Title: Ride Hard
Series: Raven Riders book 1
Author: Laura Kaye
A shy and distrustful woman running from a controlling ex-fiance seeks shelter with an outlaw motorcycle club with a tradition of protecting those who can’t defend themselves, and falls under the watchful eye of the club’s mysterious and intense leader who’s intent on discovering all her secrets
Brotherhood. Club. Family.
They live and ride by their own rules.
These are the Raven Riders . . .
Raven Riders Motorcycle Club President Dare Kenyon rides hard and values loyalty above all else. He’ll do anything to protect the brotherhood of bikers—the only family he’s got—as well as those who can’t defend themselves. So when mistrustful Haven Randall lands on the club’s doorstep scared that she’s being hunted, Dare takes her in, swears to keep her safe, and pushes to learn the secrets overshadowing her pretty smile.
Haven fled from years of abuse at the hands of her criminal father and is suspicious of any man’s promises, including those of the darkly sexy and overwhelmingly intense Ravens’ leader. But as the powerful attraction between them flares to life, Dare pushes her boundaries and tempts her to want things she never thought she could.
The past never dies without a fight, but Dare Kenyon’s never backed down before . . .
Thoughts:
If you’re a follower of The Book Reading Gals it will be no surprise to you that several of us are huge fans of Laura Kaye! She is an auto-buy author for me. At this point, I think I’ve read everything she’s put out under the contemporary romance genre.
It’s always exciting when the email comes through granting an arc from a fave author and in my opinion it’s even more exciting when it’s the beginning of a new series. But what makes this 1st in a series even better is that we get a glimpse of some of our Hard Ink favorites as this spinoff gets underway!
We met Dare in the Hard Ink series, he and Ike and the rest of the Raven Riders helped with the mission to bring down the Church gang and help clear the names of Nick and his team. (If you haven’t read the Hard Ink series and you are a fan of romantic suspense, you should really really check it out.) In Ride Hard, we learn so much more about the Raven Riders and their mission to help those that are in situations where they cannot help themselves. At the end of the book in her acknowledgments Laura writes about BACA, Bikers Against Child Abuse, and how she was inspired by their protective mission to create her Raven Rider world.
Dare’s character had resigned himself to life as he knew it… he was fine being alone and taking care of his ‘brothers’. But with the guilt he was living with for his self-professed failing of his mom and big brother he didn’t want or think he deserved a life of his own. Haven’s character was beaten down and at her ropes end when she was rescued at the end of the Hard Ink series. To see her spread her wings and flourish and come into her own while falling in love… that’s exactly why I LOVE to read romance books!
One of the elements of Laura Kaye’s work that keeps me coming back for more is her ability to tell a romantic suspense story withOUT 15 chapters of angsty, gut-wrenching, back-and-forth drama… she tells the story that keeps you turning the pages faster and faster but her books come with a quick conclusion. In my opinion her style is more satisfying in the three chapter wrap-up instead of 15! And let me tell you – Hard Ink is completely satisfying!! And with a Raven Riders novella and another book on the horizon for this series, I see lots of great Laura Kaye time in my future!
Grade A+
