Update now features extended epilogue of “Hellraiser’s Reckoning” at the end of the book. MelissaThey say there are defining points in your life – moments where you f**ked it all up, moments that make you its bitch, moments that shape you into the person you are.The day I met Braxton Ward was one of my moments.My name’s Melissa Hart, and I don’t think you’re ready for this story.HellaI go by a … think you’re ready for this story.
Hella
I go by a few names: Hella, Brax, 112, or, depending on whether I’ve been balls deep in you or not, C*nt. I don’t push the boundaries because in order to do so, one must have them. I’ve never had them. Being homeless at the not-so-tender age of fifteen morphed me into an emotionless shell, and when The Army recruited me, that shell turned into steel.
They say if fire is hot enough, it can melt steel; the hate that burns between Melissa Hart and me just might be hot enough.
Shit doesn’t come easy for us. Enemies are expanded, secrets are revealed, and lives will be taken. Yeah, I’m Braxton “Hella” Ward, and you bet your f*cking ass that you ain’t ready for this story.
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Hella….what a man! My man! He is everything. Dark, hot as hell and built for sin. Found myself thinking up a few ‘sins’ I’d like to try with Hella!
So we know that Hella and Melissa had something going on from Beasts book, but we didn’t know quite what….and it all unfolds here…and let me tell you it was FANTASTIC!
Melissa takes no crap, but nor does Hella…so let the games begin! And of course The Army are up to their old tricks.
We meet Millie in this book (Melissa’s sister, the nun!) and Phoebe, Jada and Meadow also feature heavily. I just adored the side characters in this book.
The writing in this book is top notch and it has EVERYTHING an MC book should have and more.
You will all fall in love with Hella. And that’s a promise.
Now I think I may have found my soul mate in this book, Frost. I won’t tell you why as a) it will spoil it and b) you will all know just how sick I am!!
The story line was okay, the character work was fantastic but this book did not have the best flow to it. While I enjoyed the book because it was part of an ongoing story that started in previous series (Sinful Souls and Westbeach) by this author there were some major issues. There were spelling and grammatical errors galore. There is the issue of not bothering to use the local dialect and slang for the areas and the areas that the characters hail from. There is the issue of redoing conversations from previous books, but changing those conversations completely. There is the issue of time lines not quite matching up; in Losing Traction (Westbeach 1) Melissa and Phoebe met when they were little girls and grew up together until Phoebe was sent to New York, however in this book it says that they met in high school and were friends until they both left Westbeach. The book seemed to skip all over the place. The situations between Hella and Melissa was too unrealistic. Theirs is such a toxic relationship and I would advise anyone in a similar situation to leave immediately and never look back. That being said, I oddly like them as a couple. I would like to think that at some point they might actually grow up and act like a half way decent person to each other. Melissa’s whole friendship with Nyx had the timeline and the amount of contact that they had changed from the previous book, which the amount of contact I can understand since the previous book was about Meadow and Beast. There is also the issue that in the first part of the book she stayed for three weeks when in the first book she only stayed for two weeks max. There is also the issue that in this book she went home alone whereas in the previous book Meadow took her home. If you are using and editor, I highly recommend finding a new one as each and every one of these errors should have been caught and addressed long before the book made it to print.
I knew going into this book that Hella was going to be one sick guy and I knew that I would love it. Hellraiser can be read as a stand alone but we do first meet both Hella and Melissa in One Hundred & Thirty-Six Scars.
Hella spent his childhood in and out of faster care and he was always on the run. He had to grow up early and was forced to work the streets in order to survive, leaving him a little bit emotionally cold. Then, he was taken away from the streets and forcefully turned into a killing machine. The only friends he’s ever had were two people who were also forced into this type of lifestyle. At one point, they are able to separate and end up part of The Devil’s Own MC, where Hella is now the VP.
One the outside, Melissa looks like your typical rich girl. She attended college and had both her parents solidly in her life. She currently owns and runs a bakery. Her best friend, Phoebe, has grown up with a MC so she too has lived around bikers for the majority of her life. There’s just something from her past that continues to haunt her and has caused herself to be extremely guarded when it comes to men. She doesn’t think anyone can penetrate that wall. That is until she meets Hella.
“This man was the delicious package that I should stay away from because, no doubt, it has a bomb wrapped up inside it. From a distance he was hot, but up close, he look lethal.”
Their story isn’t pretty. Neither one of them can deny the connection that they have with each other. However, that connection is borderline hate. They love to hate. Which, I personally love those kind of stories. The push and pull with the angst.
“A deep growl escapes Hella and the entire room is deathly silent. I’m teasing the devil and I know it, but the dark place inside me craves it.”
These two are perfect for each other in the most twisted way. I’m always rooting for the bad boy who is just a little fucked up. There’s just something about them that drawls to me. It’s not that I want to change them or fix them. There’s just something about a broken soul that can be slightly mended that gets to me. Like I said in my first statement, Hella is dark and twisted.
“You so much as look at a man too long, I’ll gut him fro the inside out, fuck you in front of his dead corpse, and unload myself all over his lifeless body. Got it?”
Seriously? I must be dark and twisted because I’m loving this shit. Haha.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The only thing that kept me back a little was the fact that I felt like a lot of the story from the first book was being retold in this one and it dragged out a little long. This is perfect for someone who hasn’t read the first one. You won’t miss a thing if you start with Hellraiser. If you are looking for a good MC that has just a little bit more than your biker plot line, then this is for you. I can’t wait for the next book!