July 4th is this week, so I picked a patriotic design in honor of Independence Day.
I’m still reviewing Harley Wylde audiobooks for StoryOrigin, and this week it’s Flicker. The geek in me was thrilled that Pepper , the heroine of this story was named after Pepper Potts of Iron Man fame. Pepper is on the run from drug dealers who claim that she is on the hook for her late mother’s $20K debt. She comes to the Dixie Reapers compound to find her father, Sarge. Mother of the Year Maryann refused to reveal the identity of her unknowing Baby Daddy until her death. Trigger Warning: Maryann died from suicide before the story begins.
Pepper arrives at the compound on her Indian Motorcycle, proving that Wylde is willing to entertain sleds that aren’t Harley Davidson, but she’s still waving the flag for Buy American, which is strangely appropriate for this week’s post. Instalove is the main trope in this book. Flicker takes one look at Pepper and is intrigued. He gets a second look during a self-love window scene and is a goner. Pepper is also smitten; he’s the first man to rev her engine because of her Dark Past, in which her mother was a prostitute so Pepper was labeled and marginalized. After a super-hot zexytime scene in Sarge’s kitchen, Flicker decides he is going to keep her. Forever. Gotta love the Instalove. A little light BDSM later, Pepper is totally on board.
Flicker is an officer in the club, so he’s technically higher on the totem pole than Sarge, but what is that to an enraged bull of a father? There’s a little drama, but really, Sarge has known he was a daddy for about ten minutes, so he really doesn’t have a heck of a lot of say over Pepper’s love life.
I have to say, for a club that values their women, they suck at making sure Pepper is treated with respect. One of the prospects sexually harasses her and lay hands on her, He actually leaves a bruise. I was absolutely shocked that they keep him on as a prospect. Actually, I’m shocked that Flicker doesn’t beat the shit out of him. Later, Tank disrespects her while Wire reveals sad but highly personal information to the group. And after that, some of the men were trying to keep Pepper from leaving to turn herself over to the Mob. They scratch and bruise her accidentally. Not cool, guys. Not cool. This is a major departure from the series Standard Operating Procedure.
Anyway, the drug dealers are actually part of The Mob, and shit gets real. Or unreal, because this is fiction. The mobster commits horrible acts because he is a Big Bad, not because it’s the practical thing to do.
Because it’s a day ending in a Y, the Big Bad kidnaps Pepper. I do so weary of the kidnapping trope.
Because it’s a book by Harley Wylde, there’s a HEA. I do so enjoy a Happily Ever After.
Triggers include The Biker’s Trifecta: language, violence, and sex. Featured tropes are Age Gap, Alpha Male, Instalove, Secret Baby, Kidnapping, Mob Debt, Hitman Baby One More Time, Surprise Pregnancy. The zexytime scenes feature a virgin heroine, BDSM lite, spanking, and use of the P word.
I’d give the story a 4/5. It was pretty good, but I took points off for the kidnapping because it’s a tired plot twist. The narration gets a 5/5 because Umi Markkanen slays.
StoryOrigin gave me a shitload of audiobooks by Harley Wylde to review, so next week will feature another one of her books. I received a review copy of this audiobook for free. This is my honest, voluntary review and these are my honest-to-goodness nails.
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