Fire Inside (Chaos #2)

From the author’s website:

Lanie Heron isn’t looking for love—no surprise, considering her last serious relationship nearly got her killed. So when Lanie propositions Hop Kincaid, all she wants is one wild night with the hot-as-hell biker who patrols with the Chaos Motorcycle Club...

For Hop, Lanie has always been untouchable. She’s too polished and too classy for his tastes. But when she gives Hop the once-over with her bedroom eyes and offers him a night in paradise, he can’t say no. And he doesn’t regret it when he finds that Lanie is the best thing that’s ever happened to him—in or out of bed. Now the trick will be to convince her of that.

It had me because the growing relationship between Lanie and Hop is quite lovely actually.  Here are two people not looking for the very thing that’s happening: love.  Both of them come from broken homes and really screwed up past relationships so then being gun shy about entering into any serious relationship is completely understandable.  Although Hop seems to have a more rational understanding of his situation than Lanie, but I guess nearly being killed by the mob will do that to a girl.  And the way it shapes and flows is really worth the read…until it lost me.

Honestly, I get why Lanie has issues.  Really I do.  But here’s my thing.  She’s known Hop for a few years, her best friend has married one of his so her best friend knows him very well.  Her best friend’s husband, who Lanie thinks a lot of, trusts Hop with his life.  So her reasons for not telling people that the two of them are dating is one of the weakest things I have ever heard, and honeslty I lost all respect for Hop for staying with her because of it.  It seriously killed the entire thing for me.

Most people probably wouldn’t have as strong of a reaction.  And even skimming the rest, their interaction gets a little more ridiculous but is pretty realistic overall.

The other thing that bothers me is that there is this big drug lord who’s trying to take over the Chaos’ turf, and it isn’t until toward the very end of the book that anything big goes down with him and then it’s resolved too quickly.  I wish authors would only introduce elements they plan to have be a huge part of the book, otherwise don’t make such a big deal of it.

Although, it appears this will be used in the next book but we’ll see.

I’d label this an on again, off again relationship.  You’re in it, you’re out, you’re back in, back out and after the last time you take a moment to sneak a peak at their Facebook page just to see how they’re doing because you don’t wish them ill, but you never want to see them again.

*eGalley provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing)