I liked Uptown as a character but I had a hard time with Holly. She was just too contradictory. Prissy but felt at home in the bayou, smart but ditzy, and most annoying of all was her complete lack of awareness. Plus I think they came to realize their feelings too quickly, especially Uptown.

The Devil’s Keeper series by Megan Crane is a sexy, gritty edged motorcycle club series that is set in sultry, seedy Louisiana. Like any MC series, it’s got its fair share of violence and sex and there’s no mistaking that morals and ethics are generally of the less favorable variety. But loyalty to the club and to fellow members is a creed all live and die for, and betrayal of that loyalty can result in a fate worse than death.

When the Mayor of Lagrange gets caught in some dirty dealings with the club, it comes as a shock to his squeaky clean daughter Holly Chambless. Always told to stay away from anything to do with the Devil’s Keepers, all bets are off now that her father has been exposed. Holly wants to know what she’s been missing, ever since catching Killian ‘Uptown’ Chenier with his pants down, literally, in the church graveyard when she was sixteen. Now she's twenty two, and figures her best bet to find out what all the fuss is about is to get a bartending job at the biker club Dumb Gators, where her old school friend Katelyn works. What she doesn’t realize is that her daddy’s debts have come due, and if Killian has his way, she’ll be the one paying. Only, Killian doesn’t bank on the chemistry between them turning into something more.

I have to give it to Holly for holding strong and true in this story. She’s lived a sheltered life, rumors of the MC club and its dealing never getting more than a blip on her radar until she finds that her father, a man she idolized, has feet of clay after all. In fact, the more she discovers, the worse it gets. It’s a rough and rude awakening for her, finding out secrets about her parents that she never expected. Killian finds himself becoming very possessive of Holly in a very short time, but also comes to admire and respect her. They have a slow burn romance, not really getting into the steamy scenes until later in the story but it’s worth the wait. I really liked the two of them together and how Holly brings out the best in Killian. It’s a pretty hard edged story, not overly suspenseful but raw and with enough tension to keep you turning the pages. Something is going on with the club, something bad involving its president. It was alluded to in the first story, Devil’s Honor, and continues to be part of the story arc of the series. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out! I’m looking forward to reading more about the Devil’s Keepers.

This review has been featured at Straight Shootin' Book Reviews and feedback updated with the link. It has been posted at Amazon, BN, and Kobo and will be posted at Goodreads when the blog link goes live.

I have to start by saying that I am a big fan of Motorcycle Club books, especially when they are part of the bad boy / good girl trope which is exactly what this story is about.

Holly Chambless has lived a very sheltered life but now she is determined to go out and start living her life for herself instead of living it as her very strict father, the Mayor of Lagrange, expects her to. When Holly walks into the well known biker bar to apply for a job "Uptown" is confused....why would "Good Girl" Holly want to sully her reputation by working in the seedy bar? He knows that her father has gotten himself into some serious trouble with the town as well as the Motorcycle Club, but what would cause her to look for work there?

Holly and Uptown are not strangers, nope, when she was sixteen years old she stumbled upon him screwing his flavor of the day in a cemetery, when he confronted her she couldn't get away fast enough. But since then, they both have had thoughts of the "What if" variety, What if she stayed, What if it was her, What if...What if...What if....

Holly and Uptown were as different as two people can be, but there was no denying the chemistry that simmered between the two of them. I enjoyed watching them fall for one another so completely that the differences in their lives didn't make a bit of a difference.

Devil's Mark is the second book in the Devil's Keeper Series, the first book Devil's Honor followed Merritt and Greeley's relationship which was an enjoyable read, but, I really am looking forward to the third book, Devil's Own, which is Chaser's story, and he gets involved with his daughters teacher!!!

I really enjoyed this book, although it was far from my favorite MC book to date. But it had a nice plot, a hot MC hero and a sassy (albeit oblivious at times) heroine.

