Burn It Up by Cara McKenna Series: Desert Dogs, #3
Published by Signet Publication Date: November 3rd 2015
Pages: 352
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In the latest from the acclaimed author of Give It All, mount up and ride a roaring motorcycle to Fortuity, Nevada, where the heat is risingβ¦
After a decade spent chasing shadier pursuits, Casey Grossier has come home to the badlands to settle down in Fortuity. Vowing to put his days of dirty money behind him, heβs cleaned up his act and become co-owner of Benjiβs Saloon. But despite his efforts to be a better man, he canβt shake his crush on his sweet-faced bartender, even though the woman screams trouble.
Abilene Price hopes she can outrun her mistakes and build a safe, respectable life for herself and her baby. So sheβd be wise to keep her distance from her boss, Casey, and the rest of his roughneck motorcycle club, the Desert Dogs. But she just might need their help. The return of a violent figure from Abileneβs past ignites a powder kegβand itβs only the beginningβ¦
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from Galley Sites, NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
After reading the blurb for Burn it Up by Cara McKenna, I was entranced and even though I had not read the previous books in the series, I knew I wanted to read it. If you’re looking for big, bad, tattooed bikers riding just barely on the edge of legal exploits, this is not the book for you. As the main bad boy of the hour himself says, they’re just a bunch of friends who enjoy riding.
Reformed bad boy Casey has come home to Fortuity, bought a bar and given up his bad boy ways. Between being a legitimate business owner now and the way he cared for the baby as if she were his own, Casey is so sweet, I had a hard time seeing him as ever having been bad boy material. Unfortunately I had just as hard a time finding a reason to like Abilene. Perhaps all the pre-pregnancy Coke went to her head and cause a delayed paranoia. I actually found myself rooting for the psychotic, just out of prison ex. There are so many aspects of this book that just did not do it for me. I just did not connect with the characters.
Fortunately, there were plenty of secondary characters to save the day. Raina and Duncan in particular were entertaining. These two were like night and day. She’s a rough around the edges former bar owner and he’s, of all things an accountant. Yet somehow they manage to make it work. The added tension of Miah, who is obviously still in love with Raina gave the storyline the tension and spark that was otherwise missing.
Unfortunately I can’t say that I loved this book. The lack of sexual tension or slightest spark between Casey and Abilene didn’t do it for me. However, this book did serve the purpose of introducing me to Raina, Duncan and Miah, who do seem to have that missing factor I was looking for. So although I did not personally enjoy Burn it Up, I did enjoy this author’s writing style and will be reading Raina and Miah’s book as well as Raina and Duncan’s book. Who knows, this particular book may be the one in the entire series that just didn’t do it for me. I may not have enjoyed this one, but I’m definitely willing to take another chance on this author.
