All Rhiannon Blake wanted was to find her little sister, Mickey. The
last thing she expected when she walked into the seedy biker bar was to
be assaulted. Luckily, Dax Jamison, the tall, muscled, vice president
of The Phantoms motorcycle crew rescues her. At first, the innocent
college girl clashes with the dominant biker. Then, a slow fire begins
to burn between them, culminating in a fiery explosion of sex, drugs,
and passion.
At first, Rhiannon is more than a little afraid of
the sexy, tattooed biker. He’s arrogant, domineering, and dangerous.
When her apartment is ransacked, Dax insists that The Phantoms provide
protection for Rhiannon until he can figure out why she is being
targeted by a rival crew. When an escaped drug cartel boss joins the
mix, things start to get complicated. Loosely based on the hit
television show, Sons of Anarchy, this work combines a strong plot with a
scorching tale of danger, intrigue and romance.
Satin and Steel - Jayna Vixen
Want it? Buy it HERE
Version Read: Kindle
Rating: ★☆★☆
I will admit that I read a
lot. I forsake the cause of sleep to find out where characters wind up in
the movie that is running in my mind, restlessly fighting back the need to shut
my eyes or get the recommended hours of sleep to cope with the next day. That
being said there are few books or authors that I will actually write a review
for. But sometimes I come across a book that refuses to let me push it into “I’ll
write it tomorrow” pile. These books usually get reviews as soon as my mind has
wrapped itself around the last word, leaving me with the deep seeded need to
review while the story is still fresh in my mind.
In all fairness this usually happens with indie authors that
I think may need a little more recognition than they are receiving. That’s what
happened with the book Satin and Steel. Now before you ask were there minor issues
with the book. Of course. But as I have stated before I am extremely forgiving
if the story captures me and catapults into the story. As always I will list
them after. Also this seems to be being referred to as "erotica", I believe that that is a bit misleading. There is one sex scene, tastefully done, there wasn't enough erotic to classify it that way in my opinion. BUT it's a good thing as the story doesn't rely on that to hold your attention.
Satin and Steel is the debut novel from a new indie author
Jayna Vixen. The story is of Rhiannon (Rhee) and Dax. Being a Sons of Anarchy
fan myself, the story read as if it was an alt universe version of the story,
but unique enough to hold its own. SoA fans won’t be disappointed thinking it’s
a simple rehashing of the story, but simply contains some elements that seemed
to be inspired by it.
The story starts off very quickly with Rhee looking for her
missing sister and finding herself in some trouble. Luckily due to
circumstances Dax finds her in a sense. The story progresses with Rhee needing
protection from a situation unknown, looking for her sister and fighting her
growing feelings for Dax. Dax sees Rhee as a innocent young girl in the wrong
place at the wrong time. He stirs emotions in him that he doesn’t want to admit
and can’t due to the fact that he has a girlfriend. Instead he offers the clubs
protection and eventually the club looks to her as a younger sister/daughter.
Much more happens
here with the situation, but it quietly runs in the background as Dax and Rhee’s
relationship develops. NOW I want to say that yes Dax has a girlfriend BUT he
doesn’t spend every waking moment in the book trying to get down her pants. In
fact he was so good at pushing away his feelings and turning to his girlfriend
I caught myself growling a couple of times. (**On a personal note: I HATE
CHEATERS. In a book it’s a trigger for me. It takes everything I have to finish
a book if it’s something that happens. With that being said, Dax isn’t a
cheater in the most thought of use of the word.) He fights tooth and nail,
floating the ship named I’m taken on the river of denial. At points I felt
sorry for him. I felt that he was trapped between his own hang-ups/comfort zone
and trying to grasp what he really wants. He does express a need/want to leave
the MC and in a sense sees his girlfriend as his out. But again their
relationship is tied up in history as well as some genuine feelings for the
most part. Sometimes he can be so bull headed and stubborn you just want to
reach in and smack him. Like many men, his logic isn’t really logic but rather
a derp moment you can’t see why he didn’t get why it was the wrong decision. He’s protective, gentle, thoughtful, but
conflicted, quick to temper and somewhat rash. (Some may disagree with his use
of his girlfriend Trish as an outlet for his lust for Rhee, but remember that he’s a biker and well that
just will explain his mentality.)
Rhee is a young woman who has been damaged by her past. At
first she seems timid with flashes of an inner core of steel that makes you
feel for her. You don’t really understand how damaged she is until almost half
way through the book. (Jayna does mention the past with Marco a lot in this
book, I am hoping that with the continuation this will be delved more into and
explored, not pushed to the way side as “wait…what? What about?” as so many
stories seem tend to do. This thought also goes to the side character of Wince.
Hopefully his being mentioned throughout the book as a major side character
solidifies his place as a strong force in the second book as well. *fingers
crossed*) She falls fast for Dax, but her naïveté shows when she doesn’t
recognize the desire that courses through her body every time she sees him.
While this may seem ridiculous, it came off as somewhat believable when the
background for Rhee is revealed. There were times that it could get a little
silly, but I think it really just projected how withdrawn and clueless (not in
a bad way) that Rhee was. There were times that she did try to display her independence,
but it was a new concept for her and sometimes the past is harder to shake off
than you think. Their relationship progresses and just as you think YES! You’re
denied. But it’s actually what keeps the story moving along. Again Dax isn’t a
cheater and Rhee has never been a healthy relationship. Both are very naïve and
innocent in different but the same ways.
Now I would be a honest bookworm if I didn’t mention the
flaws in this story. Transitions…transitions.…transitions. Again this author
needs some editing done. Not a ton, but she does need someone to tell her where
to put a scene separator. (This actually is becoming more a common place
thing.) The simple use of some kind of breaker would help her transitions, as
well as helping the story flow smoother. An example would be at one point
toward the end Dax is at his house thinking about Rhee and then he is walking
into the club. No separator which confused me for a few minutes. Several things were mentioned at the end of
the book, but not explained well. I can’t exactly explain without giving
spoilers, but again I’m hoping they were more hints as to what is going on in
the next book.
All in all I really liked this book, and for a debut it’s
good. I enjoyed the story a lot. So much in fact that it reminded me why I don’t
usually read series books until at least the second one is out. The ending is
actually that good where I want to read the next one NOW. I will read it again
and the favorite parts are still running through my mind. This author has a ton
of potential and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.
0 comments:
Post a Comment