Maverick (Perished Riders MC #1) by Nicola Jane is an emotional, suspenseful story between Maverick and Rylee, this story will pull you in with the first chilling chapter. Maverick returns to take over the Perished Riders MC after the death of his father Eagle. All Maverick wants to do is turn the club around and fix the mess his father left, leaving the club in debt. He now will cut a deal with Arthur Taylor and his brothers who are connected to the Mafia in order to turn everything around and bring money into the club. Maverick is still haunted by his past and the pain and horror he had to live under his father's rules when he was forced at a young age to kill all due to his mother betraying his father. Now he has to deal with his twin sisters, one of whom has kept a dark secret from everyone and a half brother Crow who he despises to this day for what he did to the one woman Maverick loved all orchestrated by his father which led him to leave the club years ago. Now he will be caught into a dangerous situation when one of the club girls goes to Maverick and tells him that her neighbor is in trouble as she can hear screams coming from the house, but never seeing the woman or he child. At first Maverick tells her to investigate and get back to him if she learns anything. Maverick is eager to turn his club around, get out of the criminal side of business and the first thing he wants to do is to have a place where women can find shelter from abusive situations. Rylee Carter is an abused woman who is married to an A$$$hole of a husband who happens to be a cop who is after to take the club down. She is kept a prisoner in her home, beaten and at times starved in order for her husband Grant to keep her in line. Rylee knows she needs to protect her daughter but also fears that one day Grant will kill her. Maverick and the club decide to throw a BBQ for the townspeople and he also invited the local police in order to show them that the club is good for the town. When Maverick sees Grant Carter pulling a beautiful young woman and her daughter he can see the pain in her eyes. When her husband leaves for a moment Rylee takes her daughter to the rest room and she sees her husband and his partner having sex. When she turns to leave she talks to his partner and Grant rushes into the bathroom and interrogates her telling her he will take care of her once they get home. Maverick witnesses all and knows that he can't do anything at this time.
When Nelly hears screams from Rylee's home, she tries to get her to talk to her but Rylee is afraid so she calls the police. When Grants partner/mistress shows up to check on Rylee, Grant threatens Rylee to say she fell to cover for him. Shaken, bloody and freighted she lies for Grant and storms back to her room. Meanwhile Neely calls Maverick informs him what happened and he and his brothers are on the way to help Rylee. Now these two will be thrown into one hell of a situation in order to keep Rylee and her daughter save, they have to hide her at the clubhouse. Rylee is a broken young woman, but with Maverick, his mother and his sisters they help this young woman to heal, grow and help her find her inner strength. Maverick and Rylee's attraction is steamy from the start, but Maverick is giving her mix signals as he knows she has been hurt, he doesn't want to push her but he also won't allow any of his brothers near her especially Crow.
With all of the drama heading their way, Rylee will learn through Maverick that she was never married to Grant and now she is trying to divorce him. When she produces a diary that she kept all the years listing Grants abuse towards her she has a strong case, but Rylee is afraid to testify in court so she makes a deal in order for him to leave her alone, but Maverick learns Grant never had any intention to leave Rylee alone. Now Maverick will take matters into his own hands to make sure Rylee never has to live in fear again. When he sees Crow sniffing around Rylee all of the pent up anger between them erupts as they both see how Eagle used both of them as they agree to move forward Crow decides to leave the club to get his head together. As Maverick is in church, Crow will once again cause trouble by telling Rylee that Maverick killed her husband and that she needs to get away from him. Rylee is not sure what do do, but want to talk to Maverick first, as she tries to go back to the clubhouse Crow and Ripper try to drag her into the SUV until someone from the past protects her and her daughter. Unknown to them a sexy woman shows up, attacks Ripper and informs Crow to back off as he learns that this is Rosie and she is a hired killer who has returned to seek her revenge. As she yells at Ripper and tells him to stay away from Rylee's daughter all of the things he has been doing to Maverick's sister Meli comes out as well as Eagle knowing all about it. Now she will confront Crow yelling how he, Ripper and Eagle raped her and that he was going to pay for what he did without blinking an eye she kills Crow. Maverick hearing gunshots comes out to investigate and finds Rosie the woman he never thought he would see again holding a gun learns that she killed Crow and why. When he learns from Rosie what Ripper did to his sister since she was a young girl, he kills him. Now all of the lies and secrets come out, especially when Maverick learns that Rosie killed his father as he not only raped her but is the father of her son. So much pain and heartache surrounds Maverick and his family, now the club has to heal from this turn of events and now Rosie wants to come back to the club with her son. How will all of this playout with Maverick's family? Through all of this drama and pain, Maverick finds that the love that he and Rylee have is a strong one and when she agrees to be his ol' lady they look towards the future as a family. We now have to wait for the next book in this thrilling series to see how the Perished Riders MC will evolve into a profitable MC under Maverick's leadership.