Holly is back in town after graduating from college and now she's looking to stop being such the 'good girl' that everyone knows her as. Her dad has been arrested on corruption charges and now everything she thought she knew is crumbling. She walks into Dumb Gator's bar (what kind of name is that??) and applies for a bartending job. Uptown notices her right away and sets his sights on her. There's instant chemistry between the two, but there seems to have been a history of that since she was 16 and spotted him in a compromising position in a graveyard. Uptown also knows that her dad stole a lot of money from the MC and he now has to pay for that, even if it means using Holly to make a point.

I absolutely loved Uptown - he was an incredibly hot, sexy, dirty-talking alpha male. He was pretty much a man whore before Holly came into his life, but once she did, he dropped those ways and started focusing his efforts on his little 'princess.' Holly was smart, witty and a good girl her whole life. She was ready for a change, especially after finding out her perfect life was really a facade.

Although I liked the book and Uptown, I really didn't like the way the MC treated the women who were 'part of the club' but not Old Ladies. They were just things to use and abuse it seemed. This was about as 'dark' as the book got though with the MC. When you're told all of this from the beginning of the book, you kind of expect to hear about a lot of the other things the club does that are even worse, but all of that is sort of implied or left out. It just didn't make the MC seem as bad as they actually were, so the book fell flat for me in that aspect.

The plot had a lot of potential, but it seems as though the buildup reached a peak and there was a potentially climatic part, but a ton of details were left off and it just fell flat. Yes, there was some action you suspected, but a lot was left to the imagination and to be assumed. Maybe I'm being unfair by making a comparison to other MC or Romantic Suspense books I've read, but I never felt like I was 'on the edge of my seat' like I've felt for other books in the genre. It had more romance than action at that point, which seems out of place in this genre of book. I expected the romance after the climatic part, which we got, not during the climatic part.

That being said, the ending was really good and sweet, albeit a bit rushed. We didn't really get to see how their relationship continued to build, we just saw how it turned out 2 years later. I would have liked more, including how Holly adjusted to being an Old Lady, what her daily routine was like, etc.

I haven't read the first book in the series yet, but didn't feel lost when reading this one, which is always nice when you can't start from the beginning. .

Meh. Everyone seemed like a stereotype of themselves.

Sexy, steamy and had me hooked until the very last page!

This is the 4th time I've tried to send this review. Honestly it's annoying. It says URL not found. Wtf????

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
Little Holly Chambless's world is falling apart. With her father in jail on corruption charges, her mother hidden in her bedroom with all of her pills, she has no choice but to try to find her way in life. She's going to start by getting rid of the nice girl image she's had to portray all of her life. Gone are the reasons she had let her father mold her into the perfect trophy wife.

Watching Holly walk into Dumb Gators was something that Killian aka "Uptown" thought he'd never see. She was still as beautiful as the day she surprised him and a groupie getting it on the cemetery and just as innocent. Letting her actually work there might be the stupidest thing he ever did.

This installment in the Devil's Keeper series moves the entire story forward, but it seemed like there was a few scenes missing at times. I would have loved to know more about how/why her father was initially jailed, how he go out, more about what Whale is/was up to, etc.

Overall a good read, one that I stayed up late to finish.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the second in the series – and I would recommend that you read book one first as there is an ongoing plot running through the story, even though this is another DKMC brother finding unexpected romance.

Holly has been living her life to please her father, as her mother lives in a fog of prescription drugs. However, he has now been arrested and his shine has come off. Sadly, as the story progresses it comes off even more, as Holly makes some very unwelcome discoveries. As a 23 year old who has led a 'perfect, pure' life, all these revelations throw her ordered world into chaos. When she decides to go for a job in the biker bar, she is definitely pushing on boundaries!

Uptown still remembers being seen by Holly when she was just 16, and even though he hates her father, she gets his protection. As the reader, we get to experience the confusion and uncertainty that both these people feel as their feelings get in the way of good sense and expectation. I loved her innocent sassiness, his indulgent anger, their inability to resist each other’s charms. No need for the Bayou to heat up the pages, these two do the job themselves.

