SILVER BASTARD – Joanna Wylde
Silver Valley, Book 1
Silver Bastards Motorcycle Club
ISBN: 978-0425280621
Berkeley
April 2015
Contemporary Romance

Puck Redhouse went into a cell as a prospect and was released fourteen months later. Four hours into his freedom he is a full member of his motorcycle club, with all the benefits attached. All he really wants right now is to party, with a woman. When he is offered Becca Jones, he accepts, not knowing that Becca is underage and far more innocent than he was made to believe. After a crazy night, Puck discovers the truth, and he and his brothers take Becca, with her mother's blessing, to Callup, Idaho, where the Silver Bastards are based. Puck delivers her to Regina and Earl in Callup and rides off into the night.

Now it's five years later and Becca will be 21 soon. Under the watchful and loving eyes of Regina and Earl, she has finished high school and is well on her way to becoming a beautician. For now, she works as a waitress, lives on her own and is proud of what she has accomplished. Becca has never returned to California, despite her mother's pathetic attempts to bring her back home. Becca knows her mother is an addict who still lives with the man who offered her up to Puck five years earlier, and she has no intention of returning to that hellhole. As for Puck, she sees him around once a year and somehow still sees him as her protector, although they really don't speak to each other. Puck is still a biker, and having grown up in that lifestyle, Becca has had enough of bikers and their associates. She really doesn't want to be attracted to Puck, but she just can't help herself.

Despite her best attempts, Becca is drawn back to the past she happily stayed away from for five years with a simple phone call from her mom.  She tries to get on with her life, but her attraction to Puck grows, and Puck has recently made it clear that he is very, very interested, but only on his terms. But Becca is conflicted. Puck is intense and everything she doesn't want or need. And to top it all off, her mother has called and asked for help. Becca still loves her mom, but she doesn't have the money, and she doesn't know what to do. And Puck is just as conflicted about Becca. She's hot and cold, and he is tired of wanting and waiting. But will Becca be willing to accept his lifestyle?

SILVER BASTARD is just a romance. Okay, it's a brutal, raunchy, dark, gritty, erotic romance, but it is a romance. And I like romances, but only well written ones. SILVER BASTARD is not for the faint of heart, and if you want ballrooms and champagne, this one is definitely not for you. But if what you want is a really well written romance, then give this one a try. Unless you don't like Motorcycle Club (MC) romances. I don't particularly, but I stumbled upon Joanna Wylde a while back and kept coming back because I really like the way she writes. SILVER BASTARD is written in first person from the points of view of both Becca and Puck, and Wylde does a great job of capturing their personalities through excellent dialogue and character development. And guess what? There's actually a good, strong plot, with a lot of suspense, which may be completely unrealistic, but who cares? The focus of the story is not the sex (which is definitely scorching), or the MC. It's about the relationship between Puck and Becca, and that part was perfect, because after seeing everything these two go through before and after they meet, they deserve a happy ending, dammit!  I actually felt like I knew them. And in my book, that's what good romance writing is all about.

So I'll keep reading Joanna Wylde and will consider myself lucky to keep her on my must-read list.

Astrid Kinn