Being happy. It sounds so simple. Yet, it seems that it’s always just out of reach for Shannon Ryan.
After serving overseas for six years as a female United States Marine, Ryan is finally getting out the military. But coming home to live with her biker brother and his motorcycle club is more difficult than she thought it would be. Much has changed in the years that she has been gone, including Ellis, her brother’s best friend and childhood crush.
Ellis ‘Dirty’ Crane is the second in command for Tormented Souls Motorcycle Club. The only thing he lives for is the club, that is until Ryan comes home, no longer the wild little girl that followed him around. The two things standing in his way of getting what he wants are Patrick, Ryan’s brother and leader of the club, and Jeremiah, Ryan’s boyfriend.
Can Ellis break through Ryan’s walls? Burn them and Jeremiah down? Prove to her brother that he’s the right man for her? Or is Ryan hiding more than she’s letting on?
In Rachael Orman’s Her Ride, the biker world is more of a backdrop for Ryan and Ellis’ story. The Tormented Souls MC does step in and take care of a few situations that arise, but it’s not about the MC brotherhood or the ins and outs of a biker club. It’s more about Ryan coming back to that world after 7 years in the Marines and reconnecting with her brother, Patrick, who is the President of the Tormented Souls and her brother’s best friend, club VP, Ellis; it’s also about Ryan figuring out where she belongs and what she wants now that her career with the Marines is over.
Shannon Ryan reenters her brother’s world quite different than when she left. The secrets she’s keeping are weighing her down, but she doesn’t want to share with her brother or anyone else for that matter how bad things have gotten in many parts of her life. Ryan is definitely a complex character; her actions and thoughts are extremely contradictory. She seems to be this strong, independent woman, but at other times, she’s weak and fragile. She can hold her own with most, but some knock her down and threaten to destroy her. Ryan does everything she can to put up a front that everything is fine, but there’s one person who sees right through her – Ellis. Ryan has had a crush on Ellis forever, but she never acted on it because he never seemed interested. But as soon as she returns home, Ellis shows his interest in her, and Ryan doesn’t know how to handle it. Ellis wants a future with Ryan, but she doesn’t think she can give him that; there are too many variables he isn’t aware of, and Ryan has no desire to divulge all of her secrets.
Ellis is alpha to the core, and he’s used to getting what he wants, and he wants Ryan to be his. Once he starts to discover some of what she’s been dealing with, he does all he can to fight for her and show her how things are supposed to be, which are completely different to how they have been. Ellis proves himself to Ryan on more than one occasion, but it remains unclear if she’ll let him in completely and reveal all that she’s been through and continues to deal with.
Overall, I enjoyed Her Ride. I liked that it uses the MC world as a background for the story; I don’t think it needed to have more going on with the club because it would have taken away from Ryan and Ellis. The ending did feel a bit rushed, but hopefully, readers will get more of an explanation in future stories in the series. I’ll admit that I would have liked to hear Ellis’ perspective a bit; I understand that it’s Ryan’s story to tell because a lot is going on with her that needs to be explored, but I didn’t feel like I knew enough about Ellis or the connection that had already been established between them, which made me feel disconnected to their relationship. Ryan’s an interesting and complicated character, but her actions and attitude don’t really match up, and I needed a deeper understanding as to why. I know Jeremiah is a huge factor in this, but how did it begin…why was it allowed when she seems like this take no bs kind of gal? Despite my need for more insights, though, I liked Ryan and Ellis’ story, and I will read the next book to see what makes Patrick who he is and how he became president of an MC.
A complimentary copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 poison apples
Rachael is a stay at home mom with 2 young daughters and a husband that keep her constantly on her toes. She lives in the extremely hot state of Arizona, where she reads and writes away the blistering heat outside. She is a cancer survivor with a quirky personality. She’s been an avid reader for as long as she can remember and been writing since she was in high school. Her hopes of being a writer were crushed when she was young but one day she decided she was going to do what makes her happy and that was to write.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WriterRachaelOrman?ref=hl
GoodReads Author: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7145471.Rachael_Orman
Amazon Author: http://amzn.to/1iXaIgN
Fairest Of All Book Reviews 