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Hells Saints Motorcycle Club #1
Raine Falling
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Debut Goodreads Author (2014)After a lifetime of uncertainty, Raine Winston shouldn’t be fazed by anything anymore. But she’s terrified. Terrified that her wayward sister, Claire, has gotten into debt dangerously over her head. Terrified that a muscle-clad biker named Diego doesn’t want payment with money—he wants much more. And terrified of the dizzying desire she feels whenever Diego touches her…
Diego Montesalto spends his days raising hell and his nights in the arms of fast, easy women. Tough, tattooed, and used to taking what he wants, he refuses to get emotionally invested in anyone. But he can’t stop thinking about Raine’s sweet smell, striking blue eyes, and quiet determination. She may have the spirit of a warrior, but she needs someone to guide and protect her.
When Raine has no choice but to go on the run, she falls straight into the Hells Saints’ mayhem-filled world…and into Diego’s strong arms. But in a life filled with hard choices, raw lust, and blood-soaked violence, is there room for loyalty…or love?
Revised edition: Previously published as Game Changer, this edition of Raine Falling includes editorial revisions.
Diego Montesalto spends his days raising hell and his nights in the arms of fast, easy women. Tough, tattooed, and used to taking what he wants, he refuses to get emotionally invested in anyone. But he can’t stop thinking about Raine’s sweet smell, striking blue eyes, and quiet determination. She may have the spirit of a warrior, but she needs someone to guide and protect her.
When Raine has no choice but to go on the run, she falls straight into the Hells Saints’ mayhem-filled world…and into Diego’s strong arms. But in a life filled with hard choices, raw lust, and blood-soaked violence, is there room for loyalty…or love?
Revised edition: Previously published as Game Changer, this edition of Raine Falling includes editorial revisions.
354 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2014
580 people are currently reading
5384 people want to read
About the author
Paula Marinaro
11 books950 followersHey all,
Just a few quick words about me. I was raised on the North Shore of Boston and born in Salem. Yep that Salem! My childhood neighborhood was filled with kids and there wasn't one part of it that wasn't magical. I draw a lot on those memories when writing. My latest book, Trailer Park Girls, is dedicated to my first grade teacher.
When I finished college I settled in the beautiful Berkshires of Massachusetts where I raised my children and settled into a career in teaching. I wrote my first book, Raine Falling, in 2014, and have been writing ever since!
Just a few quick words about me. I was raised on the North Shore of Boston and born in Salem. Yep that Salem! My childhood neighborhood was filled with kids and there wasn't one part of it that wasn't magical. I draw a lot on those memories when writing. My latest book, Trailer Park Girls, is dedicated to my first grade teacher.
When I finished college I settled in the beautiful Berkshires of Massachusetts where I raised my children and settled into a career in teaching. I wrote my first book, Raine Falling, in 2014, and have been writing ever since!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 645 reviews
July 10, 2016
It had been quite some time since I'd read a biker romance. So, as I was starting to work my way through my Audible shelves, I thought this would be a good choice to break up the monotony. It proved to be a great choice!
Raine has had a tough life. Ever since her mother died, when Raine was just a child, she'd taken over caregiving responsibilities for her younger sister, Claire. Their father could not function after the death of their mother, leaving Raine to assume parental roles as a kid.
As an adult, Raine has continued to watch over her baby sister. She has become the responsible one, always watching out for her druggie sister and stepping in to save her. She's had her fair share of hardship, including a past relationship with an abusive ex. If anything, her experience has taught her that she needs to be self-reliant.
When she meets Diego, he is trying to collect a debt from Claire's boyfriend. To save her sister, Raine assumes the debt. She knows that if the money isn't enough, the payment will be made in blood.
A miscommunication leads to Raine unexpectedly placing herself directly in Diego's path. She seeks protection from her "uncle" Prosper, not knowing that he is the President of the MC that Diego is a member of. Soon, she finds herself living in close quarters with the very man she was trying to escape.
Diego was you typical bad boy biker. He avoided serious relationships, meeting his physical needs through the club whores. He didn't want to be attracted to Raine, but couldn't help it.
Within a short period of time, Diego is staking claim to Raine. Things are going smoothly for a while, then all hell breaks loose. Then, things get very intense.
This book held my attention from start to finish. There was plenty of turmoil and angst to keep me fully engaged in the story. If you like a romance with plenty of danger that will make you experience the full gamut of emotions, this is a good choice. Yes, it was somewhat predictable, but it was still great in my opinion.
Raine has had a tough life. Ever since her mother died, when Raine was just a child, she'd taken over caregiving responsibilities for her younger sister, Claire. Their father could not function after the death of their mother, leaving Raine to assume parental roles as a kid.
As an adult, Raine has continued to watch over her baby sister. She has become the responsible one, always watching out for her druggie sister and stepping in to save her. She's had her fair share of hardship, including a past relationship with an abusive ex. If anything, her experience has taught her that she needs to be self-reliant.
When she meets Diego, he is trying to collect a debt from Claire's boyfriend. To save her sister, Raine assumes the debt. She knows that if the money isn't enough, the payment will be made in blood.
A miscommunication leads to Raine unexpectedly placing herself directly in Diego's path. She seeks protection from her "uncle" Prosper, not knowing that he is the President of the MC that Diego is a member of. Soon, she finds herself living in close quarters with the very man she was trying to escape.
Diego was you typical bad boy biker. He avoided serious relationships, meeting his physical needs through the club whores. He didn't want to be attracted to Raine, but couldn't help it.
Within a short period of time, Diego is staking claim to Raine. Things are going smoothly for a while, then all hell breaks loose. Then, things get very intense.
This book held my attention from start to finish. There was plenty of turmoil and angst to keep me fully engaged in the story. If you like a romance with plenty of danger that will make you experience the full gamut of emotions, this is a good choice. Yes, it was somewhat predictable, but it was still great in my opinion.
January 28, 2014
I can't read this. I give up at 45%
Please dear author get yourself a proofreader, a beta reader and ensure that your work is actually readable before you charge for it. You couldn't even remember that your heroines eyes are actually blue? Please, this is insulting and a mockery of fiction.
I have read free works a thousand times better than this. And those where written by 16 year olds on fiction press.
Please dear author get yourself a proofreader, a beta reader and ensure that your work is actually readable before you charge for it. You couldn't even remember that your heroines eyes are actually blue? Please, this is insulting and a mockery of fiction.
I have read free works a thousand times better than this. And those where written by 16 year olds on fiction press.
October 20, 2015
3.5 stars
MEH.
This was one of those odd books that makes you feel wrapped-up in the story while you're reading it, but then . . . fades to nothingness.
I'm honestly kind of surprised that happened here, b/c when I say "wrapped-up," I mean wrapped-up. I leaked a few tears . . . Another time shit was going down and I was "tee-hee-hee"-ing with sparkly dancing fingers beside my head like a six year old . . .
BUT.
Now that it's over, I mostly want to reread some Kristen Ashley. Specifically, Motorcycle Man. Or maybe Rock Chick #5 (or whichever one was LUKE STARK's book).
Whatever. The point is that instead of wanting to grab the shiny never-before-read second installment of this series, I want to read--again--one of several books I've read waaaaaaay more than twice.
Plot-wise, it was very much what I've come to expect from a contemporary Motorcycle Club romance: HAWT mountain of a biker sees a "good" woman and decides instantly that he must have her. She's different, she's special, and unlike the typical MC trash that he and his brothers pass around, she's "classy."
Whatever that means to a lawless biker dude . . . *snorts*
Regardless, he sees her, he wants her, he takes what he wants. And the only thing that keeps this from being a decidedly different sort of story is that Dollface decides she wants him too.
But the course of true love never did run smooth, blah-friggin'-blah.
Character-wise, all of the important players were fairly simple stock versions of what I've come to expect from this kind of book. There were a handful of unique and poignant moments--like I said, tears and tee-hee-hee-ing--but overall these characters lacked the moxie that is inherently KA or the shocking crassness of Madeline Sheehan . . .
Raine actually reminded me of Sookie, in temperament, if not in appearance. She was a very simple, very pragmatic, yet still distinctly female kind of woman. She often said things that were easily understood without needing to be said, and sometimes her internal dialogue read like a textbook, but she was both likable and someone I could respect.
SO. I do not regret snagging this as a diversion from my recent high fantasy kick. If KA or Madeline Sheehan are a little bit OTT for you, then Raine Falling might be the happy medium you've been looking for. If you still aren't sure, then do what I did and use your Amazon Prime to borrow the sucker. If you don't like it, no harm, no foul.
MEH.
This was one of those odd books that makes you feel wrapped-up in the story while you're reading it, but then . . . fades to nothingness.
