BLACKLISTED
Series: Loveless, Texas #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Small Town
Author: Jay Crownover
Release Date: October 27, 2020
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Marked Men series comes an irresistible and suspenseful romance between a doctor who plays by the rules and the outlaw who breaks them in order to protect her.
Dr. Presley Baskin has always lived a quiet, calm life. Unfortunately, nothing about her life in Loveless, Texas—especially not the wild, rowdy, and impossibly close-knit Lawton family who’ve claimed her—is quiet or calm. Which is how loner Presley finds herself roped into patching up local bad boy Shot Caldwell against her better judgment. Presley wants nothing to do with the dangerous, brooding leader of the local outlaw motorcycle club. But when someone starts stalking her, Shot is the only person she trusts to help. Plus he owes her one…
Palmer ‘Shot’ Caldwell has always known his life isn’t made for relationships. At least until shy, secretive, Presley reluctantly pulled a bullet out of him. He’s oddly protective of the pretty doctor, so when she comes to him for help, hard-hearted Shot suddenly realizes there’s nothing he wouldn’t do to keep her safe.
I’d never been able to walk away from the search for retribution. My soul was restless until the proper price was paid.
I feel like I’ve been waiting FOREVER to finally have my hands on Shot’s book, and after the ending in Unforgiven, that need went dang near rabid. Now first of all, if you’re reading this as a standalone, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. Read the first two books. Even though each book focuses on a new couple, there’s a continuing story arc that continues through each series and is concluded here. Everything that was set in motion in Justified finally gets brought to a head here.
If you’ve read the first two books, then you’re already familiar with the suspense of the murder of Lawton patriarch. Presley is the half sister that her three siblings had no idea they had. After finding out that her best friend is a psychopath that’s responsible for making her life a living hell and losing her mother, Presley’s quiet existence imploded in a fiery blaze. Her stalker is still out there and wants her dead, and the Sons of Sorrow are in her debt for saving Shot’s life.
After the peeks we get into SoS and Shot Caldwell, I was dying for more of the MC. However, if you’re expecting a biker book, this is not that. The author made it clear that biker romance is something that she struggles with, so this book is in the same tone as the rest of the series. However, Shot is very much a biker and not a cowboy. He’s the epitome of a bad boy. An outlaw that lives his life on his own terms and answers to no one. Presley is the opposite of him in every way, but he can’t seem to stay away from here. Their chemistry is incendiary. These are two characters that always felt like outsiders in their own life, and their bond on that is strong. I loved the way they were there for each other.
There’s quite a bit of suspense happening here with both Shot and Presley’s life in danger by different people. Presley is still trying to figure out having siblings for the first time in her life and a man that’s pursuing her that is the epitome of everything that she doesn’t go for.
While I had hoped for more time and focus on the MC and the characters there, I still enjoyed this one quite a bit. I may have set my expectations on the MC a bit high, but I can’t say I’m disappointed. This still hit the spot quite nicely and was a satisfying conclusion to a series that I’ve been invested in for some time.
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