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BENDER
M. Stratton
February 13, 2015

Publisher: --
approximately 244 pages
Romance: Suspense, Dark Thriller, Mystery

** Provided by Netgalley in Exchange for an Honest Review **


-- SYNOPSIS --
Since high school everyone thought Jake Bender would end up behind bars; after all, he comes from a long line of bad boys. He spent years away from the place he called home. When he finally comes back, everyone thinks he's just a punk kid all grown up who’s now running a dive bar called The Night Club. What they don't know is he heads up a special task force, which cleans up neighborhoods and makes them safe again.
Stormy Ryan has always felt more comfortable with her books than with people. She loves to spend her days within the pages of her books. When her second-hand bookstore is robbed for the third time in as many months, her employees quit leaving her to run the shop on her own. With the pressure of having to deal with her shop and people, not to mention the declining neighborhood, she is at the end of her rope.
When closing up her shop late one night, she is held up and the neighborhood bad boy saves her, putting both of them at the forefront of a psychotic’s obsession.
Being bad has never looked so good

-- ADD to GOODREADS --


-- MY THOUGHTS --
Bender had a craptastic upbringing, where the general consensus was that he'd wind up rotting in a jail cell or a grave somewhere sooner rather than later. During one of this bleakest times, a stranger emerges offering him a way out. This man not only teaches him the skills to survive, but to thrive, and be an asset to others. Stormy just wants to run her old, used bookstore in peace but when all of her employees quit after the store's been robbed several times, she's forced to notice just how crime-ridden the neighborhood's become. Still, she does not want to close shop nor does she want the skeezy "protection" the local thugs are "offering" to provide to her at a price. One of the thugs has a very twisted creative side... and he's fixated on Stormy.



The characters range from light and innocent to dark and twisted. They are thought provoking. The plot is woven with thrills and romance, balancing beautifully. Dialogue is realistic, interaction believable - even when it is hard to fathom someone of Stormy's age being so naive to the world as much as she's moved around. The ease of reading is fluid, very well-written; it allows you to immerse yourself and not come up for air until the final scene is played out. WARNING: Whereas the sex scenes are not too graphic, Nutter's scenes tend to be. The conflicts, threats, and hurdles were plentiful. Predictability was low. The conclusion was as solid as it could be, including a stellar epilogue. The only thing I'd like to have yet known was the outcome of Murdoch's crew. Other than that, I'd recommend this to anyone who has an appetite for dark thrillers with just enough sexual heat and attraction to keep it balanced.



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Heat Level: 4.25
WARNING: The Sex scenes are not all to graphic, but Nutter's "artistry" is dark and twisted, gory and graphic. If this is not something you think you can handle, I'd advise you not read it. But, it's of my opinion that you'd be missing out on a fantastic book.
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Score: 4.4
Stars: 4
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Tina J / Unbound Passion
Reviewing for:
Tangled Hearts
-also sent to-
Smut Book Junkie