Add in the danger of the biker club which has some serious problems brewing, and this makes for a really good read. I am looking forward to a third installment.


Lee’Anne – ☆☆☆☆
This was a pretty good MC romance, it can definitely be read as a standalone.

Holly Chambless’s entire life has been spent being perfect for her mayor father. When it comes out that her father is corrupt and going to prison, Holly decides to take life by the horns by getting a job at the local biker bar. Uptown is an enforcer for the MC and has always had a little thing for Holly but knows she’s always been off limits. Now that she’s decided to immerse herself with the MC, Uptown decides she’s his to protect and the two start off a rollercoaster relationship. Holly’s father messed with the MC and Uptown knows that a way to get back at him would be to ruin his perfect daughter, the catch being that Uptown’s feelings quickly become involved.

I really enjoyed the sparks that fly between Holly and Uptown. For the most part, the story was fast-paced, but there were a few parts that I found myself skimming, especially towards the middle. The sexy scenes are well written with lots of dirty talk, so if that’s your thing, this is definitely a read for you.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great follow up to the first book in the series and left enough open ends to lead no the next book without damaging the ending to Holly and Killans story. The author is a great descriptive writer- the settings are described so well it it easy to picture them. I really enjoy her character and look forward to reading the next book in this series.

Opposites do attract. Who would have thought that dirty biker and resident good looking bad boy, Uptown, would have any kind of draw to the mayor’s beautiful, virginal daughter, Holly?! Holly just came back to town after graduating college to the only home and life she had ever known. She was the upstanding and innocent daughter of Mayor Benny and didn’t have of a clue as to what was actually happening not only in her hometown but in her own home as well.

Benny betrayed the Devil’s Keepers MC and he was about to pay for double-crossing the MC. Uptown was the man for the job as to make Benny pay for his missteps. What better way to do this than by taking Holly for a little walk on the wild side and getting her biker dirty! Holly knew all about Uptown since she had spied him getting down and dirty with some girl in a cemetery a few years ago and then dreaming about Uptown taking her. Holly may be an innocent girl and a virgin but she knew that Uptown would be the man she wanted to lose everything to.

Because of his upbringing and all the dirt he knew on Benny from when he was a boy the MC became the perfect fit for him. Also because of this he knew that he was never going to get tied down to one girl and live the happily-ever-after life that he knew was all of bunch of sh*t. The only person he knew of that believed the fairy tale was Holly. What better way to make Benny pay for double-crossing the club and he was just the man for the job. But the club had other things happening within but there was no proof that club president, Digger was dirty.

This was a fast, dirty, and sexy read that kept you guessing just where everything was going to turn. Would Uptown end up breaking that dream that Holly had of them and would Uptown take the father that Holly had always looked up to and followed all of his rules to a tee? This is the second book in this series that I have read and loved it just as much as the first and I can’t wait to see where Ms. Crane is going to take us with the next book in this series. These bikers are mean and hot as h*ll with their club possibly crumbling from the inside. Are they going to be able to save their club and their women as well?

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for a freely given honest review.

Holly Chambless has forever been the good girl, the town princess. But now that her father has destroyed the image that she had of him as the Mayor, she is beginning to open her eyes, remove the wool that he's always been able to pull over them. And the reality that she's facing in not in the least easy for her to digest.

Killian “Uptown” Chenier has been the star of all her fantasies and now that she's finally decided to grab hold of life by the horns, there he is standing in her way all up in her face and staking his claim on her. He knows she's not cut out to be a biker bunny and she thinks that's exactly what she is going to end up as if she gives in to Uptown. But he wants revenge for what her father did to his mother and so does she. She's beginning to realize that Uptown may just be the perfect solution but there are other enemies making plans of their own and this game is getting dangerous for both of them. Now her heart is at risk just as much as her life is.

