Ride (Bayonet Scars) Paperback – October 26, 2013

I should have listened to the other negative reviews on this book. But I didn't.Brief Synopsis:Alex is the daughter of an Italian crime boss and she also has a brother about her age. She is 17 or 18 I believe. She is overprotected and is betrothed (I guess is a good word for it as she has no choice in the matter) to marry her father's friend and enforcer, Leo. Don't worry he is closer to her age. She really doesn't know Leo all that well and although he is handsome she hates that she is being forced to marry him. Which makes perfect sense. After a funeral (big social event for Italians), Leo asks to take her for ice cream. He is the perfect gentlemen I might add and I found his character to be intriguing. While they are at the ice cream shop they hear gun fire. It turns out her brother and cousin are involved in some kind of shoot out across the street and Alex runs right into the middle of it. Her cousin gets hurt I think and she uses her body to protect him. Because she hurtles herself in the middle the entire situation becomes escalated and almost everyone is shot, including Leo. Well except Alex of course and her brother. Her brother tells Alex not to talk (Big rule in mafia and MC world) as the police sirens get closer and he tells her where he is going to hide out. The police arrive and that is when Alex does the stupid thing she does that causes her to fear her family. Meanwhile in a town far far away, there is this motorcycle club and the President needs a favor from his brothers on behalf of his wife. Kidnap/rescue Alex. There is a back story here you are not told until the end. But it won't spoil if I tell you this. We are told that Alex's mom is dead and the MC president's wife was her sister. At this point Alex is more than willing to leave with the MC. That is when we meet Ryan (MC Presidents Son and VP) and they supposedly have some kind of love story. Didn't feel like that to me, but here is my review.Problems with Alex (main heroine):1) Alex cried all of the time. You looked at her wrong and she was crying. Instant tears. so very annoying.2) No explanation as to why she liked Ryan...nothing..nada..3) Ryan treated Alex horribly (and not in a dark sexy intriguing way that works in other books) He has degrading sex with her, hurts her, then ignores her and kicks her out of the house) And in her internal dialogue she is thinking "oh I won't stand for this" and "I am so done with him" etc. But does she mean any of that. No. She is constantly seeking him out. He was in the middle of a receiving oral sex when she called him to tell him that she was lonely and he was like, what do you want me to do about it?. They end up having sex soon after and he still has the lipstick stains on his (you know what). Does she get mad? No. He says to her something like, "You deserve happily ever after" and her response is, "I don't want happily ever after. I want f***ed up and mean." Well Alex and JC Emery, that is not what I want and I certainly do not want to read about it.My problems with Ryan (main hero)1) total jerk, this can work in books and it has, however, there is no explanation as to why he is a jerk. I know, I know, he is pissed because he is not suppose to be with Alex. BUT he alludes to the fact that he is always an ass. Why?2.) Why does he like Alex? I never understood their connection.Worst scene in the book (there are many but this made me cringe)- Ryan and Alex are drinking whiskey in a ratty cabin alone (this is not the scene but this will help you understand the scene better) and Alex is trying to act tough so she drinks the whiskey from the bottle. After she takes a sip he says 'again' and she does. Then he says 'again' again...and she drinks again, and so on. This is okay, a little weird, but ok. So, fast forward to a party at their house. Alex is leaving her room and she sees Ryan in the hallway with a woman kissing on him. Ryan sees her too. There is a guy there too that Alex is sort of flirting with to make Ryan jealous too. (awkward, we are in a small hallway people and they are the only four people in it) She has a bottle of whiskey in her hand. She drinks it in front of Ryan (I don't know why, to look tough maybe, to show she isn't affected by him) and he goes 'again' and she drinks again, and then he says 'again' and so on, a couple more times. While this slut is all groping him and kissing all over him. So incredibly awkward!! Ugh!What was good:I loved the beginning of this book. I think the author should have stayed with the mafia plot. So very interesting. And then Alex gets kidnapped/rescued by the MC. Unfortunately after that its just one awkward moment after another. I would have loved more LEO.What could have helped the book:-More of Ian and Alex bonding-I would have liked the mafia family to make more of an appearance. I thought that should have been resolved better. No closure there. I mean they raised her until she was 19. She avoided thinking about them most of the book.-Some explanation as to why she did what she did in the beginning. Don't want to spoil anything but its the reason she has to run away. This was not handled well. I would have rather the author had her be kidnapped (instead of rescued which means she wouldn't have done what she did) and the plot revolve around her relationship between the mafia and the MC. Would have been SOOO much better. Maybe add some angst between Leo and Ryan.-LEO!!! He was interesting and the author just left him in intensive care to never be heard from again. He could have added so many layers to the story. What a total waste.More character development and an explanation as to why Ryan and Alex should be together. If its just because he is cute then why didn't she want to be with LEO.Final thought: I feel like authors tell stories to just tell a story. I am not spending my time reading to hear just a story. I spend my time reading to experience a story. To experience the love unfold. I need to respect my main characters as well. This author made Alex so pathetic I had no respect for her. That killed the romance and the fantasy. I had very little respect and very little understanding of Ryan as well. Spend time on a back story. I know it is hard to do because you run the risk of writing material that will just be skimmed. But a talented writer can survive that. Sorry for the 1 stay but I was so disappointing in this book I couldn't possibly recommend it. Great cover though.

