REVIEW: Reaper’s Legacy by Joanna Wylde
Dear Ms. Wylde,
I read Reaper’s Property (reviewed here by Jane) last year and, somewhat to my surprise, I liked it very much. I say somewhat to my surprise, because I wasn’t sure I could buy into the “hero” of a romance novel being a) in a Motorcycle Gang Club and b) being a criminal and c) whether the apparent misogyny would be too much for me. In the end, I felt it was a kind of “urban fantasy romance” or fantasy to the “hyper-extreme” – so far removed from my reality that it may as well have had magic and werewolves and vampires in it. And, while in real life I don’t find bikies terribly heroic or attractive or admirable, in some kinds of romance fiction, in this “fantasy” setting, I found them vastly entertaining. (I read Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley sometime after Reaper’s Property and that really sealed the deal.) Reaper’s Legacy has therefore been a much anticipated book and I was very happy to read an advance copy of it.
I do think Reaper’s Legacy stands alone well and it is not necessary to have read Reaper’s Property to understand it. I found the latest book to be more tightly written, with the (to my mind) best elements of your writing and your “voice” preserved. I think this is down to your natural talent, a bit more experience and being blessed by the editing gods.
Reaper’s Legacy opens when 16 year old Sophie Williams is losing her virginity to Zach Barrett in the apartment of his stepbrother (no blood relation), Jesse “Ruger” Gray. It is not a romantic scene and the sex is only “successful” in so far as Zach gets off and also (because the condom broke), gets Sophie pregnant. When Ruger comes home unexpectedly, he is angry with Zach for breaking into his apartment and throws them out, but not before copping an eyeful of Sophie’s nether regions. Fast forward 8 months and Sophie is in labour, Zach is drunk and Ruger rides to the rescue and ends up delivering baby Noah on the side of the road. Ruger falls in love with Noah from the very first moment and the experience creates a special bond between he and Sophie.
The main part of the story picks up when Noah is 7. Sophie has got shot of Zach (in circumstances which aren’t made explicitly clear until near the end of the book) and she’s struggling to make ends meet. She lives in a shitty apartment with crappy security and both of her regular babysitters are down with the flu. Knowing she will lose her waitressing job if she doesn’t go to work, she agrees to let her neighbour look after Noah. When Noah calls her later that night, terrified of the bad man in the neighbour’s apartment who has had Noah sit on his lap and scared by the movie with naked people on the television. Sophie leaves work (and her employment) to get to Noah and finds him clinging to the fire escape outside the 4th storey apartment, with her neighbour and her male guest, stoned and drunk and completely oblivious to Noah’s well being.
Noah is a smart little boy and after he tried and was unable to reach Sophie (he left her a voicemail message because Sophie couldn’t hear her phone ringing in the bar and only got the message when she was on a toilet break), he also rang Uncle Ruger. Uncle Ruger gave him some advice about how to keep safe and then got into his SUV and drove from Coeur D’Alene, Idaho to Seattle, where Noah is. It is quickly apparent that Ruger is a devoted uncle to Noah and they share a close bond. It is also apparent there is some history between Sophie and Ruger (and in particular, something which happened 4 years earlier but which we don’t know about for quite a while) which means there is ultra-URST and a level of mistrust and dislike between them.
Ruger brings Horse (the hero from Reaper’s Property) with him and together they go next door to teach the neighbour and her boyfriend a lesson they won’t soon forget. While Sophie has the urge to kill the neighbour herself for what they did (and didn’t do) to her little boy, she is worried about Ruger’s methods. He’s fairly unsympathetic.
“Really? You don’t like it? Personally, I don’t like the idea of the next kid getting raped just because he isn’t smart enough to hide on the fire escape,” Ruger said, stepping slowly into her space and backing her toward the wall.
“How ’bout this? You go ahead and feel guilty about being an accomplice, and I’ll go ahead and keep doing your dirty work so you don’t break a fuckin’ nail or something. Then tonight we’ll open a bottle of wine and talk about how today made us feel. Maybe eat some chocolate while we’re at it, then watch The Notebook together. That work for you?”
She hit the wall and he leaned forward, slapping his hands flat on either side of her head. Ruger dropped his face into hers, eyes blazing.
“Shit, Sophie—I think I’m showin’ extreme patience, all things considered. This is not a fuckin’ joke. Noah made it through last night because he stayed awake and alert on that fire escape, not because either of these fucks lifted a finger to help him. They terrorized a little boy and laughed about it. Now it’s their turn. Don’t expect me to feel bad about that. Go. Home.”
