Maryse's Book Blog

Unbeautifully (Undeniable: Book Two)
Two for two this week for me and I loved this one on an almost 5-star level. Ooooooh it was almost perfect for me, even when I was appalled at a few of the men (eeeep! Deuce is too much for me, at times), I was good with the “realism”. I knew what I was heading into, and would have been disappointed if the bikers weren’t true to their characters. The author did not let us down.

There is no such thing as “politically correct” in this group. Women who debase themselves just to be a “part” of them are disrespected (and while I’m on the subject, the “old ladies” can be, and often are, too). Angry tirades are taken out on the wrong people. Murder, mayhem and criminal activity abound. Plus, they have their own version of the bro-code and the punishment doesn’t always fit the crime (in our eyes) but in theirs… well. Eeeeeeeep! From beatdowns, to “going to ground”, you eff up? You pay.

But even with all of that “scary” (or for me, excitement) in the backdrop, I will forever consider this one of my favorite love stories. The insatiable lust between these two was second to none. Within all of that raw grit, we are rewarded with chapter upon chapter of intensity. An INCREDIBLY addictive romance. Not your typical romance, no… but my heart skipped beats, and my stomach dipped, over and over again. And not just with little mini-emotions. I felt huge tidal-waves of swoon swooshing right through me and I delighted in every moment of their ride.

And lemme tell you “Ripper” was no Prince Charming. He didn’t say all of the right things, or always act appropriately, and at times, made me cringe. Decorum be damned! And by most people’s standards, he was downright scary looking (severely scarred physically, and even more so, emotionally).

“You may not be beautiful the way you were before,” I whispered, cupping his ruined cheek. “But you’re still beautiful. To me.”

But a more intense, gorgeous character? No. Well… maybe “Z” (from the BDB series). 😉 In fact I delighted in this very “Zsadist” feel I was getting. Not a copy, no (and this story is it’s own). But it was this… incredible vibe of a character that will forever be my #1, and I got to fall in love all over again with a human that reminded me of him.

Maryse: Sherry. I have a must read for you and I swear Madeline Sheehan gave us a “Z” in human form and I’m in love. OMG it’s “Z”… but not a copy. Just perfect. But any way he is severely scarred on one side of his face and chest by an opposing gang member, so most only see the scars and he’s soooooooo broken. He’s missing and eye even, but has a glass one that looks real.

Sherry: You had me at *Scars*

Maryse: You’ll love him. I love him. I’ll share. I don’t wanna but he’s a motorcycle club guy, so apparently we don’t got a choice but to share. Grrrrrrr. Hehe 😉

*sigh* I loved him. And you know me… I love my “heroes” just like him. He could be crude and vulgar and downright mean. But he was so damaged, so pained, and so emotionally unattainable because of the fortress he’d built around himself.

“Baby,” he said gruffly. “Man like me got no business with a girl like you. You’re nothin’ but f$%kin’ beauty and I’m a whole lot of f$%kin’ ugly who’s already halfway to hell.”

Such immense feelings of unworthiness but I loved him that much more, with every tiny bit of himself that he revealed to Danny.

Maryse’s Book Blog: Ripper. Ripping my heart out and I’m loving every moment of it. This one has the detail and intensity, and I can see him. I’m right there.

Megan: Me too Maryse! I’m almost finished w/it and I’m so sad!

Kimmie: Its been a few days for me and I’m still having a Ripper Hangover!!!

Janette: Rite!!!!! I read it in one sitting last nite..have a total book hangover today but I could NOT put it down!!

Samantha: Such an awesome book/series!! I read both books in two days, couldn’t put either of them down! Major book hangover for me!

Trina: Loved it!! I don’t know who I love more, Deuce, Ripper, Cage, it’s endless with this series. Madeline is simply AMAZING!

Lori: I read both books in two days too, and I loved them but I think I loved this one a little bit more! The heartache, the intensity, it got crazy intense (back at present) couldn’t put it down…loved it!

