Book Review – Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan

Undeniable
<—– Undeniably unputdownable! An absolutely coarse, crude, guilty pleasure loaded in shock-value, and jaw dropping infuriation. An intense unconventional romance, and a hero that will have you either loving or hating him (or both!). But no matter if you dream of being on the back of his bike, or hightailing it in the other direction,  you’ll likely be riveted.

I was. In fact, even though I realized I could be heading for some really bad circumstances, I had to “pre-squee” about it, in this post. From the first few lines, I knew “Undeniable” was totally my thing. In terms of angst, this one is of the “sordid” variety, and I found myself cringing, stressing, and wondering why I was delighting in such obnoxious, unapologetic behavior. The shady, okay, no, let’s call it what it is… the full-on criminal activities, the bloodshed, and FTW attitude is front row and center in this book. The club-whores, the “old ladies” and everything in between, this story doesn’t pull any punches, and in terms of romance, many of them are below the belt.

So what’s it about?

Eva, daughter of a gang leader, has been crushing on uber-bad-boy, Deuce since she’s been a child.

And then there are real men; men who don’t cry or complain, who don’t just have a backbone, they are the backbone. Men who make their own decisions and live with the consequences, who accept responsibility for their actions or words. Men who, when life slaps them in the ass, slap back and move on. Men who live hard and die harder.

Men like my father and my uncles. Men I loved with all my heart.

Men like Deuce.

Deuce worked his way up in rank in an opposing biker gang, and affiliations between the two gangs, means their paths have occasionally crossed. And as she grows into a woman, her crush on Deuce deepens.

Deuce got to his feet grinning and gave me a two-finger salute. “Bye darlin’.”

Darlin’.

It was official. I was head over heels in love.

But she is not the only one affected. At one time, 20-something Deuce adored the sweet little girl that seemed to see through his hard stance. Hoped to have a daughter like her one day. But as the years go by, and the wide-eyed little girl slowly develops into a woman, things between them… change.

… the road to hell is paved with good intentions and he’d just bought himself a one way ticket.

And every moment thereafter will have you on the edge of your seat, feeling every single emotion. Trepidation, worry, confusion, elation, swoooooning love, and utter exasperation. Rage. Ohhhhhh the rage. Over, and over again. In the mood for a roller-coaster read without the safety bar? Here. It. Is.

And when a reader asked me just how “risky” this one got, I told her:

“… these guys are bad-boys and not in the usual way we like them. They deal, they murder, they beat, they talk about “respecting women” to their sons, but ummm…. they don’t necessarily practice what they preach.

There are some ugly scenes.

If you’ve seen Sons of Anarchy, I think you’ll get a good idea of what you’ll see here.”

And what about the Deuce/Eva teen/woman issue? *sigh* I dunno if this is a spoiler, so scroll alllllll the way to the bottom (past the cover photo) if you have to know.

So that aside, if you’re in the mood for gritty and risky, this should work for you. No matter how sure you are that things will finally be okay, there will be surprises. This author doesn’t allow her readers to ever get completely comfortable and I remember writing in our discussion group “Okay. 97% and it’s still going crazy. Whoa.”

And occasionally, I thought it was a little too… “out there” in terms of crazy circumstances. Mostly, it had a realistic feel. I mean, not that I know the “realism” of life in a biker gang, but I could totally “see” everything that was happening. I could believe it, no matter how crazy some of it made me. BUT, sometimes the crazy was on a different, more outlandish level.

Despite that, I appreciated the wild, dangerous ride. After all, I do enjoy Sons of Anarchy, and I loved The Sopranos (and some of that was pretty outlandish, too). *grins abashedly* Hey!! I may like pink and glitter-y things, but my reading/viewing entertainment can’t always be on the up-and-up. In fact, I like regular and maybe even frequent bouts of “unsafe” reading. After all, I’m safe on “this” side of the story, so bring on the crazy. And does she ever! An absolute dangerous and daring read, scenes that easily push us passed our comfort level, but with a very detailed love story to boot.

A story that occasionally gives me what I want but still made me suffer (immensely) through the process. And boy did I suffer, but I delighted in every moment of everyone’s pain. Especially mine.

Titillatingly tawdry, touching and tender, terrifying and tumultuous. But most of all, undeniably unforgettable!

There it was. The pain I glimpsed every time we crossed paths. The sadness that never seemed to leave him.

“You’re better than you think,” I whispered. “I didn’t realize it when I was little, didn’t understand that look in your eyes, why you always looked so sad, but I get it now. Someone got inside of you and messed you all up, made up down and left right so now you think you’re sh%t when you’re not even close. So you need to listen to me when I tell you that you are better than you think. You’re even better than that. To me, you’re the best.

Oh! And do I *heart* Deuce? *purses lips* Well. There are many facets to him and so many things that had my heart and emotions up and down. I can say for sure, that I love Deuce for the exhilarating ride (I mean… “read”), he put me through. I, ummm…. can’t say more than that for now, but once you’ve finished the book, come see us in the spoiler forum where I really let loose. 😉 I ranted, and swoooned, and ranted some more.

Here’s a sample of one of my rants:

“Annnnnd another thing!!

Ugh!! I need to kick the next guy in this book that *spoiler*

Whooooooooooo long breath out…. Deep breath in.

Ok.

By the way. All that to say I’m almost done, and yes. It’s been quite a read. Mostly fun. And angrifying. 😉

4.5 stars!

WANT MORE? Here’s the Undeniable Series Reading Order

*spoiler alert* DO NOT READ FURTHER in case you want to fully experience all of the surprises coming your way.

On whether she is 18 before anything “happens”.

Well… It goes there, when she is 16 (and I squirmed uncomfortably), but let’s just say, it eases up and doesn’t go all the way. As I told the reader who was concerned about this issue: “Okay and the *moment* is not just a staring in the eyes and a kiss. Heavier than that, but he stops it at a certain point.”

And I’ve read other best-sellers (and some famous, albeit darker-themed, movies) that go “there” and more, so this wasn’t too much of a stretch, in that respect.