Ruger’s methods are… unorthodox but it was difficult to feel too sorry for the couple, in the circumstances. I think it’s clever the way you show extreme behaviour but in such a way that it becomes more “acceptable” and thus kept this reader on side.
Ruger decides that Noah (and therefore Sophie too) will move back to his place in Coeur D’Alene because it is safer and better and it will give Sophie a chance to get on her feet again. He is very angry to find that his stepbrother Zach has not been paying child support. Of course, with Sophie living in Ruger’s house, it doesn’t take long for the unresolved sexual tension to become… resolved. There are a few “near misses” until the deed is done but they are all smoking hot and a clear demonstration of the chemistry and connection this couple has.
Ruger doesn’t regard himself as a one-woman-man and he’s not looking to settle down. Sophie is willing to try a relationship but only if Ruger will agree to be faithful. He says he won’t make promises he’s not sure he can keep – stalemate. To their credit, they do prioritise Noah at all times and think of what is best for him.
Sophie stands in the place of the reader in some respects in the novel. She is wary of the Reapers. She is worried they are dangerous and will be a risk for Noah and herself. She does not like – at all – that Reaper’s “old ladies” are “property”. She is no-one’s property but her own. It is clear that Zach was abusive to Sophie and she has a number of hot buttons around controlling males who think they own her. (Fair enough too. Even if Zach hadn’t been abusive, many real life women wouldn’t go for this type of guy. In real life I definitely do not). And so, Sophie goes on somewhat of a journey through Reaper culture and learns that (in her opinion at least) things aren’t as bad as they initially appear.
I have to say, when Sophie does talk to Ruger about the abuse she suffered at Zach’s hands and how she managed it, I thought she was very brave. I liked Ruger’s responses too.
There is very little reference to organised criminal activity on the part of the Reapers in this book. There is some reference to money laundering and stealing – but being as this is from Zach and is to get Sophie her child support, it wasn’t too difficult to turn a blind eye to it. There was also reference to keeping gangs out of the area and I suspect the Reapers’ methods are less than lawful, but it wasn’t detailed. Again, I think this is clever – because the reader isn’t confronted with overt criminal activity which would ruin the “fantasy”.
There were plenty of references to legitimate businesses and the close bond of brotherhood the Reapers share, that they are willing to die for their brothers and their brothers’ families (and “old ladies” are family). That they stand for one another. No matter what. That an old lady wearing a leather vest which says “property of ____” is a badge of honour as well as protection and is akin to the bonds of marriage. In fact, Ruger at one point explains to Sophie that an old lady wearing her man’s patch is no different (in his eyes) to the common practice of a ‘civilian’ woman taking her husband’s name after marriage.
Like the best of Kristen Ashley’s books, Reaper’s Legacy also has strong female friendships in it. Sophie’s friend Kimber and old ladies, Dancer, Marie, Maggs and, Picnic’s daughter, Em, all become close and the reader sees what Sophie gets from being a part of their group. They are fun, loyal and, with the possible exception of Em (who is struggling to identify herself apart from her President-of-the-Idaho-Reapers-father), they don’t take crap from their men. The men have their secret “Club business” but all the women make it clear that they rule the roost at home. And, just like in the Kristen Ashley books, the strong female friendships were another huge plus for me.
Sophie struggles with being involved with the Reapers.
“Oh, I’m definitely moving out,” I told him. “Not even you can think this is healthy, Ruger.”
He smiled at me with the eyes of a predator.
“I don’t care if it’s healthy,” he whispered. “Whole damned world’s unhealthy. You think all those people living in giant houses on the lake have happy, pretty, perfect lives? You think those bitches aren’t backstabbing each otherwhile their husbands fuck interns on their lunch breaks?”
I shook my head.
“My friend Kimber’s not like that. Her life’s nice and normal and not crazy at all.”
“Then she’s one in a thousand,” he replied. “Because I swear to you, sometimes the nastiest shit happens behind the prettiest doors, while everyone laughs and smiles and pretends everything’s okay. Here’s the thing about my world. We’re fucked up. We own it. We take care of business and move on. In twenty years those ‘healthy’ people you’re so jealous of will still be backstabbing each other, and their kids will, too.”
