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Loving Kate Becket, CC Monroe Review

I couldn’t find the “official” blurb on Goodreads. This is the second book in “The Loving Series” and follows the story of Kate Beckett, best friend of Sadie McCallister. See my review of “Loving Ben Cooperhere. Also, in my defense, I think I was using Photofiltre for those teasers so just like… don’t look at them. Maybe I should remake them? Whatever. They’re awful.

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Author CC Monroe is from the hottest city in the world, Phoenix, Arizona. She spends her days working in fashion and her nights with her face in her laptop telling the stories of the voices in her mind. She left Arizona a few years back and now lives in the beautiful snow state of Utah, where she married her true love!

When she isn’t writing or working, she is making people laugh with her mad sense of humor and tip of the tongue one liners.

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Who told WordPress they could change EVERYTHING on me?? I’ve only been on hiatus for… well… nevermind. Maybe they could change things but it’s annoying. Just throwing that out there. As much fun as reading is, creating the teasers is a form of torture I TRULY enjoy, so having WordPress just mess up all my pretties is HIGHLY annoying.

In case you were wondering I am as dramatic as ever.

In my time off many things have changed. My job is stressful and I work long hours, a freaking pandemic happened (???), I got married through it, and I’m still breathing. One thing that hasn’t changed is my love for reading and writing. Unfortunately for my favorite authors, and the new ones starting out, due to my anxiety and depression it’s been a year of mostly re-reads. Rereading all of Alexa Riley, Cambria Hebert, Layla Frost, CM Steele, and a few others. They’ve gotten me through some of the toughest times in my life this year.

You know who I’m not rereading? This bish Monroe. Yeah, we’re on a last name basis now. Why don’t I reread her? Because my personal belief is that she enjoys tearing us apart, spitting us out, and then putting tape over our hearts like “TADA ALL BETTER”. I’m kidding (mostly) since I know she cries just as much as her readers do when she’s writing.

But when she messaged me saying “CHECK YA KINDLE” I ran. I think I might have stubbed a toe to get to my phone too. Cause I knew what was waiting for me… Ms. Kate Beckett. Hot damn. I have been waiting for this book for 2 years… less time than other people but still waiting anxiously. if it weren’t for the acrylics on my fingers I’d have no nails left. I loved, loved, LOVED Ben Cooper. Cried with Sadie, laughed with her, fell in love with her. And throughout Sadie’s story, you see snippets of this beautiful girl trying her damndest to fix a broken man.

I think at some point or another we have all felt our love could fix someone. Family, friends, lovers, whoever. We wanted to be the person that could change them, fix them, love them enough they would see how worthy of life and love they were. Maybe there’s someone out there reading this saying “that’s me! I was that person! I loved them and they changed!” but in my experience, that doesn’t happen. I have loved someone though they were toxic, dragging me down with them, so I was living through their hell. I had to make a choice, as does everyone when loving a manipulative, broken person. Stay or go?

For four years, Kate Beckett chose to stay. She stayed through the abuse, the cheating, the lies, the drugs. Choosing to be a martyr, would rather destroy herself then leave the man she loved. Eric charmed her, slowly revealed pieces of himself in the most sober moments, gave Kate a high to look forward to, just to rip it away with the next needle in his arm. The highs were great, but the lows, those destroyed her.

So she began dreaming of another man, began falling in love with another man, but still refused to leave. Turned her back on everyone and everything, to stay with the toxic man she’d chosen all those years ago. Why? Well… why does anyone stay?

Then there’s Nick. The man who loved her despite herself. When all he wanted to do was rip Kate out of Eric’s arms, watched her break down all of her broken pieces, watched Eric grind them into the ground, all while hoping and praying that this time would be the last. She would leave him for good, walk out the door.

I mean really… who had the addiction? Kate, Eric, or Nick?

There’s so much I could say about this book… watching Kate withdrawal from her drug of choice, watching Eric destroy and break her down, watching Nick try to bring her out of the sludge Kate had found herself in. I really felt like I was watching a movie unfold in front of my eyes. (A Lifetime movie some would say… READ THE BOOK YOU’LL GET IT). I. Felt. Everything.

And feelings are gross just throwing that out there. (Ironic coming from a cancer, hm?)

It was so different from Ben Cooper in the best of ways. Ben wasn’t so deep into his addiction he couldn’t back out. He didn’t change for Sadie, but for himself. So he could be a man worth of her and Melody. In many ways, Eric is Kate’s addiction. She knows it’s unhealthy, that she is not the best person she could be when she’s with him. And it’s not for Nick that she tries to be that person. It’s for herself. She knows she can be happier, better, without Eric. But how do you leave the last 4 years of your life? How do you get out of it? Kate Beckett is not the same girl she was when she fell into the pits of Eric.

Would life be different if only she had met Nick first?

Yes. But then the story wouldn’t have had the twists and turns it did. And trust me, if you didn’t hate Eric from the Prologue (which you absolutely should) then you will hate him towards the end of the book.

Here’s the part I curse and send CC voice messages of me screaming again. Yes, again.

Anyways. Read the book. It’s so damn good. Now, I’m going to drink another bottle of wine while I cope with the fact Nick & Kate are finally together and I have nothing left to live for.

(I did say I was dramatic didn’t I?)

Loving Ben Cooper by CC Monroe Review

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Christ is my redeemer, the drive behind my moral compass, he leads me down every road—the righteous road. My heart full of love, my body pure and untouched, my words clean, my body modest. I do all things because I believe in my Christian faith and I believe that my life has been planned out for me. I will meet the perfect man of God, one who will give me a family and a wholesome life. There is no room for anything less, no room for speed bumps or road blocks. Except for the one man who threw a wrench in my spinning tire. The one man who made me question my faith and what true faith really is. Ben Cooper—my very own sinner.

