UNDENIABLE by MADELINE SHEEHAN

Jenny:   Wow! I don’t know what to say about this book GG.  I do know one thing though– I could NOT put it down. 4 Stars for me! I read it in one sitting and even forgot to eat. True story.

Gitte:   Yep, me too Jenny! I woke up at 6am and read without a break till I finished it at 11am. I brought the kids into bed with me and gave them my husband’s IPad and told them to play nice. Now they know they are not allowed to touch it so they didn’t argue and they played nice for 5 hours…This book was crazy addictive.

Jenny:   Ha! Glad I wasn’t the only one then! I am going to describe this book as Sons of Anarchy on crack and Deuce, our hero (can you call him that?)  as a mix of Jax Teller on porn and Tack from Kristen Ashley’s Motorcycle Man.
“looked hot as hell in a tight white tee, his leather cut and ratty, low-slung jeans…leather motorcycle boots”  this guy has piercing blue eyes..built like....well, you get my drift…he was all tattooed bad boy and yes dammit, I had the hots for him something fierce.  What about you Gitte, what did you think of Deuce?

Gitte:  Firstly, good question Jenny…“was Deuce a hero”? I’m not sure….Did I fancy him? Hell yeah absolutely, he was hot, wild, dangerous, gorgeous and a tattooed biker. Was he a bastard? Absolutely yes! I hated him and I fell for him.

The Prologue:   Mark Twain said “the two most important days in your life is the day you were born and the day you find out why”
I don’t remember the day I was born but I remember the day I found out why.
His name was Deuce.  He was my “why”.  And this is our story.  It is not a pretty one.  Some parts of it are downright ugly.  But it’s ours.” 

Jenny: Well, ugly it certainly was, and at times it was downright disturbing, but damn if it wasn’t also so very addictive.  I should have really hated this story – some of the characters were awful, the situations were disturbing and yet I found it compelling and I was absolutely hooked.
This story grabs you and hits you upside the head with a baseball bat and I think I texted “WTF?” about 20 times to Gitte throughout.

Gitte:  Hahaha yeah you did and I was right there thinking “WTF” with you. They have this ride in Legoland that is a large circle made up of attached train carriages. It goes round and round with a speed that quickly builds from slow to super-fast whilst bouncing you up and down at the same time. This book felt like that ride and had similar effects on me. It is not a picturesque ride, it is very disturbing. This ride is not peaceful it rattles you. This ride throws you around in multiple directions but the thrill of it makes you want it to last longer and makes you want to go again…and again. It is addictive.

Jenny:  The story is set in the world of Motorcycle Gangs.  The Silver Demon’s and The Hell’s Horsemen are the two main clubs and the story is centred about the bikies who belong to these Clubs.  Now I have to say if you’re a bit touchy about the overuse of swearing in your books then this one isn’t for you….f**k is used in pretty much every sentence.  Bear in mind that it is set against the world of bikies so you would expect that.

Gitte:   Ah yes…the Motorcycle Gangs. I have to say that I do love my biker books so the setting of this story had me intrigued and salivating.

“Back of a bike is comin’ for ya and soon too cuz baby the way you’re looking at me is tellin’ me you want it. And you want it bad”

Jenny:  Eva Fox, whose father “Preacher” is the VP of the Silver Demon’s MC is in Riker prison.  Eva is only 5 and visiting her father there when she meets Deuce who is 23.  Yes…..that’s right, there is an 18 year age gap between our H & H. I do have to say….even though the age gap is regularly referred to, and it is a big gap, it isn’t an issue or weird. She is the VP’s daughter and as such she is fawned over and protected by the boys in the club.  She is the most prized possession  and Eva is  strictly “off limits” to the men, although Preacher does have an idea of someone for her that could benefit the club.

Gitte:  Yeah, so the age gap I thought was dealt with sensitively in the beginning Jenny. There was no weirdness for me as it started out all sweet and innocent…well as much as it can with a meeting in a prison, but you know what I mean.  Now I loved the heroine Eva. I really did, she grew up with us as readers, and at no point was she annoying or whiny. She started out an innocent but pretty clued up little girl whose surroundings did their best to mess her up and drag her down. Her life running parallel with Deuce’s, whose life is crime and abuse ridden with ‘effed up relationships too.

