I've been addicted to Joanna Wylde's Reaper's MC series from the beginning, but I have to say Painter and Melanie's romance in Reaper's Fall is one of my favorites in the series! As part of my tour stop I have my review, an excerpt, and a very generous giveaway of $50 Amazon Gift Card!
Publication Date: November 10th 2015 by Berkley
Purchase Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | iBooks
About the book:
He never meant to hurt her.
Levi “Painter” Brooks was nothing before he joined the Reapers motorcycle club. The day he patched in, they became his brothers and his life. All they asked in return was a strong arm and unconditional loyalty—a loyalty that’s tested when he’s caught and sentenced to prison for a crime committed on their behalf.
Melanie Tucker may have had a rough start, but along the way she’s learned to fight for her future. She’s escaped from hell and started a new life, yet every night she dreams of a biker whose touch she can’t forget. It all started out so innocently—just a series of letters to a lonely man in prison. Friendly. Harmless. Safe.
Now Painter Brooks is coming home… and Melanie’s about to learn that there’s no room for innocence in the Reapers MC.
My Thoughts:
Melanie formed a crush on Painter while she was still in
high school and over the years that crush morphed and grew to be love. Their love has been through some bumps and has
gone through phases of hate, but I never doubted Painter and Melanie needed to
be together, especially after their daughter, Isabella “Izzy” was born. Painter
made a stupid and tragic mistake that cost his freedom and time with Melanie
and Isabella he’ll never get back. Understandably, Melanie was very reluctant
to let him back in even though her heart and body yearned for him. Because she had a little girl to consider,
she didn’t want to become reliant on Painter, who she feels could just up and
leave or have some other MC issue take him away.
Painter had fought his attraction to Melanie when he was
warned off her by London, Picnic’s old lady, years ago, and also because he
never felt good enough for her. He’d always been a “no strings” sort of guy,
and he knew Melanie would deserve and want more. Yet, Melanie’s letters kept
him going while he was in prison and they grew close. After Painter got out it was only a matter of
time before these two got physical and when they did it was off the charts hot!
The body painting scene was a slow, sensually tortuous build up! Very, very
hot!! Painter ruins it all in one day, a
fact he almost immediately recognizes, but it forces Melanie to go through
quite a bit on her own.
I’m a sucker for second chance romances so I loved Painter
and Melanie’s story! In spanned over years, but the powerful intensity between
the two never flickered out. Even though
they were apart and not celibate for several years, I never felt like there was
any third party competition, which was a relief. Instead of making the years feel like they
dragged out we get little glimpses of important interactions between Melanie
and Painter until they finally figured their relationship out. I do wish that Melanie would've given in sooner, though.
Just as some side
points: I must say I really liked Kit Hayes (Picnic’s daughter) in this
one. She made me laugh and I’m super curious about her and the injured rodeo
guy. Was there something there? Jessica was pretty likable and a good friend,
which was a total improvement from the way I felt about her before. I’m wondering
when we meet her mysterious biker from the epilogue in Reaper’s Stand. Reaper’s
Fall overlaps in time with Silver Bastard (Puck and Becca’s story) and even
some of it happens during Reaper’s Stand (Picnic and London’s story). I’m excited to get Gage’s story with Tinker
after reading the bonus story at the end!
Both characters were introduced in Reaper’s
Fall and their story takes place about the same time as Painter and Melanie’s. Izzy, Painter and Melanie’s little girl was
adorable!
“If you wait for me,
I’ll marry you,” Izzy told him gravely. “But only if you let me bring my
unicorns to live at your house. And I’m having an operation later this week, so
you should probably bring me Popsicles, too. Daddy said I can have as many as I
want.”
“Is that a princess
riding a motorcycle with a unicorn horn on her helmet?” I asked bemused.
Painter nodded. “Yup, it’s what Izzy wanted,” he said. “Hate to break it to
you, but she wants the princess and
the motorcycle to be pink.”
4.5 Suns
Excerpt:
“You want to watch a movie or something?” she asked, nodding toward the TV. I had a decent one, too. Giant-ass flat-screen—homecoming present from the club.
“Sure,” I said, reaching for the remote. I didn’t have cable, but Ruger had set up some kind of box thingie for me so I could stream shit. “Whatcha in the mood for?”
“Not horror,” she said quickly, and I laughed again, remembering that first evening I’d spent with her at Pic’s house. She’d been so young and scared and vulnerable . . . I’d wanted to eat her up.
I still wanted to eat her.
“I can’t believe that you and Puck were supposed to be watching over me, and then you put in a slasher movie. That’s not how you make a girl feel safe.”
“No horror,” I agreed, although the thought of holding her for a couple hours while she was scared shitless appealed way more than it should. Watch it, asshole. “How about Star Wars?”
“You like Star Wars?”
I shrugged. “Everyone likes Star Wars. You know, I’m pretty damned sure Han Solo was a biker.”
She giggled. “You mean, like a space biker?”
“See, when you say it like that it sounds stupid.”
“I wanted to be Princess Leia. She’s badass,” she said, taking a deep drink of her beer. I watched as her lips wrapped around the neck, her throat swallowing. Oh fuck, that was good. She set the beer down on the coffee table with a clink, then let loose with the biggest burp I’d ever heard.
“Fucking hell,” I said, stunned. “I didn’t think girls could burp like that. Shit. Impressive, Mel. Very impressive.”
She grinned at me.
“We’re friends,” she told me. “And friends don’t need to worry about stuff like that. Let me guess—you’ve never had a female friend before?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “I’m think I’m a little scared.”
Scared and turned on, which was weird.
“You should be. I can do the whole alphabet.”
Damn. I kinda wanted to see that.
Joanna Wylde is a New York Times bestselling author and creator of the Reapers Motorcycle Club series. She currently lives in Idaho.
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