Memories alone can ruin you. Fear has a paralyzing effect, and love isn’t always enough to keep you safe.
Ace was the gateway to a freedom I hadn’t known since I was fifteen. He offered his protection from the demons that haunted me; both living and dead.
Although I knew I wasn’t enough to keep him, this didn’t deter my hope that one day he’d love me for who I was, not the broken girl he tried so desperately to save.
In the end, the ghosts of my past found me. Their malevolence knew no bounds, and I was forced to succumb to their will of darkness. Each threat named against those I loved made any escape impossible; choosing my life for theirs became my desolate absolution.
Inevitably, it was my own weakness and self-doubt that became my undoing.
Ace
Emotional ties are sometimes severed. Friendships don’t always endure their hardships, and love offered isn’t always returned.
I was in love once. For me, leaving her back in Ohio was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. For her, moving on with her life that included her son and the man she loved was no less than she deserved -- unconditional happiness.
My reasons to bring Cherry home to California were obvious. I needed help with my family, and she needed help staying clean and convincing her parents she was ready to give her son the life he deserved.
It was a perfect plan. However, the best laid plans often get lost amidst their best intentions.
Cherry fell in love with me, and in return my love for her acted as the catalyst to her destruction.
4.5 Fantastic Stars!
Review by Jen Hagen
I was saddened that the author’s previous series “The
Lights of Peril” had concluded, but was ecstatic to know that she was going to
do a spinoff series. This author can
suck you in and bleed you dry.
Unbelievable how you don’t see it coming…she just works you right into
the story and you quickly become infused into the characters and feel all the
raw emotions. She’s like a snake
charmer.
Ace was a member of the Lights of Peril motorcycle club,
but felt a need to leave after the girl he desired and loved (Sadey) made it
clear that she was always going to belong to somebody else; that somebody else
being the president of the motorcycle club.
Ace had taken quite a beating from the president for showing an interest
in Sadey. For Ace, the outer pain wasn’t
nearly as bad as the pain inside from having his heart broke.
I was happy at
Peril, but it wouldn’t have ever been possible for me to watch her love, marry,
and start a family with anyone – but me. I dropped my cut at the clubhouse door,
hopped on my bike, and rode away.
Ace returns home to his grandmother and little sister in
California. But he didn’t come alone --he
brought along a passenger with Cherry riding on the back of his bike. Cherry is a club whore…there’s no other way to
sugarcoat it. Cherry has been through
hell being tortured and raped and has relied on drugs in the past, but she is
trying to get herself together for the sake of her young son, who Cherry does
not see as he is being raised by her parents.
Cherry and Ace have been familiar with each other between the sheets in
the past, but Ace doesn’t know much about Cherry, other than that Cherry is
only her club name.
I’ve never even
asked her f*ckin’ name. I’ve known her
for over a year. I’ve f*cked her, and
used her body to help heal my heartache…but I never f*ckin’ asked her name.
In this spin-off series Ace has returned home to
California and back to his former life of being part of a band. The guys in the band each have individual
characteristics and backstories that will be shown in their own book. The way that Ms. Bextor introduced each
character and spent time describing them with more than a sentence was
phenomenal. In most books where several
characters are introduced at one time, I have to go back and re-read their
introduction to find out what causes them to act and feel a certain way. Not
with these characters – after their initial introduction I knew exactly who
they were and never once had to think back to remind myself of their qualities.
Cherry harbors a secret love for Ace, but knows that Ace
continues to pine away for Sadey. She
also knows that Ace sees her as a friend, not as a lover. Poor
Cherry has to keep her feelings hidden, watching Ace wallow.
I’m in love with
him. I’ve been in love with him for a
year. I’ve followed him around, been
there for him, as a friend, each and every time Sadey crushed him, all while I
listened to his heartbreak word for word as he voiced it again and again.
For the majority of this book it is Ace battling his
sorrow and pain, never really being happy.
He loved Sadey so much that he just can’t think about not having her in
his life. He has a good thing with
Cherry going on, even though they don’t have sex. She is a good friend to him and vice versa. When one of Ace’s band mates begin to have a
regular personal interaction, with Cherry we get to see a little jealousy start to come out
of Ace. It was nice to see more than
self pity – it shows that he is capable of feeling something for somebody other than Sadey. Little by little, Ace sees Cherry in a new
light and things between them begin to heat up.
Inside I know my
feelings for Cherry are changing – evolving into something they weren’t
before. I love her…but I’m unsure if I
love her because she’s with me here and now or if I really believe I love her
for being who she is.
Ace doesn’t have much time to embrace these feelings as
Cherry is offered a chance to be with her son; but this is in exchange for her
new-found happiness. Everything comes
with a price. You will come undone at
the decision Cherry is forced to make.
She certainly has had her fair share of bad luck during her life.
Going back to say
goodbye to Ace, will be my final act of freedom.
The one good thing
that comes from this stomach-hurting turn of events is that we get to see our
old friends…
“Brace,
brother. Shit’s gonna get nasty real
f*ckin’ quick.” – Hem
Love, love Ms.
Bextor!! She gets my heart pounding, my
stomach plummeting, and my tears flowing with every book she writes. I can’t wait to read more in this new series. Add Ms. Bextor to the list of
read-anything-by-this-author, because she is that good!
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