He loved life the same way for such a long time he considered himself a monster. No one saw the fractured soul that lay beneath the surface until Liv. She saw the gentle way he cared for those he was close to. He tried to stay away but he simply wasn’t strong enough. Now all that matters is keeping her safe from harm and not dragging her in the world that has consumed his every breath.

Now this is the kind of romantic suspense I like to read!

Though I saw some things coming from a mile away, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and loved the build-up and the slow burn romance.
I was a bit disappointed with the ending, I expected a little more action, but it was over pretty quickly.

All in all, I would definitely read the rest of this series!

I waited a while to read this book, but I really wish I hadn't!! Brick and Olivia had a sweet, somewhat slow burn relationship. I love mob enforcer stories, and this one really did what I was looking for. It wasn't too graphic in the violence, but still very enjoyable.

Brick, works construction during the day and at night he is an enforcer for a local gang leader who is running more than just his neighborhood. He also has Brick’s grandmother who is in a rest home on his watch and lets Brick knows by sending pictures of her occasionally in order to have him continue to do the deeds he does. One day the boss of the construction site, Sister Olivia shows up to wish her brother a happy birthday. She makes eye contact with Brick and is attracted to him. She even invites the construction crew to the party she is throwing for her brother that night at a bar. Brick who has to do some work first decides to show up late and hopes she is gone, but she is not and though he tries to warn her away from him she wants to be with him. Olivia does not know why she is attracted to Brick because she has never been with anyone like him. He is a solid 6’5” and is like a brick house and his face is a little smashed, for her everything is a go regardless of how many people tell her to stay away from him. He does not understand why a high school teacher would want to be with him and just by being with her he is wanting to change. It is because of that which makes this story a very intense read. This story had me from the beginning to the end and the way the author pulls you in with everything going on you do not want to put the book down until you finish. An excellent book with very good characters.

Brick was one of those books that kind of took me by surprise. This was a great story with plenty of danger and suspense, with just enough sweetness to balance it out perfectly. I liked both Brick and Liv equally and together they made sense. One thing that stood out to me was the fact that Brick was pretty real from the get go. The fast pacing kept the story really entertaining, and I couldn’t put it down. Plus, there were some interesting secondary characters introduced whose stories I'm looking forward to reading in the future.

Brick's story is pretty good. A story of redemption and the strive to get out his bad situation. A guy who really isn't bad, aside from the fact that he beats people and kills people for the drug dealer he works for, and to believe he's worth more in life.

So yeah, it sounds like he's not that great of a guy, but everyone deserves a second chance, right? Everyone deserves to have their story told and for people to understand why they made the decisions they have made. Brick is not a great guy, but he is. When he meets Liv, he has a little more inscentive to get out of his bad situation, something he's been working and saving for. Once he realizes he actualy does have a couple friends that will stand by him, he's even more determined to make his life better.

Not overly angsty, interesting story. Good character development, I actually cared about what happened.

I made the mistake of reading book 2 before book 1, but since they all can be read as a standalone it didn't matter that much in terms of the story/plot. Since I didn't care for book 2, I didn't have much hope going into this one.

But, I'm glad I did!

I really enjoyed Brick's story and how it all came together. I love that Liv wasn't some pushover who couldn't stand up for herself. I love that she didn't give up on him even when things got crazy. I loved his back story.

** ARC received from Netgalley **

This was my first book by Jen Davis and while the writing style felt off to me it was a good story and has a lot of potential for future stories. this is an across-the-tracks type romance..one hero into bad things and heroine who is more prim and proper.

This is the first book in this series by this author. This is a dark and intense read but you will love it. You will be hooked from the first chapter till the very last one. This story has lots of twists and turns and is very fast paced. Amazing well written characters which just grab a hold of you. This is an exceptional read from this author and I can't wait to read more in this series.



