by Madeline Sheehan
Published on: 5/13/13
Genre: New Adult/Contemporary Romance
Warning: This is not a story about fate or destiny. This is a story about pain, sorrow, and suffering. This is an impulsive whirlwind romance between two lovers that are not meant to be together. Theirs is not a world with sunshine and roses. Instead, their love blossoms in a secret world full of crime, violence, and death. Their story is about what can be born from nightmares.
Danielle “Danny” West is the daughter of Deuce West, President of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club. A sweet and beautiful girl, she loses her way, searching for things that are always out of her reach. Erik “Ripper” Jacobs is the Sergeant of Arms in the Hell’s Horsemen. Once a man who always had a smile on his face, his life takes a turn for the worst when a tragedy befalls him, leaving him scarred and broken. During a midsummer night, Danny and Ripper’s paths cross, forever changing their lives. Hastily, their lust turns to love until another tragedy forces them apart. On a journey that is marred with ugliness and chaos, Danny and Ripper must discover if their unforeseen connection can find the beauty in their world.
This is Danny and Ripper’s story.
Everything has beauty. Even the ugly. Especially the ugly.
Because without ugly, there would be no beauty.
My Rating: 5 Coffee Cups!!
Holy Hell. That's the only real way I can start my review for this book. Have you read Undeniable yet? Please tell me you have. I reviewed it a couple of months ago so take a look before continuing on: My Review of Undeniable. I loved Undeniable. I loved Eva and by the end I loved Deuce, but I loved this story so much more. Madeline Sheehan does it again. I may have a slight girl crush on her. She knows how to hit you HARD, where it hurts and makes you like it. The woman turns you happily into a masochist. And I love her for it. I properly meditated and OHMMED before reading this book which helped to minimize the damage caused to my Kindle this time around, because let me tell you this book gets you pissed.
So on to the actual review. This story begins exactly where the previous one left off. At the Club BBQ with Deuce and Eva happy and relaxed and married (I know, freaking finally right!). And then there is Danny, Deuce's 21 year old daughter. We see early on that she's been thru a lot, but it's foggy what exactly that "a lot" actually is. But you realize right off the bat that, although she has Hell's Horsemen's brother ZZ on her arm, he is not at all in the equation. Ripper, the brother that she is a mixture of eye-screwing and eye-beating the crap out of most definitely is. And then we flash back to 3 years prior.
Ripper, is the brother who was tortured and mutilated by Eva's psychotic ex Frankie in the last book. So to say he's got some issues and baggage is probably the understatement of the century. He's 32 and angry with the world and into all of the things Bikers are: sex, violence and alcohol. Danny is innocent, has an unhealthy obsession with pink and when we first see her she is at her high school prom. They shouldn't fit, but they do and we see this right from the beginning. They balance each other out. They need what the other provides- a shelter from the shit storm that is each of their lives. I won't get overly mushy though, because this connection does begin due to a major case of lust, alcohol and weed. And the lust definitely lingers. And begins to turn suspiciously into love. But they have to keep it a secret. Because, you know Deuce IS her father and all and he can be a crazy dude.
Speaking of Deuce, I guess I didn't stalk Madeline Sheehan enough because going into this I had no idea how much of a role Deuce and Eva had in this book. Let alone them each having major time in their own POVs separate of what was going on between Danny and Ripper. This was a continuation of their story. It showed you what happened in between the time of the last chapter of Undeniable- when Eva was forced to kill Frankie- and the happily ever after Epilogue. It wasn't all rainbows and kittens. Like the first book, they had to work for what they had. And also like the first book, the major obstacle was Deuce. But I can't really blame it all on him (amazingly enough for me), it was an EXTREMELY tough situation to be in. Deuce could not get over what Frankie made him sit through. He is an alpha male through and through and to make him feel helpless while his love is brutalized is more than anyone should have to go through. But then to watch her get off sexually from it.... There are a lot of debates that it's a body's chemical reaction, that some people have no control over it. But it could have very well been that she still had love for Frankie. I don't know and I'm not going to try and dissect it. Whatever the case may be, it left a large, gaping, festering wound for Deuce that wasn't quite healing properly. And this left him escaping his life. Not paying attention to his family, his club, even himself. Eva also sunk into a deep depression. She was a hallowed out, non-cognizant version of herself. Which left Danny and her brother Cage to fend for themselves and their little sister Ivy.
