The Delight

Strong heroine meets Alpha MC President. Fireworks from page one, this one will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering if they will give in to love or travel their own paths in the life they have been dealt.

 

You never really quite know what you are getting into when you pick up a MC Romance. It could be violent or sweet (yeah, I just read a sweet one). It can pull at your heart strings while also making you cringe at the violence. Well, this one slanted to the violent side with rival MCs trying to take over the town they live in. Truces? A thing of the past. Betrayal? Abounds. Love? Doesn't come easy.

Arianne Hunter has been given a raw deal in life. Daughter to an MC President, sister to a druggie who she is trying to get out of the club and a dead mother who she is sure was killed by her father. When a fateful night of escape comes, Arianne's brother is gone, but so are the fake IDs they needed to escape. Out to save him from a job he is doing for the club, she inadvertently becomes the one they blame. A dead club member of a rival club, no one else to blame and evidence stacking up she was involved, "Lucy's" got some explaining to do :)

Alpha to the bone, Jagger Knight runs his MC, Sinner's Tribe with an iron fist. Fair, but also brutal, he takes what he wants and says to Hell with the rest. When a beauty pops up as the bad guy, he can't really believe it, but he is also attracted to her. But the shit hits the fan when they all find out who she really belongs to.

While there is violence in the story, it is of the milder kind that what I have read in other MCs. These two have the added problem of being from rival MCs with a warrior about to explode. In the end Arianne just wants freedom. Freedom from her father, MCs, the town she lives in and the life she has no choice in. That desire fights with the internal voice that says Jagger is her soulmate. I understood her vulnerability and the need to get out, but at times she held onto her dream for the sake of holding on when something else better might be there for her.

Jagger *sigh* while really rough around the edges is a man with huge amounts of honor. While not everything is wonderful about him, he does support Arianna when no one else will. The balance between getting what he wants and respecting her needs often battles within him. Breaking his heart if she leaves he still gives her the choice when no one else will. He really grabbed my heart, but I wanted to Gibbs smack him a few times. The Sinner's Tribe are criminals. Not going to lie to you.

While I am not a huge fan of MC romances, mostly because of the criminal aspect, I do find the men to be oh so yummy and the women the fiercest protectors.  There is a wide variety of story lines in MC romances and I would say this had it really violent moments and lightly violent moments, its really cheesy moments and its very loving moments. As far as MC romances, I would say it runs the middle of the road. Not too watered down, but then not over the top.

Rough Justice also splits ways with other MC romances....it's not in 1st person POV. Seriously that alone made me happier than a boy figuring out he has a penis. I got two sides of the story and then some, but I loved seeing each perspective without all the I, I , I, me, me, me going on.

For a good time, don't call a number, pick up this book and enjoy a romance that isn't easy, but has lots of passion.

Books 'N Tunes

Trenches by Pop Evil

Literary Pickers

Item Found: Purse/Wallet

New To Me

Author and Series

Since I'm going to be clearing out my pages to make way for my 2015 goals and challenges, I wanted to make a master post I can go to and find all my challenges for 2014. This is mainly for my own housekeeping.

2014 Audiobook Challenge / Wrap Up Post

2014 Wimpy Challenge

Bookish Bingo - Oct, Nov, Dec / Wrap Up Post

Mary Russell Challenge

Narnia 2014 Challenge

Read It Again, Sam 2014 / Wrap Up Post

Sail To The Past - 2014 History Reading Challenge / Wrap Up Post

I don't actually have words yet, but I felt the fear and the anger that just pour out of Daniel throughout much of this book. I believed it. I cried for him. It's dark, it's scary and extremely intense, but these two authors write the angst brilliantly.

Updated: 1/2/15

I still don't really have words for this book.

The writing is beautiful, terrifyingly so. It pulled me in from the start and didn't let me go. It made me cry. It made me rejoice. These two authors crafted an extraordinary book with an extraordinary plot and extraordinary realistic and imperfect characters.

They make an extraordinary team.