Things become dangerous for her when there is trouble between a rival club, the Devil’s Jacks and the Reapers and it is everything Sophie feared. But, when it counts, they are there for Sophie.
I don’t think it’s spoilerish to say that Ruger realises he IS in fact a one-woman-man, but he has to convince Sophie that being his old lady isn’t a bad thing, that he will be faithful and that the Reapers will look after them both.
I so enjoyed reading this book. I felt like I was on a wild rollercoaster ride. The build of tension in the story, between the Devils’ Jacks and the Reapers and between Ruger and Sophie, was superb. The story had moments of laugh-out-loud funny for me and the things which may have made me shy away were either absent, veiled or, presented in such a way as to make them seem not so bad. (That’s not an endorsement, but I could still see Ruger and Sophie as heroic and root for their HEA is all I’m saying).
Ruger is pushy and controlling but Sophie does stand up for herself. She draws a line in the sand and will not cross it. If Ruger can’t be faithful, well that’s a deal breaker. And for all Ruger’s pushiness and controlling behaviours, he did respect her line in the sand (well, he had a plan to change her mind of course, but in the end, guess who won?). Ruger is completely loyal to Noah and Sophie and that kind of devotion is attractive to me to read about. Even though it includes extreme and borderline (and sometimes not-so-borderline) stalker behaviour.
Yes there are problematic things. It won’t be everybody’s cup of tea. The fact is, the Reapers don’t acknowledge the authority of the ‘civilian’ law. They are criminals. Their culture is very misogynistic. Club business is only for the male club members. Ruger isn’t shy about using physical intimidation to get Sophie to do what he wants her to do. I acknowledge all those things as being problematic. I liked Reaper’s Legacy anyway.
Those readers who, like me, enjoyed Reaper’s Property will undoubtedly enjoy Reaper’s Legacy. It’s a better book, in my opinion but very much in the same vein. And the next book promises to be another cracker. I loved the way Sophie pushed back against Ruger and held firm until she got what she wanted. Even though Ruger was definitely an uber-Alpha, Sophie was no doormat. And, hidden amongst all the Alpha stuff, Ruger sometimes managed to be very sweet.
“Can I borrow something to wear?” I asked, trying not to yawn. “I’m too tired to go get dry stuff.”
“I’d rather you sleep naked.”
“I’d rather you go fuck yourself, but seeing as that’s not an option, can I borrow something to wear?”
He smiled at me.
“Knock yourself out. Shirts are in the top drawer, underwear in the second one down.”
I left the bathroom and looked around to find his dresser. Sure enough, the top drawer held a variety of T-shirts. I found one with a Reapers symbol on it and pulled it out. Then I moved down to the next drawer. Most of his stuff was black or gray, but a fl ash of pink in the back caught my eye.
What the hell?
I pulled out a pair of silky, pink panties.
“Jesus, Ruger,” I said. “Is there anywhere in this house women don’t leave their lingerie? It’s like a damned Victoria’s Secret in here!”
I turned to him, holding the panties out with two fingers, disgusted. He cocked his head and gave me a strange smile.
“Those are yours, actually,” he said slowly. “You left them behind.”
“What are you talking about?”
“That first night,” he said. “With Zach. You left them in my apartment. Had ’em ever since.”
I froze, and studied at them more closely. It’d been a long time, but they did look familiar. I’d been so sad to lose them, because I’d bought them special . . .
“I can’t decide if that’s just a little bit creepy or really, super creepy,” I said fi nally, glancing over at him. He shrugged, eyes holding mine steady.
“You asked me the other night if wanting you was a new thing,” he said, his face free of mockery for once. “It’s not a new thing, babe. Not a new thing at all.”
Grade: B+
regards,
Kaetrin
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Been waiting for this book since I finished Reaper’s Property. Everything here just makes me that more eager to read it. Thank you for the little sneak peak. :)
Out of interest, what POV is this written in? The first excerpt is third and the second is first.
I confess I don’t like MC stories, they cross the alphahole line for me. And nothing in your review changed that for me … until the last quote – that was sweet.
“And, while in real life I don’t find bikies terribly heroic or attractive or admirable, in some kinds of romance fiction, in this “fantasy” setting, I found them vastly entertaining. ” <—- I completely agree.
I've been searching for words to explain why I enjoy MC books when I'm not attracted to that life at all, in my reality. You've summed it up perfectly. I really enjoyed Reaper's Legacy, as well.
