Still a pretty solid MC read. One of the few I’ve actually liked.
This was a reread. And I agree with my original assessment.
The MC prez H takes an innocent 18-year old h as payment for her brother’s debts.
The H has been living it up as a hard partying bachelor in an MC. When he brings the h back to his clubhouse he has no intention of entering into a relationship, but those intentions start circling the drain almost immediately. He has her branded as his woman before they even leave her house and it all goes down hill from there for our poor resistant Hero.
The h may be innocent in some ways, but she’s a scrappy survivor. And while she may not have many choices in the situation she’s found herself in, she is clever and resourceful, and she does what she has to do to gain some security.
I loved how this H was determined to not be monogamous. He’s full of bluster and threats, but he’s too crazy about the h to ever carry anything out. I really love an H who is just out of his element and not understanding his own feelings and actions. He’s so confused about what a jealous possessive psycho he becomes with the h…. 😈
I loved how he didn’t really want the h to change. 😍He liked her unmarked skin and her innocence. He wasn’t looking to turn her into a glorified club whore. He’s shared women in the past but never once does he suggest or think about sharing the h or doing anything with her in public. I think this is what made the book for me. He has no interest in dirtying her up, except in his bed. Even the brand he gives her is put somewhere that is discreet, when normally it’s put on the wrist. 💕
I also like that he’s trying to move his MC to more legit means of making money. He’s growing up and sees the danger their business puts all his brothers in… and now his girl. He’s still not a good guy, but the drug aspect of MCs has always bugged me. I liked knowing that the h (and her babies) wasn’t going to spend her life dealing with that nonsense.
Bottom Line? This is one of the better MCs I’ve read, and I’m not really an MC fan, so take that however you like. It doesn’t get 5-stars because of the H’s drug use and how long he chose to push the h away, even after he knew he loved her. He left her to do a very significant thing on her own, and it really bothered me even though he was immediately remorseful. If he hadn’t acknowledged his feelings yet, it wouldn’t have hit me as hard, but as it was written, it was unforgivable for this reader. And then I would have appreciated a more satisfying resolution the Ow drama. 🤷🏼♀️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️SAFETY SQUAD SPOILERS⚠️
- no cheating or sharing
- OW drama - you think it’s gonna be worse than it actually turns out. The OW doesn’t really go away, for *reasons*, but other than her kinda being around as a question mark, she doesn’t play a huge role, IMO. The H doesn’t touch her after the h is at the clubhouse. He doesn’t have feelings for the OW besides her being convenient. There are photos of her up in his room, but the h takes them down, with little fuss. He tells the OW it’s over between them very early on, even though he strings her along a little while he’s actively resisting the h. It’s obvious to everyone he has no interest in the OW, and by the end the h doesn’t feel threatened by her.
- OM drama - the H goes all *HULK SMASH* on anyone who even looks at the h
- dubcon - I mean she’s been kidnapped and held against her will… the consent is a bit dubious, but she doesn’t put up too much of a protest.
- the h is an 18 year old virgin
- the H is a 30-ish manwhore
- casual drug use - the H uses coke on a fairly regular basis but he only does it once in the book…. He indicates he’s not really into it anymore
- the MC is cooking up drugs for sale, like Meth, but it’s their own designer drug
- the H smokes but he is quitting at the end, for the h
- the MC owns a strip club and the H goes there after he’s with the h, but he’s completely uninterested and leaves
- the H literally brands her with a branding iron behind her ear to mark her as his property before he takes her from her home.
- in order to scare her into compliance after she runs off, he offers her up to a pimp… obviously, he doesn’t follow through, but she’s pretty traumatized
- the h gets pregnant after telling the H she is infertile. It’s left ambiguous on who *trapped* whom. The H kinda thinks she’s lying but goes without protection anyway with her for the first time in his life. And it’s never explicitly confirmed if she lied… and his thoughts on the matter make it seem like he wasn’t as opposed to knocking her up as he was letting on….