I'm honestly kind of surprised that happened here, b/c when I say "wrapped-up," I mean wrapped-up. I leaked a few tears . . . Another time shit was going down and I was "tee-hee-hee"-ing with sparkly dancing fingers beside my head like a six year old . . .
BUT.
Now that it's over, I mostly want to reread some Kristen Ashley. Specifically, Motorcycle Man. Or maybe Rock Chick #5 (or whichever one was LUKE STARK's book).
Whatever. The point is that instead of wanting to grab the shiny never-before-read second installment of this series, I want to read--again--one of several books I've read waaaaaaay more than twice.
Plot-wise, it was very much what I've come to expect from a contemporary Motorcycle Club romance: HAWT mountain of a biker sees a "good" woman and decides instantly that he must have her. She's different, she's special, and unlike the typical MC trash that he and his brothers pass around, she's "classy."
Whatever that means to a lawless biker dude . . . *snorts*
Regardless, he sees her, he wants her, he takes what he wants. And the only thing that keeps this from being a decidedly different sort of story is that Dollface decides she wants him too.
But the course of true love never did run smooth, blah-friggin'-blah.
Character-wise, all of the important players were fairly simple stock versions of what I've come to expect from this kind of book. There were a handful of unique and poignant moments--like I said, tears and tee-hee-hee-ing--but overall these characters lacked the moxie that is inherently KA or the shocking crassness of Madeline Sheehan . . .
Raine actually reminded me of Sookie, in temperament, if not in appearance. She was a very simple, very pragmatic, yet still distinctly female kind of woman. She often said things that were easily understood without needing to be said, and sometimes her internal dialogue read like a textbook, but she was both likable and someone I could respect.
SO. I do not regret snagging this as a diversion from my recent high fantasy kick. If KA or Madeline Sheehan are a little bit OTT for you, then Raine Falling might be the happy medium you've been looking for. If you still aren't sure, then do what I did and use your Amazon Prime to borrow the sucker. If you don't like it, no harm, no foul.
June 8, 2015
“Real men are the ones who go to sleep next to you at night, wake up next to you in the morning, and hold you in their hearts all the hours in between. You make sure when it’s your time to choose that you pick a man like that.”
I have had Raine Falling on my kindle for quite a while. As I am a huge MC fan, I was looking forward to getting to know a new group of bikers. There is just something special about the camaraderie and brotherhood that attracts me to these books. It certainly makes the read even sweeter when there is a heroine that I can get to know and love.
I would first like to say that Raine Falling was a bit of a refreshing surprise. I felt that the book wasn't focused solely on the romance of the two main characters but instead a story about family, about growth, and about new beginnings.
Raine has had a difficult start in life. She lost her mother at a very young age. Although her father did his best, there was much left to be desired when it came to her upbringing. She and her little sister learned at a young age to depend on each other and a big burly MC man named Prosper. Prosper was a close family friend and made a point to step in to help the girls when their dad wasn't taking care of things. Prosper promised Raine that she would always have a safe place with his club. If she ever needed his help, he would be there.
When Raine's sister Claire is threatened by the wrong men, Raine steps in to bail her out. However, by bailing her out she opens up a completely different can of trouble. Observing her plight is a MC club member Diego.
Diego is a member of the Hell's Saints MC. Coincidentally, the same club that Prosper is the President of. He is completely unaware of any connection that Raine has with Prosper. He only knows that he is attracted to her and wants to help her out but not pull her into the MC life.
Raine goes to Prosper for help. As soon as Diego realizes who Raine is, he knows that she is already part of the MC life and he decides he wants to have her.
"She was made for him. Now he was just going to make sure she knew it. And if it took him stopping when the only thing he wanted to do was keep going . . . then he was going to stop. For now."-Diego
There is the typical MC drama. Diego has been with plenty of girls and they all want to keep him. Raine is still managing to heal after her own heartbreaks. Her sister Claire is in rehab. Raine wants to get to know Diego but truthfully she doubts his ability to be faithful.
"I wasn’t the kind of woman who fought over men. I never got that. There were so many other things you had to fight to keep in this life, a man should not be one of them."-Raine
Despite the comfort Raine feels from Prosper, and now Diego, she knows that life has never been easy and she is always on the look out for the darkness to cloud her life once more.
"I’m so tired of feeling that. So tired of feeling something only to have it taken away from me before I even begin to understand what it is. Before it even has a chance to grow into something I can recognize.”
Raine and Diego form a strong bond as friends and lovers. It was very tender and as things progressed between the two I knew it was only a matter of time for something big to happen. When it happened, it was a bit heartbreaking.
"He was going to make this right. He had to. Had to make it right for her. For himself."-Diego
Overall, Raine Falling was a very enjoyable read. I think it possibly could have been a 5 star read had it not been for the extra "extra" drama towards the end. I would identify this book as a milder MC book. The action was well paced and the character relationships were strongly established. There was love between two sisters, between brothers in the club, and of course the love of Prosper to two girls that didn't really have a dad. All of those elements made this read highly enjoyable. Diego and Raine had nice chemistry and I enjoyed their story. I definitely recommend this read and I will be checking out the next book in the series. Ms. Marinaro did an excellent job establishing the love interest developing between Claire and Reno.
"The welcome vibration ran through our bodies. We could feel them. A fleet of steel horses ridden by dark knights charging to our rescue. We knew before we saw them. Our men had come to take us home."-Raine
I have had Raine Falling on my kindle for quite a while. As I am a huge MC fan, I was looking forward to getting to know a new group of bikers. There is just something special about the camaraderie and brotherhood that attracts me to these books. It certainly makes the read even sweeter when there is a heroine that I can get to know and love.
I would first like to say that Raine Falling was a bit of a refreshing surprise. I felt that the book wasn't focused solely on the romance of the two main characters but instead a story about family, about growth, and about new beginnings.
Raine has had a difficult start in life. She lost her mother at a very young age. Although her father did his best, there was much left to be desired when it came to her upbringing. She and her little sister learned at a young age to depend on each other and a big burly MC man named Prosper. Prosper was a close family friend and made a point to step in to help the girls when their dad wasn't taking care of things. Prosper promised Raine that she would always have a safe place with his club. If she ever needed his help, he would be there.
When Raine's sister Claire is threatened by the wrong men, Raine steps in to bail her out. However, by bailing her out she opens up a completely different can of trouble. Observing her plight is a MC club member Diego.
Diego is a member of the Hell's Saints MC. Coincidentally, the same club that Prosper is the President of. He is completely unaware of any connection that Raine has with Prosper. He only knows that he is attracted to her and wants to help her out but not pull her into the MC life.
Raine goes to Prosper for help. As soon as Diego realizes who Raine is, he knows that she is already part of the MC life and he decides he wants to have her.
"She was made for him. Now he was just going to make sure she knew it. And if it took him stopping when the only thing he wanted to do was keep going . . . then he was going to stop. For now."-Diego
There is the typical MC drama. Diego has been with plenty of girls and they all want to keep him. Raine is still managing to heal after her own heartbreaks. Her sister Claire is in rehab. Raine wants to get to know Diego but truthfully she doubts his ability to be faithful.
"I wasn’t the kind of woman who fought over men. I never got that. There were so many other things you had to fight to keep in this life, a man should not be one of them."-Raine
Despite the comfort Raine feels from Prosper, and now Diego, she knows that life has never been easy and she is always on the look out for the darkness to cloud her life once more.
"I’m so tired of feeling that. So tired of feeling something only to have it taken away from me before I even begin to understand what it is. Before it even has a chance to grow into something I can recognize.”
Raine and Diego form a strong bond as friends and lovers. It was very tender and as things progressed between the two I knew it was only a matter of time for something big to happen. When it happened, it was a bit heartbreaking.
"He was going to make this right. He had to. Had to make it right for her. For himself."-Diego
Overall, Raine Falling was a very enjoyable read. I think it possibly could have been a 5 star read had it not been for the extra "extra" drama towards the end. I would identify this book as a milder MC book. The action was well paced and the character relationships were strongly established. There was love between two sisters, between brothers in the club, and of course the love of Prosper to two girls that didn't really have a dad. All of those elements made this read highly enjoyable. Diego and Raine had nice chemistry and I enjoyed their story. I definitely recommend this read and I will be checking out the next book in the series. Ms. Marinaro did an excellent job establishing the love interest developing between Claire and Reno.
"The welcome vibration ran through our bodies. We could feel them. A fleet of steel horses ridden by dark knights charging to our rescue. We knew before we saw them. Our men had come to take us home."-Raine
April 15, 2017
It's a sad when the book I'm reading not only fails to hold my attention but it reminds me of a book I'd read the previous year, it took me a while to find it but I did and so I've just read Raine Falling for the second time and yes I enjoyed it just as much this time.