Highly recommended read

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book

*****4 Brick Stars*****
For the Author Jen Davis debut book it’s an excellent start. Brick has done many things he isn’t proud of and he’s broken countless bones, hurt countless people and even killed when told. As an enforcer for Sucre he is well known in the underbelly of the city and by day he works construction. Liv is a High School teacher with a new chapter in her life; Liv has stared death in the face and beat it once and now she needs to start living a life worth living. When Liv pays her brother a visit at his job she never thought she would meet a man that would open her eyes to see the world. When Brick lays eyes on Liv he knew he shouldn’t even entertain the idea of seeking her out not he just can’t help himself, she the light to the world of darkness. I’m leaving so much out this book is full of suspense it will keep you glues to every page.



****ARC from Net Galley for review****

Content warning: this book contains descriptions of graphic violence and sexual and emotional abuse.
This reminded me a lot of one of my favorite books, "By Her Touch" by Adriana Anders, Both feature a guy who's gone through a lot of violence and ends up with a woman who has survived emotional trauma and who helps the guy overcome his past and accept that he's worthy of happiness and love.
I especially loved this heroine, who is also a cancer survivor. She was experienced and tough enough to go for what she wanted, but at the same time she was compassionate and gentle.
The story is pretty short but packs an emotional punch, If you're looking for a dark, emotional love story that might make you cry but ends on a great positive note, this would be for you. I'm definitely going to be checking out this author's other work.

Brick is a good guy forced by circumstances to do bad things. He meets Olivia, his coworker's sister, and is immediately smitten. Brick believes that he isn't good enough for Olivia and tries to keep his distance. Liv is fascinated with Brick and pushes him to give them a change. Good writing on the struggles that Brick goes through in trying to hang onto his humanity where he is unable to escape his life and the vile things he must do. Liv looks on the bright side of things, but not so much that she can't recognize the stuggles.

There's a lot of 'push/pull' in the book between Brick and Liv as Brick doesn't want to drag Liv into his reality. Liv slowly and steadily gets through to Brick that he's not worthless. Really good character development.

One criticism I have is tha tthe ending where Brick and Liv get their HEA felt rushed and a bit contried. Without spoilers..... all the loose ends get wrapped up nicely despite some of the resolution being unrealistic. Yes, the cops would ask follow-up questions....

I've already got the next book in the series, Kane, downloaded and ready to read.

Thanks, to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I liked Brick, it definitely held my attention. I can't wait to read the next in the series and what other books this author has.

I received an ARC on this book from NetGalley. Jen Davis sure knows how to write a book. The inner struggle with this man felt real. I did not like a certain part of the story line and thought it could have been left out in his case considering he was described as being so big, scary and strong but other that that this was a wonderful book and I immediately began book 2! Strapped on for a while ride.

It was Good ol' biker story, with probably just one thing that made it more interesting. But you will have to read it to find out.
Brick is a tough guy, did very bad things and is attracted to Olivia - sister of his mate Will. She's your usual girl. She wants to make everyone happy and cares for her students as a teacher. That will lead to problems later.
I hope Kame will give me more emotions and feelings than this book.

I thought it was time for something different than my usual go to genres. I am reading more contemporary these days so decided to give this book a go. I hadn’t heard of this Author Jen Davis either before reading this book, so it was a new book & author to me.

The cover features the heavily tattooed visual of the main character in the book, Brick. As I said above the genres listed for this book are contemporary, romance and suspense, which after reading the book I totally agree with.

The main character in this book is Brick, begins the book has a really tough, dark, bad boy, reputation. Seeing as he works as an enforcer or the top drug dealer in the area called Sucre De La Cruz, Sucre for short. Brick also takes part in bare knuckle fighting rings too. He “wins” when Sucre tells him when to “finish” the fight. Of course, Sucre runs the betting at these fights so he makes a lot of money out of them. Having said all this Brick is not as dark as he seems as he is only acting as Sucre’s enforcer and doing the bare knuckle fighting to raise enough money to disappear with the one living person he cares about, his grandmother. Brick’s grandmother is in a nursing home, but Sucre knows where it is and somehow has access to the home and Brick’s grandmother, which means he can take locks of hair, photos of bruises, or of her sleeping in bed. These photographs etc are used to blackmail Brick and keep him exactly where Sucre wants him, at his beck and call.

