Title: Road of No Return
Series: Sex & Mayhem, Book 1
Author: K.A. Merikan
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: Review copy provided by author
Published: July 19, 2014 by Acerbi & Villani ltd
--- Don't talk to strangers. ---
Zak. Tattoo artist. Independent. Doesn’t do relationships.
Stitch. Outlaw biker. Deep in the closet. Doesn’t share his property.
On the day of Stitch’s divorce, lust personified enters the biker bar he’s celebrating at. Tattooed all over, pierced, confident, and hot as hellfire, Zak is the bone Stitch has waited for life to throw him. All Stitch wants is a sniff, a taste, a lick. What follows instead is gluttony of the most carnal sort, and nothing will ever be the same. Forced to hide his new love affair from the whole world, Stitch juggles family, club life, and crime, but it’s only a matter of time until it becomes too hard.
Zak moves to Lake Valley in search of peace and quiet, but when he puts his hand into the jaws of a Hound of Valhalla, life gets all but simple. In order to be with Stitch, Zak’s biker wet dream, he has to crawl right back into the closet. As heated as the relationship is, the secrets, the hiding, the violence, jealousy, and conservative attitudes in the town rub Zak in all the wrong ways. When pretending he doesn't know what his man does becomes impossible, Zak needs to decide if life with an outlaw biker is really what he wants.
As club life and the love affair collide, all that’s left in Zak and Stitch’s life is mayhem.
Reviewed By: J9
In a Nutshell: Gritty and erotic MC romance but just a tad too violent for my taste. And the end…oh boy.
The Set Up: Stitch’s life in the MC hasn’t allowed him to explore his desire for men but when tattooed Zak strolls into the bar, Stitch can’t resist any more. But Stitch’s MC is an outlaw biker club and Stitch can’t figure out a way to leave the MC to have Zak.
Why I Read This Book: Gay biker and his pierced, tattoo love interest? HELLS YEAH!
What I Liked: The intensity between Zak and Stitch was incendiary! They had such erotic chemistry but I could also see their emotional chemistry. I love the breakfast and tattoo scenes where we get to see who these two men are. I do admit Stitch acted a little caveman-y but Zak could certainly hold his own with Stitch. In fact, I suspect some readers will have real issue with what Zak did when Stitch tells Zak what they have is just sex; I didn’t have issue with it because I thought it fit Zak’s character and frankly, gave Stitch the kick in the pants he needed to appreciate what he had with Zak.
What I Also Liked: This wasn’t a traditional romance but instead, life was super messy. I didn’t love this, necessarily, but I appreciated how realistic it was. For instance, the MC club is an MC club! They’re doing illegal things and there are repercussions for that. This isn’t a whitewashed book but that also means it breaks some of the romance rules. No, I can’t say what they are but traditionalists have been warned! I liked these elements as it fit the gritty setting and the characters.
What I Didn’t Like: I don’t like violence. I especially don’t like violence between intimate partners. Stitch pushed my limit. Zak sets boundaries and Stitch has to learn how respect them. It wasn’t enough for me but I admit I’m very sensitive to intimate partner violence since I grew up witnessing that as a child.
I also didn’t like how Stitch’s ex-wife was handled. I loved what they did with her character in the middle but then she suffered major plot-whiplash as she suddenly changed to fit the plot. And then she changed again at the end to fit the plot. This was too convenient and irritated me quite a bit.
Finally, the end! OMG…the end! I totally didn’t see what happened coming and it was nasty! Like Dexter nasty! This book’s warnings of a gritty storyline and violence ain’t kidding!
IMO: This isn’t a book for romance traditionalists but those who enjoy erotic, intense relationships set in an outlaw world will gobble this up.
J9’s Rating:
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