The days are blurring together. I can’t seem to keep my eyes open at night. Terror follows us everywhere we go. Nowhere is safe. It’s spreading. Thriving. We can’t outrun it. All we can do is bunker down and pray it passes us by. But that’s wishful thinking. The ravaged will find us and there’s not a thing we can do to stop them. They are everywhere.
I haven’t seen him. I haven’t spoken to him. But I know he’s there. I know he’ll be there if I need him.
It’s not long before I do.
My name is Willow.
His name is Jason.
I hate him—or I used to. Now I just need him. Want him. Miss him.
The ravaged are coming. They always are, and he’s always there to stand between them and me.
But the Ravaged aren’t the only dangers lurking behind every corner. There’s something more sinister stalking me. And when it finds me, I’m on my own.
*This story ends in a cliffhanger*
***Warning. For readers 18 years and older. Contains explicit sexual situations, possible triggers, dark themes, language, and violence.***
Erin Raegan is an obsessed reader, a dedicated writer, and a lover of all things fantastically impossible. When she's not plotting her next project, she spends hours on her kindle, though nothing beats a real book in your hands. She writes science fiction romance under Erin Raegan but she also writes fantasy and paranormal romance under her pen name E.M. Raegan. She can be found at home in Connecticut with her chihuahua Minnie, and her German Shepard Odin, waiting with her son for her active duty husband to come home. You can contact her at author.erinraegan@gmail.com
The series must be read in order, high octane, zombie apocalypse.
Jay and Low finally get a few moments alone.
"I want your trust, Low,” he mumbled over my lips. “And when you’re ready, you’re gonna give me your love too.”
Grandam Dahlia continues to have zero filter.
“Some of us are trying to sleep,” Dahlia rasped, irritated, from the other side of the room. “Some of us don’t have a stallion like Jason Howler to tire us out.”
After losing a few members, the survivors make their way to a government facility. But it's not as safe as they'd hoped, and they're soon off again, fighting to stay alive.
ღ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐄 ღ Is the second book within the (Defy the Ravaged) series by new to me author E.M. Raegan. This book picks up exactly where (willow) the previous one ended. HERO: Jason HEROINE: Willow. Ends in a cliffy.
Once I'd inhaled the previous book, I couldn't wait to jump into this one, off went the tv, off went my phone, no distractions. Still giggling to myself because colour me blind this is not a genre I have ever wanted to read before and now I'm hooked.
Once they had reached their destination relatively unscaved, a threat was still lurking in the background, stalking them, setting things in place to create chaos and steal what isn't his to claim.
Slowly things between Jason & Willow is escalating, bonding and having each others backs in this forever changed environment has them weary on their feet. Whilst caring for a baby though not their own they couldn't love him any less, above all else they will protect the 2 year old who had been left in this world all alone.
From Dalia and her grandson, to Jason's dog that's also claimed her as his human, to a small boy and a teenager, Willow's small group that she cares about is growing. But it's also getting harder and harder to find a safe haven to keep everyone safe.
This starts off exactly where the last book left off and here the group are now holed up apparently in the safe zone in an old university under military rule. But nowhere is safe in this new blood-soaked reality and events again force the group forward and on the move. Jay and Willows's relationship has now progressed to the next level and I was also so pleased that Willow finally got her deserved apology from him. The group as a whole has also now started to accept her presence and treat her better. The finale here was again dramatic leaving me wanting the next instalment right away. The books themselves are not very long in length but they are jam-packed throughout and this reads to me almost like a serial-type of story. Enjoying this one a lot it’s an imaginative story and I’m interested in seeing where this heads next.
Thrive is book 2 in the Defy the Ravaged series and it picks up where book 1 ended. Jay and Willow are now a couple and since there are more important things to worry about like survival past anger from Jay's family towards Willow seems to be leaving them all. I am loving this series so far although I wish the books were longer because the characters are great and I just want more. This one ends on another Cliffhanger and unfortunately book 3 was supposed to be released November 2019 but it wasn't. I will definitely be impatiently waiting for the next book.
