Chantal Fernando

I received a copy of Ace of Hearts from the publisher, Pocket Star, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. As always, the following review contains my opinions and mine alone.

One of my guilty reading pleasures is definitely a quality biker romance. But I have to search high and low for the good stuff, not the abusive, cheating, drug addict biker erotica posing as romances but the bad boy with the teeny bit of good buried deep down under all the gruff and foul language. It’s even show more better if the female lead isn’t a simpering idiot or a classic definition of Daddy Issues. I managed to stumble across the Ace of Hearts digital review copy on NetGalley and thought I’d see if maybe it checked off all my biker romance checklist items. For the most part, it did.

The Leading Lady isn’t a DiD. If you’re looking for a damsel-in-distress romance, this is not the book for you. Erin is sassy, she doesn’t hide from her problems, she faces them head on. Erin is also pretty smart, she’s headed off to college in a short while to become a nurse and she’s determined not to let anything mess with her education. You go, girl! Erin’s also got it down that she needs to deal with things like an adult and compromise with others.

Our Main Man is quality material. He understands boundaries and, when given several different opportunities to have sex with other women, he doesn’t. Even before he’s actually in any sort of relationship with Erin, he’s quick to say “no, thanks” to any interested parties. While he’s torn between loyalty to his MC President and his interest in the newly found MC Princess, he tries to walk that fine line between respecting his Prez and loving his woman. When Ace messes up, he fesses up to his mistakes. There is one instance where I want to reach into the book and bop him on the back of the head Gibbs-Style.

Ace decided to practise unsafe sex without talking to Erin first. Dude. No. That’s never okay. The only good sex is the consensual sort – and that includes checking that your partner is on board with ditching the condom.

Ace of Hearts has a bit of mystery to it, some of it is glaringly obvious and other parts are a heartwrenching surprise. I’m not posting any spoilers, I’m not one of those people, but when Erin is poisoned at her Welcome to the Family party, I had it figured out lickety-split and couldn’t fathom why nobody in the story could figure it out. Also, dang, Erin. Follow Party Rule #1 – unopened beverages only! (Rule #2 is an addendum, if your drink is left unattended or out of your eyeline for a second, GET A NEW ONE!).

Erin’s reunion with her father is pretty much what every daughter with daddy issues dreams of. I’m not envious over it, really. I lied. I’m totally envious, I look great in green. But that’s supposed to get fixed in therapy eventually so moving on. As someone who struggles on the daily to balance a dad, a mum, and a stepmum, I know where Erin’s coming from in her tortured confusion of how to not end up hurting any of the parentals and still have all 3 in my life. I suck at it but, again, I have daddy issues. But Erin just puts it out there that this is how it’s going to be and everybody needs to deal with it. Of course, Erin has parentals that tolerate each other, so I AM JEALOUS.

I loved meeting the different members of the Cursed Ravens MC. They’re so eclectic, from Mac the lovable hippie (who doesn’t love hippies?) to the crude Shack (I hope he turns out not to be as douche-y as he seems in AoH), to Rogue the Rock God and Knuckles the best friend a girl could ever have. Seriously, where can I find a Knuckles – I need a best friend!

I spent a couple of hours reading Ace of Hearts and I read it in one sitting. It’s definitely a book I’ll keep around for bookslump reading. It’s easy to read and doesn’t make me think. That’s not a bad thing. I tend to overload from never stopping with the thinking. Ace of Hearts let me read but I didn’t need a glossary or an appendix or a map or a character sheet like a lot of books today. It just let me read.

I was left wondering a few things and I’m hoping Book 2 clears those up but I really wish they’d all been cleared up before I finished Ace of Hearts. Mostly, Who the glarb is Clover?! It’s been bugging me since I read Ace of Hearts four days ago! I need closure here!

My favourite part would have to be when Erin broke a certain person's nose and settled the person's issue with her finally. It surprised everybody that she did it because Erin's not a violent sort but she got herself out of the situation without relying on anybody else to help her out of it.

