Nicole Jacquelyn

Just as nice on the second reading.


Wow, I really loved this book. I was drawn right in and read it straight through in one sitting. Characterization was very well done. It was told alternately from the POV of the hero and then the heroine throughout. I felt that the author really captured the personality of the hero which is sometimes not the case with women writing male POV. The heroine was a wonderful person also. She just hung in there. Kudos to the author for writing children who acted show more appropriately for their ages.

I totally believed this love story.

Minor editing issue rigid and ridged are not interchangeable. show less

Brenna Richards is living on borrowed time. She knows if she doesn't take charge of her life now, she will have no life. She has a daughter to save, so she gathers her strength from the life she had before...and plans.

Eugene, Oregon and Aces Motorcycle club is where Brenna is running with her four year old Bellatrix, known as Trix. She knows that no matter what has happened in the past, they will welcome her and protect her precious girl.
Covering her tracks meticulously, Brenna heads to show more Aces and prays.

Poet, the Vice President of the MC club, is her Dad, and part of the life she left behind. She was hoping by leaving she would find some normal. Now, she's back to find comfort and safety. As soon as she sees him, she realizes how much she lost by leaving him and the brothers. One brother in particular, Dragon. Her last night that she spent at the Aces compound, she spent with Dragon, then a recruit. All he knew was that she was beautiful, and he wanted her. Brenna knew when everyone found out a recruit had slept with an officers daughter, there would be hell to pay. So she left, looking for her life with a normal guy who wears suit's to work, drives a nice car, and lives in the house with the pickett fence. Her husband was that man, but he was also a monster.

This novel is gritty and rough. It will make you furious and bring tears to your eyes. I loved every page, and when it was finished, I wanted to start all over again. I have never read this author before, but I am highly anticipating the next novel in this series. If you like Motorcycle Club stories, grab this one....it's a winner. show less

Jesus, this was good. And it was sad, and it was heart breaking, twisted, sexy, hot, and I wanted some more. The thing that made me not rate it five stars was the reaction Brenna got from her people when she got back to the club. It was harsh, ugly and made me see another side of this hot bickers I've been reading lately.

Synopsis: Shane was fostered by Kate's aunt and uncle so they grew up as friends. Later, Shane married Kate's best friend, Rachel. Shane is military and deployed frequently so during those times Kate would help Rachel with the kids.
At the start of the book Rachel dies in a car accident and Kate steps in to help Shane raise the kids.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought this premise had promise. I love watching characters fall in love while co-parenting children together and the fact that both show more Shane and Kate adored Rachel and the children offered great potential to bring the couple together.

I liked the discussion in this book about the difficulties of having a family when one member is in the service. I was previously a military spouse and it is demanding both for the service member and also the rest of the family.

I thought the children in this book were overall well developed and fun to read about. They played big roles in the story and were front and center throughout.

My biggest issue with this book is that Shane was constantly mean to Kate and she didn't deserve it. I felt like the author tried to justify him being a jerk with both the grief for his departed wife and his childhood in foster care but it didn't work for me. I didn't feel that there was a significant enough change in his behavior to have me believing by the end of the book that these characters were capable of a happily ever after together.

I felt like we didn't see enough of Shane and Kate getting along. Especially during his deployment the reader is told there are phone calls and messages where Shane and Kate grew close but I didn't think we saw many of those. The arguing and Shane being awful happened significantly more than Shane and Kate being nice and falling in love which was a shame because it was such a nice premise. show less