Tag: MC Romance

Joint Review: Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley

Posted April 10, 2019 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Joint Review: Own the Wind by Kristen AshleyReviewer: Casee and Holly
Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley
Series: Chaos MC #1
Also in this series: Own the Wind (Chaos, #1), Own the Wind, Ride Steady, Ride Steady, Walk Through Fire, Walk Through Fire, Walk Through Fire, Free, Fire Inside, Ride Steady, Walk Through Fire, Wild Like the Wind
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: June 25, 2013
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Alternating First and Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 389
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Casee's 2019 GoodReads Challenge, Holly's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: three-half-stars

Tabitha Allen has a not-so-secret crush on Parker "Shy" Cage. Shy thinks he knows the path Tabby's on and it isn't a good one. So he decides to teach her a lesson to lead her to the right path. Unfortunately, he was wrong and his actions wound Tabby, breaking her heart. It's Tabby who then teaches Shy a lesson about casting judgment and Shy Cage learns what it feels like to be invisible. But when tragedy strikes and Tabby's heart is broken again, Shy does what he can in the background to help. Trying to forget her heartbreak, Tabby finds herself in danger. To keep it secret from her biker family, the Chaos Motorcycle Club, she calls Shy to rescue her. But when she lets him back in, she gets much more than she bargained for.

Own the Wind is book one in Kristen Ashley’s Chaos MC series. It follows Tabitha Allen and Shy Cage. After tragedy struck Tabby’s life, Shy was there to pick up the pieces. The crush she had on him when she was a teenager is nothing compared to the feelings she finds herself starting to have for him. Shy has had his eye on Tabby for years, but she’s the daughter of the MC’s President. Which equals off-limits. Even knowing that, Shy can’t stop what is happening between them and he doesn’t want it to stop.

Tabby and Shy’s relationship gets off to a rocky start, but eventually they realize they were made for each other. That realization doesn’t come easily to either of them. They both have faults and trying to mesh their lives isn’t as easy as they thought it would be. There are ups and downs, but in the end, they preserved.

Casee: This book. I don’t even know where to start. Seriously I have so many feels. My biggest feel is confusion. Confusion as to why I loved this book. Absolutely and completely loved it. Shy was such a jerk, but I adored him. Adored every single part of him. Why? I’m reading the second book in the series right now and I still don’t understand it. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times you tell me.

Holly: Welcome to the dark side. KA is so hard to pin down for me. She’s overly descriptive and her grammar often kills me, but I get so wrapped up in her stories I can’t stop reading her.

Own the Wind is the first book released with Forever, and I think it’s one of her better books in terms of editing. When I first read it I remember thinking it had all the things I love, but a lot of what bothers me about her writing was cleaned up. She’ll always be KA, and that’s okay since what she does works so well, but this book is more polished than some of her others.

Casee: More polished? That scares me since I plan to read her backlist. But it won’t stop me.

What threw me about KA is how I could be thrown from one side to the other so quickly. For example…When Tab was telling Shy that he had to start helping around the house because she wasn’t going to do everything for him. I mean, come on. Man up. I was like, “You go, girl. Tell him how it is,”. Shy wasn’t having any of it and I started getting so mad, like WTAF. Then Shy told Tab why he wouldn’t be doing certain things around the house and I was all “Awww”. My emotions can’t handle that. It literally happened in five seconds. Who else can write like that?

Holly: No one I know. She’s a master at tugging my emotions in all different directions.

Speaking of Shy and Tabby..I adored them together. They were such a wonderful couple. I was concerned when the book first started since Tabby was so young, but I thought Ashley did a good job of advancing the timeline. I really felt for Tabby the first few chapters. Watching her come back from her grief with Shy’s help was lovely. I also loved how loyal to him she was. When she stood up to her step-mom, dad and the entire club for him? My heart melted.

Casee: I loved reading about how their relationship evolved. They were friends first. Shy helped her through such a difficult time in her life without expecting anything in return. That’s one of the reason he was such an incredible hero. The entire time they had a platonic relationship, he had no clue if there would ever be anything between them. He was just a good person in general (even though he could be an ass).

Even with all the dropping of the “g’s”, which drove me insane at first, I give this a 4.25. What about you?

Holly: Their progression from enemies to friends to lovers was wonderful. I loved how it was them against the world. When Shy gave her his speech about (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Shit is going to get bad out there, but we’ll be fine as long as we’re together” I got all melty.

There are definitely issues with the characters, the story and the writing, but they’re overshadowed by all the good. KA never fails to pull me in and I adore Shy and Tabby. I’m giving it 4.25 as well.