Firstly this is a long book, I know what you're thinking 354 pages isn't particularly long but it is, the print is small which makes a huge difference I've read books this length before in a fraction of the time, so you're getting a lot of reading for your money.
Now this book is not without it's faults but I just couldn't put it down which resulted in less than 3 hours sleep last night and the first thing I did on waking this morning was pick it up again.
As you can tell I found it addictive reading, in the past I've complained about characters not feeling real, not being developed enough, or having enough background none of this applies here, it's a mesmerising tale of life and love and I really enjoyed it.
Firstly this is a long book, I know what you're thinking 354 pages isn't particularly long but it is, the print is small which makes a huge difference I've read books this length before in a fraction of the time, so you're getting a lot of reading for your money.
Now this book is not without it's faults but I just couldn't put it down which resulted in less than 3 hours sleep last night and the first thing I did on waking this morning was pick it up again.
As you can tell I found it addictive reading, in the past I've complained about characters not feeling real, not being developed enough, or having enough background none of this applies here, it's a mesmerising tale of life and love and I really enjoyed it.
dnf
March 15, 2014Oh I just can't EVEN with this. In my opinion, this book is an example of first person POV done sloppily.
I don't like to be TOLD the story through a character's inner dialogue. I want to be SHOWN the story through character action, conversation, and interaction.
This is mostly a personal preference thing though because a lot of my friends really liked it. I just couldn't get over the writing style. To each their own, right?
I don't like to be TOLD the story through a character's inner dialogue. I want to be SHOWN the story through character action, conversation, and interaction.
This is mostly a personal preference thing though because a lot of my friends really liked it. I just couldn't get over the writing style. To each their own, right?
January 19, 2014
First let me say I very much enjoyed the story and the characters the author created. I am looking forward to the next stories in the series very much.
However, the story needs a good editor. There were quite a few misspelled words (many uses of "passed" instead of "past"), uses of capitalized words in entire sentences, and uses of all caps for paragraphs to show yelling. There are also missing periods at the ends of sentences. Hopefully the author gets an editor for her next book because she did a great job at creating a story, it just needs a little polishing.
The story itself was a quite enjoyable biker book. I liked both the main characters and the supporting characters. The story kept me engaged and interested and excited for the next books in the series hopefully featuring the heroine's sister and friend and some other brothers.
However, the story needs a good editor. There were quite a few misspelled words (many uses of "passed" instead of "past"), uses of capitalized words in entire sentences, and uses of all caps for paragraphs to show yelling. There are also missing periods at the ends of sentences. Hopefully the author gets an editor for her next book because she did a great job at creating a story, it just needs a little polishing.
The story itself was a quite enjoyable biker book. I liked both the main characters and the supporting characters. The story kept me engaged and interested and excited for the next books in the series hopefully featuring the heroine's sister and friend and some other brothers.
April 18, 2024
Note to self Nasty ass man whore. Goes from heroines bed to club whore back to heroines bed
Doormat h
🤮🤮🤮
I give up on MC “romance”
Here’s what I don’t understand
You want me to believe these big, bad, confident and secure biker men who live by the laws of loyalty can’t be loyal to their women?
Secure men don’t need club whores. Can’t get laid at the local bar? Or can’t get a fuckbuddy? Have to have women live at your beck and call and pay for their “services”? (usually a free place to live food etc) Then you don’t deserve to get laid buddy. psssstttt that’s also called prostitution..now I’m not judging I’m just saying let’s call a spade a spade.
And club whores are used for one purpose in ALL these biker books-to create drama. Whether he cheats or has screwed them all or had one favorite that gets jealous and somehow puts the “heroine” at risk. MC authors can’t think of any other way to create angst?!?!
This is pathetic writing. Get creative authors. Club whores and manwhores are old. You have a huge audience who doesn’t want to read about it. Think of new ways to get your angst. Or maybe stop writing if you can’t 😂🤣😂🤣
Doormat h
🤮🤮🤮
I give up on MC “romance”
Here’s what I don’t understand
You want me to believe these big, bad, confident and secure biker men who live by the laws of loyalty can’t be loyal to their women?
Secure men don’t need club whores. Can’t get laid at the local bar? Or can’t get a fuckbuddy? Have to have women live at your beck and call and pay for their “services”? (usually a free place to live food etc) Then you don’t deserve to get laid buddy. psssstttt that’s also called prostitution..now I’m not judging I’m just saying let’s call a spade a spade.
And club whores are used for one purpose in ALL these biker books-to create drama. Whether he cheats or has screwed them all or had one favorite that gets jealous and somehow puts the “heroine” at risk. MC authors can’t think of any other way to create angst?!?!
This is pathetic writing. Get creative authors. Club whores and manwhores are old. You have a huge audience who doesn’t want to read about it. Think of new ways to get your angst. Or maybe stop writing if you can’t 😂🤣😂🤣
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2014
Okay there were 2 MAJOR things that kept this book from achieving what you see through the promise of potential here.
1. The hero Diego
2. Way too much long drawn out inner monologues. Not only with the main characters, but secondary ones as well.
I say this time & time again when I read books executed in this way. This doesn't make it any less true for me though. I NEED BALANCE when it comes to inner monologue & dialogue. Show & tell. When I get way too much tell & not enough show, it ruins it for me more often than not. I need to not only see what goes on, I need to feel it. I need to go through the motions with these characters. I need to experience the hurt, the joy, the sadness, the love, lust, hurt. Whatever. It needs to be tangible. And If I am just being told all the time what's going on, then that takes that experience away from me. I feel cheated if I don't get this or enough of it in a story. And more often than not, if I'm stuck in someone's head for too long they become repetitive with their thoughts & I get bored.
Now this story has tons of back story in it. Which really does a good job of setting up the premise & some of the why's behind everything. It's a lot to go over, at times a lot to take in, but it's interesting, beautiful & heartbreaking at times. This aspect of the book was fine for me. I had no issues with it. But when you couple all that back story in with present tense 80% inner monologues and only 20% dialogue, it becomes a bit too much. This aspect (monologue vs dialogue) caused the story to drag in a lot of areas for me. Which unfortunately caused me to feel a major disconnect with a lot of the characters, mainly the Hero & heroine.
There were some intense & suspenseful moments here, yes. Loving ones as well. But I felt more of a connection to the secondary characters than I did the main characters Diego & Raine I just feel like their coupling could have been just... More. Of everything. They were lacking to me. They were luke warm at best.
I had a hard time hopping on board with Diego it was something that was just always missing for me with him. Then he pulled a move on me around the 74% mark, and all hope for him was lost. Sadly at that point, for me, it was definitely over concerning him.
I felt much more intense pulls at my heart strings for Prosper, Crow, & Reno than I did for our Hero of this book. And that's just sad. 3 secondary characters stealing the spotlight and putting my panties in a twist more than the main hero of the story. Smh.
And this book is the most tame book I've read in an MC genre when it comes to all things erotic & physical. (Left me wanting big time)
When it comes to the premise & plot of this story, it has potential. But when it comes to the meat of the story, what it indicates you should be feeling? Because of the way it's executed, it leaves a lot of those feelings just on the surface or not to be found/felt at all. But oddly enough it still remained intriguing.
But remember, this is the opinion of someone who needs balance between the show & tell, in most cases, to truly enjoy a story like this. Those of you who are big on inner monologues, will love this one no doubt. Those who are big on dialogue may still like this one, but struggle through it.
This one has some good aspects & some bad. Unfortunately the bad is what made this just an alright read for me.
I am interested in Claire & Reno's story though. So if their book comes out next or in the near future. I would give it a try. Hopefully, I will enjoy theirs' better. And I wouldn't mind a story about Crow either ;)
But as far as being truly invested in reading this series? I don't see that happening for me.
*shrugs*
1. The hero Diego
2. Way too much long drawn out inner monologues. Not only with the main characters, but secondary ones as well.
I say this time & time again when I read books executed in this way. This doesn't make it any less true for me though. I NEED BALANCE when it comes to inner monologue & dialogue. Show & tell. When I get way too much tell & not enough show, it ruins it for me more often than not. I need to not only see what goes on, I need to feel it. I need to go through the motions with these characters. I need to experience the hurt, the joy, the sadness, the love, lust, hurt. Whatever. It needs to be tangible. And If I am just being told all the time what's going on, then that takes that experience away from me. I feel cheated if I don't get this or enough of it in a story. And more often than not, if I'm stuck in someone's head for too long they become repetitive with their thoughts & I get bored.
