Love where you take us with each book you write. Your stories pack such an emotional punch. Your men and women are so rich in character, and we fully invest in each chapter we read.

I've enjoyed the previous books in the Torpedo Ink series. Christine Feehan has done a great job building the characters and this world. But Desolation Road did not hold my attention. Maybe it was the moodiness of Absinthe or maybe I just didn't enjoy the language. Or maybe I just couldn't stomach the treatment of women in this particular story.

I love the broken heroes of Christine Feehan's Torpedo Ink series. Aleksei and Scarlet are one of my favorite couples of all of CF's stories. I love how well-matched they are. I love that she is every bit as strong as he is.
She's a surprise. Strong and deadly.
Aleksei works with this "brothers and sisters" of Torpedo Ink, a motorcycle club, They have a horrific past of abuse as children. Now they hunt those who abuse children and woman. Scarlet was abused, but then her sister was and that was her breaking point. She seems like this quiet, peaceful type, but you find out she's pretty strong herself.
It was a great story and I look forward to more in this series.

Started well and ended well. I've always adored Christine Feehan. Scarlet's character is memorable and Christine did a lot of research on her story.

One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Can’t wait for more from this series. Full review posted to Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and other retailers.

Desolation Road (Torpedo Ink #4). By Christine Feehan. 2020. Berkely (ARC eBook).

Feehan’s Desolation Road fourth venture into the Torpedo Ink world of unconventional and fiercely protective men and women bonded together by a horrific childhood pairs up lawyer Aleskei “Absinthe” Solokov with vigilante Scarlet Foley. This is only the second book I’ve read in this series, but there seemed to be more real estate given to the psychic talents of the crew, than in Vendetta Road. Interesting enough, Scarlet has an ability too. One that compliments well with Absinthe’s and in fact helps him begin to overcome some of his grief and guilt, as well as serving as a vehicle for readers learning about Absinthe’s past.

Similarly to how I felt with Vendetta Road, explanation (not the description) of the sexual proclivities of the starring couple interrupts the flow. But as both books I’ve read are similarly done, I view it a bit differently now that I’ve had more exposure with the series. At first I thought Feehan was using repetitive explanation to ready readers for the kink-factor. Now I’ve caught on that it is done to reflect the characters needing to justify their desires to themselves. PTSD is real with Torpedo Ink. Each one are severely traumatized and yet soldier on, but not necessarily in a healthy way.

In Desolation Road, more kink is explored, new dynamics are built among different MCs, and more layers of the crew’s backstory are peeled away. Desolation Road delivers salvation for Absinthe and Scarlet, and dramatic and brutal outcomes for baddies.

Desolation Road is not for the faint at heart, that said, it is still a true love story. Only a woman who truly loves her man and has a deep respect for herself would be willing to deal with his
‘quirks’ and only a man who knows his needs take a special woman to tolerate them would survive the blending of their lives.

A victim of the most horrendous and vile torture imaginable, I still have problems with the imagery, Absinthe has come out the other side, able to function in mainstream life only with the solid core he has with his fellow inmates, the members of Torpedo Ink.

Scarlet’s history while not as physically harsh as Absinthes, is balanced by the deep emotional damage done to her. The lengths she goes to to to avenge her family shows from the start what a strong woman she is.

This story is so far from mainstream norms that it took me several readings to realize the Absinthe need for a ‘pet’ is not deviant behavior but a survival technique that both enabled his survival and almost caused the loss of his sanity. It wasn’t till the 2nd reading that I caught the fact that Scarlet could take or leave the pet scene but chose to continue because of her deep love for him.

These are the reasons for the 5 star review. It takes a master story teller to weave such off the wall traits and make them into a love story. While I can understand so many not being able to get past the perceived deviance, I’m sorry that they weren’t able to see past that to the deeper story.

The Torpedo Ink series is one I look forward to every installment. This series is really intense in both relationships and the characters themselves. They fight the most incomprehensible crime at the same time as dealing with their many demons. The family that is growing is strong and they are bonded so intensely.

