ARC Review: Ride by JC Emery

For me, there is just something about hot guys and motorcycles. When I read the blurb and saw that this was a motorcycle club new adult story, I knew that I had to read this one. This book wasn't exactly what I had gone in expecting, but I enjoyed it. I am looking forward to reading more in this series and seeing where JC Emery takes these characters. I did have a few things that I didn't care for with this one, and that is why I couldn't rate this one higher. I would say that this is on the higher side of three stars though, and I think that its a promising start to the series.

Alexandra has grown up as the only daughter of the Mancuso crime family's mob boss. Being the mob Principessa, her whole life has been decided for her. She was taught to be a proper lady and how to become the perfect wife to a husband in the family. But right when her father basically hands her over to what will become her husband, things suddenly change. Making a spur of the moment decision, Alexandra unknowingly changes her life forever. For her protection, she is taken in by the Forsaken Motorcycle Club. She immediately is attracted to Ryan, a third-generation member who she is told is forbidden to her. But the more that Ryan and Alex are around each other, the harder it is for them to stay away from each other. Ryan knows that he needs to not only put his club first, but that Alex is the last person he should be with. But when the desire for Alex becomes more than he can fight, Ryan is determined to get her out of his system. Soon Alex is in danger though, and Ryan vows to do anything to protect her. When faced with the possibility of losing Alex, will Ryan risk everything to have a chance at a real relationship with her?

I really wanted to like Ryan, and for awhile I thought that I was going to. But the more that time went on, the less I liked him. He would do little things that were sweet and protective and I thought that maybe I was wrong about him, but in the end he would always end up screwing it up. He was so mean to Alex, and there were so many times that he flat out humiliated her. It seemed at first that he was just trying to push her away, but then we got his POV for part of the story and I saw that it wasn't just him pushing her away but that was just who he was. I can't believe how much Alex put up with from him, and honestly it didn't make me think much of her character either. Alex had moments of strength, but for the most part she came off as week and fragile. She wasn't at all what I would expect from the daughter of a mob boss. She spent most of this story feeling sorry for herself and crying. I understand that she was in a bad situation, but it got irritating after so much of it. Ryan and Alex did have chemistry though. I thought that they were hot together, and I also liked the few times that they were sweet together as well. I loved how they would link their fingers together and thought that it was sweet that Ryan had given her a nickname. I also really liked how much they were willing to protect each other.

I didn't care for a few things that Ryan did. One of them was actually pretty disgusting, and the worst part was that Alex never even found out. I'm not sure why the author even put that in the story, because honestly all it did was make me dislike Ryan even more. The feelings between Ryan and Alex at the end were honestly really confusing to me because the entire book was so push and pull. When we got Ryan's POV, it honestly didn't seem as though he really cared for Alex beyond lusting for her. I really wanted to believe the connection between the two of them, but I think that we missed out on seeing it really form into a relationship. The ending was extremely abrupt, and that didn't help their relationship to seem real. Just when things are starting to change for the better, it was over. We aren't left with a huge cliffhanger, but things are definitely up in the air and there is very little resolution. I really hope that we get some more questions answered in the next book, as there are so many things that were just dropped with that ending. I will still read the next book though as I would like to know more of what happens with these characters and I liked Duke. The next book Thrash will feature Duke and Nic, and I am interested in getting to know them better. If you are looking for a sweet and romantic story, this is definitely not for you. If you like motorcycle club books that are slightly dark with some romance and steam though, I would recommend giving this one a shot. Hopefully Thrash will give us characters that are easier to like, and maybe help redeem Ryan and Alex. I wanted so badly to like them and I think that their story is really interesting, so it would be nice to get a bit more of them.

**ARC provided by Inkslinger PR**

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