Holly Chambless is the daughter of the Mayor of Lagrange. She is the virgin princess who everyone looks at from a far but is off limits. After her father’s fall from grace, she decides to live her life on the wild side. She shows up at the biker bar one night asking for a job but instead she has a run-in with Killian “Uptown” Chenier.

There is a past connection between Holly’s father and Killian’s family. He is seeking revenge for some of the crappy stuff that went down. While I can enjoy a good revenge to lovers plot, I wasn’t feeling how this one went down. Killian struggles with his emotions for Holly and his need to use her as a pawn in her family’s games. While he was crude and sometimes borderline disrespectful, my gripe stems with Holly.

I know that Holly has grown up sheltered. She is proper and very naive. However, she takes that too far. Everyone is allowed to talk badly to her. They treat her like crap and she is a pushover. She speaks back at times but she still allows the same people to continue on with the abusive behavior.

I wished she would have stood her ground with her so-called best friend (I wanted to slap that chick!) and Killian. So why didn’t the revenge to lovers trope work with me? Well during their first time together, he says:

“You okay with this?” he demanded, gruff and a little too edgy. “You don’t mind paying for your daddy’s sins on your back?”
Whoa! Wait! That took me right out of the moment. This is her first time ever with a man. One that she is falling in love with. While they are about to get it on, he says that? Smooth. Real smooth, Casanova! Yes, he says it because he is struggling with his feelings towards her and he wants to keep her at a distance. Yes, he is a big bad biker and romance is not what he does. Holly is even smart to realize that but talk about a mood killer! Those types of comments really made it hard for to like the hero. Holly’s meek behavior grated on my nerves.

I just wish the characters developed more. The book has a slow start and immediately after they have sex, it kicks up too fast and it is over. We do get a complete ending and see a bit into Holly and Killian’s future. The story could have been fleshed out a bit more. There were dynamics with Holly’s relationships with her family that didn’t full work itself out.

The one aspect that I did find interesting is the club’s business. Some serious dirt is going on. The club is being divided. We don’t know who is a traitor. Where is Digger always disappearing to? I believe we might learn more in the next book. I look forward to reading the next book.

~ Samantha

I adored Devil's Mark from the beginning to the end. Megan Crane just gets better and better! This story is the second in her Devil's Keepers series and it works well as either a stand-alone or as part of the series.
Bad-boy biker Uptown and the mayor's squeaky clean, beautiful daughter Holly are well rounded characters. Outwardly Uptown is all swagger - tough and cool and just a little bit dangerous, doing what he wants when and where he wants and not giving a damn, yet he's also fiercely loyal, protective and caring. Holly is the perfect southern belle, all sweet smiles and charming conversation wrapped in a beautifully presented parcel, yet she loves Uptown fiercely and has no qualms about stepping into his world to be with him.
The plot and pacing in this novel are balanced and kept my interest throughout. I couldn't read the story fast enough. This is Megan Crane at her best.

The book started a little slow for me but then WHAM! It picked up and I could not put it down. Talk about 2 people from the opposite sides of the tracks falling for one another. What was suppose to be a 1x thing between Uptown and Holly turned out to be a whole lot more!

Great second book to the series

Devil’s Mark continues where Devil’s Honor ended continuing the underlying story of secrets, and betrayal and crucial changes that will rock the foundation of Devil’s Keeper MC. Though this is a standalone, you might want to start with the first book for better understanding. This is Holly and Killian’s story.

Killian “Uptown” Chenier has always had an eye for the mayor’s daughter. Though she’s the epitome of a well-bred southern belle, her innocence isn’t something Uptown does at all. He doesn’t do relationships either, not with the abundance of club groupies at his beck and call. But when Benny Chambless, the mayor of LaGrange, seemingly double crosses Devil’s Keeper MC, they don’t help him out of his situation. Uptown has history with Benny when he was powerless youth. An awful time in his life as he remembers Benny made his mother addicted to drugs and did unthinkable things to her.

