Melanie
Written on Dec 4, 2016
It is always hard to say goodbye to a beloved series and a beloved cast of characters. This is no different. I’ve been a huge fan of this series since I read Beyond Shame back in 2013. This series has a been a great mix of wonderful characters, amazing world-building, action-packed plotlines and some really dirty and well-written sex scenes. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this series. It was my first by this author pair (under this name or their other pen name, Moria Rogers), but it will not be my last.
If you’re not familiar with this series, it is a dystopian world that was turned on its end by a solar flare which took out pretty much all of the technology. They didn’t go back to the middle ages, though. They did use some of the technology to rebuild. The series revolves around the city of Eden and the sectors that surround it. Eden is known for its wealth, corruption and overindulgence. The sectors are full of poverty, gangs and people just struggling to get by. This series focuses on Sector Four which is “led” by the O’Kanes. A gang of members who work hard and play even harder. Dallas O’Kane is their leader. He just wants to be able to keep his friends safe and party harder than anyone else.
Throughout this series, we’ve watched as the O’Kanes have grown in number. They’ve also added some really important people with great skills. We’ve also seen tensions between the sectors and Eden grow. One thing Eden failed to realize, as they tightened their grip around the sectors, the sectors were starting to some closer together amid the repression from Eden. The leaders of Eden also failed to realize the power of leading by loving and caring for people versus leading by fear.
So, in this story, we have our main couple of Nessa and Ryder. Nessa was one of the first female members of the O’Kanes. She is also treated by all of them as their baby sister (I can’t imagine what it would be like to have these scary guys as as your big brothers, no man would want to go near her). She is also the princess of the O’Kanes liquor empire. Dallas has made pretty much all of his money on selling bootlegged illegal liquor and Nessa is the one who knew how to make it the best. She knew all of the best recipes and exactly how long to age it to make it perfect.
Ryder has spent his entire life building up to this war with Eden. His mentor, Jim, from Sector Eight, knew that a day would come when the sectors would be ready to stand together against Eden and protect their own livelihoods. Ryder took over Sector Five, where all the medicines are made. It put him in the perfect place to help lead this war.
This couple is not my favorite couple in this series. Don’t get me wrong, I love Nessa and Ryder together. It’s just really hard to beat some of the amazing couples like Jasper and Noelle, Dallas and Lex, and Ace, Cruz and Rachel.
Even with that, this is my favorite book in the series. I really loved seeing the cumulation of everything finally come together. This book was so very emotional as I watched some of my favorite characters go to war. We all know that not everyone comes back from a war, so the tension was really high. There were some pretty tough scenes that hit me really hard. But made the story all the better for it.
While, I’m sad to see this series end, I’m excited that I will not have to leave this world forever. Kit Rocha’s next series is a spinoff that takes place in Section One. I’m really excited to see what Gideon’s Riders have in store for me.
If you haven’t tried this series, be sure to start at the beginning with Beyond Shame. Not only is it one of my favorite couples, the overall series story arc is best to follow from entirely from the beginning. I would also suggest that you go and grabbed Beyond Series Bundle (Books 1-3), because it is FREE at the time of this post. If you’re an audiobook person, like me, you can grab the first book, Beyond Shame, for free on Kindle and then add the audiobook narration for only $2.99.
She touched his cheek. “I’m good at dreaming. I can come up with ten dreams right now, and I’ll forget half of them by tomorrow. I don’t know if life with me could ever be peaceful. Makes me feel kind of like an asshold for hoping you want to try.”
“What happens when you forget them?”
“I dream up more.” She smiled at him. “I’m an O’Kane princess. I never run out of dreams.”
**Book was provided to me by the author. This review is my opinion and was not requested or provoked in anyway by the author.