During the day Brick works on a building site for Cooper Construction building houses. The guys on site know Brick has a reputation but so long as he turns up for work on time, they are okay with him. Brick keeps himself to himself as anyone that knows him or becomes his friend would be at risk of being used for leverage by Sucre. Being on Sucre’s radar is not good for anyone. The last thing Brick is looking for is a relationship. However, when the whole of the building guys, are invited for drinks to celebrate Will’s birthday by his younger sister Liv he goes along, just to maybe do a little flirting. Olivia is determined to make a fuss of her brother now she can as he has recently finished a ten, year prison sentence. Without revealing much more Brick & Liv end up in a kind of relationship, there’s a lot of minor things that Brick thinks he has money etc hidden away from Sucre but it turns out he hasn’t.

The characters I really adored in the book were probably quite obviously Liv, Brick and Devon. Though I have to admit to enjoying loathing Sucre and Tre. I thought the relationship between Brick and his grandmother was so realistic and loved the way Brick really respected his grandmother and took his duty to mean he should look after her as best he can even if it means doing or taking part in situations he finds undesirable.

The book is written from the points of view of Brick, Liv and Tre. Tre is the trainee enforcer that Sucre has tasked Brick with training. Some of the descriptions that Jen Davis uses as the character of Brick says reveal a softer side to him such as, “His eyes drank her in when he walked in the door like she was water in the desert”.

To sum up I really did enjoy this book and I think I would like to read more in the Cooper Construction Series. This book had a great ending to an action-packed story that had plenty of twists, turns, suspense and thrills within it.

Ohhhh boy this book. If Jen Davis is a new author (and not a pseudonym) she did an excellent job on her debut! For some reason I thought this was going to be dark "light" but when I got our first glimpse of Sucre I knew shit was about to get real up in here. I love both the h/H. Liv didn't take any shit and was not shy about what she wanted with Brick and everyone else. I got really annoyed with her downer family, like the girl beat cancer cut her some slack, she DESERVES to live as she chooses even if it's dangerous! Brick was... everything. His story and inner dialogue was so sad sometimes. I was intrigued by the other characters in the book and I see she has Kane's story next so I'm heading off to one-click that puppy!

this was an unusual book. in a good way. both of the main characters had baggage that they had to work through and there were some great twists and turns along the way that you didn't see coming. i loved the sibling loyalty and the description of the combustion that occurs when two people really connect as the main characters did. will look for more books by this author!

Jen Davis is a new-to-me author and wow, did she ever hit it out of the park with the first book in her Cooper Construction series, Brick. If you enjoy dark, suspenseful, dangerous and sometimes brutal romances with more than a few triggers, and memorable, fully-formed characters as much as I do, you need to read this one, because it was all of the aforementioned, and if I could give it more than a 5-star rating, I would.

The novel, which is told in alternating narration, opens with the title character, Brick Barlow. He's a debt collector and enforcer for one of the sickest, most evil, most controlling, and most perverted villains I've encountered in some time--Sucre de la Cruz. Sucre isn't just a drug dealer, gambler or loan shark--he's into anything that will make him money, and if that includes prostituting young girls, women, or even boys, he's just fine with that. As Sucre's main enforcer, Brick is trying to collect a drug debt, and if he has to beat someone, break a few bones, or even kill someone at Sucre's orders, he does. His one line in the sand is that he won't harm children, but Sucre has other enforcers for that. When Brick is not being Sucre's go-to, he works for Cooper Construction, building new homes, a clean job, and at night he steps into the ring for bare-knuckle fighting, and he already knows the outcome of each fight, because Sucre runs that show too, and the fix is always in, so Sucre makes even more money. Brick considers himself a big, mean and ugly bastard--a stone cold killer, and a monster, but as you'll soon discover, that isn't all he is--not even close.

One day, while working at his construction job, the sister of one of his co-workers, Will, gets a surprise giant birthday cookie from his petite, blonde, younger sister, Olivia Turner (Liv), the heroine in this novel. Liv is a cancer survivor who's in remission, and she and a friend she made while both women were fighting their battles with cancer, Carol, have drawn up a bucket list, one that includes skydiving, cliff diving and bungee jumping, all the life-affirming things they plan to do now that they've beaten cancer. Liv is also enrolled in her sister Isobel's (Izzy) gym, learning Krav Maga, to regain some of the strength she lost to chemotherapy and should she ever need to defend herself.