With the increase in the popularity of MC romances, a lot of authors have jumped on the bandwagon. And while some firmly hold the reins, far too often there are authors who attempt to take advantage of a genre’s newfound popularity and write a book hoping to make a buck simply because any Tom, Dick, and Harry can e-publish these days (whether they should or not). Fortunately, Ms. Emery is a rein holder. I am ashamed to admit that I have owned Ride for over a year and never got around to reading it. And now that I have, I am thoroughly annoyed with myself for my oversight because it was a great read. I am in awe of how well she was able to show how similar the biker and Mafia worlds are while at the same time illustrating how different they are, all while orchestrating a romance between Armani and denim.My heart wept for Alexandra. She found herself in position she never should have been put in and her love for her brother and the emotional strain of the situation caused her to inadvertently rat out her family. No one cared that it wasn’t intentional. No one seemed to take into consideration the circumstances – for goodness sakes, she gets ridiculed for being so sheltered and she’s left sitting in the middle of the aftermath of a gunfight with her cousin dying in her arms, her fiancé dying next to her, and her brother telling her to talk to no one and leaves her while he’s bleeding from a gunshot wound. Thankfully her Aunt Gloria’s promise to Alex’s mother is more important than is her loyalty to The Family and Gloria does what she must to insure Alex’s safety. Unfortunately Alex seems to trade the frying pan for the fire once her previously unknown to her Aunt Ruby comes to collect her. While her upbringing prepares her for parts of the biker lifestyle, she is woefully unprepared for her new life, especially when it comes to Ryan’s bipolar-like behavior toward – yeah I completely agreed with Alex’s characterization on that one. But Alex and Ryan are the proverbial moth and flame and as expected, Alex finds herself burned by Ryan’s behavior more than once. Luckily for Ryan, the chemistry between him and Alex is so intense that neither can fight it. Unluckily for Alex, she is forced to endure yet more tragedy before Ryan is finally able to admit how much she means to him.My only real complaint about Ride is that I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Ian and Alex. Considering his plea during Church, I had expected him to be more interested in getting to know her and spending more time with this part of his family. Other than that small detail, I loved the book. The Mancuso family members we encounter in the beginning of the book felt authentic as Italians (no personal experience with Mafia members here, just Italians). The members of the Forsaken MC had just the right amount of edge and grittiness for my personal tastes. Of course the level of @ssholishness was perfect among the males in both cultures, with Ryan excelling at it. Gotta say, Ruby pulling the gun on him toward the end was priceless! I loved Ride and will be adding the rest of the Bayonet Scars series to my reading list so that I can spend some more time with Ms. Emery’s Forsaken MC.I reviewed my personal copy of this book.Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