When Holly Chambless comes home from graduating college, her life’s in sudden upheaval. Her father is the dirty mayor charged with corruption and worse, Holly finds out she and her mother were only used as pawns in his obsession for power. The disgusting truth is, he never really cared for her or her mother.
Holly decides her reputation can stand some sullying when she decides to work at the local biker bar, Dumb Gators. But Uptown can’t resist Holly. In light of all the grittiness that surrounds her, she’s always the well-mannered lady, funny and upbeat. Uptown doesn’t mind making her a bit dirty, and he finds he can lose himself in a woman like her.

The story has plenty of sizzle and chemistry between Holly and Uptown. What started out as revenge on the mayor, ended up with Holly wanting her seduction with Uptown. I very much liked the resolution towards the ending for Benny Chambless, I think both Holly and Uptown got their revenge for the awful things Benny did to them.

Here’s hoping the third book will have some answers for the Devil’s Keeper MC.

I was given a copy from The Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept via NetGalley, and voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This was a interesting and morally challenging book. It follows a young confused twenty something year old who has always been Daddy's perfect daughter. But when her Daddy falls from grace in the small bayou town she returns home and doesn't know how to behave. She is trying to find her way in the world and her new status. But can she stay Daddy's little princess. Grab this one and find out.

If you are looking for the full MC experience, the Devil's Keepers series is just the thing for you! Those who have been following the series know all about the most handsome member of the MC, the guy that has all the women in Lagrange panting after him a Killian "Uptown" Chenier. In the end of the last book we saw that the mayor of Lagrange, Benny Chambless, who was supposedly a friend of the MC, get arrested. What's more, the MC finds out that Benny has been stealing and lying to them for a long time. So when the mayor's one and only child, his precious little princess walks into the MC's hangout, Dumb Gator, looking as if she doesn't have a care in the world and as innocent and fresh as snow, Uptown just can't help but make up his mind to corrupt the beautiful princess.

Killian "Uptown" Chenier hates Benny Chambless with his whole being. Knowing and witnessing first hand the role that the mayor played in the ruination of his drug addict mother, he wants nothing more than to ruin him. And what better way to get back at the two faced mayor than ruining the one thing that the mayor seems to value and cherish above everything and everyone else, his precious virgin daughter Holly. Uptown has always had his eye on the spoiled little princess and with her father now behind bars, he is not willing to give up his chance to get his revenge.

Holly Chambless grew up in a bubble. Always being the good girl and doing everything that her father asked of her. With a pill popping mother and a father whose only goal in life seems to be to garner more power and money for himself, she feels lonely. She desperately wants to feel alive. And now that she, along with the whole town, has finally seen her father's true face, she is determined to live on the wild side, and what better way to do it, than to start bartending in the seediest bar in Lagrange. Ever since seeing him "on the act" when she was sixteen, there has been only one man staring in her fantasies, Killian Chenier. He may be rude and mean but he is the only man that has her wanting to throw her virginity away and ride off to the sunset on his bike.

A HOT and tantalizing read that will definitely satisfy any fan of MC romances! The only thing that I didn't like about the book is the only thing that always bothers me about Megan Crane's books and that is the amount of description she writes. She goes into so much detail that you forget what the ongoing dialogue was about and have to go back a few pages to see what the characters were saying to one another . Apart from that I really enjoy Crane's books and her characters and her love scenes are truly unforgettable ;)

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.

I feel like I've read my fair share of motorcycle romances over the last few years. I would say that Mega Crane's The Devil's Keepers series ranks up there with some of the better ones I've read.