“There is very little reference to organized criminal activity on the part of the Reapers in this book. There is some reference to money laundering and stealing – but being as this is from Zach and is to get Sophie her child support, it wasn’t too difficult to turn a blind eye to it. There was also reference to keeping gangs out of the area and I suspect the Reapers’ methods are less than lawful, but it wasn’t detailed.”
This is just an observation.
When is a gang not a gang? Because the Reapers, as with many books with Alpha Bike Riders that dabble in illegal activity, still meet the gang criteria imho.
And please know, I just find this interesting. I’m finishing up editing my own book with an alpha hole bike rider who falls for a Somali Bantu refugee, but I’m coming straight out with it. They’re a gang, protecting their “territory” from other gangs, and doing illegal things.
Please understand, I get that it’s up to each individual author, and I do plan on purchasing this book. I like the author’s voice and the dialogue was killer. Just thought I’d ask the question, since “club” appears to be a way to separate the bikers from, you know, the gangs.
I can’t wait for this, especially after this review! I downloaded “Reaper’s Property,” when it was featured on Jane’s Best of 2013 List and that book didn’t disappoint. Can’t wait for this one!
Knowing she will lose her waitressing job if she doesn’t go to work, she agrees to let her neighbour look after Noah.
Pass. A backward US-American scenario, implausibly in the 21st century civilised world.
Really, Sophie? Because I don’t have any trouble deciding at all.
I don’t condemn anyone else their problematic entertainment of choice — I’ve got my “yes, please!” buttons like anyone else — but I do appreciate the excerpts that y’all include in your reviews.
That’s because I keep thinking that I should try one of these MC romances that are so popular right now, and every time I read one of the excerpts it gives me the shudders.
Nope, I’ll stick with my perfectly acceptable assassins, borderline sociopaths, and homicidal werewolves… :-)
Yay! DA introduced me to Joanna Wylde and, like Kaetrin, I was surprised at how much I liked Reaper’s Property. I’ll definitely be picking up this new book. Thanks for expanding my reading horizons. : )
Reading and really enjoying MC romance books is an odd thing, because like others have said, this is something I would be scared of in real life…but there’s just something about those alphaholes that I can’t get enough of. Great review!
I liked most of Reaper’s Property except for the ending which I thought did not fit at all. Not the HEA but the manner of it. So I wasn’t going to continue the series.
This review changed my mind and I’ve pre-ordered Reaper’s Legacy. I’m so easy …
Wikkidsexycool – I wanted to address your question about the use of the word “club” vs. “gang.” I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s discussion of the book, and am limiting this comment to sharing information I’ve learned about MCs through my research.
The reason my book (and probably many others) uses the word “club” instead of “gang” is because within MC culture, the use of the word club is very important. They consider themselves clubs, they call themselves clubs and to call them a gang (regardless of whether that’s accurate) is considered an insult.
I think this is fair, because even among “outlaw” clubs, there are many different degrees of activity, and the defining nature of a true outlaw club is not that they’re involved in criminal activity, but that they’re not recognized by the American Motorcycle Association. So far as I can tell, what it really boils down to is that a true outlaw club doesn’t acknowledge that outside rules should apply to them. That doesn’t meant that they break those rules (or laws). It just means they don’t respect them. Interestingly, withing the club culture itself there are many, many rules that are followed. It’s a more regimented existence than anyone outside a club would imagine, with a great deal of structure and procedure for governance. They have created their own subculture with laws, unspoken norms and expectations that often don’t make sense outside the context of their world.
Does that mean MCs aren’t gangs or organized crime? No. Some of them obviously are, and it would be fair to include the fictional Reapers in that. Others truly aren’t, and it’s not fair to assume that an MC (by definition) is organized crime. For this book, I chose to use the word “club” because that’s what the club themselves would use, and the book is primarily from their perspective (or that of their associates). If the book had been written from the POV of a local police officer, I probably would have used gang.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that there is no universal answer for whether an MC is a gang, and it’s not fair to judge them as a group when they’re so diverse. Every club is different, and even different chapters within a large club are different from each other. It’s not a black and white world.
@wikkidsexycool:
I did a quick search. It appears that the distinction can be a very fine line. Gangs apparently make their money specifically and almost exclusively via illegal means – drugs, arms trafficking, etc. Clubs *might* make some of their money that way, but the majority of their money is made via legal channels even if those legal channels might be less than savory such as strip clubs. The amount of money made via by illegal or legal means seems to be the dividing line and where that line is exactly appears to be fluid.
