7th Circle by Tate James

 

So I didn't think I liked motorcycle/gang romances but apparently what I really needed this whole time was a motorcycle/gang romance with a bad-ass female crime boss of a lead who totally owns her sexuality and feels 100% comfortable showing instead of telling us that she's a bad-ass. Who knew?

You know this book is going to have you knee-deep in smut from the very beginning when the heroine, Hayden, ends up conducting an-- ahem-- very personal interview with a guy who wants to be a male stripper at one of her clubs. From there on out, it's a journey to ass-kick-landia as we follow her into this messy tangle of plotting and scheming as a ghost from her past attempts to fuck with her in the worst possible way, bringing up old demons and new blood.

I really liked this book a lot. It was totally extra but the heroine ended up selling the book for me because I am just so sick of the "pick me" girls in the genre. You know the ones-- they have no personalities or hobbies outside of the heroes and just bend to the litany of abuse they're subjected to. Sometimes I can get on board with that, but it's exhausting when it feels like it's your only option, so when a bad-ass like Hayden appears on the scene, I can't help but inwardly scream YAAAAAAAAAAAAASS.

I guess this is going to be a reverse harem book. She only really hooks up with one guy in this one though and the other two relationships are mostly just foundational. I didn't mind that relationship #1 was consummated so quickly since there were some interesting (and kind of fucked up) twists with that, and I kind of liked that one of the guys is so much younger than the heroine, while one of the others is quite a bit older. I think that will be an interesting dynamic that plays out over the next couple books. Overall, I'm impressed. I went in with low expectations and ended up stanning.

3.5 out of 5 stars