This book contains themes of BDSM but it's not about the SM part of that acronym as much as it is about the control level that Ben exerts over Daniel. And it's that control that ultimately sets Daniel free.

An extraordinary book. It's not an easy read, but well worth your time.

** I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. A positive review was not promised in return. **

Grab a steamy cup of hot chocolate and enjoy this short, sweet holiday romance.

Another delight from Jenny Schwartz!!

Unfortunately, this book suffered from having first-book-in-a-series syndrome by spending too much time on world-building.

Sean Quinn is beaten by the man he thought to be his father and then kicked out of the house. Cut off from his money, he is faced with having to drop out of school just a month or so short of finishing. In a final attempt to make money any way he can, he considers selling himself on the streets, like his friend Leroy. While Leroy is starting to 'train' Sean, they cross the path of a dangerous man known as "The Russian" who seems to be able to scent Sean. Leroy tries to help Sean get away, but loses his life in the fight. Bloody, Sean stumbles into the streets, into the path of a limousine occupied by Armand LaMarche, head Alpha of the North American Loup Garou council.

A whiff of Sean's blood tells Armand two things at once - he's found his mate, and his mate is a rare Omega wolf. He hustles Sean into the limo and takes him to his estate to heal, and claim him.

The story unfolds from there as Sean recuperates, learns about his heritage, learns about his Omega status and what special talent that may entail, while leery at Armand being so nice to him and offering him a place to live. He's drawn to the Alpha immediately, feeling safe in Armand's arms, but unsure of what to make of the deference he's shown and the new information he's given.

This book is a romance as much as it's a thriller - as Sean and Armand get closer, they face dangers from The Russian and from other shifters within Armand's area.

What threw me for the most part is the very proper and somewhat stiff way in which Armand talks - the dialogue often felt inorganic, though I suppose for a man hundreds of years old, that could be explained with his age. Sean definitely came across as a young man of this age and time.

While I connected with Sean to some extent, I had a difficult time connecting with Armand, possibly because of how inorganic he felt to me. The extraordinary amount spent on describing their surroundings, down to the clothes they wear and the food they eat, combined with a higher than expected amount of errors within the text also made it difficult to immerse myself into this world. As it so often happens with first books in a series, a lot of words were spent on world-building. We got a lot of historical facts about the shifters in this book, plus long monologues about their business dealings from Armand, and the book often felt too much like a history text book.

I also had some issues with Armand's insistence, in the face of real and imminent danger that the "mating" be postponed until they could get to some important compound, instead of him claiming his mate at the first possible opportunity to bind himself to Sean and vice versa. I didn't understand why, and no discernible reason was given. He felt unrealistic to me, which was only compounded by his apparent lack of sense, considering he's a rich (and somewhat spoiled) business owner in the 21st century, no matter his true age.

What did work for me were the scenes that were directly between Armand and Sean as far as their relationship was concerned. Although it felt rushed for the most part (Who Are You to I Love You within a few pages, or so it seemed), and conveniently furthered by the mating compulsion, their romance started to feel realistic enough, and by the end, I believed that they loved each other. Armand learning to be more "with the times" made me chuckle on occasion, and I thought that Sean was a good influence on him.

But - possibly a major plothole with Alphas being unable to father male cubs. How then do Alphas have descendants? I didn't quite understand that whole thing. Also, the aspect of Sean's talent that wouldn't become fully functional until after the mating - if that's the case, why would the Russian think he could force him to do his bidding?

What was also lacking was the sexual chemistry between the two main characters. Their pillow talk was cringe-worthy for the most part, and I thought that mentioning "fisting" was a bit much. While the scenes were explicit, they didn't feel realistic to me. YMMV.

There was one subplot with a young wolf girl who needs parents, and I thought that the solution was believable and worked in this setting.

I hope that the next book in this series will focus less on world-building and more on fleshing out the characters and story within. Also, while I can't blame the author for the apparent lack of editing, I hope that the next book will receive the rigorous attention to detail that should have been applied to this one. A published novel should not be riddled with typographical and grammatical errors.

** I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. A positive review was not promised in return. **