Overall I enjoyed this book. I loved the storyline, the links and revelations between the mafia family and the mc club. It is well written, easy to read and left me wanting more. However, the issue I had with it, (hence the lower rating) was that I didn't really believe the romance and then declaration of love at the end between Ryan and Alex. Alex is a grade-A a-hole most of the way through. He runs hot and cold, treating her like a club whore one minute, then very over protectingly almost sweet the next. She just takes it, so she came across a little bit weak. I know she's been sheltered but she's still a mafia princess! I'd have liked more development around their relationship and Ryan's true reasons for acting like he did. (His father warning him off doesn't seem reason enough for a guy like him) They didnt really spend that much time together, so apart from the physical, I'm not sure what they saw in each other. I certainly wouldn't have gone back for more after their first time together!!There were a few bonus chapters at the end which helped a bit with Ryan's pov.This is the first book I've read by this author and I will read the next book (different couple) as the overarching storyline has real potential and I want to know more. Hopefully there will be a bit more light shed on Ryan and Alex too?Overall 3.5 stars

Oh I loved this. Having never known anything about MC's, they always come across far fetched. But that's why I read fiction! It's not that I loved the Hh, in fact I thought Ryan a total dip. I mean what kind of man allows a woman to perform him oral sex on him whilst he's on the phone to the woman he want's? Yeah, Ryan. Ok I understand why, but it's soooo wrong.What I hate about MC stories, are the words "you know I'll protect you". They loosely translate to, your gonna get the s**t kicked out of you, shot or stabbed. Either way your gonna get hurt....a lot!This book has all the usual hard life, rough sex, tough men and badass bikers....but the difference with this one, it's written with heart and soul. Each character is three dimensional. You can either love them or loath them, but the one thing I can guarantee is, you will feel them.My favourite character is Ma/Ruby. Her story is the backbone to this book, and what a story it was......heartbreaking!Sorry that I wasn't able to give it 5 stars, but the whole I'll keep you safe thing really bugs me.

Hmmmm not quite what I come to love from my MC reads.I loved the whole MC / Mafia clash & thought it had massive potential, but the danger & darkness I was expecting never really came through.I loved the premise of the story that centered around Alex, her Italian family & Ruby, the family she never knew/ It was quite angsty & had some good plot twists, but not enough to wow me completely. I wanted more from the main scene at the end, more from the mafia & more from the club.I didn't massively care for Ryan, even though as an MC Alpha I was expecting him to be a douche, but I really struggled to find many redeeming qualities. I never quite felt like their relationship was going anywhere or got a feel of his softness for Alex. I would have liked to have seen more of his personality etc.As for Alex, she was ok. I think she had more potential that played out & sometimes she was very immature & whiny, but I did like her role overall.

I'm really going to have to have a break from MC books they've become a bit of an addiction for me of late but I do love a bad-boy biker, anyway back to this book I loved the whole idea a mafia princess with a gang of bikers and it started great, bits of it worked really well and I wanted to give a better rating but...oh where do I start...Alex, yes she was spoilt but she is a mafia princess still I found her a bit whiny and selfish and a complete doormat where Ryan was concerned.Ryan, I really, really struggled with Ryan and decided that I didn't actually like him at all, I'm glad Alex asked him if he was bipolar because I was thinking the same thing his mood swings were making me dizzy. The way he treated her was awful and she just came back for more which may have worked if I'd believed their relationship but there was no chemistry and nothing to make me believe that she truly meant anything to him.I've been trying to figure out exactly why this book didn't really work for me and I think it comes down personalities since I liked the story, but don't get me started on the ending.

This was a good read although it contains a lot of violence and sex scenes so it's only suitable for older readers.Alex is a mafia princess, kept under strict control and not allowed to know her father's business. She has to be compliant unlike her twin brother who is becoming more distant and under her father's thumb. She makes a mistake thinking she can help when violence hits and her brother and cousin are threatened and it alters her life forever. She ends up being rescued and an MC protecting her. Her life goes through many changes and she is attracted to one of the bikers Ryan.I liked the story and the way it built up. It was interesting and I cared about the characters. Alex is clearly lost and vulnerable and the author cleverly and subtlety shows it. Ryan is also shown to be vulnerable in a different way.Another reviewer commented it finished too abruptly and I would agree. Hence the four stars rather than five. I assume there's another book as too many loose ends need tying up.