Bibliophiles! I’m alive and well! Happy Wednesday! Life has been insanity for the past week or so, even more than usual. A work promotion and a road closure by my job are causing my life to be… ridiculous right now to say the least. My reading is one of the things that wound up taking a massive hit, and it may stay that way for awhile, but, I’ll do my best! I still have goals I’m trying to meet for the year, so I’m going to try really hard to stick to a regular reading schedule!

Anyway, enough about my shenanigans for now. I hope you’ve all been well and enjoying a mountain of books for me! I’m there in spirit and I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that life will calm down and transition into a routine sooner rather than later. Then, I’ll be able to re-join you guys with our bookish adventures and challenge goals.

I’m amped to at least be bringing you a whole series review tonight.. and they’re awesome ones to boot! It’s the Pure Corruption MC series by Pepper Winters. Her books are always intense, but beyond worth the read, so if you haven’t checked out her work yet, you should! In the past, I’ve reviewed her Indebted series, which you can check out here and then, just take a deep breath and jump into all of her work!

Ruin & Rule is the eighth novel of Pepper’s I’ve read and the first in the MC series. She has this ridiculous talent for writing about situations that make you want to stop reading because the plot is so thick with tension and darkness, that you’re scared to move forward for fear of so much unknown. However, you find yourself trudging along because you trust her to make everything okay once the end is near.

In Ruin & Rule, a young woman is taken captive by an organization who plan to sell her to a very wealthy man in order to strengthen their trust and business relationships with other groups. When her blindfold is removed and she looks into the eyes of her captor, she knows she recognizes him, she just can’t remember how. A series of traumatic events caused her to lose every memory of her past that she’s now scrambling to recollect quickly before her luck runs out.

Arthur “Kill” Killian is a cold-blooded and heartless man. Time in prison and losing the love of his life at a young age closed off any sympathy or compassion he had for others. All he wants is to get revenge on those who have wronged him, and join the love he lost forever.

When he removes the blindfold on his new prisoner, his plan begins to change. He’s haunted by the forgetful young woman who is the ghost of his deceased love. This causes Kill’s hatred to grow even more, while he secretly has to come to terms with issues he hasn’t addressed in years.

In the short time the pair are in each other’s company, there are many questions that need answering. Can they find the answers they’re looking for before the transaction must take place?

My heart was in my throat for most of this book. Every time I thought I knew where it might be going, another wrench was thrown into the mix and I was left confused, and more nervous as to what the outcome for these two might be. Of course there was a cliffhanger, so I immediately jumped into book two!

My Final Rating: five out of five stars

Sin & Suffer brings us to the next chapter in the biker saga. I’m obsessed with the fact that Arthur is a badass biker on the exterior, yet on the inside, he has the brain of a genius, and unites his club to do good among humanity and their community rather than cause trouble. When they find themselves organizing attacks, or a few shady transactions, they’re either well-deserved, or required for the greater good.

This second installment was brutal, which is what I expected from Winters. As I said, book one ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and book two picked up instantly and was packed with action right from the beginning.

Cleo’s life is in danger, and it’s up to Arthur to save her, only, the usual knight in shining armor is at a severe disadvantage. I was more worried for him and his well-being than her. She’s an absolute spit-fire who knew right from the beginning how to handle those who have wronged her. Not that she wasn’t in jeopardy, but Arthur was my primary concern.

For a novel about motorcycle gangs, vengeance, and revenge, I didn’t quite expect the ending I received. Not that it didn’t thrill and excite me, don’t get me wrong! It made me an emotional wreck of sorts, but I still loved every heart-stopping minute. It’s impossible for Pepper Winters to leave me disappointed with her stories. Even though they DO leave me on the edge of my seat and almost wanting to give up at points and just take a mental break (they’re THAT intense). I force myself to keep going because I know my agony as a reader will be worth it in the end!

My Final Rating: five out of five stars