Burn by JC Emery (Review)

Title: Burn
Series: Bayonet Scars #5
Author: JC Emery
Released: July 23, 2015 Left Break Press
Format: Ebook received for review
Pages:  233 per Amazon

Tragedy cuts deep. Revenge burns deeper.

The blood of their enemies coats the leather of their cuts and a trail of bodies lie in their wake, but the Forsaken Motorcycle Club isn't done yet. Carlo Mancuso still needs to pay for his sins. Nobody knows that more than Ian Buckley, the Treasurer for Forsaken.

Ian prefers his pleasure mixed with pain and he's only ever at peace when he's doling out justice. Convinced that he's too unstable and sadistic to take an old lady, he keeps his trysts, like all of his relationships, brief and anonymous. But with his club at war, and the stakes being so personal, Ian's feeling the events around him more deeply than he expects.

Mindy Mercer is the sweet daughter of Fort Bragg’s most respectable cop. At least that’s how the town sees her. Very few people know the Mindy who hides her tracks and battles her cravings by lying to everyone around her. She thinks she has control of her addiction until she suffers an attack that leaves her searching for a way out of her own personal hell.

Mindy has never been more desperately in need of a savior and Ian has never seen a more beautifully destroyed creature in his life. Their attraction is intense, but their damage is extreme. Some scars never heal, and some people never get better.

Love is never more painful than when it can kill you. 

Mmmmm Forsaken.  I love this mc club.  JC Emery has created this world that mixes the danger and excitement of the Forsaken mc club with the added danger element of the mafia.  I wasn't always sure I'd like the mix, but I definitely do.  And Burn is all about Mindy and Ian, two characters that are definitely dark (and thrilling!)

Swerve by Vicki Petterson (Review)

Title: Swerve
Series: Standalone
Author: Vicki Petterson
Released: July 7, 2015 - Gallery Books
Pages: 352 pages per Goodreads
Format: EGalley

It’s high summer in the Mojave Desert, and Kristine Rush and her fiancé, Daniel, are en route from Las Vegas to Lake Arrowhead, California, for the July Fourth holiday weekend. But when Daniel is abducted from a desolate rest stop, Kristine is forced to choose: return home unharmed, but never to see her fiancé again, or plunge forward into the searing desert to find him…where a killer lies in wait.

Swerve was creepy.  Swerve was gory.  And Swerve was pretty awesome, I think.  If you like movies like Joyride (hello, Paul Walker?!?) then you will love Swerve.

Captive by Brighton Walsh (Review)

Title: Captive
Series: Captive #1
Author: Brighton Walsh
Released: March 24, 2015, St Martins
Format: EGalley
Pages: 288 pages per Goodreads

He’s the most dangerous man she’s ever met…and she’s falling in love with him.

Madison Frost is desperate to escape her life. Daughter of a prominent businessman, she has everything a girl could ask for. Except for a family who’s present in her life, and anyone to talk to outside the four walls of the prison she calls home. Madison dreams of one day leaving her life behind. She never thought being kidnapped is how it would happen.

Now she’s being held captive by a man who’s as frightening as he is sinfully gorgeous. Enormous, muscular, and filled with secrets, the man they call Ghost is an enigmatic mercenary, and Madison is trapped with him. She doesn’t know who hired him or why, but the more time she spends at his mercy, the more she realizes he’s not what he seems. Beneath his rough exterior lies an unexpected gentleness and a heart as broken and battered as her own.

But as Madison lets down her walls, Ghost holds tight to his, hiding secrets that could destroy everything.

Oh, I loved this book!  I'd been holding onto Captive for a while.  I'd read other books by Brighton Walsh, and I really enjoyed those - but I didn't believe she could go dark.  Guess what, she can!!  Granted, this book isn't as dark as some others I've read, but it definitely was taboo and wonderful.

Ember by Rachel Van Dyken (Review)

Title: Ember
Series: Eagle Elite #5
Author: Rachel Van Dyken
Released: February 19, 2015
Pages: 341 per Goodreads
Format: Amazon Lend

I am a Killer. A Rapist. A Monster.
I know only pain and survival. 
That is until the Cappo's sister walked into my life. 
And changed everything.

She's a light who makes my darkness darker, her smile makes my heart turn to ice, and I can't escape the fear her seductive looks instill--knowing it's only a matter of time before I fail--again, and take her for myself.
This is the story of my redemption. 
But it's not pretty...I died, and now I'm alive, but not living, breathing but not surviving. I am Phoenix De Lange, son to a murdered mob boss, estranged brother, horrible friend, monster in the making, newest leader to one of the most powerful families in the Cosa Nostra.
And I will have my vengeance.
Or die trying.
I am Phoenix De Lange. 
Death is all I know. 
Until she offers me a piece of life--I can't resist taking.

Loved it!!  Ok - I have a confession... this is all the way to book five and I JUST realized Eagle Elite is a college and not a highschool!  *Headdesk*  WTH was I thinking??  Now it all just makes so much more sense.  Seriously, I don't know why I was so dense and I missed that.  But now - Phoenix, the black sheep, he gets his book.  I was so excited to read this.  I just love this series so much!

Wild by Skye Warren (Review)

Title: Wild
Series: Chicago Underground #4
Author: Skye Warren
Release Date: June 30, 2015

Once upon a time I was the girl who had everything, the clothes, the car. The rich dad who spoiled me. But the truth was, the only thing I had was my body. I used it to buy my way out.

I took a bite of the apple knowing full well what would happen.

That’s how I became a call girl. That’s the story of how I ended up in hell.

There’s only one man who makes me wish things had been different. One man who could never be with a girl like me. Luke is a cop. Untouchable. Unbreakable. And dangerous in his own way.

When I end up on the run, he’s the only one I can turn to.

And he just might be my downfall.

Last week I got the pleasure of reading Wild, which is book 4 in the Chicago Underground series.  To be fair, I've only read one other book in this series (Allie's book, Rough - loved it!) but I did not feel lost or like I was missing out on anything.  So yes - first and foremost, I would say you could read this as a standalone if you wanted to jump right in.