Final Grades

Casee: 4.25 out of 5
Holly: 4.25 out of 5

Chaos


four-stars

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Review: Free by Kristen Ashley

Posted February 15, 2019 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Free by Kristen AshleyReviewer: Holly
Free by Kristen Ashley
Series: Chaos MC #6
Also in this series: Own the Wind (Chaos, #1), Own the Wind, Ride Steady, Ride Steady, Walk Through Fire, Walk Through Fire, Walk Through Fire, Own the Wind , Fire Inside, Ride Steady, Walk Through Fire, Wild Like the Wind
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: January 29, 2019
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: Alternating First and Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 570
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Holly's 2019 GoodReads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
two-stars
Series Rating: three-half-stars

Through good times, bad times and times of war, Cole “Rush” Allen grew up in the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Along this journey, he watched his father, Tack, and his MC brothers fight, sweat, bleed and die to steer the Club to legitimacy.

And they’ve got one more battle on their hands.

A battle they have to win.

But when Rush meets the woman who put herself right in the thick of it, he knows he has to stop at nothing to get her out.

Rebel Stapleton has lost someone she loves to murder and she’s the kind of woman who’s going to do something about it. She puts her career on the line, and her life, to bring the man who did it to justice.

That is, she does this until Rush Allen intervenes.

Chaos is at war and they’re about to face the ultimate showdown. They’ll have to negotiate skeletons from the past, enemies becoming allies, and loved ones in the line of fire on their ride to be…

Free.

Free is the 6th and final book in the Chaos MC series by Kristen Ashley. I’ve been anxiously awaiting Rush’s book, since 1) I wanted to see how things were cleared up with their long-time rivals and 2) I loved Rush in earlier books and wanted to see where he was going to take things. We hadn’t met his heroine prior to this book, so she was an unknown.

Cole “Rush” Allen is a member of the Chaos MC. His dad, Tack, is the current president. Tack really cleaned the club up and mostly brought them into the light, but Rush wants to finish the job and get them completely away from anything even remotely illegal. With several old enemies and a couple new ones making themselves known, that’s harder than it seems. Especially since bodies keep piling up – and literal skeletons are floating around. When he meets Rebel Singleton, he knows immediately that he wants her. But Rebel is playing a dangerous game – going undercover in a porn op to find dirt on a mobster – and Rush doesn’t want her wrapped up in that mess. Convincing her to walk away and keeping her safe may be more than he can handle…

It took me forever to read this book. There were so many point-of-view changes and unnecessary content, it didn’t hold my attention. I don’t know why we needed to see so much from so many different characters. We had chapters from 3 villains, 2 extra characters who ended up dying, several characters from previous books and a couple surprise ones at the end. At 570 pages, this novel was already a beast. If half of that had been cut back, it would have been better for it.

I haven’t cared much for Benito Valenzuela’s (the mobster guy) storyline throughout this series. He’s a pretty ridiculous villain and I had little interest in seeing how things played out with him. Nothing we saw about him or from him in this book changed my mind. I don’t even know why the final bit from his POV was included in the epilogue. It was ridiculous.

View Spoiler »

I enjoyed Rush and Rebel as a couple, and I actually really liked the secondary storyline with Beck, but the rest was pretty ridiculous. I’m not going to lie, I’m disappointed this is how the series ended.

Rating: 2 out of 5

Chaos


two-stars

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Review: Judgment Road by Christine Feehan

Posted January 22, 2018 by Holly in Reviews | 10 Comments

Review: Judgment Road by Christine FeehanReviewer: Holly
Judgment Road by Christine Feehan
Series: Torpedo Ink #1
Also in this series: Judgment Road, Vengeance Road, Vendetta Road, Desolation Road, Reckless Road, Savage Road, Annihilation Road, Recovery Road

Publication Date: January 23rd 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 304
Add It: Goodreads
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three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

An outlaw motorcycle club sets up shop next door to Sea Haven in the dangerously sexy new series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.

A brutal education in a Russian training facility for assassins has taught this group of men one thing: It's a long road to redemption.JUDGMENT ROAD

As the enforcer of the Torpedo Ink motorcycle club, Reaper lives for riding and fighting. He's a stone-cold killer who turns his wrath on those who deserve it. Feelings are a weakness he can't afford--until a gorgeous bartender gets under his skin...

Near Sea Haven, the small town of Caspar has given Anya Rafferty a new lease on life. And she's desperate to hold on to her job at the biker bar, even if the scariest member of the club seems to have it out for her. But Reaper's imposing presence and smoldering looks just ratchet up the heat.

Anya's touch is everything Reaper doesn't want--and it brands him to the bone. But when her secrets catch up to her, Reaper will have to choose between Anya and his club--his heart and his soul.

