PAULA MARINARO
Synopsis from Goodreads: After a lifetime of uncertainty, Raine Winston shouldn’t be fazed by anything anymore. But she’s terrified. Terrified that her wayward sister, Claire, has gotten into debt dangerously over her head. Terrified that a muscle-clad biker named Diego doesn’t want payment with money—he wants much more. And terrified of the dizzying desire she feels whenever Diego touches her…
Diego Montesalto spends his days raising hell and his nights in the arms of fast, easy women. Tough, tattooed, and used to taking what he wants, he refuses to get emotionally invested in anyone. But he can’t stop thinking about Raine’s sweet smell, striking blue eyes, and quiet determination. She may have the spirit of a warrior, but she needs someone to guide and protect her.
When Raine has no choice but to go on the run, she falls straight into the Hells Saints’ mayhem-filled world…and into Diego’s strong arms. But in a life filled with hard choices, raw lust, and blood-soaked violence, is there room for loyalty…or love?
Revised edition: Previously published as Game Changer, this edition of Raine Falling includes editorial revisions.
First line: I heard screaming, begging, and crying.
Stats for my copy: Kindle, published by Montlake Romance, 2014.
How acquired: Purchased.
My thoughts: Where to begin? The set up was a little convoluted and confusing to me. We meet Raine, and her junkie sister Claire and Claire’s junkie boyfriend. A group of motorcycle thugs burst into the apartment, demanding thirty thousand dollars, payment for something that Claire and Jamie (yeah, that’s seriously their names) have stolen from them, or not paid them for, or something. Raine just happens to have a little over thirty two thousand dollars saved up and steps in to protect her sister, offering her money to the bikers. The money is hidden in her abusive ex-boyfriend’s garage, and getting it is a huge hassle – I won’t spoil by telling you how that goes down, but she is ultimately successful.
One of the bikers is Diego. He seems like a bad guy, but he’s also the hero so he must really be a good guy. But it takes a bit to get there with the way the plot is laid out.
And here I’ll say that I have not read any MC (or Motorcycle Club in case you’re wondering) books before. Unless Sleazy Rider counts, which I read in September 2013. From what I gather, violence and abuse towards women is pretty standard in them. There’s plenty of both in the beginning of this book, and it didn’t necessarily bother me, but with Diego being one of the big bad bikers it was hard to imagine that I could like him.
Then Raine and Diego go their separate ways, only to inadvertently end up in the same place. And at the point, the real story began, and I became more interested. For awhile. But the constant stream of curse words coming from Diego and the other bikers just got annoying. It seemed like when the bikers talked every other word was the F word, or referring to a woman as one of a multitude of derogatory words. And at one point a couple of racist words for two other biker gangs. Though thankfully none of the men “silently cursed” so kudos to the author for avoiding that cliché.
In some chapters Raine narrates her story in first person point of view, while other chapters give us Diego’s or another character’s perspective in third person POV. Normally alternating POV doesn't’ bother me, but at times it was a little jarring.
If I hadn’t already gotten the next book for free from NetGalley, I doubt that I would even bother to read it.
And one last thing - this might be considered a spoiler, so stop reading if you care about that…..
When the heroine becomes pregnant, she refers to Diego as the “baby daddy”, a term that is just so preciously irritating that I hate it and I cannot take seriously anyone who uses it.
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