Barbed Wire Heart

by Tess Sharpe

Never cut the drugs--leave them pure.
Guns are meant to be shot--keep them loaded.
Family is everything--betray them and die.

Harley McKenna is the only child of North County's biggest criminal. Duke McKenna's run more guns, cooked more meth, and killed more men than anyone around. Harley's been working for him since she was sixteen--collecting debts, sweet-talking her way out of trouble, and dreading the day Duke would deem her ready to take over his command. Now time's running out. A terminal cancer diagnosis leaves Duke with six months to live, and their business rivals, the Springfields, are circling. If Duke's illness is revealed, a bloody war will break out through North County and Harley will be the one left to pay the price. With her father secretly in hospice care, she makes a choice: to sabotage his business and frame Carl Springfield for it.

Blowing up meth labs is dangerous business and getting caught will be the end of her, but Harley has one advantage: she is her father's daughter. And McKennas always win.

BARBED WIRE HEART is a novel set in the mountains of rural Northern California that explores the meth trade through the eyes of a kingpin's daughter hell-bent on destroying everything her father's built in order to save her town, her life, and the battered women she protects.

• ISBN10: 1538744090
• ISBN13: 9781538744093
• Publish Date: 15 November 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Grand Central Publishing
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

This was an incredible read. It was intense and full on and overwhelming with the feels.

It was good. Really good. I liked how the plot moved back and forth between time periods. And I liked the feminist angle. The women characters were unbelievably strong. They'd been through some traumatic experiences but I loved how they came together, supporting each other and protecting one another.

Harley was an incredibly complex character. I felt for her as she struggled to find herself and what she believed in, all the while fighting Duke and the perceptions of men and being surrounded by so much violence and loss. She was such a strong character and reminded me a lot of Alex from The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis. I did really like Harley but I would've really liked for her to actually follow through on the killing. And yes, I realise that her not killing was the point but I'm also bloodthirsty and I would've liked for her to at least put some holes in them.

The romance with Will was sweet but relegated to the sidelines to allow Harley to shine in her own right. I loved that Will was supportive and understanding but in some ways I also felt he didn't really understand her and the way she was going about things. Which was strange because he was all for the non-violent options and she was busy setting them up rather than killing, so why stop her?

But the real gem of this story was the relationship between the Ruby's and the camaraderie between all the women in the book. The friendship between Brooke and Harley. Brooke warning Molly about Tripp and then helping her when it all falls apart. There was such a community between them, an understanding of the evil things men do and did and might do to them or their children and this fierce desire to protect each other from it. It was inspiring.

This would've been five stars but it was long and it started to drag a bit when it seemed like none of Harley's plans were going to actually happen. But it is a fantastic read and one which will stick in my memory for a long time.

4.5 stars.