Review of Damaged and the Beast by Bijou Hunter

Damaged and the Beast

By Bijou Hunter

Star Rating: 

Date/Time Started: 6/9/2015
Date/Time Finished: 6/14/2015

Genre: Romance?
Number of Pages: 232

Synopsis (From Amazon):
New Adult Biker Romance

Heir to the localmotorcycle club and crime syndicate, Cooper Johansson is accustomed to taking what he wants.  His newest conquest is college freshman Farah Smith.

When the tattooed bad boy reminds her of a rough childhood she desperately wishes to forget, Farah keeps him at arm's length.  Yet, Cooper refuses to give up.  He pushes her buttons, tears through her walls, and forces her to admit her feelings for him.  What begins as lust soon builds into something more powerful than either expects.

Can a beast like Cooper heal the damage inside the girl of his dreams?

***Warning: This novel contains scenes of a sexual nature, violent themes, and coarse language.  It is intended for mature readers.


Review:
Notice how I didn't link the book at the top of the page?  This book is available on Amazon for free, yet I am not going to link it.

List of discrepancies/issues within the novel:

- Repetitive/redundant: my parents are the absolute best!

- Horrible language for no reason: bitch seems to make the page at least twice in the first 2/3 of the book.

- Pushy creepy dude asks incredibly invasive questions, which Farah just answers.

- Overtly sexual, meanwhile the guy says she's different, yet continues to cuss at her, mentioning sex all the time

- Way too close family.  An 18 year old girl continuously sitting on her brothers' laps, and mention of how they all know how the others look naked, not to mention she knows everything of her brothers' sex lives.

- Derogatory name calling that is supposed to be cute/endearing.

- Random unnecessary question marks/bad punctuation

- Explaining everything in dialogue all the time.  Every time Farah and Cooper have an issue or disagreement, they talk it out.  While that is a great practice in real life, it makes for a very boring read.

- Farah's signature line: "You're scaring me."  If he scares you so much, why are you still with him?

- Everyone talks about sex so openly, and like it's nothing.

- Farah states several times throughout the novel that her sense of worth comes from Cooper, his desire for her and him liking her.  Later, for one whole paragraph, it's stated that she would only have worth if she became a teacher like she wanted to in her lifelong dream, yet you've already heard for 2/3 of the book how she's only worth anything if Cooper wants her, and how she could "get better" and couldn't stand for him to dump her.

- Unrealistic college, written as if it was a high school.  Generally colleges do not have an "exam week" the first month of school where there is an exam in every class, nor do students that fail every single exam have to go to the administration building to talk to a guidance counselor.  Usually colleges consist of having an advisor, but even then, it is more to make sure you are picking the right classes for your major, not to check up and make sure you are doing alright in every general education class you take.

- The major conflict of the entire novel doesn't take place until 95% in to the novel, according to the marker on my kindle.  And this is all within a two week period of time.

- Most people do not get a tattoo of a girlfriend's name within a two week period.  They also don't end up cohabiting, nor getting a house after knowing each other for a month or less.

- General time is used poorly.  Time keeps passing, and there are brief mentions of it, yet it keeps going back to mention two weeks, which leads the reader to believe that almost the entire novel takes place in that time frame.

- Giant time shift from two weeks into their relationship to having a child.

- Despite having a few moments mentioning how she needed to graduate school and become a teacher, at the end of the book she states that her self worth is now determined by having had a daughter, and that she's comfortable being herself because of that.  I cannot conceive how someone who was adamant that they would accomplish their dream would simply give in to a significant other to have children because he wanted to right away, forgoing whatever they had planned for their own future.

It was suggested that perhaps I should offer ways in which this novel could have been made better.  I am not sure that is possible.  I have racked my brain trying to think of the issues in this novel, and if it would have seemed better with anything slightly tweaked.  It would have been better for Farah to have actually had experience with men before simply giving in and settling with the first guy who showed her any genuine attention, but even if she was an established adult, I don't see how the timeline of their relationship would have been any better.  Perhaps if more time had been allotted to being realistic instead of pushing the over dramatized issues both she and Cooper faced, the book could have been a smidgen better.

Author information:

I'm a romance author of Contemporary, New Adult, and Suspense.  Living in Indiana with my three sweet sons, three wacky cats, one super mom (and her ugly dog), I love writing, Denny's, 1970's rock, Beanie Boos, and sitcoms cancelled before their time.

If you like this review, and the writing style of this quirky reviewer, please consider visiting and liking my Facebook author page: Lizzy March.