Now this story has tons of back story in it. Which really does a good job of setting up the premise & some of the why's behind everything. It's a lot to go over, at times a lot to take in, but it's interesting, beautiful & heartbreaking at times. This aspect of the book was fine for me. I had no issues with it. But when you couple all that back story in with present tense 80% inner monologues and only 20% dialogue, it becomes a bit too much. This aspect (monologue vs dialogue) caused the story to drag in a lot of areas for me. Which unfortunately caused me to feel a major disconnect with a lot of the characters, mainly the Hero & heroine.
There were some intense & suspenseful moments here, yes. Loving ones as well. But I felt more of a connection to the secondary characters than I did the main characters Diego & Raine I just feel like their coupling could have been just... More. Of everything. They were lacking to me. They were luke warm at best.
I had a hard time hopping on board with Diego it was something that was just always missing for me with him. Then he pulled a move on me around the 74% mark, and all hope for him was lost. Sadly at that point, for me, it was definitely over concerning him.
I felt much more intense pulls at my heart strings for Prosper, Crow, & Reno than I did for our Hero of this book. And that's just sad. 3 secondary characters stealing the spotlight and putting my panties in a twist more than the main hero of the story. Smh.
And this book is the most tame book I've read in an MC genre when it comes to all things erotic & physical. (Left me wanting big time)
When it comes to the premise & plot of this story, it has potential. But when it comes to the meat of the story, what it indicates you should be feeling? Because of the way it's executed, it leaves a lot of those feelings just on the surface or not to be found/felt at all. But oddly enough it still remained intriguing.
But remember, this is the opinion of someone who needs balance between the show & tell, in most cases, to truly enjoy a story like this. Those of you who are big on inner monologues, will love this one no doubt. Those who are big on dialogue may still like this one, but struggle through it.
This one has some good aspects & some bad. Unfortunately the bad is what made this just an alright read for me.
I am interested in Claire & Reno's story though. So if their book comes out next or in the near future. I would give it a try. Hopefully, I will enjoy theirs' better. And I wouldn't mind a story about Crow either ;)
But as far as being truly invested in reading this series? I don't see that happening for me.
*shrugs*
May 24, 2024
His skin was the color of sun-kissed copper, and he had jet-black, tousled hair. He had a long, straight nose. His perfect white teeth looked like they were ready to bite me.
Diego Montesalto (great name!) is an outlaw, through and through. Throughout the story, he has more than one "big fat jerk" moment. I thought that was realistic and very well done by the author. If you are going to depict a man who has no qualms about breaking the law, using violence, and an end-justifies-the-means attitude, then you go all out and you show him for what he is. No sugar coating it. This is why the transformation that he goes through in the book, especially after one of his most royal fuck-ups that I honestly thought he was never going to be able to grovel his way back from, is all the more satisfying.
Part little girl, all woman when it came down to it. Damaged and brave and beautiful and scarred and scared and tough and so fucking complicated. She was made for him. Now he was just going to make sure she knew it.
I liked the heroine, Raine Winston, as well. She had backbone. When Diego came on to her, she didn't melt into a puddle instantly and let him have his way with her. When her psycho ex hurt her, she was brave enough to not only confront him, and walk out on him, but survive him. When Diego's ex taunted her, calling her Pocahontas and a dirty Indian whore because of her Lakota Sioux background, she stood up to her and gave it right back.
Most importantly, when Diego broke her heart, she did not crumble. She threw him out, picked herself from the ground and continued with her life in a strong, positive way. It wasn't even a few hours before Diego knew he had royally messed up but she did not just forgive and forget. I always love a satisfying grovel and this one was very well done.
Diego Montesalto (great name!) is an outlaw, through and through. Throughout the story, he has more than one "big fat jerk" moment. I thought that was realistic and very well done by the author. If you are going to depict a man who has no qualms about breaking the law, using violence, and an end-justifies-the-means attitude, then you go all out and you show him for what he is. No sugar coating it. This is why the transformation that he goes through in the book, especially after one of his most royal fuck-ups that I honestly thought he was never going to be able to grovel his way back from, is all the more satisfying.
Part little girl, all woman when it came down to it. Damaged and brave and beautiful and scarred and scared and tough and so fucking complicated. She was made for him. Now he was just going to make sure she knew it.
I liked the heroine, Raine Winston, as well. She had backbone. When Diego came on to her, she didn't melt into a puddle instantly and let him have his way with her. When her psycho ex hurt her, she was brave enough to not only confront him, and walk out on him, but survive him. When Diego's ex taunted her, calling her Pocahontas and a dirty Indian whore because of her Lakota Sioux background, she stood up to her and gave it right back.
Most importantly, when Diego broke her heart, she did not crumble. She threw him out, picked herself from the ground and continued with her life in a strong, positive way. It wasn't even a few hours before Diego knew he had royally messed up but she did not just forgive and forget. I always love a satisfying grovel and this one was very well done.
April 5, 2022
2.5 stars
The writing was telling and not showing. Overall the story was told in a weird way - a lot (mostly) internal monologue even in scenes that were active. It got tiresome to read scenes where people were actively having a conversation but I was told that conversation through the filter of the internal monologue of the heroine as she was processing it. It was just really weird and it felt amateurish.
As for the characters. I didn’t like the here at all. For his age and hardcore criminal life - he was actually kind of an idiot and immature.
The heroine - well, she was definitely a Mary Sue but with a little edge. I didn’t care that much for her either - I think if we had gotten out of her head a little it would have helped to make her more likeable.
The writing was telling and not showing. Overall the story was told in a weird way - a lot (mostly) internal monologue even in scenes that were active. It got tiresome to read scenes where people were actively having a conversation but I was told that conversation through the filter of the internal monologue of the heroine as she was processing it. It was just really weird and it felt amateurish.
As for the characters. I didn’t like the here at all. For his age and hardcore criminal life - he was actually kind of an idiot and immature.
The heroine - well, she was definitely a Mary Sue but with a little edge. I didn’t care that much for her either - I think if we had gotten out of her head a little it would have helped to make her more likeable.
January 15, 2014
It started out with promise but became a huge clusterfuck. After 40% in, I skimmed and I really did try to follow the story but OMG!...hire an editor before you put out anything. Run on sentences, no periods, etc. I wanted to at least give the story 2 stars but that was pushing it for me.
September 2, 2016
I will strongly agree with many of the reviews that the author needs a serious editor! I will never understand why an author who is publishing a book for the first time would not want their debut to be the very best it can be and clearly this book needs A LOT of polish, spell checking and general editing.
The "warning" in the blurb is unnecessary as there was NO explicit sex. The sex scenes were very tame and at times almost fade to black narrative with no dialogue and little emotion. My biggest issue with the book is it is primarily all narrative and inner dialogue with little character dialogue. Also the transition between POVs was choppy and distorted. The plot was more family, MC driven than couple driven. There was romance but it did not take center stage and the secondary characters took up as much page time as the main couple. With that being said, it held my attention enough to keep me reading to the end. (In other words I took one for the team.) I think with a good editor the author has potential but I'm grateful the book was a loan from a friend.
August 18, 2014
Something wicked this way comes.
I think Paula Marinaro did an awesome job with allowing you to connect with her characters. In this book, you get to introduced to a lot of members with their POVs. I usually don't like that kind of thing, but I can understand why the author did it as she's building up a series here.
What the fuck was the man I was running from doing in my safe place?
Raine, beautiful, strong and loyal. Ever since her mother died, she stepped up and took care of her sister. To be honest, I loved everything about her. She's timid but strong enough to stand up for herself.
“It’s wet.” I murmured lamely.
He grinned wildly and leaned in to whisper. “I like wet.”
Diego, sexy badass, possessive, pushover.. He's basically your typical MC hero. "Me tarzan, you Jane!" and "I claimed you. You're mine." kinda guy. He's domineering and crude. He's everything I like in my biker men. Yeah, He has some asshat moments but I didn't mind it one bit. I like em' crude and possessive.. so all I can say is...
I was hoping that in the heart of the City Of All Wrong. I had finally found my Mr. Right. Maybe.
Now while I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I definitely had some editing issues that prevented me for giving this a 5 Stars. There were too many inner thoughts and some unnecessary information that kinda bored me to death.
Also as a religious MC reader, I'm quite surprised... disappointed.. sad and yes sexually frustrated that the moment they do the deed it was pretty fuckin' tame.
Seriously. I was so turn on with all the tension between these characters that I was literally salivating for some juicy sweaty SEX!
But anyways, despite my mini rant up there- I gotta hand it to the author. This book is brilliant! It drew me in immediately! Yes, it was a little choppy in the beginning but I was so into the story that I didn't notice it anymore. I just hope the author is planning on re-editing this one because the story is a 5+ for me.
