She lives in a shitty apartment with crappy security and both of her regular babysitters are down with the flu. Sophie has got shot of Zach (in circumstances which aren’t made explicitly clear until near the end of the book) and she’s struggling to make ends meet. The main part of the story picks up when Noah is 7. Ruger falls in love with Noah from the very first moment and the experience creates a special bond between he and Sophie. Fast forward 8 months and Sophie is in labour, Zach is drunk and Ruger rides to the rescue and ends up delivering baby Noah on the side of the road. When Ruger comes home unexpectedly, he is angry with Zach for breaking into his apartment and throws them out, but not before copping an eyeful of Sophie’s nether regions. It is not a romantic scene and the sex is only “successful” in so far as Zach gets off and also (because the condom broke), gets Sophie pregnant. Reaper’s Legacy opens when 16 year old Sophie Williams is losing her virginity to Zach Barrett in the apartment of his stepbrother (no blood relation), Jesse “Ruger” Gray. I think this is down to your natural talent, a bit more experience and being blessed by the editing gods. I found the latest book to be more tightly written, with the (to my mind) best elements of your writing and your “voice” preserved. I do think Reaper’s Legacy stands alone well and it is not necessary to have read Reaper’s Property to understand it. (I read Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley sometime after Reaper’s Property and that really sealed the deal.) Reaper’s Legacy has therefore been a much anticipated book and I was very happy to read an advance copy of it. And, while in real life I don’t find bikies terribly heroic or attractive or admirable, in some kinds of romance fiction, in this “fantasy” setting, I found them vastly entertaining.

In the end, I felt it was a kind of “urban fantasy romance” or fantasy to the “hyper-extreme” – so far removed from my reality that it may as well have had magic and werewolves and vampires in it. I say somewhat to my surprise, because I wasn’t sure I could buy into the “hero” of a romance novel being a) in a Motorcycle Gang Club and b) being a criminal and c) whether the apparent misogyny would be too much for me.

I read Reaper’s Property (reviewed here by Jane) last year and, somewhat to my surprise, I liked it very much.

Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde