WARNING: Not your usual romance. Please be prepared. This love story takes a turn toward dark, intense, and gritty subject matter,including sexual abuse, and could test your emotional fortitude.New York Times bestselling author, Victoria Danann, begins a new biker romance series spinning off SSMC.What will he do to get her back? Anything.Take a journey into the exotic culture of bayou country in … Anything.
Take a journey into the exotic culture of bayou country in Louisiana’s Lafayette and Acadia parishes. Cajun beauty, Angelique Bellefeuille, has had enough of bikers and their bullshit. Being put in danger because of her father’s motorcycle club makes that conclusion rock hard solid.
When she’s sent to an allied club for protection from a rival club, she’s reunited with her childhood friend, Just Batiste. Only he’s not the cute, fun, adventurous kid she remembers. He’s large, in charge, and menacing.
Fate has her own sense of timing. The last thing Batiste needs is a distraction from the new joint venture with the SSMC that could make his dreams come true. But there she is dividing his attention, partly as memory of her as a little girl and partly as grown woman walking around in the mind-numbingly curvy form of a blue-eyed mischief maker.
Just when he thinks he can’t get more frustrated with the little troublemaker, she’s kidnapped by the very people he’s supposed to be protecting her from. What will he do to get her back? Anything.
Distraction or not, he vows to personally initiate a facsimile of Armageddon on any man who would threaten, frighten, or touch Angel.
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I have read all of this series and cannot wait for mjore.
This book made my heart pound really loud! I was on the edge of my seat. I had to shift many times also. Usually I just sit and read. It made me uncomfortable. Made my face flush as I was reading. It is so different, yet so Victoria Danann! I will not forget this book at all! I think it might by-pass Carnal. I highlighted a passage where I just said out loud, WOW!!! I wont put it on here so as not to give away any spoilers. You have to read the book to find out.
I wish I could give this book 20 stars! For me this is an award winning Book of the Year! I have read a lot of books this year also! I can not say enough good about this book! I just loved it! Even if you are not a fan you need to read this book and be taken out of your comfort zone for a bit. It does have a very romantic HEA. Thank you Victoria for giving me a place to go to forget my grief! Love you so much! From a Forever Fan… Pam James
Friends as children, Angelique Bellefeuille always hoped she’d be living with Just Batiste . . . she just didn’t think it would be because she had a rival motorcycle gang with a grudge against her father trying to kidnap her. She’s not sure what to expect, but Just is all grown up now and President of his club. She can only hope he remembers his childhood promises to her.
When Angelique walks into his clubhouse, Just is brought to his knees by her beauty. Everything good from his childhood is suddenly right in front of him and he vows he will do anything to keep her safe. He can’t start something now, though. He can’t be distracted from both keeping her safe at all costs or his new business venture with the SSMC.
When Angelique is kidnapped by the Stars and Bars after Just has sent her to the SSMC for safekeeping, he’s torn up by guilt and vows to do anything to bring her home safely at any cost, including tearing the rival club to pieces. Angelique nows in her heart that Just is coming for her . . . but will it be in time or will she feel ruined forever?
As a fan of Victoria Danann’s writing, I have to say that Batiste was the grittiest, darkest and rawest book she has ever written, but in the best of ways. While readers can tell this couple needs to be together, it’s certainly not going to be an easy love story. In their years since childhood they’ve moved towards different lifestyles, but from the moment they walk in the room together, sparks fly and their love and attraction are brought right back into the moment.
There is fantastic suspense as the Cajun Devils and SSMC work together to find where the Stars and Bars are hiding and from the moment Angelique was taken, my anxiety levels rose waiting to see if Just would be able to save her and how she would come back to him.
I refuse to give anything away in this book, but let’s say that Just is an amazing man and one of my favorite new characters from Victoria. The end of this book is completely unexpected and gorgeous and left me needing a box of tissues and feeling warm and fuzzy in a way I could have never imagined when I started the book. 5 stars.
First, the really good news: If you are not yet a Victoria Danann reader, now is your chance to join us because this is the very first book in a new series. If you want to enjoy it to its fullest, it would be good to read the Sons of Sanctuary series first but that probably isn’t necessary since the SSMC plays a secondary role here… sort of.
I was not very far into this book before I knew that I could probably predict the way we were going though it turns out there was a new side to it. It is similar in the basic story line to some other books by this author, particularly the SSMC books. So if it is somewhat “predictable,” then why the 5 star rating? Here’s why, in reverse order:
3-Book Bub doesn’t have more than 5 stars.
2-It is another SSMC (sort of) book.
1-Victoria Danann is the author! That automatically qualifies it for all stars Amazon has.
About this book? I won’t say much because you need to read it. My three favorite states of the 50, in order, are Mississippi/Texas, Texas/Mississippi, and Louisiana. This one is set in Louisiana (South Louisiana, which is really different from the rest) and Texas. And the author lives in South Texas so she isn’t relying on research – she knows the area and people. This time she writes a romance story filled with action, local color and flavor, and her own, unique way of telling a story. If you have read anything at all from this author, you know what I mean and Batiste is more of the same in that regard only “just a little bit” better because Victoria Danann’s story telling skills improve with every book… if that’s even possible.
If you’re looking for a fun little read, look elsewhere because this one had some real teeth to it… okay, probably not different from her other books but it looks at some things about a part of human behavior the is a little dark. However, it is NOT done in a distasteful manner, as disturbing as it may be to some. That’s just a disclaimer for her, not a description. Personally I was not put off by anything here in the least except that the bad guy got his just desserts entirely too quickly in the end but then my ending really might have offended you. He deserved worse, much worse… but that’s just me.
So that’s why the book gets 5 stars. If Book Bub gives us more, I’ll go back and increase my score because this one deserves it. If you haven’t read the previous Sons of Sanctuary books, I still think you really should go back to book 1 and start from there, just so you’ll have a better grasp of the characters in this one and you will enjoy it while you’re catching up. A lot! If you don’t want to go to that much pleasure, go ahead and buy this one because it can stand on it’s own. Great news! More Victoria Danann stuff will be coming soon!