RUNNING WILD

RUNNING WILD by S.E. Jakes

 

Pages: 280

Date: 04/07/2014

Grade: 5

Details: No. 1 Havoc

            Received from Riptide Publishing

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Sean Rush is an adrenaline junkie. That’s why he was in the Army, why he steals and races classic muscle cars . . . and why he can’t stay away from bad boy Ryker, a Havoc Motorcycle Club lieutenant. Fortunately, Ryker can’t seem to stay away from Sean—he’s spent the last eight months breaking into Sean’s apartment and stealing into his bed, leaving Sean physically satisfied but increasingly restless.

Sean has always avoided relationships. He likes to come and go without being controlled. And Ryker is possibly the most controlling man he’s ever known. Still, he finds that he wants more from Ryker than their silent nighttime encounters.

Then one of Sean’s thefts goes bad, and Ryker’s protective instincts kick into overdrive. He takes Sean to the Havoc compound, determined to keep him safe. But Sean’s past threatens the safety of Havoc—and everything Ryker holds dear. Worse, Ryker’s hiding secrets of his own. Soon it’s obvious that the adrenaline rush can’t keep them together anymore. But maybe love can.”

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My thoughts:

“Running Wild” was one hell of a thrilling read. A good book rarely has boring moments; this book didn’t have a single boring word. The story took me from high octane danger to incredibly hot sex and straight back into the danger zone again. Finding time to breathe was difficult; everything else needing to be done and requiring me to spent time away from my kindle was irritating.

The prologue takes you straight into the story. We meet Ryker and Sean in a very hot encounter and know, without a doubt, that these two men are going to take us for a wild ride and then some. And then the story seems to slow down, or rather pull back for a moment. The reader is in no doubt there’s a lot going on beneath the surface but isn’t quite sure what. This should be frustrating but is, in this book, the exact opposite. S.E. Jakes takes her time revealing her characters and their backgrounds and motivation to the readers. She had me wondering and second guessing myself while reading this book. Was Sean an unredeemable criminal or was he just a restless soul with a heart of gold? And what about Ryker? Was he really ‘just’ a very perceptive man and incredible lover with endless patience or was there a reason behind his actions? Every time I thought I’d figured them and the story out there was something new to discover, a new layer to explore. This made me love this book, the story and the characters more with every finished chapter.

His encounters and emerging relationship – of sorts – with Ryker sends Sean on the path of self-exploration and dealing with his past without him being fully aware of it. Ryker allows him to be who he longs to be deep inside, the person he never allowed himself to be.

“Because I wasn’t in control. And for the first time in my life it was a fucking relief.”

And while Ryker appears to be in control of his life, Sean and everything that happens around him, he too discovers new sides to himself even while he’s pulling Sean out of his self-imposed hell.

“As much as I love this MC, and what I do for it – you, Sean, you make me feel alive. You make me want to be better, so I can protect you.”

The only thing hotter, more enticing and wonderful to read about than a hard man showing his deeper, more sensitive side, is two men making the revealing theirs together. I loved the moments when Ryker just said it as he felt it. Moments of pure honesty from the character resulting in all the emotions for the reader.

“You’ll never be easy, Sean. No matter how hard you try. And that’s why I’m proud you’re mine. Don’t you get it, babe? This isn’t a game to me. Way beyond that.”

At first glance it would appear that Sean has relinquished all control to Ryker. Dig a little bit deeper and you discover that the knife cuts both ways. This isn’t a case of Sean becoming dependent on Ryker, although he submits. This is a case of two men giving and taking and finding in each other exactly what they need.

“God, I loved that. I loved taking his control, the hard-earned victory of watching him, for just those few moments, lose it. Lose himself, because of me.”

I have a problem with violence, be it in real life or in my books. For that reason I expected to have reservations about this story. In fact, I did have them for a while. During the early parts of this book I was teetering on the brink between loving the writing and cringing about the all the crimes. Mind you, I didn’t consider not continuing the story for even one fleeting second; I was hooked from more or less the second line in the prologue.

And then magic occurred. Without me even being aware of it, the crimes, while still taking place, moved into the background, started to make a – for me- weird kind of sense. The characters took over and I just rode along with them; happy to have been invited along for the ride. Ryker, Sean and Havoc managed to lodge themselves firmly in my heart over the course of 280 pages and I can’t wait to find out where they’ll take me next.

““You know I love you.” I did. He’d been saying it in a thousand different ways from the start and I’d been running. In circles, it appeared. And he’d waited until I wore myself out.”