I liked Holly, the heroine. She's not a character I would normally like though. She's the daughter of the town mayor and has lived life pretty easily, what with being beautiful and rich and seemingly having it all. As you may have guessed, her life wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But even before I knew her life wasn't perfect, I liked her anyway. I think she's perfected that Southern way of saying, "Bless your heart" so that you KNOW you've been cut down a peg or two. I liked that she saved that kind of attitude for when someone hurt her or disrespected her first. She was sweet and kind and genuine and I really didn't expect that from a character like her. The more that is revealed about her, the more I liked her!

Uptown is hot and dangerous - just how we like our biker guys, right?? I don't know if it was ever revealed how he got that nickname, which is disappointing! He has all the right muscles and all the right tattoos and the requisite attitude to form a perfect outlaw biker. As with most motorcycle romances, I got to see a softer side of him. The difference was that his soft side wasn't all that soft! LOL! He wasn't a particularly nice guy but certainly no one wanted to cross him! I ended up liking him so much because he was just as floored and amazed at his reaction to Holly as I was. So it ended up being a little funny and very endearing.

By now, I should NOT need to say this but the Sexy Time was super hot! There wasn't a ton of it but this was a slightly shorter book (less than 200 pages) so it would have been difficult to jam much more Sexy Time in there. Plus, Holly's a virgin so the story (ST-wise) needs to progress a little more slowly. I LOVED the fact that Holly never let Uptown get to her...er, get under her skin. He says things that kind of hurt her but she understands people AND has a thick skin so when he says something that might be hurtful, she just rolls with it and gives it right back.

This IS Book 2 in The Devil's Keepers series but feel free to jump on in here if that's your thing. The characters from Book 1 were hardly even mentioned and I didn't feel like I really needed to know much about them in order to enjoy this book. As in Book 1, the mystery of what exactly is going on with the president of the Devil's Keepers continues but enough is revealed in this book that clever readers will see the writing on the wall. I would totally recommend this book to readers who want to dip a toe into the MC romance genre. The Devil's Keepers are outlaws, for sure. But they're still pretty palatable and their evil deeds are easily set aside.

Awesome 5 star contemporary biker romance. Holly has been treated by her father and the town as the mayor's princess. She's unsure of where and what she's doing. Her entire life has revolved around her father telling her what and when to do things. Once her father is arrested she has no stability or idea what's real. Uptown grew up on the poor side of town. When he could he became a member of the local biker club. The mayor is in major trouble with the MC club and that put Holly in the middle. She is to be a tool to force her father's hand. This has some vio!ence, intrigue, suspense and romance. The author added unexpected twists and turns to keep the readers attention. It also has some steamy scenes. I received a complementary copy of this book via NetGalley and chose to write a review. I look forward to reading future books by this author.

Devil's Mark is the second book in The Devil's Keepers and can be read as a stand alone. MC books are hit and miss for me. I have a bit of a hard time with how women are treated and "looked at" by the men in the MCs. This one had some of those issues for me but I know to expect them with MC books so putting that aside I really enjoyed this book.

The book is told in dual POVs from Uptown and Holly. I would have liked a little more character development for Uptown and maybe that was in the previous book. Holly was your typical "good girl" who falls for the bad boy. I liked Holly and she was strong and yet a bit naive. When she decided she wanted a change she went for it with a vengeance. The one thing that bothered me was that with all the "huge" revelations she seemed to be just fine with them. She was also just fine when Uptown made her think he was just using her to get to her father. I think that she was okay with it because she didn't really believe that it was true but I would have liked a little clarification on that. It would be true to her character however since Holly was certainly someone who didn't "see what was right in front of her" throughout her life.

The club business was a little murky and wasn't really explored except that obviously there are some issues within the club. I'm guessing that will be explored more in the next book. The ending felt a bit rushed to me. I was really surprised when everything was wrapped up so quickly. Uptown and Holly didn't spend much time together so the "in love" was a little unbelievable.

Holly and Uptown had plenty of chemistry and there was a lot of dirty talk and sex which I've come to expect from Megan Crane.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would continue to read it. If you're a fan of MC books you should definitely check this series out!