Overall I wouldn't say this is the best but I thoroughly enjoy this book! It's about love, family and brotherhood- everything I craved about MC book!
Can't wait for each of the characters to get their own story!
Game Changer is definitely a good start for a new series.
February 14, 2015
2/13/15 Re-read. I just fell in love with this book all over again
Raine Falling is not your typical MC book. Yes, it has your big bad ass bikers, but it is so much more. It is a story about a broken girl named Raine, who felt unloved and unwanted and didn't have much luck with men. Raine's mother died when she was young and Raine and her sister were neglected by their father. Her father's friend, Prosper, stepped up and took care of Raine and her sister.
The story begins with Raine entering Claire's apartment to find her sister and boyfriend being held capitve by a group of men from a biker gang. The men are looking for money that Claire's boyfriend owes them. Raine agrees to pay the money and makes arrangements to pay the bikers. After having her life threatened, Raine decided to go find the one person who will make her feel safe, Prosper. When she finds Proseper, she walks right into the one person that she is running from, Diego, one of the bikers from Claire's apartment
This is a beautiful love story, not only between Raine and Diego, but between Prosper and "his girls". The devotion the sisters have with each other and their posse. It also shows the loyalty of the men in the MC.
The main reason I loved this book was because of Raine. In most of the books I have read, the heroine is whiney, immature and drives me nuts. Really, women are not all like that. Raine was strong and she didn't take crap from anyone. Even though she had a troubled childhood, she was not bitter and she had a big heart. Most of the female characters in this book had a backbone and it was nice to see for a change. Don't worry; there is plenty of alpha-male hotness to go around too.
I am quite impressed with this being the first book by this author. I know this a first book in a series building off the side characters. For those of you that must know, it is not a cliffhanger
Raine Falling is not your typical MC book. Yes, it has your big bad ass bikers, but it is so much more. It is a story about a broken girl named Raine, who felt unloved and unwanted and didn't have much luck with men. Raine's mother died when she was young and Raine and her sister were neglected by their father. Her father's friend, Prosper, stepped up and took care of Raine and her sister.
The story begins with Raine entering Claire's apartment to find her sister and boyfriend being held capitve by a group of men from a biker gang. The men are looking for money that Claire's boyfriend owes them. Raine agrees to pay the money and makes arrangements to pay the bikers. After having her life threatened, Raine decided to go find the one person who will make her feel safe, Prosper. When she finds Proseper, she walks right into the one person that she is running from, Diego, one of the bikers from Claire's apartment
Raine
This is a beautiful love story, not only between Raine and Diego, but between Prosper and "his girls". The devotion the sisters have with each other and their posse. It also shows the loyalty of the men in the MC.
Diego
The main reason I loved this book was because of Raine. In most of the books I have read, the heroine is whiney, immature and drives me nuts. Really, women are not all like that. Raine was strong and she didn't take crap from anyone. Even though she had a troubled childhood, she was not bitter and she had a big heart. Most of the female characters in this book had a backbone and it was nice to see for a change. Don't worry; there is plenty of alpha-male hotness to go around too.
I am quite impressed with this being the first book by this author. I know this a first book in a series building off the side characters. For those of you that must know, it is not a cliffhanger
March 23, 2023
I liked this one. It’s not perfect, the writing style wasn’t my fav, but I’m in a mc binge, and I liked getting bunny boiler level crazy from the rejected club girl and angst without the cheating. WOOHOO.
The book opens with Raine meeting Diego and the Hells Saints when they come to collect from her coked-out sister and her dead-beat BF. Stuff happens, information is miscommunicated, and they eventually run into each other again.
The writing was a bit off-putting. Like other reviewers pointed out, it’s a bit messy. The chapters are short/choppy, there’re many different POV’s going on (Raine, Diego, Claire, Prosper, etc.) that aren’t always consistent. Raine’s chapters are first person, but Diego’s are in 3rd making the flow not feel fluid. Also, we’re stuck in their heads a lot being told what’s going on/what they’re feeling with internal musings rather than being shown through interactions.
For me, the characters made up for the writing. Raine is a nice balance of sweet but strong, and Diego has some baggage that causes him to act like an ass at one point, but I never doubted his affection for Raine. The brothers (future H’s) and her sis and friend (future h’s) were all quite likable. There’re several baddies and even a psycho/jelly OW.
Bottom Line- I liked it, but there were long stretches that not much was happening. But. There was some angst, and a couple of very emotional scenes (Prosper and the brave convo’s 🥹), so I think it’s worth the read if you can overlook the writing style. It’s free to read with KU.
Triggers-
Safety-
The book opens with Raine meeting Diego and the Hells Saints when they come to collect from her coked-out sister and her dead-beat BF. Stuff happens, information is miscommunicated, and they eventually run into each other again.
The writing was a bit off-putting. Like other reviewers pointed out, it’s a bit messy. The chapters are short/choppy, there’re many different POV’s going on (Raine, Diego, Claire, Prosper, etc.) that aren’t always consistent. Raine’s chapters are first person, but Diego’s are in 3rd making the flow not feel fluid. Also, we’re stuck in their heads a lot being told what’s going on/what they’re feeling with internal musings rather than being shown through interactions.
For me, the characters made up for the writing. Raine is a nice balance of sweet but strong, and Diego has some baggage that causes him to act like an ass at one point, but I never doubted his affection for Raine. The brothers (future H’s) and her sis and friend (future h’s) were all quite likable. There’re several baddies and even a psycho/jelly OW.
Bottom Line- I liked it, but there were long stretches that not much was happening. But. There was some angst, and a couple of very emotional scenes (Prosper and the brave convo’s 🥹), so I think it’s worth the read if you can overlook the writing style. It’s free to read with KU.
Triggers-
Safety-
January 20, 2014
What does it take to make me stay up until 2am on a weeknight to finish a book? It takes a book with amazing characters, a story with depth and intrigue, and of course some serious Alpha-Male badasses!! Game Changer definitely delivered on all fronts for me.
There is a seriously messed up world of bikers, abuse, addiction and illegal activity. Mix that in with a love so profound by a man who has lived a dark, dark lifestyle and heads a MC, well, you get an amazing story of love, compassion and the intense will to survive in a world that hasn't been all that kind.
Really, it's best that you read this amazing story for yourself. To give away any of the plot is to spoil a journey that is worth taking on your own. This is a great book by a new author and I for one, am excited to see what she brings to us next.
5 solid stars
There is a seriously messed up world of bikers, abuse, addiction and illegal activity. Mix that in with a love so profound by a man who has lived a dark, dark lifestyle and heads a MC, well, you get an amazing story of love, compassion and the intense will to survive in a world that hasn't been all that kind.
Really, it's best that you read this amazing story for yourself. To give away any of the plot is to spoil a journey that is worth taking on your own. This is a great book by a new author and I for one, am excited to see what she brings to us next.
5 solid stars
March 30, 2015
Really enjoyed this book the main leads were both very likeable. A few grammar mistakes but not bad enough to spoil the story. One thing I did not like was the hero still being in love with his first wife I prefer my leads to only being in love with the heroine so that kind of dropped a star from me.
August 10, 2015
5 Power Puff Girls Stars
Where to start....we got Raine, who got sharp tongue. She will literally put you in your place if you don't watch out. Smart and very brave. Claire, strong and takes no BS from anyone. Glory, wise and clever. All three females are very watchful badass chicks and they pay attention to their surroundings.
The badass bikers:
Diego: right in the kisser from Claire for hurting Raine.
Reno: grunts and chin nod
Crow: a messy marriage
Jules: I like him a lot. Mister French Toast Guy ;)
“He had been watching her all afternoon. Every time she moved, he moved. Like some crazy stalker.”
“Yeah?” Reno was talking around some nails he had placed in his mouth as he hammered. “Go take your woman out on your damn picnic. I’ll be sweating my balls off in here.” He grinned.
“Ain’t no fucking picnic, Brother. I don’t do picnics,” Diego grumbled.
“You got food. You got drinks. You taking that shit on the road.” Reno was still hammering.
“Yeah, so what? We get off the bike, we grab some chow and eat it.” Diego was frowning.
“You taking a blanket?” Reno hadn’t broken his hammering stride.
“You got to have some shit to sit on,” Diego explained.
“Then it’s a fucking picnic, man.” Reno still hammering.”
“Ain’t going on a fucking picnic; I don’t do fucking picnics.” Diego was looking wary.
“Hey, Ma,” Reno called for Dolly.
“Yeah?” Dolly answered from the other room where she was hanging curtains.
“Diego’s taking Raine out on the bike. He packed some food and shit. Is that what you call a picnic?”
“Is he taking a blanket?” Dolly yelled from the other room.
Reno stopped hammering and raised his eyebrows. Diego ran his hand through his hair.
