Rose's Food & Book Blog: Blog Tour - Ride by JC Emery

Principessa to the Mancuso crime family, Alexandra knows a thing or two about living outside the bounds of the law. Suffocated by the future her father has laid out for her, she makes a choice she can't take back, changing the entire trajectory of her life.

Thrust into the dark and dangerous world of the Forsaken Motorcycle Club for her own protection, Alex finds herself faced with the last thing she needs right now: the man of her dreams. He’s sex in leather, the devil incarnate, and one hell of a kisser. But he’s also off-limits. Ryan Stone can be her friend, but he’s forbidden to be her lover.

Third-generation Forsaken, Ryan knows nothing other than life on two wheels, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He enjoys the many privileges that come with the patch, and the only laws he recognizes are the ones set-forth by his club. That is, until who he wants more than anything isn’t allowed on the back of his bike —or in his bed. Balancing his desire for her body, and need to keep her safe, Ryan tries to keep Alex at a distance. Finally having made a choice for herself, she’s done hearing the word “no” and will push boundaries even Ryan himself doesn’t dare cross.

Love is never more tempting than when it’s forbidden.

Amazon

Alexandra Mancuso is the daughter of the head member of the Mancuso crime family. As principessa she's lived a sheltered life where she's been groomed to attend the finest schools, always look presentable, and is to marry the next head of the family that her father chooses to continue the family by giving birth to many sons in the future. Alex's mother died long ago of cancer leaving her only with her twin brother Michael, her father, her aunt Gloria, and her cousin Tony. Alex has accepted her fate and that she will marry Leo the man her father has decided will wed her. One night out for gelato will change her entire world, one mistake will cost her the love and protection of her family. What does she do? Talks to an outsider about family business, a cop at that. Her cousin Tony was shot at a party, her brother Michael off to kill the man who shot Tony, and she's left with a dying Tony in her arms and a person in front of her she thinks she can trust. She's been told not to talk, not to become a rat but that decision will leave her alone and isolated.

With her aunt's guidance, she's told she must leave. She's told she has an aunt named Ruby who will come and take her away to a new life where she will be well protected. What does that mean for her? That she's to be taken in by the Forsaken Motorcycle Club. From the start the members of Forsaken hate her, they don't show her love or comfort, but she feels more protected than she ever has before. Ruby is distant, Jim her husband a scary force, her cousin Ian won't even look at her and then there's Ryan. Ryan is cold and distant, and yet his eyes follow her every move. When the van she's riding in breaks down on the side of the road she's forced to ride on the back of Ryan's bike and as much as she doesn't want to admit it she feels right riding on the back of her bike.

Ryan grows distant as time goes on, even more so when they reach Fort Bragg her new home and the home of the Forsaken Motorcycle Club. She's welcome into Ruby and Jim's home and by the club and yet at every turn Ryan attempts to push her away. He says he doesn't want her, but the second Duke shows interest in her he's quick to stake his claim and for him to stay away from her. As much as she wants to hate him she can't deny that when he comforts her, his arms are the only place she wants to be, when he's cold she hates him more than her next breath. Ryan will do all he can to get her away from him, claiming she will cost him his patch and his life, but he can't seem to stay away from her. He'll do the unthinkable to push her away. Forbidden to be together by their family, a longing for something more will push them together, but in the end will they be enough for one another and what happens when her family comes looking for her?

I loved Alex. She was such a sheltered girl but at the same time she grew into a strong woman who could hold her own. When she learns secrets about her family, they nearly tear her apart, but she's such a strong individual and I absolutely loved her. Ryan, not so much. He was a jerk, he said things half the time I couldn't believe, and I wanted to take his gun and shoot him half the time because honestly just cause you're a guy in an MC and you're the third generation of Forsaken doesn't mean you should treat a woman that way. He says some things that almost made me close my Kindle it was THAT impacting on me. Up till the end he was a major jerk, but that's how he was portrayed. I really think if the reader knew a little more about his past and growing up maybe the reader could've understand stood more of where he was coming from and how he ended up the way he did in the end. As it stands because of what I knew about Ryan and his overall carefree I hate you attitude he just didn't cut it as a book boyfriend for me he made me want to cry because if that had been me and he humiliated me and talked to me like that I could pray for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I thought perhaps other reviewers were exaggerating about Ryan when I read their reviews and for a while I liked Ryan in my own way that was until he really opened his mouth and started spitting out his vile garbage that I really understood where they were coming from. I just wish I felt differently because honestly I LOVE biker books and as a whole I love bikers, but it just fell short. I will still read the next book, why? Because Duke as a character interested me and I would love to read his story and I hope that the next book will be so much better since I've heard great things about this author's work. Sorry to say, 3 stars.

***ARC provided in exchange for a honest review***

As a child, JC was fascinated by things that went bump in the night. As they say, some things never change. Now, as an adult, she divides her time between the sexy law men, mythical creatures, and kick-ass heroines that live inside her head and pursuing her bachelor's degree in English. JC is a San Francisco Bay Area native, but has also called both Texas and Louisiana home. These days she rocks her flip flops year round in Northern California and can't imagine a climate more beautiful.

JC writes adult, new adult, and young adult fiction. She dabbles in many different genres including science fiction, horror, chick lit, and murder mysteries, yet she is most enthralled by supernatural stories-- and everything has at least a splash of romance.