Maryse’s Book Blog: I think I love this one more, too. Their connection and their need… No holds barred. No games. Just BIG intensity and its non stop, but I get it. The “can’t get enough” in this love story has me so satisfied, and it eased in just perfectly. Not too fast, not too anything. Just OMG intense.
 And he’s thinking how fast it all is, but the way it “got there” still works. This is a case of “it’s all in the detail” and the author has this one right.

Jeniffer: Maryse! you always have the perfect words! Yeah, this story was very intense and so real!

January: Such a great book. Had a slight issue at the end of the book what they did to Mama Vi. Clearly. I got over it cuz I love me some Ripper and this series is in my top 5 Fav’s!

Maryse’s Book Blog: I LOVED the first one. In fact I wondered if this one could live up. It does.

Jillian: I think I appreciated that their situation was quite as effed up as Deuce and Eva’s. It was still intense and dramatic, but different than the train wreck that we loved from Undeniable.

Tausha: I LOVE Ripper! I read this book in one day & have fantasized about him all week.

Jacque Olivar Wright There is something about those bad ass bikers with tortured pasts. I love how Deuce & Eva continued on in this one!!!!

Kathy: This one is even better.

Jennifer: I started it this morning and I think I’m even more in luv with him than I was with Deuce!

Barbara McSpadden A really great read! I love how there’s enough of Deuce and Eva added to it along with Ripper and Danny. I just loved the whole thing! I really need the next one now…

Kirsten: Maryse I highlighted almost the entire prologue. I knew I was going to love this book as soon as I realized I did that. I Ripper and Danny, and I’m anxious for Cage’s story.

Laura: I wasn’t sure I could love a book more than Undeniable…but Unbeautifully is it!!

Shan: That’s exactly what I said! Her writing is crazy good…so raw and real that it’s like you’re there…love love love!

Toski: EEEEEEEKKKKK! I this so much!!!
 I told Madeline this one was WAY deeper read. Less funny Deuce talk (which I LOVE ) but I loved the emotional side of this one. ..

Carrie: I’m on the worst book hangover EVER after this one! I loved every minute of it!!!

Oh I agree you guys. I loved book #1 for the daring ride it took me on. The author took some crazy chances, kept me on the edge of my seat, which had me connecting to all of them even more. The whole “surviving a trauma together makes us bond” and boy did I bond with them. LOL!! And while I didn’t quite fall head-over-heels for Deuce (he’s much more than I could handle), I think Ripper was right up my book-alley!

‘Cause as “bad” as Ripper is (and don’t get me wrong, he’s acted atrociously and hasn’t looked back), he’s… good. Sweet. Sad. He just needs the love of a good woman, and I, er… I mean… DANIELLE 😉 might just be the one to heal him. Sure, he’s no Prince Charming but a knight in shining armor? That just might describe him to a tee.

So what’s it about?

Thirty year old Ripper (one of the higher ups in Deuce’s motorcycle club) takes Deuce’s drunk eighteen year old daughter (Danny) home from her prom one night. And she’s been crushing on Ripper something fierce, and her inebriated self lets him know just how much.

And well Ripper struggles with himself over what to do ’cause

1. He doesn’t consider himself worthy of a girl like Danny.
2. You don’t mess with the daughters of the brothers.
3. Deuce (the president of the club) will absolutely KILL him if he finds out.
4. How old is she again? and
5. Ahhhh screw it, let’s get it on!

Hehe….

Yeah, she wanted him, the looming wrecking ball.

And f&$k him, he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anything else, and the wrecking ball swung.

… yeah you can figure out the rest. 😉 In fact, if you don’t mind crude, rude, dark and gritty (these guys think nothing of demanding a woman to “service” them) I implore you to experience this one in it’s coarse exquisiteness.

Things get bloody in a world where everything is always a life or death situation. What happens when a club member breaks the rules? And what happens when an angry heart suddenly comes back to life… (good!!) but for the wrong person? (bad!!)