This one kind of had a different feel to it than the first one did to me, and I think that was mostly because most of the book our group was around humans and not the ravaged. But that didn't take away from anything. And the ending was an "oh shit" one, so that was great. I also can't even say how thrilled I am that Jay and Willow are officially a thing now. I love Jay sooooooooo much.
We obviously pick right up after the end of the first book here. After hours of trying to decide what to do, the group decides to try and make it to the safe zone on foot (and bike). But they were never prepared for the pandemonium that they would encounter. When everyone gets separated, it's almost impossible to make it. But Willow's safety comes from the most unexpected source. Paulie. Somehow he had managed to convince the army guys at the gates to let all of his people in. Including Willow. And I just loved finding out the reason why later on. This supposed safe zone only provides false security. Each person is expected to work over 12 hours a day with no days off and they're barely fed enough to get by. And things are only going to get worse.
Despite the beating and warning that Jay had given him, Fin has followed the group and is still stalking Willow. When he does something bat-shit crazy, life there is shattered and so many people are slaughtered. Only he does still manage to get his hands on Willow. How does one girl manage to get herself into so much trouble?? She does manage to get free and soon our group is hitting the road again. Unfortunately Fin is still out there somewhere. The next place they encounter that seems relatively safe also seems suspiciously clean and untouched. And it's not long until we find out why. Cue more crazy people. The end was intense with me wondering what is going to happen to everyone.
I just loved how Jay and Willow were able to overcome their past and all of the misunderstandings and just be together now. I'd give anything for a guy like Jay, that's for sure. I'm also happy that the club is slowly starting to accept Willow and some of them are even becoming friendly. But I gotta say, Willow needs to stop picking kids up and taking them with her already. We're up to three now, how many more does she need?
Sooooooo the end of this book said that book 3 would be out in November 2019. It is now December. WHERE IS THE BOOK???? I NEED THE NEXT BOOK!
Things that pulled me out of the story and made this slowly become unpleasant to read
1. Willow annoyed me with her whole moral dilemma for killing the zombies so quickly without hesitation
2. The romance is lacking. Like I don’t really feel like the fmc likes the mmc. She doesn’t even think of him when the zombies attack mid book. (I mean they are literally always attacking and it gets old quickly bc it’s the same song and dance and feels pretty low stakes each time) She literally names out the people closest to her tht she is worried about and his name is not there….. weird 3. Everything always works out for them and there is no sense of an actual threat. Don’t worry the zombies can bite a huge ex military biker in 5 seconds but willow is gonna get out of every confrontation she has… they only kill off characters they just introduce to the story. Literally, you will randomly met a biker who has never been mentioned before, and you know they die the next few chapters. No risk no stakes , nothing ever feels like omg what’s gonna happen. Bc nothing is going to happen. Every tight spot they get into , is quickly resolved and smoothed out with zero damage except for those just met characters. 4. If fin doesn’t resturn and cause the most drama I’ll probably DNF the series cause it’s boring..: nothing new or exciting happens… bc you know how everything plays out. I expect to fall in love with characters and they die on me in a zombie book. Like it’s sorta the point of a dystopian post or current apocalyptic plot point, Emotional damage you know
but it’s just he same game of “we are in danger… throws a rock.. danger averted..: Paulie makes a bad call..oh no people with guns… ah escape unharmed… paulie makes a bad call..finally a hideout.. zombies attack.. run run run.. bad sex… Paulie makes a bad call… blue.. more zombies .. more running .. safe again.. oops no we aren’t.. biker we just met dies…oh no we are held hostage for 2 seconds then immediately rescued ..Paulie makes a bad call .. 🥱
Just meh for me. My biggest issues are that - Willow remains the eternal victim. She is nothing more than a damsel in distress that constantly needs to be rescued - Is there another character trait to Jay other than male macho controlling? - No other characters besides Willow and Jay seem to matter and be developed, which makes for a bland world finally, I am seriously bothered if I have a novella of 80 pages that is part of a 4 part series. Either make a good enough story to be long enough to be a full-fledged novel, or combine the books together for one book, but don't go capitalising on cliffhangers every 80 pages by forcing me to buy the next book. I hate that with a vengeance.
if Willow gets kidnapped again in the next book, I'm out because this author doesn't have many different ideas. We're only on book #2 and there has been three kidnappings already -_- 4 actually, if you count Fin kidnapping blue off-book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The book seems to short for me. We get right into it and then the ending is there. I feel like there should be more to the thriving part. I am glad Jay got his shit together.