Absinthe has the ability to speak and comfort his brothers and sisters. However he pays the price by taking on those demons himself. He finds peace from the demons in his head in libraries. This is just where he comes across a woman who can make him react like has never been possible. Absinthe and Scarlet come together hard. Both holding practically the same abilities. But Scarlet is not your regular librarian and she fascinates Absinthe.

The goal of Torpedo Ink in Desolation Road, is mainly to keep Scarlet safe. They do run a quick job for another club, I think on the verge of revealing themselves to this club. However, most of the story dealt with Absinthe and Scarlet's relationship and what each of them had gone through.

Normally, I get engrossed in the intensity of both the goals of Torpedo Ink as well as the personal relationships. I felt like Absinthe and Scarlet just got to the point of being a bit uncomfortable. I loved them, but the amount of time we spent with them seemed to drag a bit. This series seems to be meant to keep you in an uncomfortable headspace, so when immersed it in for long periods without a break is somewhat exhausting.

Desolation Road is the fourth book in the Torpedo Ink series and this book explores the new beginning of another member in a poignant, dark, and heartbreaking story. The cast of broken people coming together to resurrect a life of meaning

Torpedo Ink member, Aleksei "Absinthe" Solokov is one of the nine survivors who were subjected to horrific torture and brutality while children, trapped in a Russian pedophile cult. Along with his fellow motorcycle club members, Absinthe has fought to carve out a new life in an idyllic California coastal town. The club is thriving building the community, while also secretly taking down child trafficking gangs.

Despite outwardly successful in carving out new lives, Absinthe is still dealing with old wounds that hound his soul and his dark gift of being able to read people's minds, is another demon that haunts him. The last thing Absinthe is looking for is a woman and to his astonishment, he has become enthralled by most intriguing woman whom he recently "met" at the library, a place that has become a sort of sanctuary for Absinthe.

The heroine Scarlet Foley, is a local librarian who has caught the attention of Absinthe. Outwardly, Scarlet is a beautiful, prim, and quiet woman dedicated to her job. She is nonplussed at her immediate attraction to our hero. Yet Scarlet is a woman of many layers. Due to a past tragedy, she is as resilient and determined as steel, driven to patiently seek justice for her lost family and innocence. She has no room in her life for a man and is stunned at her magnetic attraction to the tattooed, muscled, sexy Absinthe.

Neither Absinthe or Scarlet are looking for a relationship, each are wrestling with their own agendas of justice and revenge. This magnetic attraction between them is more of an unwanted distraction. But, as fate converged the paths of these two people with troubled and tragic pasts, Absinthe and Scarlet's journey is intense, dark, and relentless. Absinthe senses that Scarlet is carrying a dark secret and his mission is to find out the secret she protects as well as to make this fascinating woman his own. It was fascinating to watch their slow burn connection, neither looking for love but compelled to

Desolation Road is an emotional story of two people who each bring their brokenness into the relationship and find solace and connection in each other and within the familial arms of Torpedo Ink members. Scarlet fits perfectly in the Torpedo Ink world, she brings complimentary gifts that enhances the community of wounded, resilient people as they choose hope and healing through opening their hearts, minds, and souls to love.

Desolation Road is the 4th book in the Torpedo Ink series and it was a provocative, thought-provoking story. The story was sensual yet I felt uncomfortable while I read it. From book 1 I knew that this MC series was going to have diverse sexual tastes, a bit gritty and raunchy, and that were going to stretch my personal feelings, but I never knew how much until this story.

Absinthe has a gift of helping his brothers and sisters with their pain but it haunts and tortures him all the time. For the past six weeks he’s been finding solace at a library and from the librarian herself. His mind calms and his body has awakened for librarian Scarlet Foley. It’s almost been foreplay for these two how they both look for the other and fantasize about each other. The slow burn was building and it paced well. Scarlet is a cautious individual and has secrets of her own.

