Let me preface this by saying at heart I'm a light fluffy romance kind of girl, don't get me wrong, I like angst, I enjoy a good troubled hero or heroine but with the exception of a few, really dark reads aren't my go to book of choice. When Max Henry asked me to beta read Pistol & Loaded for her I leapt at the chance, I was stunned at how she put this story together... Pete (Pistol) is dark, troubled, dominant, he has swoon worthy moments when his protectiveness for Steph is endearing but don't mistake that for weakness, Pete is one scary dude, someone you don't mess with.
Loaded picks up where Pistol left off, Steph and Pete are struggling, knowing all she does about this man, can she be with someone who has such as blatant disregard for human life despite however justified he believes their punishment may be? Can Pete expect Steph to stand by him, knowing that his being near her could put her in danger?
Loaded is fast paced, and action packed, it's not for the faint hearted, full throttle from the first page to the final line. Where I thought I might if struggled with the content, I found myself enraptured, I wanted... no needed to know Pete's fate, I needed to believe even someone as world weary, as dark as Pete had a chance at a HEA, I needed to know that Steph could be his game changer. Steph's strength, her tenacity to get back up every time those around her, the ones that should of been protecting her, kept pushing her down showed the kind of woman she had become, how much she'd grown despite facing obstacle after obstacle, set back after set back.
Now I'm sitting here waiting, some what impatiently for what comes next, for what Max Henry is going to deliver, I'm hooked, I'm invested, I squirmed my way through the blackness and I'm hoping that in the next installment that Steph and Pete can find the light.