Trigger warnings: Abuse, Rape, Pedophilia and More. This is a dark book.

Judgment Road is the first book in Christine Feehan’s Torpedo Ink series, a spinoff of the Drake Sisters/Sisters of the Heart series’ set in the Northern California Coastal town of Sea Haven.

This was difficult to read at times. It’s a dark, MC romance with a lot of the bad elements that come with MC’s. I didn’t expect that since Feehan hasn’t gone down that road before, and the two previous series’ set in this world weren’t like that. Had I gone into it with different expectations, I may not have been as surprised by the violence as I was.

Reaper – and all his brothers/sisters in the MC – is seriously messed up. He suffered major trauma as a child and was shaped to be a monster by his handlers. He’s barely kept hold of his humanity and doesn’t trust himself with Anya. Several times he actually physically or mentally abused her while trapped in a nightmare, so he was right to be concerned. I actually liked Reaper and how he was able to maintain on his own for all those years. But he had no business being with Anya. He knew it, but couldn’t walk away. I’d have preferred if he sought actual help for his problems.

The paranormal elements aren’t focused on much here. Each member of the MC has some kind of psychic ability – which is what made them targets as children – but it isn’t really talked about. We see some examples of it, but I’m not sure how much new readers will understand.

I’m struggling to pin down my feelings for this book. There were elements I enjoyed, like the brotherhood of the MC and Anya on her own. But her relationship with Reaper was complicated and pretty messed up. I didn’t end the book feeling warm and fuzzy about them. Anya often recognized his – and the Club’s – behavior as unhealthy and thought she should get out, but then she’d make the conscious decision to stay. Something about her blowing hot and cold really pulled me out of the story. I think I’d have preferred her to either be oblivious to how weak she was being, or to be strong enough to walk away. As it was, she just seemed like a victim. She’s an orphan who spent much of her life on the streets. Despite some trouble with her previous employer, she’s doing her best to stay on the straight and narrow. She desperately needs her job as she’s currently homeless and living in her car. When things start going bad between her and Reaper, the club steps in and refuses to let her leave. Since she’s already alone in the world and struggling just to make it each day, their actions felt like forcible kidnapping rather than the family concern Feehan tried to make it out to be. I could maybe have moved on from that, but there were other things that pushed her over the edge for me. Spoilers below.

View Spoiler »

Judgment Road a dark, gritty romance. It is not for the faint of heart. I can’t decide how I feel about it in the end. I’m not sure if my feelings were tainted by my expectations based on previous books set in the world. I’m giving it a 3 out of 5, but I may change my mind later.

3 out of 5

Torpedo Ink

three-stars

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Guest Review: Enough by Jade Chandler

Posted July 21, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Enough by Jade ChandlerReviewer: Tracy
Enough (Jericho Brotherhood #1) by Jade Chandler
Series: Jericho Brotherhood #1
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: July 11th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Erotica
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

She wanted nothing to do with me. Well, that’s too f*cking bad.

My MC brothers call me Dare for a reason. I never back down from a challenge. And Lila was the sweetest challenge I ever faced.

From the moment she walked into my tattoo shop, she was going to end up in my bed. Tied up, moaning my name and begging for more.

Her past was a nightmare and I couldn’t guarantee her a future. But I could promise her a good time.

I didn't know what we would turn into, let alone how hard it’d be to stay away after my selfish ass sent her packing.

Problem is, my girl is hot, so the same men I call brothers tried to claim her.

There’s not enough bourbon in the world to help me forget the love we shared. But to get her back, to prove she's more to me then a quick lay, I'll have to tell her the secret I've been hiding from everyone.

Before she’s gone forever.

Lila is a woman who has been hurt by many men.  First her father, who was once a loving, caring father, turned into an abusive asshole after Lila’s mother died.  Her sister had gone off to college so Lila was left just 12 years old with nowhere to turn.  She got out but it seemed like she couldn’t find a man who wouldn’t treat her like shit.  Oh, it all started off well enough but soon the men were trying to turn her into their version of Lila and she would lose herself.  Along with them changing her they were either physically or verbally abusive and would demean her at every turn.

Lila just left her last tattoo shop because she’d gotten involved with a co-worker and it didn’t end well.  She is excited to be working at Marked Man but doesn’t want anything to do with the Jericho Brotherhood, the MC that owns the shop.  Unfortunately for her she’s immediately attracted to Dare and has a hard time keeping her hands off of him.  When Dare suggests a sex only, no-strings-attached relationship Lila doesn’t go for it at first.  After she gets to know Dare a bit she feels she can keep herself separate because Dare will as well.  She decides to go for it.

