A. Zavarelli is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of dark and contemporary romance.
She loves writing about tortured heroes and the strong heroines who love them. When she’s not putting her characters through hell, she can usually be found watching documentaries in the name of research.
She lives in the Northwest with her lumberjack and an entire brood of fur babies.
Before the world knew me as a rock god, I was just the angry boy who stole her heart.
She was a good girl.
The forbidden fruit I wasn’t meant to taste.
Our stars were crossed, and fate had doomed us from the start.
She was promised to someone else.
I had her secret smiles.
Moments stolen in dark corners.
But I couldn’t have her future.
Destiny tore us apart, and all that remained was the ghost of her memory.
When she died, I did too.
But when I catch a glimpse of her five years later, alive and well, that love turns to hate as the bitter truth emerges.
She left me.
She lied.
And now, I’m going to make her pay.
•••
• MY REVIEW •
“All I ever had to offer her was me.”
Phew. This was one behemoth of a romance story that’ll tear you apart only to put you back together again. It’s definitely not for the faint-hearted. It’s a contemporary romance but with strong dark themes included.
This book contains several romance sub-genres and tropes, as well as sensitive content that some readers may find triggering. Madden and Bianca’s story consists of the following:
Rockstar Romance
First Love
Star-Crossed Lovers
Ex-Military
Forbidden Romance
Secret Romance
Love Triangle
Friends-to-Lovers
Love-to-Hate-to-Love
MC Romance
Please note the dark themes are graphic. It deals with death, strong violence, blackmail, physical and mental abuse, and sexual assault. As well as horrific events resulting in psychological and emotional trauma, substance abuse, depression, and overall PTSD. It’s intended for readers 18+ only.
It’s a journey full of unbreakable bonds and honest friendships, but also brings about what seems like an endless amount of hopelessness. Be prepared for a lot of heaviness. Right from the very beginning you’re pulled into a sombre backdrop that sets the precedents of the entire book’s atmosphere.
Without giving away the storyline, Madden and Bianca’s lives are wrapped in half-truths, mystery, and constant roadblocks. Somebody upstairs certainly didn’t want them together. Although they do get their HEA, it was undoubtedly an uphill battle to get to their happiness. It was an emotional rollercoaster that evoked a mixture of heartbreak, frustration, and eventually contentment.
Zavarelli created two very complex MCs in a twisted character-driven narrative. It takes place in both the past and present day and interchanges chapter to chapter. To be honest, it felt like I was reading two books simultaneously— one the prequel, the other the main story. In my opinion, both timelines had their own pacing which disrupted the overall flow. The backstory was slower-paced and I felt it dragged somewhat in the middle of the story before it picked back up towards the end. The chapters with the present day were definitely my favourite parts of the book to read. They were faster-paced and had a lot of the interactions and developments that had me completely hooked.
Madden and Bianca are stuck in an infinite loop of push-and-pull and unresolved issues. On one hand it was frustrating to see the repetitiveness, but on the other, it was relatable seeing the difficulties they went through individually and with each other. On some level, I resonated with certain issues and easily sympathised with their situation.
I especially gravitated towards Madden and his painful journey of finding his place in the world and the love he deserved. With his raw character, vulnerability, fundamental strength, and most importantly his unwavering belief, he’s without a doubt my favourite MMC from this series.
“I don’t know how to love someone I can’t have.”
I like the initial premise. It’s one of my favourite elements but can be a bit of rare find, so discovering Zavarelli’s newest novel revolved around it had me excited to say the least. The mystery surrounding Bianca and needing to uncover the truth was ultimately what made this a page-turner. With the addition of lovable secondary characters that stole my attention from time to time added a level of dimension and injected genuine positivity to a mostly grim storytelling.
It’s a standalone within the Sin City Salvation series with character crossovers from the previous books. I recommend reading them first before starting this one to understand the relationships amongst the characters.
All in all, this third and final book was a beautiful conclusion to the series. It had a little bit of everything from the romantic elements, to the comradery and diverse familial dynamics, to the action and suspense. It’s a story of growth, loyalty, and loss.
I always find Zavarelli’s writing whilst intricate still effortless to follow, and this book was no different. It’s a real survival, “love conquers all” love story that’s so hearty and gut-wrenching, it’ll leave you feeling like you’ve been put through the wringer right alongside Madden and Bianca. And after having read their story, their HEA was well and truly deserving.
It has vivid world-building, complex characters, and multiple developing storylines. If you’re an avid fan of Zavarelli, you won’t want to miss out on reading this. Any dark and contemporary romance readers who enjoy any of the following sub-genres and tropes I mentioned should give this one a try. Just have tissues on hand.
