Trip had groaned, shooting Sonny a side glance, shaking his head like whatever was going on was old news. "Somebody's on his damn rag." Despite their differences, Iris and Dex find themselves attracted to each other. Dex tries to stay away from Ritz out of loyalty to her brother. She tries to deny her attraction to him because she knows that he is nothing but trouble.

He made a humming noise deep in his throat. "Ritz," he drawled in that low voice that reached the darkest parts of my organs. "You're killin' me, honey." I met briefly Dex and Iris in Kulti's book. It was when Kulti went to Austin with Sal to have a tattoo and he had chosen the best shop, i.e. 'Pins and Needles'. But honestly, I totally loved Iris. She had loads of self respect. Was she insecure and naive at times? Sure. But at the core she was strong. Despite saying how hot Dex was about 10000x times she didn’t once act like she lost her brain cells because of it. SO I reread this only a week after finishing it, I just couldn't get the characters out of my head and I didn't want to read anything but this. And I don't regret a thing. I loved it just as much the second time around, I relate hardcore to Iris and I just want a Dex for myself. I highlighted some of my favourite passages this time around so I'm just going to add them into the review.Sonny had dragged me to the bar by sheer manipulation. I'd just gotten to Austin not even two hours before. When Slim suggested Iris getting a piercing and all that ensued … well this book is definitely dirtier than any MZ I’ve read before. Why the hell am I blushing?! Sonny grabbed the top of my head and shook it. “Don’t worry about it, kid. I’m sure I’ll introduce you sooner or later.” But then again, Mom and Dad had kept me on the east coast for a reason. A reason I was clearly dumping into the garbage and possibly setting on fire.

Well since I'm not masochistic it was a downright disgusting and painful read, but I really wanted to rate it so I barreled through. Bianca was pretty easy to get along with, I didn’t mind her as a protagonist. However, it was hard to connect with her. In saying that I did enjoy Bianca’s character arc. The reader is able to see her grow throughout the book and find herself. Edit: Re-read a few good parts because this is one of Zapata's books that I have selective memory for🙈 (yes that implies that I am BIASED).

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

When timid, virginal and naive Iris first meets Dex, the sexy and drop dead gorgeous owner of Pins and Needles the Tattoo Shop she hopes to get a job in, she couldn't stop drooling at his flawless face, 6' 3" smokin hot body and colorful tattoos. But as soon as he opened his mouth his arrogant, rude, impatient and alpha personality came out and she hated the jerk. He, along with other characters, are members of the Widows MC but this isn't really an MC listen. However, and after a lot of arguing, they slowly learn to trust each other but the poop really hits the fan when The Reapers MC comes to collect on a debt that her dead-beat Dad owes (who she hasn't seen for years) and he has run off with the money..... so they're threatening her and her brother for the cash. Dex: His teeth nipped at my jaw. "Love you like this," he murmured. "All soft and wet for me, baby." Dex thrust hard, making me cry out. "My own sweet little pussy… all mine… isn't that right, honey?" He gave me hope. This big, ex-felon with a temper, reminded me of how strong I was, and then made me stronger on top of it. The characters in this novel bring life and heart to this story, each with a distinct voice and personality. They made reader love them, they made reader sad, they made reader angry, they made reader laugh, they made reader cry, and they made reader believe in the promise of love and home. It is an extraordinary piece of work, a perfect balancing act with terror on one side and love on the other. This exceptionally well-written novel is all about suspense, thrill and drama, including the relationships between generations and what happens between long-standing friends.

This story was soooo good. This is my second Mariana Zapata book and this is even better than the first one. Iris is so cute, endearing and her internal rants are just hilarious. Passers by probably thought I was a lunatic for laughing out load whilst walking my dog listening to the audio book. The narration was great, but we only get Iris pov. Even so listing to it whilst reading made a good story even better. All in all, it was a hugely enjoyable read, and the slow build up of the relationship between Dex and Iris was beautiful to experience. Dex is great. It took me a long time to get to like him as a character. However as the novel went on and Iris got to know him better, I enjoyed him more. Dex is stubborn and impatient and at times that made me really dislike him. But like Iris, he grew throughout the novel and let go of his demons. His tongue traced the oval shape of my chin. "But I'm not a good man, and I'm gonna take everythin' you want to give me and everythin' you don't." Though Iris was really shy, and a beginning.. a pushover, she never did get on my nerves. Recently, I've been feeling real judgy towards heroines. I just find something that always bothers me. Thinking about it now, I don't think I was ever like that with Iris.Well, there were three other words I'd like to hear but I'd take these from him. That didn't mean that he was the only one who knew how to give. He'd given enough. My bones and heart knew that there was nothing for me to fear. I loved him and sometimes there were consequences of it that were scary, but it—the emotion itself—wasn't. I knew that now. Sonny wanted to make a point because he kept babbling. "Just because you lived in Florida doesn't mean you weren't born into this." So in my head it made sense that my work day had been spent A)ignoring Dex, B)avoiding Dex, and C)getting to know my coworkers slowly." monarchs have no legitimate absolute power over their subjects. 4.1 The Second Treatise of Government