Book Reviews

Book Blurb

One love. One motorcycle club. Two stepbrothers.

Ryder. Controlling. Ambitious. Protective. 

Jed. Self-destructive. Trapped. Lonely. 

Their love? Forbidden. Taboo. All-consuming. 

For Jed, the Coffin Nails Motorcycle Club is family. With them, he learned how to think, what to enjoy, and how to fight, but there is one thing he knows his friends can’t find about. They would never accept him as gay, and so his life is a constant struggle with desires that fill him with despair. Only there is a much darker secret lurking in Jed’s heart. His feelings for his stepbrother, Ryder, go far beyond brotherly. Trapped with a yearning that can never be fulfilled, Jed spirals out of control and unwillingly puts the love of his life in danger. 

Ryder is climbing up the ranks. Recently promoted to sergeant-at-arms, he has it all: drive, respect, and the love of his biker family. When his stepbrother gets into trouble with the law, Ryder decides to take the blame and save him from a long sentence. Deep inside, he knows there is nothing he wouldn’t do for Jed, but through a desperate attempt to suppress his own hidden desires, he might irreversibly break the man he secretly loves. 

But finding out what they feel for each other will test their loyalty to the Coffin Nails MC and change their lives irreversibly.

Book Review

Another K.A. Merikan biker story? Sign me up. This time it’s all about a taboo subject – stepbrothers – on top of all the usual bada**ery. As if the “normal” mayhem weren’t bad enough. The thing is, Ryder and Jed have grown up together, and since Ryder is older he used to protect Jed from all kinds of dangers, including their father. But they are not related by blood. To me, that removes much of the tabooness of the subject and allowed me to focus on the emotional issues these men have. And boy, there are a few. Their bond is deep already, but because they are brothers, none of their homophobic club brothers are suspicious when they do things together or when Jed spends more than the occasional night at Ryder’s house. The full meaning of how close they are exactly doesn’t start to dawn on them until partway into the story, and it takes them quite a while to deal with the revelations that follow.

Jed is the younger brother, and for him the club is his family. He never had much of a home life, so he turns to the others in the club for understanding and support. There is only one problem – he is gay, and nobody can ever find out. But it gets worse – Jed loves Ryder as way more than a brother, and he knows nobody can ever find out or he is dead. Jed has also gotten himself in trouble with Dana, a woman blackmailing him to find out the club’s secrets, and between the two situations pressing in on him, Jed spirals out of control and, impossibly, makes things even worse.

Ryder is doing well. He’s been promoted in the club, his MC brothers respect him, and life is good. Then Jed manages to get caught while still on probation, and Ryder takes the blame, ending up in prison in Jed’s place. For Ryder it’s a no-brainer to protect Jed, but when he is released and finds out what Jed has been up to, he decides stricter measures are needed to ensure Jed’s safety. Being closer than ever brings up all kinds of issues, and the battle for their love and their lives is on.

If you like the way outlaw bikers think and look at each other (or just want to try to understand them better), if you enjoy stories with two main characters who feel a “forbidden” love for each other and need to learn to cope without anyone finding out, and if you’re looking for a read filled with angst, despair, hopelessness, violence, and craziness, then you will probably like this novel. It has a definite “forbidden” vibe, as well as lots of danger, just like the other volumes in this series.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 372 pages/135000 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	18-November-2015
Price	$5.99 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.amazon.com/One-Step-Too-Close-Stepbrother-ebook/dp/B017V9515Q