Jenny:  Deuce – (or Douche as I referred to him at times!) is VP of The Hell’s Horsemen MC and Deuce sure did test me at times – he did some pretty shitty things throughout the book!  Deuce is immediately taken with this gorgeous little girl and sees everything right in the world through this child’s eyes. He has led a life of crime, death and abuse by his father and Eva gives him a glimpse of something so pure and so innocent it takes his breath away.

Eva and Deuce’s paths cross at regular intervals throughout the years…..the first time when Eva is 12
Deuce:  “You’re a good kid darlin’, a good sweet kid.  Promise me you’ll always stay that way, yeah?  No matter what sort of f***ed up shit happens to you.  Don’t let life turn you sour”

Gitte:  The crossing of Eva and Deuce’s paths is what had me hooked…I was frantically reading so I could find out what happened next time they met up. It is why I could not put this book down. I needed to know if Eva was going to change, what was going to happen to her. If Deuce was okay and whether they would stand the test of time and the difference in their ages, as well as stand up to and fight the world they lived in.

Jenny:  This story is raw, gritty and at times very disturbing.  It is full of flawed characters; some insanely damaged who possess some very questionable, if no morals where violence is a way of life. They function, at best, in this imperfect world they live in where they live by their own code and put a big eff you to the world outside the compound walls.

Gitte: This whole book is flawed and disturbing with ‘effed up morals. It has violence, rape, adultery and enough swearing to last you a life time….but I loved it. It was a rare and refreshing change. I loved the ugly.

Jenny:  Eva and Deuce don’t know any other life. They were born into this life.  This life is normal for them…the partying, the killing, the crime, the whoring, the drugs, drink and violence…..it’s pretty much all they know. Deuce has his code.  He is set in his ways, yet he loves Eva – but is her love enough to change this man? Eva is in love with Deuce. She has always carried a torch for him since she was a child, can she accept Deuce the way he is and can she overcome her adversities?

Gitte: I agree Jenny and I have to give kudos to the Author here for not romanticising this world which many do; it was gritty, raw, ugly and pretty damn nasty at times. It felt real.

Jenny:  Yes GG it did feel real which is also why it was so disturbing.  These two have an invisible rope that pulls them back to one another – they are in love but live in such a f***ed up world that connecting in the first place and keeping that connection when everything around them is going to crap is hard to sustain.

Gitte: Yeah and this made my heart ache for them Jenny because they really were meant to be, no doubt about it, they were soul mates, of the messed up variety!

“I stole you a long time ago. Round the time you fuckin’ stole me.”

Jenny:  One thing the author did that I thought was a great idea, was to let you know at the end of each section when Eva and Deuce would reconnect.  This definitely added to the drama of the story and increased the angst and anticipation you were already feeling.  I can’t begin to explain what these two go through to be together………

Gitte : I think they pretty much lived the life of many, not just their own. What a crazy and heart breaking journey they had. They shouldered more burdens and responsibility of an average person that it is a wonder they came out of it alive and fighting at times. They both need a really good psychologist!

Jenny:  One thing I did notice was this book, at times, did have a” feel” of a Kristen Ashley book.  The alpha male was very similar in speech etc but other than that it is a very different book.  Another point I have to make is the amount of typos/grammar and errors in the book.  Being Beta/Proof readers, we can get past this but I know this could be an issue for some readers, though I believe the author may be addressing this.

Gitte: Yep, as a beta reader and proof reader I was stunned at the huge amount of errors in this book which ranged from typos to grammatical errors. I have to say that this Author has an amazing story here; it is addictive and grips you. However, the amount of errors in this book will put people of I am sure.  I saw the story first and foremost which is why I gave it 4 stars.  I am also going to take a wild guess here and say I think this Author is a Kristen Ashley fan because this book is VERY reminiscent of a KA book. However, there is no comparison and this book should be taken as is.

Jenny:  I have to say this book was an angsty roller-coaster ride, with a love story that was as ugly as it was beautiful.  This was a book I could not put down – for good or bad, I could not stop reading it.  This book will not be for everyone.  You are either going to love it or loathe it. I loved it because it gripped me and never let me go.

Gitte: Yeah I agree Jenny, this is a love story set in ugly circumstances and it is definitely a “marmite book”, for sure. You’ll either love it or hate it!