Much to my delight, this eighth book of the ‘Cade Creek’ series focuses on Dorien. He is the brother of former-biker-now-bar-owner Harvey, and I have been wondering what his story might be. Had I not read the blurb, I would have thought Dorien to be an absolute scumbag as I read the first few pages. The one thing that redeemed him immediately was his reaction to discovering Artie tied up in the trunk of the drug dealer’s car. What follows is a love story with many obstacles, including Dorien’s stupidity, the drug dealers’ and gun runners’ evil plans, and a leak in the undercover team that almost gets the good guys killed. This is an action-packed tale, brutal in places as you’d expect in a crime-filled mystery, with encounters between Dorien and Artie that made my laptop virtually smoke from the heat as I turned the pages.

Artie has fought hard for his independence, from an age when he should have still been under his parents’ protection. The one time he shows a weakness by being kind, his evil stepfather takes advantage and sells him to a drug lord. He gets rescued by Dorien, much to his surprise, but Artie’s suffering is far from over. Not many would be able to deal with what he has to go through, but Artie is a lot stronger than he looks. And when he decides his days of being a victim are over, and that he wants to build a life with Dorien no matter how long he has to wait for him, Artie becomes unstoppable.

Dorien is one tough guy. He has been trying to dismantle the drug cartel for a long time, and his undercover persona as a biker has pretty much become who he is—but only on the outside. He has a heart of gold, at least for Artie, and once he realizes how important Artie is to him, he moves heaven and earth to be with the man he is quickly falling in love with. Unfortunately the drug lord and his allies have other plans, and they make Dorien’s life pretty difficult. Not that this will stop Dorien.

If you like stories about tough men who have their heart in the right place, if men who learn to stand up for themselves no matter what are your thing, and if you’re looking for a story that is as suspenseful as it is hot, then you will probably like this novella.


NOTE: This book was provided by Siren Publishing for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
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