Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Bare Knuckle Love
SERIES: Rabid Mongrels MC #1
AUTHOR: K. A. Merikan
PUBLISHER: Acerbi & Villani, Ltd.
LENGTH: 107 Pages
BLURB:
— FIGHT TO THE DEATH. LOVE TO THE BONE. —
Jason is back in his home town and trying to make money the only way he knows – in an illegal MMA fight. Bare knuckles. Hardly any rules. All he needs to do is… lose.
The Rabid Mongrels Motorcycle Club bet against him, and they are set to make a killing, but when Jason spots his high school crush in the audience, he can’t bear to lose. All he wants is to have Hyde notice him. He gets more than he bargained for when Hyde turns out to be the president of the MC, now out for his blood.
To survive, Jason will have to make a deal with the blond devil. No matter how manipulative and vicious Hyde can be, he is a dark wet dream come to life, and Jason can’t keep his hands to himself. Soon enough, the self-destructive lust he has for Hyde becomes a dangerous obsession that takes Jason to the most forgotten corners of his soul.
REVIEW:
I was actually looking for another K. A. Merikan book on Amazon, and I stumbled onto this one. I’m really glad I did! It is free right now on Amazon in the US and the UK (and perhaps elsewhere), and free on All Romance.
With Bare Knuckle Love, the two ladies writing as K.A. Merikan introduce us to a new motorcycle club. The Rapid Mongrels is a small MC, led by a man named Hyde. The biggest source of income for the club is their underground cage fights. Strictly off the radar and pretty much no rules. Oh, and did I mention, of course heavy betting.
When we join the story, we meet the character who we will follow through the story in his first person telling of the tale. Jason is back in his home town of Southport, Washington after years away. He describes himself as someone who is pretty down on his luck, who never had any friends and doesn’t now. He has been scraping to get by and so he accepted an offer from the Rabid Mongrels MC to throw a fight for money. The deal is that he will lose and they will make a killing. But how was he to know that the one man he has dreamed of for years would be in the crowd. James has had a thing for Hyde since he was fifteen years old. He can’t lose in front of him! So he kicks ass and wins the fight, leading to a less than happy MC.
The MC has lost a lot of money, since they bet against James. How will he make it up? And what happens when he discovers that Hyde is the leader of the group, and pretty darned pissed off at him at the moment.
I really enjoyed where the ladies went with this story. It was dark. A lot of abuse, beatings, and blood. There was also a romance running through it beween the main characters which helped temper it, but yeah, lots of fighting and even a human dart board and a shock collar.
I highly recommend the story to anyone as twisted as myself, who enjoys a dark biker romance with some cage fighting thrown in. I think the ladies have another great series on their hands, and I can’t wait for a sequel. As always, the book is superbly edited and the storyline and plot are well thought out and executed. Since it is free, maybe you should give it a try???
RATING: 
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