While I'm not a fan a insta-love, but set in the heat of an Atlanta, Georgia summer, as soon as Brick sees Liv emerge from her car, wearing a white sundress, Brick sees her as an angel, the kind of woman he knows is far too good for the likes of him, but Liv, a dedicated high school English teacher, isn't put off by Brick's forbidding appearance, in fact, she's drawn to it, and when she invites all of her brother's co-workers to a local bar that Friday night after work to celebrate her brother's birthday, Brick, for the fist time in possibly ever, has something he's looking forward to--another chance to be in Liv's presence.

One of the ways Sucre controls his people is to find someone they care about and threaten to hurt or kill them if his employees don't follow his orders, or submit to his perversions. There's only one person Brick cares about, and that's his grandmother, who is in a nursing home, and Brick's dream is to save every penny he earns from Sucre, his fighting, and his construction job until he has enough money to get her and himself as far away from Sucre as possible, hopefully forever. Sucre has been controlling Brick by sending him cell phone photos of his grandmother in the nursing home, proof that Sucre can get to her if Brick doesn't toe the line and follow his orders. But now, Brick has another worry, because he's as attracted to Liv and she seems to be to him, even though he can't understand why, he knows he can't let Sucre even know of her existence. Will Turner tries to talk Liv out of pursuing a relationship with Brick, but she's a grown woman and ignores Will's warnings.

One of Liv's brightest and most promising English students is Devon, an extremely bright teenager, and Liv wants to help him get a full scholarship and continue on to college, but Devon keeps telling her that he can't and won't accept her help, that he doesn't have a bright future, and when he stops showing up for class, she finds his address and tracks him down in the tenement housing where he and his brother live, in one of the worst and roughest parts of town. Instead of finding Devon, she instead finds his older brother, Tre, whom, unbeknownst to her, is the latest thug hired by Sucre, and he's being trained by Brick, who sees Tre as a true sociopath, someone who gets pleasure from hurting, raping, torturing and even killing others. When Tre sts his eyes on Liv, he sees his next rape and torture victim, but luckily Brick comes to her rescue, however, once Tre sets his eyes on a victim, he doesn't give up, nor does he draw the line at stalking his latest victim. When he learns that it was Brick who rescued her, he can't wait to let Sucre know about their connection, giving Sucre another way to control Brick.

All of this confirms to Liv that Brick is, at heart, a good man, one who was caught up in horrible circumstances, and slowly their relationship grows, as both characters begin to open up about their pasts and upbringing, including Brick's unfortunate childhood, how and why he fell prey to Sucre's evil machinations, and some of the horrible things he's been and is being ordered to do. These two characters, who they are, how they feel, and what drives them, come alive in this novel--Ms. Davis giving them real emotional depth, believable emotions, and adding enough plot twists, danger and suspense to make this one addictive, page-turner of a read. Brick and Liv are both fighters at heart, and although they come from two different worlds, you can't help rooting for them as the danger escalates and the suspense deepens.

So, is there way for Liv and Brick to outsmart and outwit Sucre and Tre, and finally be free of them both? Is there an HEA ending for these two beautifully developed characters? I don't do spoilers, so you'll simply have to experience this gripping novel for yourself. If you can handle the triggers in this novel, including rape, violence, control, abduction, perversion, and just plain evil incarnate, I think you'll be as eager as I am to read the next novel in this series. Jen Davis has a new fan in this reader.

I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Wow! This book blew me away with how excellent it was. Brick, a hired killer for a big time deug dealer and loan shark, starts to fall in love with a girl. She is a teacher who only wants to do best by her students. In reaching her goals,she finds herself hunted by the very men Brick works for and he has to protect her. My favorite part was when Will tries to tell Brick that he isnt good enough for Liv and Brick cuts him off to say "yeah I know"