RIDE HARD by Laura Kaye: Review & Excerpt

Ride Hard by Laura Kaye
Series: Raven Riders #1
Publication Date: April 26th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Buy Online: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ Kobo

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

Brotherhood. Club. Family.

They live and ride by their own rules.

These are the Raven Riders…

 

Raven Riders Motorcycle Club President Dare Kenyon rides hard and values loyalty above all else. He’ll do anything to protect the brotherhood of bikers—the only family he’s got—as well as those who can’t defend themselves. So when mistrustful Haven Randall lands on the club’s doorstep scared that she’s being hunted, Dare takes her in, swears to keep her safe, and pushes to learn the secrets overshadowing her pretty smile.

 

Haven fled from years of abuse at the hands of her criminal father and is suspicious of any man’s promises, including those of the darkly sexy and overwhelmingly intense Ravens’ leader. But as the powerful attraction between them flares to life, Dare pushes her boundaries and tempts her to want things she never thought she could.

 

The past never dies without a fight, but Dare Kenyon’s never backed down before…

 

Review

Laura Kaye brings her own unique twist to the MC genre and I love it! RIDE HARD would be your typical MC romance except for one thing: the Raven Riders are white knights on hogs and protecting those in need is at the core of their brotherhood. That doesn’t mean they won’t skirt the edges of the law, it just means whatever lines they cross will be for good and if that doesn’t suck you right in, I don’t know what will.

Dare Kenyon lives for his family, his club and his brothers and nothing more. As president of the Raven Riders, he’s invested in the club’s purpose for personal reasons, but beyond that he likes his life just the way it is. Until the club takes in a couple of women in need and his attraction to one of his charges makes him realizes how empty and lonely his life has been.

Haven Randall lived a sheltered and isolated life, kept prisoner by her father almost all her life, of no use to him except as housekeeper and a possession to be traded for a beneficial alliance to him. Until she ran away and suddenly found herself with a huge bounty on her head and in the cross-hairs of every lowlife looking to collect on that bounty. She’s determined to catch up on all the experiences that eluded her during her incarceration by her father, from the mundane to the exciting and it just so happens that only one intense and attractive biker plays a starring role in her fantasies.

I enjoyed this story because while it embodies a lot of what is familiar about MCs, it also has a lot of heart and raw emotion. Haven and Dare are just perfect for each other. Her innocence and gentleness are just what he needs to nourish his dry and lonely heart and renew his life. And how can he resist the lure of her sweetness and beauty as well as the need to protect it? Just how far over the line will he go to do so? 

I loved the quick check in with the Hard Ink crew that we got and the potential for them to show up in this series from time to time due to their alliance with the Ravens. Beyond the romance between Dare and Haven is the fact that tensions are running high in the city after the fall of the Church gang and others are fighting to fill the vacuum left behind. Will the Ravens and their allies be pulled into the power struggle? I guess we will find out as the series unfolds.

I love Ms. Kaye’s writing and RIDE HARD has me really excited about the rest of the series. If you are not a fan MC romances, RIDE HARD will definitely make you a convert.

 

 

 

Excerpt

So much better out here,” Haven said, the night air cool against the tingling warmth of her skin. Although she was pretty sure that not all of the heat burning through her insides was from the alcohol—her unusual flirtatiousness and closeness to Dare over the past half hour had made her desperate with a heat that had nothing to do with her drinking game.

 

She walked to the railing and leaned against it, chuckling a little at herself for needing the support it offered. She felt so damn free, and it was a heady, exhilarating thing.

 

“What’s funny?” Dare asked, settling a hip against the railing right beside her. Arms crossed, jaw ticking with tension, dark eyes blazing, he was staring at her like he wanted to reprimand her or devour her. Oddly, neither alarmed her the way she would’ve expected it to.

 

Haven shook her head, leaning it back and letting her gaze float over the night sky. Blurry points of light swam in the moonlit heavens. It was beautiful and peaceful despite the pounding bass beat of music thumping from inside the clubhouse. “Not funny, just good. Happy, you know? Being able to do something a little . . . scary, but knowing I’d be safe doing it.” When Dare’s gaze narrowed, she shrugged. “I don’t know.”

 

A long moment passed before Dare finally spoke. “You are safe here, Haven. Never doubt it.”

 

Peering up at him, she nodded, all kinds of words sitting on the tip of her tongue, challenging her to let them fly. “It’s weird feeling safe—or at least safer—after a lifetime of not. It makes me want to try things I could never let myself try before. It makes me . . .” She shook her head and dipped her chin.

 

Dare stepped closer, his thighs coming up against her hip. He lifted her chin and made her look at him. The contact combined with the command in the gesture lanced white-hot desire through her veins. “Makes you what?”

 

“Want to feel alive,” she whispered, her heart suddenly racing in her chest.

 

Dare’s jaw ticked again as his gaze swept over her face. She didn’t think she was imagining the raw emotion pouring off of him and wrapping around her, but she wasn’t sure if she was reading that emotion right or projecting her own desire onto him.

 

“Do you feel alive, Dare?” she asked, the alcohol flowing through her and the night spinning around her like she was walking through a dream.

 

“Jesus,” he bit out.

 

The rough desperation in his voice made her wet between her legs. “Just once,” she whispered, not sure what she was asking him for.

 

But he seemed to know. Because his hand was suddenly tangled in her hair and his mouth was suddenly on hers, claiming, probing, tasting. Haven moaned and parted her lips, inviting him deeper.

 

Get a FREE bonus story from Laura’s Hearts in Darkness world for grabbing your copy of RIDE HARD before April 30!

 

 

 

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