May 29, 2014

REVIEW: Devil's Game (Reaper's MC #3)

Devil's Game (Reaper's MC #3), by Joanna Wylde
To Be Published June 3, 2014
Publisher: Berkley Romance
Format: e-ARC, obtained from the publisher
Genre:
adult erotic romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble

Rating: 4 STARS 


(From Goodreads) Liam “Hunter” Blake hates the Reapers MC. Born and raised a Devil’s Jack, he knows his duty. He’ll defend his club from their oldest enemies—the Reapers—using whatever weapons he can find. But why use force when the Reapers’ president has a daughter who’s alone and vulnerable? Hunter has wanted her from the minute he saw her, and now he has an excuse to take her.

Em has lived her entire life in the shadow of the Reapers. Her overprotective father, Picnic, is the club’s president. The last time she had a boyfriend, Picnic shot him. Now the men in her life are far more interested in keeping her daddy happy than showing her a good time. Then she meets a handsome stranger—a man who isn't afraid to treat her like a real woman. One who isn't afraid of her father. His name is Liam, and he’s The One.

Or so she thinks.


I just can't get enough of The Reapers MC series. It's gritty and dirty and incredibly hot. These guys take the term "alpha male" to a whole new level of sexy.

Em fell for Liam online, but her first in-person meeting with him left a lot to be desired. It turns out he's a Devil's Jack, an bitter rival club to the Reapers, and he was tasked with using whatever means necessary to get inside info. Liam wasn't counting on falling for Em too, though, and after that first meeting went so very, very badly, he was convinced there was no way on Earth he'd have a shot at her. But, situations soon call for the Jacks and the Reapers to work together, and it seems the best place to start is with Liam and Em.

At the end of Reaper's Legacy (Reapers MC #2), there was an exchange between two members of the Devil's Jacks (a rival MC) and Marie and Em after the two girls had been kidnapped. As the scene was being told from Marie's POV (it WAS hers and Ruger's story, afterall), there were aspects from Em's POV that weren't known, until now. The reader knew something had happened between she and Hunter (Liam's club name), but the details didn't come out until now. They showed Liam in a bit of a different light and made me question my opinion of him.

Because, let me tell you, my opinion was not a good one. He may be hot an sexy, but the way he treated Em was absolutely deplorable. He used his online persona to woo her, knowing the entire time what he was doing to her. Then, although he made extra sure not to physically hurt Em and to protect her from the other Jacks members involved, just the fact that he kidnapped her, held her prisoner, and used her to get more info made my blood boil.

That may be part of the reason why Devil's Game is my least favorite of the Reapers series to date. After everything Hunter did, I was really mad at Em when she forgave him of all of it. I get that he's hot and you want to screw him every time you look at him. That's not a good enough reason to excuse his actions. Em seems to be a really strong girl. She has had to be, having grown up the daughter of Picnic, the leader of the Reapers' local chapter. But, just by the sheer fact that she forgave Hunter so easily tells me she's not as strong as I think we're supposed to think she is, and I don't have much respect for her at all.

I missed the club aspect of this series, since most of the book took place in Portland, away from Reaper's property. Em shared an apartment with Cookie, who we met in the previous two Reaper's books, and Liam had his own apartment with other Jacks. There weren't any club gatherings like we saw in previous books - I missed those.

All that being said, there was a lot going on in Devil's Game. There was a lot of set-up of the story arc involving the Reapers, Jacks and the Mexican drug cartel, and all that was done really, really well. The posturing and campaigning between the two MCs was really cool to read about, and was the best part of the book, IMO.

And the last chapter was from Picnic's POV and set up the next book, which will be about him finding a new love. That last chapter was AWESOME. It absolutely left me panting for the next book.

Although neither Liam nor Em really impressed me individually, the chemistry between the two when they were together was undeniable. Wylde really knows how to bring the sexy. I've come to expect it from her and I've never been let down. Devil's Game was a great set-up for future installments in the Reaper's MC series.

No comments: