Review – Monday by EL Todd – Bookalicious Babes Blog

An all-consuming, angst-ridden, and awe-inspiring friends-to-lovers romance, Monday grabs you fiercely and never lets go. Engaging. Emotional. Evocative. Monday brings enough feels to last until Sunday and more.

I decided to read Monday, my first story by EL Todd, blindly—something I’ve never done before. No synopsis. No clue about the story except for the hot guy and pretty gal on the cover. A few pages in and I was captivated, caught in the raw and riveting writing of this author that was quickly casting a spell on me. Hook. Line. Sinker.

Beautiful, smart, and sassy Francesca with her dark hair and sea green eyes meets a gorgeous and intense man in a bakery one day where she works that changes her life.

Hawke. Dark hair. Blue eyes. Tall. Muscular. Inked. Player galore. And oh so a predator. I want to be his prey.

It’s an insta-attraction. A magnetism that pulls with a force like a hurricane. On their first date, their kiss ignites fireworks and was the best either of them had.

“We were two poles carrying the same wire. Electricity ran between us, and once the touch was severed, so was the energy.”

That powerful kiss left them both panting and wanting more. Though Hawke becomes scared of what it could lead too, and plays the dreaded friend card.

“I really like you but I’m not the man you want…the kind that isn’t good enough for you.”

Ouch. That burns. My heart starts to crack for Hawke’s low self-worth. Once Hawke discovers Francesca is his best friend’s little sister, friends it is. Francesca is off limits. Forbidden. Despite both of them wanting…needing more. Despite destiny that brought them together.

“I know it sounds crazy but…I feel like our paths were meant to cross.”

So these friends morph into soul mates in every way…sans sex. Hawke and Francesca’s friends-only status is tested when Francesca has to stay with Hawke for a week due to apartment maintenance. The flirting is fierce. Oh is Hawke a delicious and devilish dirty talker.

“You packed lots of panties, right? Because I want to see them on that beautiful ass of yours.“

Friends…yeah, right.

“Come on, take a peek. He’s excited to see you.”

Smile. Scorch. Repeat.

This is a couple who needs to realize they are destined to be together. You can’t fight fate as fate always wins.

“I wanted him, but in a way I couldn’t explain. I detected pain emanating from every part of his body. It was like a high-pitched song only I could hear.”

These beautiful words shot arrows straight to my heart. Francesca is the light to Hawke’s dark. The high to his lows. The angel to his devil.

“You have the most beautiful soul.”

“No. That’s your soul you’re seeing—inside of me.”

You go through life looking for a soul mate. Your friend. Your lover. Your more. Francesca and Hawke are each other’s other half. Two halves joined as a whole who are meant to be joined forever.

“We were molding into a single person, one entity.”

Francesca beams light into Hawke’s dark life. However, a dark childhood filled with abuse has made Hawke mark himself a monster when Francesca only sees a loving man. He is torn, and so lost that he may never be found. Those demons that he tries to keep buried swim up to the surface, whirling around like a hurricane, threaten to destroy everything.

“Like a ghost, he vanished from my life.”

Gah! This cliffhanger left me gasping for air. Monday is heartfelt and hypnotizing where I was glued to the pages. Every. Step. Of. The. Way. Pure beauty in words. I want more. Need more. Tuesday needs to happen soon to erase this Monday hangover.

4.5 sweet and spellbinding stars

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I don’t believe in destiny.

In fate.

Or in soul mates.

But I believe in Hawke.

My life has never been whole since my parents left forever. I have my brother, someone I can barely tolerate most of the time, and I have my best friend, Marie.

And I have myself.

But when Hawke walks into my life, there’s an immediate connection. Our eyes lock and an unspoken conversation is exchanged. For the first time in my life, I actually feel something.

But he doesn’t.

He keeps me at arm’s length and pretends there’s nothing between us when there clearly is. I’m not the kind of girl to wait around for any guy, so I don’t.

But that doesn’t mean he isn’t in the back of my mind.

Our paths cross again in a way neither one of us expect and it changes everything. Was it destiny that made it happen? Was it fate?

Or was it something else?