He sees this and wants to figure her out. What he didn’t expect is how much she would mean to him and how he needs to make her his own. I really like the beginning, you can feel the raw chemistry that Scarlet and Absinthe have for one another and how they want to explore but he needs to do it slowly without spooking her. He has a need to dominate in the bedroom and she fortunately, likes to submit and be told what to do. She fills his need but I found his role-playing scenes demeaning to the heroine. Scarlet is a badass in her own right and has taken care of herself since her release from prison, and it just didn’t seem to fit her character. It also pushed my own boundaries wondering why it icked me out so much. Once it was explained how his this all came to be, it still wasn’t enough to overcome and I just had to skim over the last sex scenes in order to finish the story. That’s unusual for me but it all boils down to my own personal preference. I thought the author wrote the sex scenes well and you get to known Absinthe and his pain.

With such a big cast of characters I look forward to certain characters stories because I wonder who will be their match and how they will make it work. Absinthe is one of those characters. He found a heroine that understands him and wants to take care of him and visa versa. Fortunately, the confrontation that Scarlet had to face with a bounty on her head, did somewhat redeem her character a bit in my eyes. There is more of Savage in this story and introduces a new character, Destroyer, to spark my interest in where the author might be headed next. The author really made me think about sexual proclivities and how we develop and change these tastes over time. It may not have been my favorite but the writing was good and the characters definitely draw me back to see the saga continue for everyone in Torpedo Ink.

Desolation Road is the next book in the Torpedo Ink Series by Christine Feehan. It focuses on Aleksei “Absinthe” Solokov, a member of the Torpedo Ink Motorcycle Club, and Scarlet Foley, a librarian with a troubled past. Absinthe is a man with demons and as someone whose special talents help others, he ends up becoming overburdened by others issues. He discovers Scarlet, with her intelligence and life history, is someone that helps calm him and keep up with him intellectually. Scarlet’s past and Absinthe’s present club situation collide and they must work together to overcome it. After a whirlwind courtship they get married and deal with all problems head on. Like previous installments in this series, we get more flashbacks of the atrocities Torpedo Ink survived in their special school in Russia, so please be aware there is a great deal of description of child, sexual, and physical abuse. Scarlet herself comes from a traumatic past but is overcoming it. I am looking forward to the next addition in the series. Desolation Road is a sexy dark motorcycle romance that will delight Christine Feehan fans. This book was provided by the publisher from Netgalley in July 2020 for an honest review.

I was blown away by this book! I love how CF explains in detail what happened to these lost sols souls and what they need in adulthood. I love that they find the perfect match for them. it's true to life as ups and downs go and owning up to your mistakes. Each couple is willing to work through their hardships and misunderstandings. This is by far my favorite series from Ms. Feehan. It opens your eyes to so many things going on in the world.

Aleksei “Absinthe” Solokov is an important weapon for Torpedo Ink. He is a human lie detector and can influence both good and bad behavior with just his voice. But those “gifts” come with an extremely high price. As he touches someone to tell if they are speaking the truth, he sees what is inside them. He takes on their demons, in addition to his own. He learned to hone his skills as a child, with his brothers and sisters, working together just to survive. And eventually to be the few that survived the school of hell.
Scarlet Foley lost everything important in her life, including her family and she blames herself. She has spent many years learning, traveling, and training to become the absolute best she can be, to take control of her life and make the people who hurt her pay. She is settled in as a librarian in a small town, and helping teens with homework, living a quiet, hopefully safe life.
Absinthe loves books. He absorbs them, and they quiet the demons. He walks into the library and ends up spending every day that he can there. He found that Scarlet could also quiet his mind and the demons. And the fact that she is beautiful has his body reacting and his desires growing.
Scarlet has been daydreaming about the gorgeous tattooed man who comes into the library and reads about so many different subjects; history, languages, the pyramids, anything and everything.
Absinthe and Scarlet both have given up on finding love, happiness or peace. Their pasts and circumstances have convinced them that they will always be along.
But the need for peace convinces Absinthe to invite Scarlet to dinner close to the library. He knows she is hiding something but wants to get to know her. Scarlet is scared but agrees to dinner.
Absinthe and Scarlet begin to do things together. Both of them have deep and dark secrets that at some point have to be shared. Can Scarlet handle finding out that Absinthe is in a motorcycle club? Can Absinthe handle the fact that Scarlet has a price on her head?
Their story totally tugged on my heart strings. I cannot imagine how they survived the obstacles placed in their paths. Ms. Feehan has opened my eyes to so many things in the world, both real and imagined. I found myself laughing, crying and shaking my head in disbelief, depending on the chapter.
The members of Torpedo Ink have stolen my heart, and I cannot wait to read each and every story.

