Beautiful Russian Monster
by Odette Stone
My review:
“Beautiful Russian Monster” is the second book in the ‘Vancouver Mafia Romance’ series by Odette Stone. This is a fast-paced action-adventure story that pulled me in from the very first chapter and kept my interest right until the end. You do not need to have read the first book in the series in order to enjoy this one.
Viktor is former Russian military and former mafia, and along with his partner he’s been diligently working to do things in his life legally. As the co-owner and operator of a security firm, he’s comfortable saying very little and working very hard behind the scenes. For a man with his dark past, always staying in the shadows is easier said than done because his skills are valuable. He gets forced to take on a dangerous mission that involves a missing shipping mogul, a wealthy young woman, and mysterious data that needs to be found and recovered. Blaire is the young woman. She’s as talkative as Viktor is silent. She is given no choice but to join him in his perilous mission – one that ends up spanning the globe. The more stressed he gets the quieter he becomes, whereas stress makes her even more vocal. The dialogue and banter between them often provide moments of humor within this high intensity story. The physical chemistry between them is incredible, and when it finally can’t be denied by either of them anymore, it really lights up the pages.
The more deeply Viktor and Blaire get pulled into this high-stakes journey of epic proportions, the more they see one another with real clarity. Each of them grows and changes because of the other, which is something I think is a characteristic of a great story. The twists and turns in the story help maintain the excitement level and the writing style makes it all feel vivid and dynamic. I like the ending although I was left with questions about a couple of things, including about particular secondary characters. Given the great attention to detail that this author puts into her work, it’s likely that was deliberate and may be answered in a future book in the series.