Stevie‘s review of Loving Lucas (Lies & Leather, Book 1) by Violetta Rand
Contemporary New Adult Sports Romance published by Loveswept 20 Oct 15
I continue to seek out new biker romance series, in spite of having been disappointed a few times, because every so often I find a story in which either the heroine is at least as tough as the men around her, or the hero shows a greater-than-average (for the genre) spark of decency that raises him above the disappointing types I’d like to slap from here to the Ace Café and back a few times. Once I twigged that this story also featured motorbike racing, my hopes were raised further, especially as the heroine, in spite of the bad position we find her in at the start, is a keen competitor in her own right.
Sadly, the plot mostly goes downhill from reaching an early high point. When we first meet Karlie, she’s in an abusive relationship with her only boyfriend to date. She’s managing to keep up her college studies and her bike racing, but he’s possessive, violent and controlling, not to mention being a hard-drinking drug user, who doesn’t seem to have any redeeming features beyond a reasonably likable mother. Karlie’s stuck with him through a combination of fear and a lack of anywhere else to go; she was brought up by foster parents who abandoned her when she turned 18 and doesn’t want to impose on her best friends, who live in a small enough place for just the two of them without having to make room for a third.
Just as Karlie’s boyfriend is turning particularly nasty one night after a race, Lucas steps in to stop him abusing Karlie any further. Lucas is new to the area: a cop and also a racer. He offers Karlie a room and board in return for housework – no strings attached. Karlie agrees to the deal after her best friend’s PI partner checks him out and gives her the okay. Fair enough so far.
However, the pair fall into bed together, and then in love, far too quickly for my liking, and Lucas doesn’t seem that much better than the alternative, even if he’s not physically abusive. He’d like to be violent towards any other man who so much as approaches Karlie, he treats her like a stereotypical 1950s wife from the point she moves in – albeit with added shooting lessons – and he’s not particularly respectful in his attitude to his ex-wife either – a major warning sign as to what Karlie’s future holds, if ever I saw one. Add in the fact that we see very little in the way of racing beyond a grudge match between Karlie’s men, and I can count myself very disappointed indeed.
All in all, not a series I’ll be following any further and I’m not sure I want to try anything else by the author either.
Grade: D
Summary:
Twenty-one-year-old Karlie Augustine is a survivor. She’s smart and tough, but she’s in too deep with a bad boyfriend who isn’t above breaking her spirit—or her body. Luckily, help arrives in the form of a leather-clad, motorcycle-riding hunk on the right side of the law. Lucas Lafontaine is pure muscle, a Corpus Christi cop who ignites something primal deep within Karlie. And when he offers her room and board in exchange for housekeeping, she finally starts to feel safe again.
As their arrangement turns deliciously decadent, Lucas gets hooked on Karlie’s killer body and fighting spirit. He wants to heal the pain he sees behind her eyes, but to protect her he needs to keep her close, especially now that her psycho ex won’t take a hint. Even as Lucas fights his own battle for custody of his young son, he knows that what he’s found with Karlie is real—and that he’d do anything to protect the woman he wants to take to the finish line.
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