This was the first book I picked up by this author, and honestly, I think I only came across it on TikTok and decided to give it a go. It’s an MC romance, and I don’t usually go for MC books, but I thought I’d try something different. The story is about Levi, whose road name is Chains, and Luna, the president’s daughter.
The book opens with Levi just getting out of prison after seven years—he went down for killing his abusive dad. The very first scene has him hooking up with one of the club girls, and right after, he turns around and there’s Luna. From there, the story alternates between their points of view. We learn about Levi’s rough upbringing, how he came into the club at sixteen, and that he and Luna had some sort of relationship before being forced apart. The problem is, a lot of this history gets mentioned but never really shown. It’s said over and over that they were kept apart, that Luna lost her virginity to him, that her dad lied to her about Levi cheating, but we never actually see any of those moments play out.
I ended up stopping halfway through to read the prequel, since I saw reviews saying it existed. The prequel does give a little more insight into Levi’s background—his home life, how the club took him in, how his mom died—but even then, it still feels like something’s missing. There’s no real depth into his and Luna’s connection, which made it hard for me to buy into the whole “I’ve always loved you” angle. Especially when the first thing Levi does after getting out is sleep with someone else. If Luna is supposedly all he thought about in prison, why wasn’t he looking for her instead of hooking up with a club girl? That scene really killed some of the believability for me, and the fact that it was written in detail made it worse.
There were parts I did like—the pacing was good, the story didn’t drag, and I liked that Luna wasn’t written as some girl who sat around celibate, pining for him. It’s hinted she’s had other relationships, including with Mac, another club brother who turns out to be a villain. But again, there are gaps. We don’t know how many people either of them have been with, there’s no conversation about safety or trust, and certain contradictions pulled me out of the story. Like when Luna calls Levi out for rubbing his hook-up in her face, and he shrugs it off saying he doesn’t remember because he was drinking tequila—except we’d literally read his words at the time, so it just doesn’t add up.
By the end, Luna gets badly hurt and ends up in a coma, then recovers. Things wrap up with the reveal that the vice president is Mac’s stepbrother, which is clearly setting up the next book. That part did catch my interest, and I am curious where it’s going to go, especially with hints that the VP might end up with Luna’s friend or maybe someone else entirely.
Overall, I thought it was okay, but the more I think about it, the more the missing pieces frustrate me. The editing needs work, and the lack of backstory made it hard to connect with Levi and Luna as a couple. I’m still intrigued enough to want to see what happens in the next book, but this one left me feeling more irritated than satisfied.