Dare is a man who knows what he wants and what that is is Lila.  He calls her Red and loves her attitude and her sexy looks – really everything about her.  When he decides on the NSA relationship he has no doubt that it will be hot but he’s under no illusion that it will go anywhere because that’s not him.  Knowing that he jumps in with both feet.

Red and Dare burn up the pages as they have encounter after encounter together but as this happens we as the reader see that the pair is getting closer and closer.  When Dare freaks out after Lila heads to an emergency and doesn’t charge her phone to contact him they both know it’s time to call it quits.

This was a really good but yes, dark story.  When the author states that it’s a dark erotic romance she’s not kidding.  Dare and Lila burn so hot and so happy together you can’t possibly see them being apart but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. I didn’t like that part at all.  Not saying it wasn’t good but the couple spent a good portion of the book apart and that bothered me.  Yes, it was letting Lila grow and showing us snippets of Dare’s life, and how miserable he was during that time, but I felt it just went on for far too long.

Dare and Lila were both good people and I loved that they found what they needed in each other.  They were so different but once they were in bed they caught fire.  Dare had a penchant for tying Red up and she had a penchant for trying anything Dare wanted.  Her sex drive was insatiable.

Another thing I liked about the story were the secondary characters.  Without them this book would have been very short and fallen flat, imho.  Jericho, Rock, MJ, Zayn, Rachel, Glory and Avery all lent this story a bit of depth and showed us another part of life for our H/h.

Overall I felt this was a really good beginning to this series and a nice start to Jade Chandler’s publishing career.  Congrats on her debut – it was worth reading.

Rating: 3.75/4 out of 5

four-stars

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Guest Review: Silver Bastard by Joanna Wylde

Posted April 6, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Silver Bastard by Joanna WyldeTracy’s review of Silver Bastard (Silvery Valley #1) by Joanna Wylde.

Fourteen months. For fourteen months, Puck Redhouse sat in a cell and kept his mouth shut, protecting the Silver Bastards MC from their enemies. Then he was free and it was time for his reward—full membership in the club, along with a party to celebrate. That’s when he saw Becca Jones for the first time and set everything in motion. Before the night ended he’d violated his parole and stolen her away from everything she knew.

Five years. It was five years ago that Puck destroyed Becca and saved her all in one night. She’s been terrified of him ever since, but she’s even more terrified of the monsters he still protects her from… But Becca refuses to let fear control her. She’s living her life and moving forward, until she gets a phone call from the past she can’t ignore. She has to go back, and there’s only one man she can trust to go with her—the ex-con biker who rescued her once before.

Puck will help her again, but this time it’ll be on his terms. No more lies, no more tears, and no more holding back what he really wants.

Puck Redhouse was in prison with Reaper MC member Painter. They each got out and their clubs threw a party. They are in California at the home of a friend of one of their allies – another MC. Puck has dreamed of women for the past 14 months and he’s looking for a certain type of woman to fulfill his fantasy. He sees her and his “host” is more than happy to get them up to a bedroom as fast as possible.

Puck has a great time with Becca but he’s scared he hurt her and says so to a fellow MC member. He ends up seeing that Becca is getting beat up so he saves her from the man who ends up being her step-father.

It’s now 5 years later and Puck has never stopped thinking about Becca. He’s ready to finally make his move on her but Becca’s not exactly excited about that prospect. She really likes that he makes her feel safe but he also scares her. She’s fiercely independent and wants to stay that way. How can she do that when being an old lady means being “property?”

Silver Bastard is the first in a new series by Joanna Wylde. It involves the Silver Bastards MC who allied with the Reapers MC (from her Reapers MC novels). We get to see a few of the guys from the Reapers which was great and made the transition from one MC to another quite smooth.

Now the prologue might be a little hard for some people and I can understand that. It’s a bit harsh but I think Puck makes up for it in the end. In the end I wasn’t bothered by it at all. You just really have to keep reading and it will all come together.

I have to admit that I’m normally not a huge fan of highly independent women in stories because they tend to fight their men too hard for something that they really want anyway. I understand wanting your independence but there’s a point where you have to make a compromise with your guy and unfortunately sometimes it just takes too darned long for my liking! Lol Becca got almost to this point for me but I could understand her hesitations with Puck and the MC. Luckily she didn’t take it past that point of no return for me.

Puck was kind of the strong silent type. He wanted Becca and he didn’t like that she resisted him. He was stubborn about it all and kept with it until they finally came to an agreement about their lives together.

I’ve really enjoy Wylde’s writing in the past and this book wasn’t any different. She pulled me in from almost the first sentence and I found it hard to put the book down. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens in the next story as there was so much intrigue going on the valley that the MC was centered in.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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