scare people. Legends. Pretentious and they own every single bit of it.”
The boys are on a mission of vengeance, seeking revenge for the death of someone dear to them. They will let nothing stand in their way, and we see that in gruesome detail as they go on the hunt for information, torturing and taking out those who stand in their way, and those who had done them wrong. And when Briar witnesses this, she ends up on their radar – specifically, that of Alistair Caldwell.
Alistair is intrigued by Briar, but he sets about tormenting her, wanting her to be afraid of him and his boys so that she will keep her mouth shut. But rather than cower in fear, she actually fights back. It’s a situation he’s unfamiliar with, and he finds himself more and more drawn to her. For Briar’s part, she is truly terrified, but she gets off on the fear, on the feeling of being alive, and the adrenaline rush and mad lust that Alistair incites. It’s a bit of a twisted situation, but it propels a mad attraction that neither of them shy away from, and the chemistry sizzles.
“Fight me or fuck me, Caldwell. I’m done playing games.”
Briar is a great heroine – bold and brave, she’s in an extreme situation but she handles herself sensibly, she stands up to the boys, refusing to cower to them, and I loved watching her embrace her darker side, and truly start to live.
“I wanna know,” She breathes, “I wanna know what it is that makes the shadows so great. I want you to show me.”
And Alistair is such an interesting character. Seeing him start to care for someone outside of his circle also allows us a deeper look into his psyche, which is absolutely fascinating, and I loved getting to know him better.
“I love being the person they shove in the shadows … I thrive there. We can do whatever we want inside of the shadows. It’s where I belong. Our invisibility doesn’t make us weak, Little Thief … it gives us power.”
This is not your standard love story. It’s dark and intense, a bit perverted and warped, and seriously sexy, but it works for these two characters. The darkness drives them, and I could feel their attraction and the growing feeling between them.
“I’m not sure what I can give you, but whatever is left of me, whatever I have, it’s yours, for as long as you want it.”
It’s an intense read, and these boys definitely aren’t your usual kind of heroes, but the more we get to know Alistair and his friends, the more sucked in to the story I became. They’re so damn intriguing, a twisted mix of bitter, cruel, evil and sociopathic, but the bond they have between them is incredible. Their loyalty to each other is without question, and I really appreciated the way they were there for each other.
Underneath all the trouble, the torment, the evil, we were just boys who’d been broken. Innocent children who were thrown into this world with no protection. They gave us no choice, not really.
So now, the monsters protect each other.
And only each other.
And their dark humour is actually quite entertaining.
Rook rips the tape off his mouth, the sound of skin and hair teaching echoes, and shit immediately begins to pour out of his mouth.
“What the fuck is wrong with you!”
“As a unit?” Thatcher asks, “Too many things to count.”
But the boys’ quest for revenge uncovers a deeper plot than they ever could have expected. It’s a dark and dangerous journey, and it seems that it’s just the beginning as the overarching story is unfinished and will no doubt continue in future books (and we haven’t hit the scene from the blurb yet, which I’m thinking is actually a blurb for the whole series?). There are some great potential set-ups in place, and I’m looking forward to continuing on with the books for the rest of the boys.
“I will tear through the sky, rip heavens gates apart if that’s what it takes to prevent you from being at risk again. They will have to raise hell to stop me from protecting you. You understand?”
This was a way darker read than I was expecting, and yes, I struggled with parts of it, but I am well and truly hooked, and excited to continue on.
4.5 stars.
An Advanced Reader Copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
The Hollow Boys
The Lies We Steal (#1) (Alistair)
Review
Buy: Amazon
The Truths We Burn (#2) (Rook)
Review
Buy: Amazon
The Blood We Crave: Part 1 (#3) (Thatcher – book #1 of duet)
Review
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The Blood We Crave: Part 2 (#4) (Thatcher – book #2 of duet)
Review
Buy: Amazon
The Oath We Give (#5) (Silas)
Review
Buy: Amazon
Also check out the second-gen spin-off series, River Styx Heathens
Meet the Author
Monty Jay likes to describe herself as a punk rock kid, with the soul of a gypsy who has a Red Bull addiction. She writes romance novels about insane artists, feisty females, hockey players, and many more.
When she isn’t writing she can be found reading anything Stephen King, getting a tattoo, or eating cold pizza.
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