Overall, I’m giving Ace of Hearts a 4 out of 5 stars. I really liked reading it, I look forward to Book 2, but some things were left hanging in the wind and other things (no spoilers) left me confused. As for the heat rating, let’s go with a 4. Things get spicy and descriptive. They’re easily skipped though so it doesn’t detract from the story if you flip a page or two past the naughty. show less

Arrow's Hell by Chantal Fernando
Wind Dragons MC series #2

fem·i·nism [feməˌnizəm]
noun
the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.
synonyms: the women's movement, the feminist movement, women's liberation, female emancipation, women's rights; informal:women's lib
"a longtime advocate of feminism"

Uh, yeah, we'll be having none of that here. Respect for women can take one giant step back. You know what? Why don't you just step out of the show more room. You aren't needed. Take your brains with you.

Anna somebody--does her name really matter?--moves back to the city to be near her brother, Adam. The two of them raised each other in a home with no father and a drug-addicted, whorish mother. Anna has returned to school to get her PhD in zoology or something. Adam (now dubbed "Rake") is part of a motorcycle club called "Wind Dragons". Who knows what their business is now, but they used to be drug dealers, many have done time for murder, and they currently come back from their runs with bruised knuckles and split lips.

They live in their clubhouse which is stocked with booze, drugs and "club whores". The women act like biker fembots who are there only to serve the men. That is not an exaggeration. The men are misogynistic pigs who order the women around, treating them with incredible disrespect, demanding sex on the spot, "make me food", etc., never a please or thank you. They are domineering set to "stun".

In order to "protect" Anna, Rake has her followed around wherever she goes. If she goes to work, one of the bikers is sitting in there watching her the whole time. If she goes to school, they are waiting to bring her home. If she leaves the house, they insist on bringing her wherever. If any guy talks to her or texts her, even only as a friend, they demand to know who it is and threaten the guy so he leaves her alone. Anna is 25, not 15. It is ridiculous.

We are to believe they have hearts of gold. Sorry. You lost me there. They are pigs.

Anna, who keeps telling everyone she is "a scientist" *snort*, falls in love with Rake's MC brother, Killian Arrowsmith "Arrow". He has some bad history which now affects Anna's life. We are supposed to look at him like he's a tortured soul. He's a pig too. It's not even a story where he starts out as a jerk and develops redeeming characteristics. Nope. He's still a complete ass at the end too. Anna just becomes more stupid until they even out and become a good match.

It's one thing to show guys being a little edgy, a lot alpha, a bit domineering, etc. and play it off as hotness. This book, however, is an insult--not just to women, but also to men. I know there are men like this out there and women for them; however, this is not the type of relationship we should be glorifying. It is abusive. Hearing 'I Love You' shouldn't cancel out that fact. show less

3.5 stars

Temper is the third stand-alone novel in the Knights of Fury series by Chantal Fernando. The main characters are Abby and (obviously) Temper. The book is supposed to belong in the MC genre, but to me at least, it doesn't. Yes, Temper is a MC president, but at the same time, I feel like it would have been the same novel if there was only one change and that was him been a cop instead of an MC. This book for me had so many ups and downs that I couldn't get a clear vision of what it show more truly is. Abby went from a person who is afraid and about to run away to an almost veteran and it was a little weird for me to read that. There were some twists that I would mostly call good even if they didn't end up in the way I was expecting them. The book is rather tame for an MC novel and I was expecting more blood to be honest. Readers who have read the previous books, will enjoy reading about some characters from the other books appearing in this one. Despite all that, I didn't have trouble finishing the book and I would recommend it. show less

I liked Arrow's Hell a little more than Dragon's Lair. It still suffered from some of the same problems as the first book in the series, but it did have one main problem for the main characters to overcome, even though it was not presented until late in the book. For an MC character, Arrow seemed awfully needy. Anna was a strong female lead, but I wondered how she managed to have a job, live with the MC's problems, and still have time to work on her PhD. Overall, though, this was a good show more story. The death of Mary in the previous book brought a lot of emotion to this story. show less