Scarlet has secrets and Absinthe is determined to uncover them but can he accept allowing Scarlet to see him as well?

Desolation Road is fourth in Christine Feehan’s Torpedo Ink series. Ms. Feehan provided the unexpected with this story. I can honestly say I never saw this one coming.

Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Absinthe a little better. His demons have demons even as he takes upon those demons of his brothers and sisters. I love that Ms.Feehan gave him such a strong female in Scarlet. She has seen evil up close and personal, and accepts Absinthe in all his glory. I loved seeing them find a way to build a strong foundation based upon love and acceptance. I love that Ms.Feehan put it all on display as they both learned to navigate their needs and desire.

This story by Ms.Feehan is emotionally raw even as it is honest. I loved the glimpse she continues to give us of the strength of this unconventional family. I look forward to seeing the rest find their shelter and support.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

Christine Feehan is honestly one of the best. And I truly enjoyed this story. This one was about Absinthe and Scarlet. Absinthe has Scarlet on his mind and he can’t seem to get her off. When Scarlet becomes “his” the whole team takes her as their own.

Scarlet has issues that Absinthe and the team are slowly finding out about and they will do anything to protect her.

Another great story by Feehan. This is the fourth in the series and I love this series and everything Feehan writes and this one doesn’t disappoint.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for Absinthe’s book and when the first chapter began with the scene at the library I knew his story was going to be good!

Things I really enjoyed about this book:
- Chapter 19!! *chef’s kiss* That chapter was perfection. The way she wrote the different POVs in that chapter - I love getting to really experience the “finale” of the revenge.
- Christine wrote a really strong female heroine in this book and the way she overcame the tragedy of her past was epic. (I don’t want to give anything away but she’s pretty much a badass!)
- Scarlett was the perfect match for Absinthe. He takes on a lot of emotions and with his gifts I was curious to see the type of person he would be matched with. She calms him and helps relieve that tension for him. Plus the gift she gave him in the end of the book was the icing on the cake.

The only part that I really hesitated on was the kink that Absinthe enjoyed. It was one I had never read before and to me, it came out of no where. I don’t remember getting a hint of what he would like in the other books like we have with some of the side characters. If there was I missed it. I actually had to put down the book and come back later when I was in the right headspace. Instead of getting a taste periodically of what he likes, it was this one chunk in the middle of the book that I felt like went on forever. I thought it would have been better to space it out some but I guess since it’s a pretty complex kink to explain she felt it was best to do it all at once.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more about the Torpedo Ink crew.

I really like C. Feehan and I love her world., but the thing that I find about reading the same series is that its a lot of receptiveness from the previous books. This book is no different. I read the book before this and while I love how they all tie together, even books from the past tie into this world I still think that this will be my last book by this author. I am all for the sex, the dirtier the better, but this couple? It wasn't my cup of tea. I don't mind raunchy but the particular fetish they share wasn't cool reading. I feel the descriptions were too long and the inner monologue was too wordy.

Scarlet is a local librarian that Aleksei “Absinthe” can’t get out of his head. No woman has ever affected him the way Scarlet does. He has his demons and Scarlet quiets them. When he finally asks Scarlet out the connection is immediate and they both see it, but Scarlet has secrets too and now the Torpedo Ink will do whatever it takes to give Absinthe the woman of his dreams and make Scarlet’s troubles disappear.