Deuce and Eva's mental and physical absence from her life allowed Danny to keep seeing Ripper. It was brief, but powerful. And just when everything is looking good and everyone is happy the proverbial shit hit the fan- and not in the way that you would think. Ripper plays martyr and runs away leaving Danny dealing with the mental toll of a domino effect of harsh consequences. She changes, she suffers and she hurts and Cage and ZZ are the ones that are there to help her pick up the pieces of herself.
“Coulda fuckin’ told me, little sister,” he said quietly. “Would never let you go through all this shit by yourself.”
Grabbing my hand, he threaded his large fingers through mine and squeezed. “This is what big brothers are fuckin’ here for … To pick their little sisters up when they fall the fuck down.”
(PS - Can't wait for his book)
Of course when she begins to be someone recognizable again is when Ripper decides to come back. Which, in turn, sets off a WHOLE OTHER crazy, intense domino effect of consequences. Some of which that are completely separate from Deuce, Eva, Ripper and Danny. Setting up what's to be the awesome remaining 3 books of the series.
I needed both a hug and a nap after I was done reading this book. I loved it, but man oh man was it an emotional ride. One that I am hopping right back in line to eagerly take again when Unattainable, Unbeloved and Undying come out. Psst, check out the pic below that I pilfered from Madeline Sheehan's FB page ;)
Ripper, is the brother who was tortured and mutilated by Eva's psychotic ex Frankie in the last book. So to say he's got some issues and baggage is probably the understatement of the century. He's 32 and angry with the world and into all of the things Bikers are: sex, violence and alcohol. Danny is innocent, has an unhealthy obsession with pink and when we first see her she is at her high school prom. They shouldn't fit, but they do and we see this right from the beginning. They balance each other out. They need what the other provides- a shelter from the shit storm that is each of their lives. I won't get overly mushy though, because this connection does begin due to a major case of lust, alcohol and weed. And the lust definitely lingers. And begins to turn suspiciously into love. But they have to keep it a secret. Because, you know Deuce IS her father and all and he can be a crazy dude.
Speaking of Deuce, I guess I didn't stalk Madeline Sheehan enough because going into this I had no idea how much of a role Deuce and Eva had in this book. Let alone them each having major time in their own POVs separate of what was going on between Danny and Ripper. This was a continuation of their story. It showed you what happened in between the time of the last chapter of Undeniable- when Eva was forced to kill Frankie- and the happily ever after Epilogue. It wasn't all rainbows and kittens. Like the first book, they had to work for what they had. And also like the first book, the major obstacle was Deuce. But I can't really blame it all on him (amazingly enough for me), it was an EXTREMELY tough situation to be in. Deuce could not get over what Frankie made him sit through. He is an alpha male through and through and to make him feel helpless while his love is brutalized is more than anyone should have to go through. But then to watch her get off sexually from it.... There are a lot of debates that it's a body's chemical reaction, that some people have no control over it. But it could have very well been that she still had love for Frankie. I don't know and I'm not going to try and dissect it. Whatever the case may be, it left a large, gaping, festering wound for Deuce that wasn't quite healing properly. And this left him escaping his life. Not paying attention to his family, his club, even himself. Eva also sunk into a deep depression. She was a hallowed out, non-cognizant version of herself. Which left Danny and her brother Cage to fend for themselves and their little sister Ivy.
Deuce and Eva's mental and physical absence from her life allowed Danny to keep seeing Ripper. It was brief, but powerful. And just when everything is looking good and everyone is happy the proverbial shit hit the fan- and not in the way that you would think. Ripper plays martyr and runs away leaving Danny dealing with the mental toll of a domino effect of harsh consequences. She changes, she suffers and she hurts and Cage and ZZ are the ones that are there to help her pick up the pieces of herself.
“Coulda fuckin’ told me, little sister,” he said quietly. “Would never let you go through all this shit by yourself.”
Grabbing my hand, he threaded his large fingers through mine and squeezed. “This is what big brothers are fuckin’ here for … To pick their little sisters up when they fall the fuck down.”
(PS - Can't wait for his book)
Of course when she begins to be someone recognizable again is when Ripper decides to come back. Which, in turn, sets off a WHOLE OTHER crazy, intense domino effect of consequences. Some of which that are completely separate from Deuce, Eva, Ripper and Danny. Setting up what's to be the awesome remaining 3 books of the series.
I needed both a hug and a nap after I was done reading this book. I loved it, but man oh man was it an emotional ride. One that I am hopping right back in line to eagerly take again when Unattainable, Unbeloved and Undying come out. Psst, check out the pic below that I pilfered from Madeline Sheehan's FB page ;)
