Captive: Beautiful Monsters Vol. 1

**Disclaimer: Allow me to start with, I read the first three books in this series within days. I apologize if my reviews blend together, but the flow of the Beautiful Monsters Series was so immensely smooth it felt like I was watching a television series or anime. To stop reading after the first volume was completed required more will power than I could muster. With this preface out of the way, here is what I thought about the books:To be honest, I started reading this book for a few reasons (Vampires, four-plus star rating by 200+people, AND M/M subject matter), but continued reading because Jex Lane made it utterly impossible to not turn to that next page and read that next chapter. Her characters are dynamic and unique, making it easy to separate the multitude of colorful personalities you will meet throughout the books. Lane has a magical, and sometimes infuriating, talent to paint a world filled with shades of GREY. Nothing, about her realistic settings or rippling effect of plot twists are simple black and white. You will find yourself loving the "bad-guys" and hating "allies". The main character Mathew will enjoy the highest of highs and suffer the lowest of lows, and with him your emotions will back-flip, front-flip, and even lie completely still in anticipation for what will happen next.Beautiful Monsters Vol. 1:The story starts off with a bang, introducing you to Mathew (the main character) and Tarrick (could be considered most secondary main character). Lane immediately immerses you into her supernatural world. Peeking your interest with a creative twist on some species (vampires and incubi) that you thought you had already known. The, clearly unhealthy and still hot as hell, relationship between Mathew and Tarrick is so intriguing you often switch from rooting for Mathew to make a move to mentally willing him to get as far away as he can. This complex hurricane of character alliances and hidden agendas was unlike any other I've ever read (and I've read plenty). To top the dramatic sway of emotions, Lane, created a perfect protagonist. I found myself loving, feeling, and siding with Mathew throughout the entire book. For the most part, his decisions and actions were on par with what I would've have done/felt; and even when he did something I slightly disagreed with I could still understand why he did it (it's just not what I would have done). Of course let's not forget the erotic scenes, which I felt were nicely paced, sexy as all get out and on point with the plot line. (Side note: Just for the record, this book consists of M/M and M/F erotic situations. All scenes will certainly satisfy any reader) And finally, Lane leaves us with a never boring ending and one final plot twist to ensnare you into NEEDING MORE!Ultimately I give Captive: Beautiful Monsters Vol.1 a five stars out of five because it checks off most, if not all, of my boxes. It was action packed, creative, complex, INSANELY interesting and erotic to the bone. If Mathew was a real person and I happened to be stuck in his world, I'd like to believe we'd get along. Lord knows I already feel for him and his past tragedies. Give volume one a try and I can almost guarantee you will be seeking out volume 2. Thank you Jex Lane for filling a few hours of my life with adventure, drama, and romance. Can't wait to read more.

Wow, this was amazing! Dark, sexy, emotional... I cried for Matthew a number of times, the writing was such that I felt for a number of characters.I went into this thinking it was m/m paranormal, but it turned out to be all inclusive with whatever. Having said this, the sex was never the main event, the story was strong enough to be the central driver, and the characters were written with such skill. If you've read Tiffany Reisz's Original Sinners, you'll know what I mean. I'm also going to throw another name I respect completely, which is PC Pacat - this book is on par with her dark and compelling fantasy. If she wrote a vampire/Succubis war trilogy, this would be her baby.Loved this, completely original vampire lore to anything I've read yet, and I was on the edge of my seat with twists and turns, there is no way of predicting what is going to happen next. I look forward to continuing with beautiful Matthew's story, and recommend book friends to try it. The amazing ratings stand up!!

I don't normally give 5 star reviews. My requirements for 5 star reviews aren't necessarily any particular writing mechanic (although good writing definitely helps). Instead, 5 star books (for me) are books that leave me thinking about them days to months after I read them. Captive is such a book.Captive isn't an easy read. It made me angry, and I raged at various characters both while I was reading and after. It got to the point where I honestly hated some of them. But that to me is a sign of fantastic writing--the fact that an author can make me feel so much for fictional people. This book made me think about the general concept of betrayal and the very real tendency of people to blindly follow their leaders, even if that leader is asking them to do a horrible thing. It made me consider, "What if this society that blindly follows is an immortal one? How entrenched in their ways and traditions would such a society be?" The fact that this book made me think about such topics is impressive.The author manages to keep a foreboding, dark tension throughout the entire book, and the relationship between two adversaries was electric.This is a great, very addicting book. Highly recommended for readers who like dark fantasy. The sequels get even darker, so if that is an issue for you, don't read. The warnings in the book description are real. Also, this is not a romance, so don't expect it to be. There are both M/M and M/F relationships throughout the series.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this book! It is way better than your average vampire sex story. There is plenty of sex, but in most cases the sex actually furthers the plot, in addition to being really hot. It never overwhelmed the story, or became redundant.The plot itself I am sure has been summarized multiple times, but here's my take: a fledgling, orphaned vampire (Matthew) is captured by an incubus (Tarrick) and a team of vampire hunters. Unbeknownst to Matthew, incubii and vampires are at war, and he just got caught up in it. At first he hates his captors, but he begins to grow fond of them eventually, and decides to work to win their trust and affection. Of course, things don't go quite as planned. Much of the book is developed to character building, and describing the world of the incubii. The world-building and character development were really some of the greatest strengths this book had going for it.I am very excited for the sequel, Sire, and can't wait to find out what happens next.