“Fuck me,” he said under his breath.
“You tell anybody about this shit, I am gonna kill you, Reno. You feel me?”
“Secret’s safe with me.” Reno was grinning wide open.
Diego grabbed my hand and said, “Come on, Babe. Let’s go on a fucking picnic.”
I laughed all the way to the bike.”
“Crow scrubbed his hand over his face, slapped D hard on the shoulder, and said, “Jesus, D. You look . . . uhhh? What the fuck was that?”
“I was gonna say beautiful,” Diego said, watching Raine walk away.
“Yeah, well that probably would have been a fuckload better.” Crow was watching Raine walk away too.”
Where to start....we got Raine, who got sharp tongue. She will literally put you in your place if you don't watch out. Smart and very brave. Claire, strong and takes no BS from anyone. Glory, wise and clever. All three females are very watchful badass chicks and they pay attention to their surroundings.
The badass bikers:
Diego: right in the kisser from Claire for hurting Raine.
Reno: grunts and chin nod
Crow: a messy marriage
Jules: I like him a lot. Mister French Toast Guy ;)
“He had been watching her all afternoon. Every time she moved, he moved. Like some crazy stalker.”
“Yeah?” Reno was talking around some nails he had placed in his mouth as he hammered. “Go take your woman out on your damn picnic. I’ll be sweating my balls off in here.” He grinned.
“Ain’t no fucking picnic, Brother. I don’t do picnics,” Diego grumbled.
“You got food. You got drinks. You taking that shit on the road.” Reno was still hammering.
“Yeah, so what? We get off the bike, we grab some chow and eat it.” Diego was frowning.
“You taking a blanket?” Reno hadn’t broken his hammering stride.
“You got to have some shit to sit on,” Diego explained.
“Then it’s a fucking picnic, man.” Reno still hammering.”
“Ain’t going on a fucking picnic; I don’t do fucking picnics.” Diego was looking wary.
“Hey, Ma,” Reno called for Dolly.
“Yeah?” Dolly answered from the other room where she was hanging curtains.
“Diego’s taking Raine out on the bike. He packed some food and shit. Is that what you call a picnic?”
“Is he taking a blanket?” Dolly yelled from the other room.
Reno stopped hammering and raised his eyebrows. Diego ran his hand through his hair.
“Fuck me,” he said under his breath.
“You tell anybody about this shit, I am gonna kill you, Reno. You feel me?”
“Secret’s safe with me.” Reno was grinning wide open.
Diego grabbed my hand and said, “Come on, Babe. Let’s go on a fucking picnic.”
I laughed all the way to the bike.”
“Crow scrubbed his hand over his face, slapped D hard on the shoulder, and said, “Jesus, D. You look . . . uhhh? What the fuck was that?”
“I was gonna say beautiful,” Diego said, watching Raine walk away.
“Yeah, well that probably would have been a fuckload better.” Crow was watching Raine walk away too.”
October 22, 2018
This is the best MC book I have read in months. The story line is good with strong characters. The h and other two supporting females are strong, independent women who do not demean or run after the big bad alpha bikers. There is a back story to both the H and the h that comes together in the end of the book. There you learn what the H has not told the h about his previous life's experiences that shape him. The H really blows it with the h before the end of the book but he does a good job of groveling to get her back. The relationships between the main characters were believable and I was totally drawn into their lives. There is a HEA and no cheating. For a first time author and it appears to be her first book, the writing was very strong and I was most pleased with the story. There are a few editing/grammar/out of context words but not overwhelmingly so. I am so looking forward to Claire/Reno's story and even more want to see Crow's story
March 20, 2016
I've had this book on my Kindle for a long time, and since MC romance is one of my favourite genres, I gave it a go.
I liked the storyline, I really did, but I had huge issues with this authors writing.
Jumping from past to present and chopped sentences were a deal breaker.
At times, I felt like I couldn't follow the dialogue.
Once again, the story itself was intriguing, different and it had a huge potential, but I simply can't give it more than 3 stars rating.
I liked the storyline, I really did, but I had huge issues with this authors writing.
Jumping from past to present and chopped sentences were a deal breaker.
At times, I felt like I couldn't follow the dialogue.
Once again, the story itself was intriguing, different and it had a huge potential, but I simply can't give it more than 3 stars rating.
January 16, 2014
2.5/5
Overall, there was a decent plot and intriguing characters, but there was too many grammatical errors and a couple of repetitive paragraphs for my liking, especially for a paid book. Also, I felt that the use of different POVs were not only confusing but unnecessary.
Overall, there was a decent plot and intriguing characters, but there was too many grammatical errors and a couple of repetitive paragraphs for my liking, especially for a paid book. Also, I felt that the use of different POVs were not only confusing but unnecessary.
February 21, 2014
OH MY GOOD GRAVEY CRAPNESS I LOVED THIS BOOK! This book blew me away how have I had this sitting on my kindle and not read it till now? I literally was hooked after the first paragraph, once I started reading this book I knew it would be special and I was not wrong. Game Changer made me excited and happy, mad and sad, and swept me away in the story. This is one of those books you wish you could read again for the first time and makes you sad when you finish because you know you won't be able to read it again for the first time. Paula Marinaro is a brilliant author that I am putting on my stalking list, I can't wait for her next book and I really really hope that this series will be really long because it was that good.
Raine had a good life she had a wonderful mother and a father that had his faults but he was a good dad, and she had Claire her little sister who she loved and doted on, and then she had Prosper who was more than a family friend. Then Claire and Raine's mom died and their father was never the same so Prosper took the girls in and loved them, and Raine knew Prosper would always love and protect them. But when Prosper left to give them a chance to be a family everything changed. After their mother's death their dad was never the same and he soon drank himself to death. But event through all of that Raine knew she would always have her sister and that through it all they would make it together.
Years later Raine is finally starting to make her life what she planned except for her sister Claire. Both Raine and Claire have a knack for finding men who don't treat them right and one man has helped to get Raine's sister addicted to drugs. One day when Raine is checking in on her sister she finds the room full of men with guns directed at Claire and her boyfriend. Diego just thought he was going to take care of some club business getting money owed to them, then he saw Raine, she was nothing like any girl he has ever scene and his protective instincts kick in and all Diego can think about is protecting Raine. So when she agree's to pay the debt her sister and boyfriend owe to keep them alive Diego starts to form a plan. But when Diego goes to tell Raine her debt is clear things get carried away and he ends up leaving before he can explain what has happened.
After Diego leaves and Raine see's that he left her money Raine thinks the worst, and then she remembers something Prosper said years ago. If Raine or Claire were ever in trouble and couldn't fix it themselves there was a place they could go. Terrified but with no other idea of what to do Raine goes to Prosper, but when she goes inside the MC she see's none other than Diego. When Prosper hears that Raine has come for help he does what he always did all those years ago and he takes care of Raine. Knowing that he won't ever be able to get Raine out of his system Diego claims Raine and they begin to fall in love. As Raine learns to trust and let others protect her and and more importantly trust and love Diego a revolution threatens to tear them apart and someone from Diego's past may get their wish and keep them apart for good.
This book was so good it was so full of story, this wasn't a book just about Raine and Diego but about the MC and family of all kinds, about healing and forgiveness. This book was so beautifully written and there was just so much going on but it was written so well that it never felt overwhelming and confusing or like the other stories were taking away from the relationship and story of Diego and Raine. I love both Diego and Raine so much they were perfect for one another, they both overcame so much hurt to find true love, and I loved all the side characters just as much, I can't wait for for the other books in this series. I was just as interested in the other characters as I was in Diego and Raine, but I LOVED Prosper the love he had for both Claire and Raine brought me to tears and everything he did for them was beautiful. I was so sad for this book to end because I didn't want to leave the story that I felt like I lived right along with the characters. It was one of those books you like so mush you have no clue where to go from the book once it's done and you just sit and look at other books worrying that they will be a disappointment compared to this one. I can easily say that the rest of this series will be auto buy/read for me, I just hope the wait isn't too long.
Raine had a good life she had a wonderful mother and a father that had his faults but he was a good dad, and she had Claire her little sister who she loved and doted on, and then she had Prosper who was more than a family friend. Then Claire and Raine's mom died and their father was never the same so Prosper took the girls in and loved them, and Raine knew Prosper would always love and protect them. But when Prosper left to give them a chance to be a family everything changed. After their mother's death their dad was never the same and he soon drank himself to death. But event through all of that Raine knew she would always have her sister and that through it all they would make it together.