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you Ashleigh Zavarelli for the opportunity to read an advance copy! 💜
A. Zavarelli is a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of dark and contemporary romance.
She loves writing about tortured heroes and the strong heroines who love them. When she’s not putting her characters through hell, she can usually be found watching documentaries in the name of research.
She lives in the Northwest with her lumberjack and an entire brood of fur babies.
When an invitation shows up out of the blue, I’m reminded of a promise I made to a girl twenty years ago and suddenly my heart is pounding.
Do I dare keep it?
She’s the one girl that ever meant a damn to me, and the one girl that got away. She walked out of my life once and it devastated me. Now life is giving me another shot, but if she walks out on me a second time I don’t think I’ll survive it.
Second chances don’t come around very often. Not for a one-percent biker like me. There are no do-overs in the MC life. Not when you’re staring down the barrel of a gun. Not when you’re deciding whether to pull the trigger.
But love? Maybe for once the luck of the Irish will shine down on me and give me a second chance with the one girl I let slip through my fingers.
Living with regret is a hard pill to swallow.
Living with the same regret twice? Impossible.
Sometimes facing your past can be the scariest thing you’ll ever do.
•••
• MY REVIEW •
📎 Note: I originally read Green’s story in the Twisted Steel Anthology and this was my review. After the recent release of Green’s book (with the new content included), I reread it and have revised my review. 😊
I’m a huge fan of James’ Evil Dead MC series and this story was a much anticipated one from a very much loved character: Green!
And lemme tell you… it doesn’t disappoint in regards to making me swoon more-so over Green! His story was short and sweet, and shows a completely different side to him that I hadn’t expected (in a good way)! For those who aren’t familiar with this Evil Dead MC brother, Green is considered the guy who doesn’t really take himself or anything too seriously. He’s warm fuzzies and funny to boot but was never into wanting to settle down. Until of course… his story! 😉
He’s older now, most of his fellow MC brothers have settled down and started families of their own, and it’s made him really think about his future. Opportunities to get his life in order come through in the way of moving back into his childhood home, and receiving an invitation to his high school reunion. The possibility of seeing Sara, his old high school girlfriend in this reunion has him reminiscing their time together and how their relationship ended all those years ago. It’s given him the mindset that seeing her in this reunion and catching-up could be their second chance to reconnect romantically.
When I initially read Green’s story in the anthology, I was instantly hooked but felt it was too short and hoped that when the time came for James to release his own book that she would extend his story further. Well… wish granted! 🙏 James included extra scenes with Green and his fellow club brothers, making this MC-lite romance story just a smidge more balanced out with MC elements and romance. The scenes that take place also sets up future stories that I am giddy and raring to read!
It’s addictive and I couldn’t read it fast enough, but I also think there were certain developments between Green and Sara that could’ve been more in-depth. But knowing James’ characters tend to make appearances and crossovers throughout her books, I’m not too phased as there’s a high probability we’ll get to see more of Green and Sara in the future.
I’m not always a fan of flashbacks to the past in storylines as it can get a bit tedious and slow the pacing down but in this case the flashbacks provided in Green’s story elevated the moments and gave his relationship with Sara some complexity. Despite the length of the story being on the shorter side, James managed to get me effortlessly invested in Green’s and Sara’s relationship. I was already a big fan of Green but Sara’s a completely new character. In a short span, I already found myself liking her personality and overall presence.
I do adore the fact that they had history. It makes their relationship believable, especially with how quickly things progressed in the story. Although it’s been twenty years, I love that they were so in-sync with one another like no time had passed.
– MC Romance
– High School Sweethearts
– Second Chance Romance
This was more MC-lite in comparison to the previous books from James’ Evil Dead MC series. I didn’t necessarily mind it because it certainly sets it apart from the other brothers’ stories where theirs had more darker plotlines. Green’s and Sara’s definitely centred more on the romantic side of this MC romance story. I love the reconnecting/ second-chance aspect and that it was Green who ended up having this trope — it provided him with more dimension from his usual light-hearted, jokey side that I constantly saw throughout in the series. He was always the comic relief amongst the brothers in the MC and whenever he made an appearance in any of the books his scenes were instant LOL moments, so his story was much anticipated. Overall, I’m happy to say it lived up to what I hoped it would be. It’s swoon-worthy. We get to learn more about Green outside of the club, and we get to meet the chick who snagged Green’s heart. It held my complete attention from beginning to end! #TeamGreen #TeamIrish 🍀
A sweet and relatively short MC-lite romance story you can easily read in one sitting, and will have you happy sighing by the end. The world James has created and expanded never ceases to amaze me, and this story is a fab addition to her series! It’s a must-read for her fans, and more specifically avid fans of her Evil Dead MC series. It can technically be read as a standalone but your experience with Green and his club would be so much more heighted if you read the series from the beginning.
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