I quickly started this one as soon as I finished book one, WILLOW. My zombie loving heart was tickled to have found a new series. A series that not only has zombies but some romance peppered in all the right spots and all the right times. Jay? Swoon! I have never read a motorcycle club romance before but may need to rectify that if the guys are anything like Jay and his family.
My heart stayed in my throat as I read this book. I tried to figure out if this would be the place they could settle down and restart their lives. Hahaha Sorry. Couldn’t say that with a straight face. As if a military zone during the zombie apocalypse could ever be considered a safe place. It really is laughable.
I look forward to where the series is going and cannot wait to get my hands on the next book. This new to me author has quickly became a favorite of mine. 5 Stars!!
This is where my journey ends. I really wanted to love this book. A zombie apocalypse with romance? Yes, please! That's my all time favorite genre. This book, however, would have been a hundred times better WITHOUT the romance. It felt completely one-sided, had absolutely no sparks or connection, and was pretty cringe-y. I disliked Jay very much, he had no real good redeeming qualities except a good shooter. Willow wasn't much better. She accepted the verbal abuse she got from Jay and his club for years and never stood up for herself. She then accepted Jay so quickly after all the abuse he put her through and allowed to happen. She never really seemed to actually want Jay, the only things she said about him was that he was attractive but I don't recall anywhere in the story her actually saying she wanted to be with him or explaining why. It seemed very physical, no actual emotional connection. Then, the author added a typical annoying side character, Dahlia, who is super old and says inappropriate stuff. Add in Billy who is super protective, that's annoying also. The worst part, however, was Blue. She just meets this baby and automatically has this motherly connection with him and it just annoyed me. Take out Blue, Dahlia, Billy, and rewrite the scenes with Jay, and this could have been a great book. Those characters and the lack of chemistry between the main characters really ruined this book for me. This is the first, and probably only time I will say this, but this book would have been so much better without the romance.
Oh no, zombies aren't the scary things here. Men are. Everywhere Willow goes, someone wants to rape her. This is a common thing, I've found, where authors don't know how to use the monsters they have, so rape is the real monster. It's so you might think something awful will happen while knowing the main character won't die. Don't do this. Rape isn't trivial. And our big bad crazy from book one is crazy, smart, and just straight-up dumb. But only dumb so Willow isn't in any real danger. I don't know why we need him to follow the series. Just be done with him. Should've with the first book. It's stupid and completely unnecessary to continue with him as an active character. But these are short and brainless reads. Still don't know anything about the outbreak since we're focusing on stupid shit. This would be better if the books were longer and the scenarios were planned out better. Everything is so rushed to fit in less than 200 pages that none of it feels plausible.
I found it a little better than the first. I know a lot of people would be helpless in an apocalypse, and I'm not asking for an Avery (Seeking Asylum), but I'm happy that we're finally seeing at least some backbone from Willow. I like her and Jay's relationship though, and how she keeps adding new additions to their group. Also nice to finally see the motorcycle club treating her a bit better, especially since she hadn't done anything wrong. There are some inconsistencies with the story: I get that they don't know the reason for the spreading decease, but now we hear that
There is just so much happening in this part of the series that I don't actually know where to begin lol
I will start by saying the book was so enjoyable that I didn't even really need any of the sex between Willow and Jay. To be honest, them having sex seemed to be... I don't know, a distraction from what was really going on? I still don't really feel that Jay is a good fit for Willow and that their intimacy is just purely because he needs to get off (which is why he grabbed so many boxes of condoms). I mean I guess it's stress relief in a dire situation but... the rest of the book was more interesting to me. In a way I'm more wary of anything to do with Jay's intentions because of Willow's whole past experience with him and his family. I am enjoying the slow acceptance of her though into the MC, even though Willow had absolutely nothing to do with her mom's choices.