Years later Raine is finally starting to make her life what she planned except for her sister Claire. Both Raine and Claire have a knack for finding men who don't treat them right and one man has helped to get Raine's sister addicted to drugs. One day when Raine is checking in on her sister she finds the room full of men with guns directed at Claire and her boyfriend. Diego just thought he was going to take care of some club business getting money owed to them, then he saw Raine, she was nothing like any girl he has ever scene and his protective instincts kick in and all Diego can think about is protecting Raine. So when she agree's to pay the debt her sister and boyfriend owe to keep them alive Diego starts to form a plan. But when Diego goes to tell Raine her debt is clear things get carried away and he ends up leaving before he can explain what has happened.
After Diego leaves and Raine see's that he left her money Raine thinks the worst, and then she remembers something Prosper said years ago. If Raine or Claire were ever in trouble and couldn't fix it themselves there was a place they could go. Terrified but with no other idea of what to do Raine goes to Prosper, but when she goes inside the MC she see's none other than Diego. When Prosper hears that Raine has come for help he does what he always did all those years ago and he takes care of Raine. Knowing that he won't ever be able to get Raine out of his system Diego claims Raine and they begin to fall in love. As Raine learns to trust and let others protect her and and more importantly trust and love Diego a revolution threatens to tear them apart and someone from Diego's past may get their wish and keep them apart for good.
This book was so good it was so full of story, this wasn't a book just about Raine and Diego but about the MC and family of all kinds, about healing and forgiveness. This book was so beautifully written and there was just so much going on but it was written so well that it never felt overwhelming and confusing or like the other stories were taking away from the relationship and story of Diego and Raine. I love both Diego and Raine so much they were perfect for one another, they both overcame so much hurt to find true love, and I loved all the side characters just as much, I can't wait for for the other books in this series. I was just as interested in the other characters as I was in Diego and Raine, but I LOVED Prosper the love he had for both Claire and Raine brought me to tears and everything he did for them was beautiful. I was so sad for this book to end because I didn't want to leave the story that I felt like I lived right along with the characters. It was one of those books you like so mush you have no clue where to go from the book once it's done and you just sit and look at other books worrying that they will be a disappointment compared to this one. I can easily say that the rest of this series will be auto buy/read for me, I just hope the wait isn't too long.
November 3, 2014
4.5
This book was a breath of fresh air. It was different then the typical mc books. Raine was an excellent heroine. She had a beautiful quiet strength. Even when her heart was broken, she did not waver in what was right. Nor did she allow Diego a pass. She understood his pain and felt deeply because she loved him. But she did not allow him to skirt responsibility for his actions or excuse them. She was loyal to her family and showed great strength in moments of fear. Loved her.
Prosper was a great father figure and role model to his men. Every scene he was in, he excelled in both these areas. Even in his mistakes, like the early years with Pinky, he gave her honesty and an out. She took the out because although she loved him, she valued herself too. He later came back and gave her all he had to give. This made for a better relationship for the both of them. The scene with Reno was great. He showed him his disappointment in what happened and he showed him his love at the same time. This is something a good parent does for their child. He was great with both Raine and Claire and gave them the strength and love of a father. I teased with friends that he is my new imaginary father.
Diego was hard to connect with as a character. There wasn't much to him in the beginning other then his interest in Raine. His later actions were seemingly unforgiveable and I wondered how I, as the reader, would get past them. But then, Diego FINALLY manned up. He didn't make excuses. He showed through his actions that he was sorry. When Raine and Claire laid into him, he took it and didn't argue or excuse his behavior. He owned it. As with any person, fictional or real, that is something I can respect. Luckily for Diego, it was something Raine respected too.
My only issues, some of the characters could have been flushed out better. Made a bit deeper. There were some areas in the writing where I was confused as to what was happening. There was also situations that I would have liked expanded. I would have enjoyed seeing more of Diego with Raine and their time together. Not just hearing it was going well. More picnic like scenes. I felt that would have helped me get behind them more as a couple.
I can't wait for Claire and Reno, Glory and Jules, and Crow and mystery woman. I connected with each of them and I'm excited to see their hea. Claire and Glory gaining in strength was beautiful to watch in small bits. I look forward to seeing it unfold in their own stories. I tend to like my heroes more then my heroines. So I thank you Paula Marinaro for these beautiful broken women. They have not had it easy but they are strong, loyal, protective lovely souls. :)
This book was a breath of fresh air. It was different then the typical mc books. Raine was an excellent heroine. She had a beautiful quiet strength. Even when her heart was broken, she did not waver in what was right. Nor did she allow Diego a pass. She understood his pain and felt deeply because she loved him. But she did not allow him to skirt responsibility for his actions or excuse them. She was loyal to her family and showed great strength in moments of fear. Loved her.
Prosper was a great father figure and role model to his men. Every scene he was in, he excelled in both these areas. Even in his mistakes, like the early years with Pinky, he gave her honesty and an out. She took the out because although she loved him, she valued herself too. He later came back and gave her all he had to give. This made for a better relationship for the both of them. The scene with Reno was great. He showed him his disappointment in what happened and he showed him his love at the same time. This is something a good parent does for their child. He was great with both Raine and Claire and gave them the strength and love of a father. I teased with friends that he is my new imaginary father.
Diego was hard to connect with as a character. There wasn't much to him in the beginning other then his interest in Raine. His later actions were seemingly unforgiveable and I wondered how I, as the reader, would get past them. But then, Diego FINALLY manned up. He didn't make excuses. He showed through his actions that he was sorry. When Raine and Claire laid into him, he took it and didn't argue or excuse his behavior. He owned it. As with any person, fictional or real, that is something I can respect. Luckily for Diego, it was something Raine respected too.
My only issues, some of the characters could have been flushed out better. Made a bit deeper. There were some areas in the writing where I was confused as to what was happening. There was also situations that I would have liked expanded. I would have enjoyed seeing more of Diego with Raine and their time together. Not just hearing it was going well. More picnic like scenes. I felt that would have helped me get behind them more as a couple.
I can't wait for Claire and Reno, Glory and Jules, and Crow and mystery woman. I connected with each of them and I'm excited to see their hea. Claire and Glory gaining in strength was beautiful to watch in small bits. I look forward to seeing it unfold in their own stories. I tend to like my heroes more then my heroines. So I thank you Paula Marinaro for these beautiful broken women. They have not had it easy but they are strong, loyal, protective lovely souls. :)
October 17, 2014
He wondered what kind of woman she was. Then instantly he knew. If he wasn’t real careful, she was the kind of woman a man could get lost in . . . for as long as they both shall live . Raine was that kind of woman.
I really liked this one... story of a strong beautiful woman that struggled her whole life but never let the dark take her over.. she made some bad choices in men though and almost lost her life because of it. And a bad ass member of an MC club that couldn't care less about being tied down to anything. His club is his family and that's all he needs now or ever. After a devastating loss years earlier ruined him for any hope of a real relationship... This was a page turner and really a great story. I wish the sexy times had been a bit more detailed....ok , a LOT more detailed, after all this is an MC book and I expect that in an MC book-- but aside from that, I felt it was gritty and intense enough and loved all the characters. Definitely looking forward to more from this author.
I really liked this one... story of a strong beautiful woman that struggled her whole life but never let the dark take her over.. she made some bad choices in men though and almost lost her life because of it. And a bad ass member of an MC club that couldn't care less about being tied down to anything. His club is his family and that's all he needs now or ever. After a devastating loss years earlier ruined him for any hope of a real relationship... This was a page turner and really a great story. I wish the sexy times had been a bit more detailed....ok , a LOT more detailed, after all this is an MC book and I expect that in an MC book-- but aside from that, I felt it was gritty and intense enough and loved all the characters. Definitely looking forward to more from this author.
January 16, 2014
I really would have liked to see more dialogue between the characters. This book was almost entirely a narrative with altering POV's....jumping from past to present without any identifiers (which is annoying until you figure out 3 paragraphs later) and I wanted to pull my hair out because I can not stand when there is so many pages of backstory of people of little consequence. . I almost gave up but powered through to the HEA since I would at least have that wish fulfilled. I liked the storyline...very creative but..the sex scenes sucked...again all narrative with just basic overview of event...little detail...no emotion....NO dialogue,,...just "hours and hours of rolling around...then, shower" , bottom line...blech! Their first time should have been explosive in detail and emotion based on their budding romance dance. Blurb warning of "explicit sex" unnecessary. Best scene in the book was sister Claire slugging Diego and her dialogue at the hospital. That earned the 2nd star. Anyway, I'm done and moving on and likely will not visit this MC again.
September 4, 2022
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Liked it!
==================
==>UPDATE: Re-read in August 12, 2022
==>UPDATE: Re-read in September 03, 2016
==>Update: Re-read in February 12, 2015
==>Read in January 18, 2014
Eu adoro uma boa história sobre motoqueiros.