In the case of the Reapers, it is clear they make money both ways. It is less clear that they make the majority of their money via illegal means.
@hapax:
I honestly didn’t think I would like Reaper’s Property. It was a review, probably Jane’s, that made me decide to give it a shot. And yeah, I was very very glad I did. Horse was, let’s just say, more than expected. He lived by certain rules, but at no time did those rules negate his feelings for Marie. Actions most definitely speak louder than words and Horse’s actions were about 98% loving toward Marie. That’s what struck me the most. When I saw how much he was willing to bend over backwards to help her, care for her, and make her happy, then yeah, I am happy with the way it worked out.
Nope, sorry. Sounds too misogynistic for me. The idea of some guys treating women, however benevolently, as “property” is enough to make me drop-kick the book across the room. Not arousing or attractive to me at all. Sorry. We all have a “line” and that is way too far over it for me.
However I do like to ride, so I wrote an erotic romance with a female biker queen as the heroine. The man who falls for her has to decide if he’s either A-willing to share her with her bikers (at her insistence), or B-wait it out and hope she changes her mind and decides to give monogamy a try.
http://www.amazon.com/Only-One-Man-Will-Do-ebook/dp/B00GKNPO2A/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1384304195&sr=8-12&keywords=love+fiona+mcgier
@coribo25: Sophie’s POV is first person, Ruger’s POV is third person.
@wikkidsexycool: In the world of the book, the Reapers self-identify as a “Club” and definitely not a “gang”. The gangs referred to in the book are ones run by the drug Cartels from Colombia and which use young people as fodder for their money-making purposes. The Reapers certainly think they’re better than that. (There was nothing in the book which would indicate that the Reapers had anything to do with drugs).
In real life – over here, we call the bikies gangs “gangs”. I don’t know what they call themselves (we don’t associate and I’d like to keep it that way). If there was a bikie in front of me and he “asked” for me to call it a club, I’m pretty sure I would, if I didn’t faint from fear first. :)
@Rissa: Did you think so:? I didn’t find it difficult to believe at all. I gathered that she was casual. Even over here where are our labour laws are much stronger (especially in terms of anti-discrimination) I’m sure it happens.
@Andrea T: The real life bikies I’ve seen are nowhere near as good looking either – it’s truly a fantasy world! LOL
@Joanna Wylde,
Thanks for your response. Like you, I’m going to limit my response so as not to disturb anyone’s enjoyment of the novel, so I’ll just leave it at that.
@Kaetrin
Thanks for your response.
@Monique,
Thanks for your response. I neglected to add it to my original reply.
“Sophie has got shot of Zach” does this phrase mean got rid of, as in out of her life? I don’t think I’ve heard it before.
@Sandra – yes, meaning that she’s shed him.
@Sandra: Sorry – maybe it’s an Australianism?
I’m English and would use ‘get shot of’ too, to mean got rid of or dumped.
@Jane Davitt: I grew up in an area where many UK migrants settled so that’s probably where I got it from :)
Just finished this one. Really loved it. I agree – a more tightly written story than Property. I love this MC Culture she is building – Ruger for all his ass ways worked so well for me – but I think Sophie and how she stands up to him – and her female bonding time is what really sold me on this book. Great set-up for Em too!!!!
@Mandi: It’s going to be really interesting how she redeems the hero in the next book. Definitely looking forward to it. :)
i was a bit hesitant to start this book given that my experience with Reapers Property wasnt all that great. And my experience with Kristen Ashkeys books hasnt been thatbgreat either. Too much sex and heroines who melt into puddles as soon as the hero kisses *eyeroll*. But surprisingly i really ended up liking it. so much so that i couldnt put it down and read it in one sitting! Even the smexing didnt bother me.
B+ grade is exactly what i would give it. I totally forgot about Ruger when Em and Hunter enterred the pic. really, really looking fwd to their story. i was hoping there would be a little sneak peak into their story *sigh*. none. Im curious who Em will be with? Hunter or Painter? both seemed crazy about her.
Thanks for the rec!
@Annie: I’m glad you liked it Annie. :)
The blurb for the next book is up at Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693621-devil-s-game and that indicates the Em will end up with Hunter.
@Kaetrin thanks. ive actually gone back and read whatever little there was of Em and Hunter. what a sucker i am lol