Reaper's Legacy (Reapers MC #2) by Joanna Wylde

Summary:

Eight years ago, Sophie gave her heart—and her virginity—to Zach Barrett on a night that couldn’t have been less romantic or more embarrassing. Zach’s step-brother, a steely-muscled, tattooed biker named Ruger, caught them in the act, getting a peep show of Sophie he’s never forgotten.

She may have lost her dignity that fateful night, but Sophie also gained something precious—her son Noah. Unfortunately, Zach’s a deadbeat dad, leaving Ruger to be Noah’s only male role model. When he discovers Sophie and his nephew living in near poverty, Ruger takes matters into his own hands—with the help of the Reapers Motorcycle Club—to give them a better life.

Living with outlaw bikers wasn’t Sophie’s plan for her son, but Ruger isn’t giving her a choice. He’ll be there for Noah, whether she wants him or not. But Sophie does want him, has always wanted him. Now she’ll learn that taking a biker to bed can get a girl dirty in every way….
Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com
Length: 368 pages (Paperback)
Source: Toronto Public Library
Available Formats: Print/E-book/Audio
Publication Date: January 28th 2014 by Berkley Trade

I love me some Sons of Anarachy which was the main reason I picked this one up after seeing Anna from over at Herding Cats & Burning Soup's review. I've been going through a bit of a SAMCRO withdrawl and wanted something to read that would remind me of the show so I activated this hold and read it last week

I love a good and steamy contemporary romance as much as the next girl. Especially when the heros and heroines aren't squeaky clean and have some issues, but I think the couple in this one had way to many issues going on for just one book and I felt that the book lacked in cohesiveness.

Sophie, was a sweet girl. She loved her son who she had at 17 thanks to Ruger's stepbrother Zach, but boy did she have it rough. She had to raise Noah on her own with help from Ruger who acted as Noah's father figure but, because of something that occurred between her and Ruger years before was a complete effing douche to her. She has no support from her family, her ex is absent and she's only 24 trying to raise a 7 year old. She's struggling and trying her best but Ruger just can't see that and within the first 20 pages he's already accused her of being a bad mother and threatened to take Noah away from her. While I would have shot Ruger myself for even thinking that he could take my child away she put up with it and ends up moving back to her hometown, into Ruger's house so he can keep an eye on her as though she's incapable of doing anything without him.

I hated that Sophie was such a pushover. I mean she loved her son, that's one thing I really liked about the story is that Noah played a part as a character and added to the plot rather than just being a prop but her actions kind of spoke against that. You can't make your kid happy if you yourself aren't happy no matter how much Noah loved his uncle Ruger she shouldn't have just sat back and taken his abuse either but it's because she did everything out of love that I liked her despite her often insipid behaviour.

Ruger though, I didn't like at all. Except for the naughty bits. Seriously, those were the only parts of the book that were worth reading with him in it. He was rude, sexist, and said that he believed a man should be able to hit a woman if she hits him first. Does that sound like the kind of man you want in your life? Especially after leaving his abusive stepbrother after he almost killed you once before? I think not. I know the author was trying to create this gritty biker persona but I just felt like she went overboard and exaggerating things too much to make Ruger likable at all.

As for the plot of the novel, it had promise. I like when I find a heroine that I enjoy reading about who is worthy of being rescued by the hero. I just didn't enjoy the way that it came about. It was too much, too fast and I found that the dialogue seemed forced sometimes. This was especially true for me when Ruger would be talking to other members of the MC. I also think the scenarios were a little too cliché too and that too some fun out of the book as well.

The thing is though, despite all my issues with the book, I still enjoyed the author's voice. I may not have liked what was happening in the book, but I thought the author had a really fun and obvious passion for her story and there were things that I did enjoy about the book. Sophie and Noah were my favourite characters (Noah was adorable) but I also liked Sophie's friend Kimber (she makes a mean margarita) Em (the MC president's daughter) and the other woman who are otherwise attached to the MC in various forms. I thought they were all a hoot and had a lot of fun laughing at them and the things they said and situations Sophie was put it with them.

 Also, like a mentioned before the naughty bits were written awesomely. In that respect Ruger was great and that's when I really saw the chemistry between he and Sophie really showed and made me believe they could work together because of Ruger's attitude towards women other times in the book made them seem to different to work.

Overall though, I had a lot of issues with the book but I also liked a lot about it too. It was my first time reading a book by Joanna Wylde and I did enjoy it for the most part. There was just things about it that bugged me too much and took away from the romance focus of the book. I did think it was a fun read though and as I mentioned the author's style and voice was great and I'm dying for my hold of the first book to come in at the library this week. Now that I know what to expect from the author I'm better prepared going into another book in her Reaper's MC series.

I would recommend this one to fans of steamy contemporary romances where the hero is a big pain in the ass but redeems himself in the end in many ways. My advice is go into this one with an open mind because the language, scenes and references won't be for everyone and while this is the second book in the series it can be read as a standalone.

Liked It!
★ ★ ★  

 

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