Achei legal e recomendo!
Tem uma boa dose de drama, ação e todas aquelas situações já conhecidas nos livros do gênero.
Cumpre o prometido e deixa a gente com vontade de ler mais sobre os membros do clube.
--------------
I love a good story about bikers.
Thought it was cool and I recommend!
Has a good dose of drama, action and all those situations already known in the books of the genre.
Fulfills its promise and makes you want to read more about the members of the Club.
==================
==>UPDATE: Re-read in August 12, 2022
==>UPDATE: Re-read in September 03, 2016
==>Update: Re-read in February 12, 2015
==>Read in January 18, 2014
Eu adoro uma boa história sobre motoqueiros.
Achei legal e recomendo!
Tem uma boa dose de drama, ação e todas aquelas situações já conhecidas nos livros do gênero.
Cumpre o prometido e deixa a gente com vontade de ler mais sobre os membros do clube.
--------------
I love a good story about bikers.
Thought it was cool and I recommend!
Has a good dose of drama, action and all those situations already known in the books of the genre.
Fulfills its promise and makes you want to read more about the members of the Club.
August 10, 2016
2 generous stars
I don't want to bash this book. So I will just list what I liked and what didn't work for me.
What I liked about this book
1. Jules- he was probably the best part of the book.
2. I liked Prosper at times.
3. I liked Crow at times.
4. I liked that there was a HEA at the end.
5. I kind of liked Claire, Raine's sister.
6. I liked the bond of sisterhood Raine and Claire had.
What didn't work
1. The couple spent more time fighting and screwing than actually getting a long or getting to know each other.
2. Diego, male lead, was gone more then he was around the club or his woman, Raine.
3. Diego seemed to have his libido on his mind more than anything...especially important things until the last 30%- ish?
4. The book drags from around 45% to about 80% in the book.
5. There was rarely a sweet side to Diego.
6. Not a big fan of Raine. I couldn't get a connection, or emotional feel on her.
7. Prosper was awesome at times but then at times he just fell short of that big old "daddy" protector he was made out to be.
8. Diego's story comes out way to late in to the book and kills his relationship with Raine for 8 months.
9. Crazy old Ellie, which I knew wasn't fully gone, comes back for her revenge a bit late in the book for me too.
10. This book needs serious editing. It shouldn't have been put out until someone had fixed a lot of things in it.
11. At times I felt the author gave way too much detail that didn't need to be there. I also felt at times like it lacked details as well, that should have been included.
Over all, I think that this book had room for great potential unfortunately, it fell a bit flat. May be if there had been an editor for many reasons, and not just grammar, it could have turned out better.
I don't want to bash this book. So I will just list what I liked and what didn't work for me.
What I liked about this book
1. Jules- he was probably the best part of the book.
2. I liked Prosper at times.
3. I liked Crow at times.
4. I liked that there was a HEA at the end.
5. I kind of liked Claire, Raine's sister.
6. I liked the bond of sisterhood Raine and Claire had.
What didn't work
1. The couple spent more time fighting and screwing than actually getting a long or getting to know each other.
2. Diego, male lead, was gone more then he was around the club or his woman, Raine.
3. Diego seemed to have his libido on his mind more than anything...especially important things until the last 30%- ish?
4. The book drags from around 45% to about 80% in the book.
5. There was rarely a sweet side to Diego.
6. Not a big fan of Raine. I couldn't get a connection, or emotional feel on her.
7. Prosper was awesome at times but then at times he just fell short of that big old "daddy" protector he was made out to be.
8. Diego's story comes out way to late in to the book and kills his relationship with Raine for 8 months.
9. Crazy old Ellie, which I knew wasn't fully gone, comes back for her revenge a bit late in the book for me too.
10. This book needs serious editing. It shouldn't have been put out until someone had fixed a lot of things in it.
11. At times I felt the author gave way too much detail that didn't need to be there. I also felt at times like it lacked details as well, that should have been included.
Over all, I think that this book had room for great potential unfortunately, it fell a bit flat. May be if there had been an editor for many reasons, and not just grammar, it could have turned out better.
March 19, 2017
3.5
MC Marathon
Author knows how to close a chapter.
Multiple POVs other then H/h
SG Ladies:
OW club-ho...he sleeps with her once (off page) to get the h out of his head because the h is so sweet and out of his league. He never expects it to work out or to see her again. When h reappears in his life, it's on. She's freaked out by the OW drama and kisses Crow (they had a little week of flirting while H was gone and the h did not consider them together cuz...OW drama). None of it bothered me and the read was worth it.
Review to come...
Best quote:
Diego could definitely see where Raine got the money thing. He had gone to explain it, but he had gotten so caught up seeing her beaten like that, honest to fuck, it had dropped from his mind. He got caught up with her in a different way. No shit, that the message didn’t get relayed. So she had gotten a different message. And it had scared the shit right out of her. Then she was raging at him.
Raging. At. Him.
Then Raine had started crying.
Diego watched as his brother, Jules, had made her a drink and made her smile. He watched as Jules put his hand in her hair and leaned in close.
Really close.
Too fucking close.
Then seeing her with Prosper. Raine not being able to look at him. She had looked so fucking beautiful and broken pulling herself in like that. It moved Diego right off the chair. If it hadn’t been for Jules pulling him back, it would have been him holding her. Not Prosper. It would have been him. Whether she wanted it or not, it would have been him.
MC Marathon
Author knows how to close a chapter.
Multiple POVs other then H/h
SG Ladies:
OW club-ho...he sleeps with her once (off page) to get the h out of his head because the h is so sweet and out of his league. He never expects it to work out or to see her again. When h reappears in his life, it's on. She's freaked out by the OW drama and kisses Crow (they had a little week of flirting while H was gone and the h did not consider them together cuz...OW drama). None of it bothered me and the read was worth it.
Review to come...
Best quote:
Diego could definitely see where Raine got the money thing. He had gone to explain it, but he had gotten so caught up seeing her beaten like that, honest to fuck, it had dropped from his mind. He got caught up with her in a different way. No shit, that the message didn’t get relayed. So she had gotten a different message. And it had scared the shit right out of her. Then she was raging at him.
Raging. At. Him.
Then Raine had started crying.
Diego watched as his brother, Jules, had made her a drink and made her smile. He watched as Jules put his hand in her hair and leaned in close.
Really close.
Too fucking close.
Then seeing her with Prosper. Raine not being able to look at him. She had looked so fucking beautiful and broken pulling herself in like that. It moved Diego right off the chair. If it hadn’t been for Jules pulling him back, it would have been him holding her. Not Prosper. It would have been him. Whether she wanted it or not, it would have been him.
March 29, 2014
I really wanted to like this story!
The synopsis was very interesting and I sat down all ready to dive into a great MC love story!
I did not get that.
I understand having to build up the history of the characters, but it detracted from the present, the story you were supposed to be telling in a way.
It is very hard to feel like Raine and Diego made any sort of connection when I think in the book they had all of 5 actual conversation together! It is pretty much all inner dialogue with very little character dialogue.
Then to take away even further from us actually being able to become invested in the main characters, we get lengthy inner dialogues from a myriad of other characters.
I really struggled to actually give a damn about Diego and Raine (Diego especially suffered from a lack of focus given to him as a character). It was less an MC romance and more an MC Family Saga with a side story of a romance thrown in.
Am unsure as to why the warning on the book blurb above "Warning: Strong language, explicit sex" the sex scenes were very fade to black, and while I do not need a steamy sex scene, in this book, it just again, made you feel a lack of love and connection between the H/h. Where was the emotion!?
Too much time setting up the next book main couples! Claire/Reno and Jules/Glory.
A disappointing 2 stars for me.
The synopsis was very interesting and I sat down all ready to dive into a great MC love story!
I did not get that.
I understand having to build up the history of the characters, but it detracted from the present, the story you were supposed to be telling in a way.
It is very hard to feel like Raine and Diego made any sort of connection when I think in the book they had all of 5 actual conversation together! It is pretty much all inner dialogue with very little character dialogue.
Then to take away even further from us actually being able to become invested in the main characters, we get lengthy inner dialogues from a myriad of other characters.
I really struggled to actually give a damn about Diego and Raine (Diego especially suffered from a lack of focus given to him as a character). It was less an MC romance and more an MC Family Saga with a side story of a romance thrown in.
Am unsure as to why the warning on the book blurb above "Warning: Strong language, explicit sex" the sex scenes were very fade to black, and while I do not need a steamy sex scene, in this book, it just again, made you feel a lack of love and connection between the H/h. Where was the emotion!?
Too much time setting up the next book main couples! Claire/Reno and Jules/Glory.
A disappointing 2 stars for me.
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