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Review

4.5 stars!

Wow, I loved this book! A sexy and intense romance with a forbidden edge and sizzling chemistry, this story had me captivated from start to finish. After the gentle – but still alpha – sweetness of Rough Ride, this book was a complete turnaround. Wild, rough and full-on, Hound and Keely are a whirlwind of passion and intensity, and I was completely caught up in their tumultuous love story.

“That’s us, baby. Wild like the wind. Can’t rein that shit in.”

Hound has been a background fixture in the Chaos books. He’s the rough, tough badass who is all in with his club. He does what is needed, and he has a good time while doing it, living wild and embracing all of the freedom that his lifestyle offers him. But there is so much more to him than we ever knew, including the fact that he’s been in love with his club brother’s widow for almost 20 years.

Keely Black’s world fell apart when her husband was killed. Long ago he was the glue that held Chaos together, and it was his death that brought about Tack’s takeover as President and the club’s return to clean after its slide into dark territory. Keely completely lost herself, and though she remained Chaos, with the boys continuing to take care of her, she stayed away, caring for her two young sons while wallowing in her rage and grief.

It was Hound that was there for her. Helping with the boys, her house, and anything else she needed. He’s been an important part of their lives, but he knew he could never take things further with Keely, no matter how badly he wanted it. But now that her boys are grown and the time is right, Keely reaches out to the man that’s always been there for her, and all of that pent-up sexual tension and chemistry explodes into epic hotness.

“I want wild. I want fire. With you, I’m Keely. You take me hard. You ride me rough. I’m not a mom. I’m not the attendance officer at the high school … I’m a woman. All woman. The woman who likes to get fucked however you wanna fuck me.”

Holy hell, these two are so freaking hot! They are rough, wild, passionate and filthy, both dirty talkers, highly sexual and completely open about what they want, and taking it… frequently! They are older – Hound is 39, Keely is 43 – and they don’t mess around with games. They’ve had 17 years of what is essentially a slow burn, they share a special connection, they get each other, and I just love them together!

“You know I need you, Hound. You. You know why. You know how it is with us … You’re mine and you know it.

But the club has a code, and they just walked all over it. In their heads they know that they can never have anything long term, but it quickly becomes clear that their initial plan of being together short term is never going to be enough, so we get this delicious forbidden element that adds to the intensity of everything between them. And with all of Chaos on edge, with ‘war’ looming and their enemies poised to strike, the situation is intense and the dynamics are fabulous as the Chaos boys do their thing.

“It’s the God’s honest truth. We’re brothers when it’s all good and we’re brothers when it’s in the shitter, and we’re brothers when we fuck up or we’re not brothers at all”

But this book is very much focussed on the romance, and I loved it! They have their dramas, but for the most part it’s functional, and the involvement of Keely’s boys, Dutch and Jagger, is absolutely fantastic! I love their relationship they have with their mama, and with Hound – who has essentially been their pseudo-step-father for as long as they can remember. The scenes where the secret comes out are absolute gold, and I had tears of laughter streaming down my face when they were all in the kitchen discussing their sex lives. Freaking hilarious!

There is a bit of controversy with this book… Hound stuffs up. Big time. It’s a scene that other readers have found disturbing, and though it’s behaviour you may see in other MC books, it’s nothing that I remember from any of the other Chaos men, and I was actually really stunned that KA went there…

Spoiler

Hound lays his hands on Keely. He doesn’t hit her, but she is up in his face and he wrenches her by her hair and says awful things to her.

…He was already in an emotionally intense situation but it’s not ok, and I’m not sure it’s something I could forgive, but it helped that Hound knew the seriousness of what he did, he knew what it meant, it weighed on him, he regretted it, he dealt with it, and together they were able to get past it. And what they have after they do, is just magic! Functional, no-nonsense, committed, romantic and super sexy. I loved it!

I really liked the POV split in this book. The first part of the story is completely written from Hound’s POV, switching to Keely right when we’re desperate to know what she is feeling, and sticking with her for a while before moving to dual. It gives us a great spin on the story as you get that sense of mystery wondering what’s going on with the other person, and it helped me to really feel what the characters were going through.

The story ends in a great place for Hound and Keely, showing us their HEA and a glimpse into their future. But in the present the intensity is building for the club and the war that is coming, and with Gage having a moment of epic in this book, I’m so looking forward to what his book has in store for us next to close out the series.

I freaking loved this one!

4.5 stars.

I read this as an audiobook and Kate Russell does a fantastic job with is! KA’s writing isn’t always the easiest to read, with all of the KA-alpha-speak, but Kate narrates it well, bringing the story to life with all of the emotion and intensity that I felt while listening.