He wasn’t pissed off anymore, either. He was something else entirely. He was…

What the f%$k was he?

F$%k it. Whatever he was feeling, he didn’t want to ignore it. He wanted more of it; he wanted to own it.

Right. Now.

Danger. Sneaking. Betraying. Secrets. Torment. Jealousy. Pain. Passion. Over and over again.

And this isn’t just a love story with our kind of characters, “in theory”. You know… described just right (scarred, angry, broken with the whole “star-crossed” lovers theme). No. Madeline Sheehan breathed life into them. When these two came together, I forgot where I was. Their voracious passion for each other… the whispers, the breaths, even the crude murmurs (especially the crude murmurs) melted me. The constant deeeeeeeeep need until it hurt, but they couldn’t stop.

And yet… they had to.

I LOVED being Danny. I loved that her bad-ass father was trying to keep her from his life. The life he loved. The only life he knew. I loved that she was somewhat “sheltered” (I loved her pink and sparkles) and that he had dreams for her…

It was a never ending cycle of allegiance and respect and … love.

Even so, I knew this life wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Being the daughter of a hardened criminal, I knew sunshine and roses for what they really were. Few and far between. Especially with my family.

… and I loved that her heart still ended up leading the way. I loved her eventual darkness. I loved when her personality split down the middle. I got that. And I especially loved being “her” as her heart bound with another. I just can’t imagine crushing on another man in this series as much as I did, Ripper.

“I like you, Ripper,” she whispered, sliding her arms over his shoulders, threading her fingers through the hair at his nape, causing a ripple of tiny, pleasant tingles across his skin and a warmth inside of him, the likes of which he’d never had before.

“Yeah, beautiful girl,” he whispered. “I’m feelin’ you too.”

*Swooooooon*. Nope. There’ll be nobody else for me, in this series. Although… there is Jase. 😉

Oh SOOOO SO GOOD. Soooooooo angsty but in true bad-ass form. And like you guys, I LOVED how we got to live the reality of Deuce and Eva, too. I love how the author took us “there” ’cause I KNEW!!! I just KNEW it couldn’t and wouldn’t be roses for them considering the trauma she survived and what he saw. The author did not gloss over that pain, the resentments and the blame, and I appreciate and trust her even more, for it. The meaningful touches are there, detail intricately threading together the club and the family (blood or not), some resentments burning, but the strength of them as a whole, still holding them all together. For now.

I could re-read so many parts of this book (such emotionally overwhelming detail) and have that same melty feel. I’ve said it before, but it stands for this one too. These characters were alive, their need for each other was monstrous and they overwhelmed me in the most delicious way.

So what is holding me back on a 5-star? There was a scene towards the end that surprised me. While I can believe that something like that might happen in their cruel world, and these guys are as bad as they get when they wanna be, I dunno, I suppose I didn’t expect it to go there, I didn’t even THINK about it until I was confronted with it, and I could have easily done without it. Also, the gang-war was glossed over, and while I’m kind of glad that it was (which allowed me more time with the romance aspect of the story), I feel the end was hurried, in that respect. But that’s about all, that held me back.

Okay, so you know what? I see I gave Undeniable 4.5 stars, and I stand by that, so umm… since I loved this book even more, I guess I did love it on a 5 star level. I suppose I’ll just go by how I feel about the story overall, how much it impacted me and how I couldn’t put it down (except to swoon with you guys). 😉

A tiny part of one of my favorite scenes ever in the whole wide world. You know… 😉 That week.

“Hurts,” she murmured, her eyelids fluttering.

Yeah, it did. He was so damn sore and yet…

Best. Week. Ever. I will re-read that whole exquisite part over and over again. Now THAT was heartfelt detail. Whoa. Unforgettable.

5 stars it is!!!

P.S. WANT MORE? Here’s the Undeniable Series Reading Order