Ben

Each blow to the face feels glorious, I crave the pain of each punch from my back alley opponent. The high I get from each fight that I antagonize is the same high I get when I strum my guitar and hit the high notes in the microphone. That rush is just like the pain I feel with the blows I take. Violence is my decadence and music is my redemption. I love beautiful women, the taste of whiskey on my tongue, and the smell of tobacco on my breath. I’m a man with no morals and no plan to my madness. I’m a man with only the promise of the day I’m in. Until I find the most beautiful melody, dressed in full clothes and a cross around her neck. Sadie McCallister—my very own saint.

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authorcc monroe

Author CC Monroe is from the hottest city in the world, Phoenix, Arizona. She spends her days working in fashion and her nights with her face in her laptop telling the stories of the voices in her mind. She left Arizona a few years back and now lives in the beautiful snow state of Utah, where she married her true love!

When she isn’t writing or working, she is making people laugh with her mad sense of humor and tip of the tongue one liners.

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First, you may be wondering why I used pictures of Brendan Urie from Panic! At the Disco for my graphics. Easy: It’s Brendan Urie. Also, CC has said Brendan was her inspiration for Ben Cooper, and This is Gospel is used in the book, so why not use the ultra expressive Brendan for my pics? (Also, I’m still going through my middle school/emo phase and love all things P!ATD).

Rock star books are so hard for me, mostly because of the drug use that usually comes with them. Drugs make me uber uncomfortable, both in real life, and when I’m reading about them. Even weed. But I love the broken sinner Ben Cooper. He is struggling, even though he thinks he’s doing just fine. Even though he’s not looking for anything serious, Sadie McCallister crashes into his life with her faith, trying to accept Ben for who he is, even though Ben can’t accept himself. 

Sadie is the total and complete opposite of Ben. The saint to his sinner. She goes to church and Bible study, is saving herself for marriage, and believes God will guide her through all things. In two short days she meets Ben and falls in love with him. She tries to accept his life, his drugs, his belief that there is no God, and tries to make the relationship work. She tries to help him in all things, without losing herself in the process.

One of my favorite things about Sadie is that she gives up a lot to be with Ben when he needs her. She tries to be everything he needs to help him with recovery. But when push comes to shove, she refuses to back down from her beliefs. She tries to learn as much about him and why he feels he needs the drugs as she can. But when Ben messes up, which he inevitably does, one too many times, she keeps her promise to him, but realizes shes too close to losing herself, and straightens her spine. Ben knows his words aren’t working anymore. He knows he needs to get better, but he also knows he’s put too much in the hands of Sadie, and not enough on himself.

Another one of my favorite things is that the common theme in the book is that Ben cannot change unless he wants to change for himself. Neither Sadie nor Ben want to change the other. Sadie wants to help Ben, but he needs to want it. When it’s clear Ben doesn’t want it as much as Sadie believed, she’s done. Ben starts to want to heal for himself. I love the positive view of the use of therapy, group therapy, and meditation, instead of the “I’m not sick, I don’t need it” attitude. There are so many things about Loving Ben Cooper that made me fall in love with both the saint and the sinner, but you’ll just have to get the book for yourself to fall in love with them.

Thank you CC! Your words are amazing ❤

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Until Kayla, CC Monroe

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until kaylaKayla Mackey
I was ready to run from my loss and find something to make me breathe again.
I didn’t know it could happen. Until Jase.
Jase Riding
I felt desolate and alone when I lost the best part of me. I didn’t know where I would find someone to mend the broken parts in me. That was… Until Kayla.
We met, and with a brief hello and a hushed profanity, we were hooked.
I swear we heard thunder when our eyes met.
Boom. And our lives were changed forever.

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author

22687879_379655212464978_1373405913340945735_n.jpgAuthor CC Monroe is from the hottest city in the world, Phoenix, Arizona. She spends her days working in fashion and her nights with her face in her laptop telling the stories of the voices in her mind. She left Arizona a few years back and now lives in the beautiful snow state of Utah, where she married her true love!

When she isn’t writing or working, she is making people laugh with her mad sense of humor and tip of the tongue one liners.

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review

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For some reason, single dad/mom novels are my favorites. There’s something about a dad opening himself up to love, and about a woman opening her heart to kids that aren’t her own that just get to me. And vice versa.

This was my first CC Monroe novel, though I do have a copy of Loving Ben Cooper. I haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet due to all the new releases- but since Sadie and Kate make their appearance in Kayla’s book, I’m going to have to crack that one open!

Until Kayla is the story of Kayla Mackey moving from Portland to Tennessee for school, two years after her parents pass away. Jace Riding is a single father who lost his wife three years earlier. He and his little girl, Avery, live in Tennessee and Jace is looking for someone to share his life with. Not actively, since dating with a daughter is difficult, but he does miss sharing his life with someone. But how could anyone take the place of Lainey?

Kayla is trying to move on, but the death of her parents hit her hard. but she’s hoping the move to Tennessee will help her feel closer to her parents. While unpacking her things, she meets Harlen and Harmony (from Until Harmony! Yay!). Did I mention Harlen and Jace grew up together? (BOOM!-yes I did that)

I really love the instant connection these two have. The kind that makes of them stupid for a minute… or two. And Kayla tries to deny her feelings for a hot minute. Jace ain’t havin’ that. One of my favorite things is that Jace curses a lot. I have the mouth of truck driver and I think Jace drops the f-bomb every five minutes (love it!). And he takes care of Kayla the best way possible. I also love the fact that Jace’s reactions feel real! I don’t want to give it away– so I won’t– but CC Monroe captures reality in her characters.

And can we talk about how she captures Harlen and Harmony? I do love the growly bastard.

5 Stars for this amazing read!

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5star