1.75☆
ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All of my opinions are my own, and are in no way affected by the exchange.

TW: child molestation flashbacks, spousal abuse, mentions of prostitution/prostitution business, death of a sibling, death of a parent, alcoholism, cheating, violence, blood/murder

Wow. This book was.... not good. If you have ever watched Sons of Anarchy, then you essentially have read this book. It feels almost like a verbatim rip off of that show.

Besides this book being a bad rip off of SoA, I could not stand the writing style. It was extremely basic. Some of the lines in the book were so bad that I physically hurt my eyeballs from rolling them so hard. One passage that got me, essentially said "I Am Big Strong Man and Because I Am Strong Man, I Must Eat Everything." I wish I was kidding about the way I wrote that either. That's pretty much what the writing style is throughout this entire book.

There is also some talk in here about how the club makes its money and they legit say that they make "legitimate" money by having a brothel/prostitution ring. I'm pretty sure that is illegal sir.

The only thing that saved this book for me was the flashback scenes from Cade and Indy's childhood. They have been neighbors and friends since they were 5 and seeing snippets of their relationship with each other grow and change was really cute. I liked the dual points of view because it allowed the reader to see what they were feeling during their childhood.

TW: Child molestation (spoilers)
There is one scene in a flashback that depicts an attempted attack Indy at age 7. She was not physically harmed but it does go into detail about her fear and the man did touch her. Parents are alerted and they do get there in time. I was completely not expecting that and was taken off guard. I wanted to point this out because it can be pretty triggering for some.

***4.5 ‘You Can Kiss Me As Much As You Like’ Stars***

That was NOT how I thought this book was going to end. And now I need the next one...like...yesterday?!?!

I mean seriously...WTF?!?

But…*deep breath in...slow breath out*...the review.

I’m always a little hesitant when I decide to dive into an MC romance because my track record with them is a 50/50 split on ones I’ve loved and ones that just haven’t worked out for me for one reason or another and this one was no different. But the cover reeled me in and the blurb peaked my interest and, with the exception of that ending, I really enjoyed this one. It was sweet, swoon worthy, eye roll inducing, smexy and filled with some really well written characters and that family feel that makes me want to hang out and get to know them a whole lot better.

I kinda fell in love with Cade. I mean it was hard not to fall in love with him. He’s got the alpha AF biker thing going on, but there’s this sweetness to him that just pulls you in. He’s a good man who loves his family and will protect them no matter what. Indy...I gotta be honest. She and I had a rough go of it, this isn’t to say that I didn’t like her because I did and I understood why she felt the things that she did, but...she tried me. She really did, but in the end I can honestly say that I really liked her and loved seeing her fiery personality finally come out.

Cade and Indy’s journey was all kinds of angsty/swoony goodness. It sounds a little strange, but they had even amounts of both of those and though there were things that drove me batshit crazy, it only showed that they belonged together. Their connection, their chemistry, was intense and the need to see them work things out and put the past behind them was strong. Now, in a situation where cheating is involved I do typically side with the party who had been cheated on, but in this case, after everything was exposed I was, and am, absolutely #TeamCade. No questions asked.
This is my first read by the author and I was hooked from the start. The writing was engaging, pacing was good and I really enjoyed the dual first person POV’s. I also really enjoy how she showed us just how deep the connection between Cade and Indy ran, it was well thought out and executed. The MC aspect was done well, it’s not as dark as some, but it’s still gritty and that family feel is definitely there. As for the supporting cast of characters. There are a lot of people I want more of. Each one we meet is well written and unique, though Sybil is my favorite of the bunch, she rocks! And as for that ending. Again, didn’t see that coming, but I NEED to know how it all works out, so bring on Brothers in Arms!

~ Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley & voluntarily reviewed ~