I am writing this review after finishing books 1-3, so a lot of the story blurred together BUT- From what I remember…This was my first M/M read and I loved it. (Which I didn’t expect) It was well written and the world building was immaculately detailed.The MMC was likeable and relatable. He showed strength, vulnerability and great fortitude which is needed for a character to face the type of challenges Matthew faces.All of the characters are really fleshed out and I really enjoyed that aspect. They had individual personalities and were memorable instead of those commonly random characters that are mentioned a couple of times and then forgotten about because they no longer fit into the MC’s narrative…There’s definitely a lot of blurred lines when it comes to the morality of the characters. They’re all monsters but some are more redeemable than others.I digress.This isn’t a light read. It’s dark but there are some hopeful, steamy and even funny moments.I thoroughly enjoyed it and was gripped immediately.

Just when you think you have had enough of vampire stories and that there can't be anything different out there, along comes Captive: Beautiful Monsters. The story is not just about vampires, there are succubus, incubuses, shifters and witches.Once i started reading this book i could not put it down. It was full on through most of the story. The characters were wonderful, even the love to hate ones. The imagery is so well described that the pictures in your head are as clear as anything. Be warned though this book is full of erotica.......of all kinds!! Sometimes it felt a bit much, especially as the story-line had so much going on. Some of it was relevant obviously because of the succubus and incubus characters.This book is part of a series but it does not end on a cliff-hanger. The story does not end but you won't care because you will be buying the next one immediately!!This book is well written, it has a different slant on the fantasy vampire theme, and i would most definitely recommend fantasy lovers to read it, and now i am dying to start the next one.

Matthew Callahan is different. Seven years ago when he was thirty-two he was attacked and turned into a vampire. No that’s not why he’s different, there’s lots of vampires. There’s something else about him.He was attacked and left, he’s never known his sire. He’s had to figure things out on his own and he knows nothing about vampires despite being one for the past seven years.One night he hears a thump.....and another and he can’t resist. He’s drawn to the sound, the feeling but it’s a trap and Matthew finds himself captured by High Lord General Tarrick, a incubus.Despite the fact that he’s a prisoner he finds himself attracted to Tarrick. Matthews life as a vampire has been an incredibly lonely. He left his family to save them and he’s struggled on alone and so he craves love and companionship and more than anything he wants to belong.Tarrick uses him as a weapon against his own kind and Matthew does everything possible to him.This book is fabulous, it’s different and I found I couldn’t put it down, I was hooked and desperate to find out more about the mystery that is Matthew.It’s straight onto the next book Sire for me

You know that moment you finish a book that's so good you want to read everything they have ever written? Well that's where is was when I finished this. To my surprise this is the first book the author has released. It has a fantastic story, it's well written, and it had a good editor which is much-needed for an indie release. This is not a romance although it has romantic elements, it has violence, but its in keeping with the story, it has both MM and MF sex scenes, and as some who reads primarily MM I found the 'girlie bits' perfectly acceptable, which I don't always. This is now one of those books I want to batter people about the head with until they read it. So read it, or I'll be round :-D

I've had this in my kindle for some time but only recently picked it out to read. Wish I'd done so sooner!The story hooked me from the start and I enjoyed every bit of it. There are a lot of details that make this world seem not only possible but real, such as Matthew forgetting to keep his mouth closed when he wakes up underground 😄 or learning to love silk sheets. I can visualise everything so well.Matthew is a gorgeous, fabulous character, his feelings so well developed as he goes through the confusion and acceptance of the life he is forced into. Oh, and Tarrick, what can I say? Hope we see him again in the next book (which I have already bought).