And that ending to the next part? I have to pace myself because I don't want the books to end...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
After the first book, I quickly had to start reading the second. I had waited to start reading these till they were all out because I knewi was going to binge them and boy was I right. Though there were times I had hoped that Willow would grow a little more backbone, her character through this journey doesn't annoy me much. She isn't a bratty know-it-all (but not really know-it-all) girl. She isn't running her mouth with constant contradictions that drove me batty, so yeah I could handle her.
As to where story is taking us, I don't know but I want to. These stoic vets have wormed a place in my while I was reading this book, so I'm rooting for them as they face off against the Ravaged. I hope the ladies get better armed in the next book - I would never pick a kitchen knife to go up against a zombie with
Honestly not a fan of this series. We’re just rushing through the plot and never giving time for the story or the characters to develop. Everything moves way too fast and there’s no depth. Also, the sequence of ‘find safe haven, oh wait it’s not safe, run, repeat’ is getting a bit old and stale. Maybe that’s just cause I watched TWD lol. I want to see something new. Something that will make me sit up straight and pace while reading.
The ending was slightly more interesting, and I might read the next one (since it’s so short) to find out what’s going on with these townspeople. But even this plot line could have used more bake time. It would have been nice to see the cruel side of them for a bit longer, to feel the group’s desperation and then to begin to see the seeds of dissent in Rowan and the others before the takeover. But oh well, it is what it is
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The intrepid survivors continue to cross the country to escape the zombie hoard. The Ravaged. Now it’s not just a race to escape the zombies, it’s also military threats of bombings to outrun and some unhinged survivors. Many. Only the strong survive, and apparently there is some strength to be found in psychosis. Chilling really. The dogs are going well. The group has found adopted some children they saved along the way. Ren is still trying to find his sister. Diving into book three now… this is turning out to be such a great marathon of a series. Thank you,
Just finished the Defy the Ravaged series by E.M. Raegan whom is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. At this point I'd read anything she wrote without even reading the blurp (except to check for cliff hangers...I usually wait for an entire series to be complete before reading). Amazing world building, strong characters, and interesting story lines can be found in all her books. And she makes her books available on kindle unlimited which I find very generous for a writer of her caliber. I highly recommend this and her Galactic Order series.
Me gusto, pero no tanto como el primero! siento que la falto mas acción aunque tuvo bastante me falto la adrenalina del primero! cada vez me encariño mas con todos los personajes y plis Willow no para de adoptar gente me mata eso! El final fue raro pero lo que mas me gusta es que literal te podes imaginar todo como una pelicula tiene un muy buen ritmo, es como estar adentro de the waling dead un poquito… espero que el próximo tenga mas acción y se meta mas con la vida personal de los personajes, siento que eso estaria bueno!
3.5 stars. Not as tightly plotted as the first but still plenty of suspense scenes pumping adrenaline into your veins. Just short enough to stay up too late but convince yourself you can finish it soon. Just a few more pages. And then a few more. The author has built too big a world, though, in such a small space. There are so many characters to track. The hero continues to be underdeveloped. He's a cardboard cutout of an MC hero in an apocalyptic zombie series.
I quickly started this one as soon as I finished book one, WILLOW. My zombie loving heart was tickled to have found a new series. A series that not only has zombies but some romance peppered in all the right spots and all the right times. I have never read a motorcycle club romance before but may need to rectify that if the guys are anything like Jay and his family.
Liked this wayyyy less than the first one. Pauline is a shitty person and leader, idk why people listen to him. The stories so damn chaotic but still nothing is happening. I started to hate the MMC. He was a fucking dick to her and without going slow (foreplay before), without saying sorry and without saying he even liked her, he fucked her in a cold, dark gross bathroom. Pissed me off