I appreciate the imagination used in the creation of this story. I liked that Scarlet was doing whatever it took to get revenge on the persons who caused her pain. There is an uncomfortable element of abuse, lots of cringy moments and I must admit I skimmed over their “kink” as much as possible because I didn’t care… There were a lot of kink moments, entire chapters, and it still kept going and going. For me, Desolation Road needed more balance, I was good with the overall story, it just got bogged down by the highly descriptive kink, that I really cared less about, which disconnected me from the characters.

I received this ARC copy of Desolation Road from Berkley Publishing Group. This is my honest and voluntary review.

My Rating: ***
Written by: Christine Feehan
Series: Torpedo Ink (Book 4)
Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Berkley (July 7, 2020)
ISBN-10: 0593099753
ISBN-13: 978-0593099759
Genre: Paranormal Romance

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Desolation-Roa...
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/deso...
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Desolation Road is the 4th book in Christine Feehan’s Torpedo Ink series; it can be read as a standalone. I did read it as a standalone but I could see that it would really help to have read the previous books to give a bit more background into the character’s past. Desolation Road follows the story of Aleksei “Absinthe” Solokov and Scarlet Foley. The Torpedo Ink motorcycle club is Absinthe’s whole focus, they are all family and have gone through a lot together in the past and are helping each other heal in their own way. Absinthe still craves for a love that is just his own though, and when he stubbles upon Scarlet in the library he starts to spend more of his free time there watching the librarian that caught his eye.

I was very pulled into this book from the start but then it kind of fizzled for me. At the beginning there is so much to learn about both Scarlet and Absinthe. They both have trauma in their past that they are trying to work through in their own ways and I think they recognized this in each other and coming together helped them work through it as well. There was much more to Absinthe that what I had thought when I first started to read, I was pleasantly surprised to find that he was a big reader and that he doesn’t shy away from hard work. Scarlet was also surprising, she was not the uptight librarian that she displays herself as, and was actively working to get revenge for her past. When the two of them finally got together it was very heated but I found that I personally am not really a fan of BDSM, so I didn’t enjoy those scenes (and there was many of them) as much as other readers may. I did appreciate though how well it the erotic kinks were described in a mature way and I think that readers who are into BDSM will really like this story.

Another annoyance I had with the book was Feehan’s writing style of always repeating certain information. I would get so annoyed when the character’s thoughts or dialogues would repeat the same stuff over and over again. We get it! Readers can remember things, no need to keep pushing it on us. I also felt like there was so much heat and passion between Absinthe and Scarlet, both in their sexual preferences and with the past trauma they are trying to heal, that I almost don’t really believe that they have a true connection outside of those heated moments.

~ Harshita

Release Date: July 7, 2020
Berkley Penguin Group
Torpedo Ink #4
Romantic Suspense/Dark Romance
Review copy provided by publisher

Nikki’s Review:

I gotta say, I struggled at the beginning with the awkwardness of Aleksei and Scarlet’s budding relationship. About that awkwardness...it was like watching two 40-year-old virgins trying to figure out the dating scene. It was cringe worthy, in my opinion. I didn’t feel the chemistry...at first. Once things pick up on the physical end it was full throttle and totally made me blush.

I swear, each book in this series gets a little more dark, gritty, and raunchy. Don’t get me wrong, all of that stuff is amaze balls, but it definitely pushed me to the edge of my comfort zone a few times. There is quite a bit of kink in this book. All in all, it’s sexy AF!

This whole series has some pretty dark content. Human trafficking, in particular, involving children plays a central role. It’s always so satisfying when one of the characters kills one of the fuckers who preys on defenseless children. I kinda do a little fist pump!

Christine Feehan once again pulled me into her fictional world and held me captive. While I had a bit of a slow start with connecting to the hero and heroine’s relationship, I think this book was solidly written. This book, and the series as a whole pulls so many emotions out of me. I’m always feeling something, it could be anxiousness, excitement, anger, sadness, or hot all over from the sexy times. The feels are just always there.

For best enjoyment of this book, I highly recommend starting from the beginning of the series with, Judgement Road. The characters are all intricately woven, and there’s tons of backstory.

Rating: 4 Stars (A)