Reviewed by Dee
TITLE: Club Revenge
SERIES: Dysfunction At Its Finest #1
AUTHOR: J.M. Dabney
PUBLISHER: Jami M. Dabney
LENGTH: 195 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 12, 2016
BLURB:
A family forged in battle.
Amora Medina-Jackyl knew one thing well—vengeance. She’d inflicted pain without mercy to those who deserved the punishment. She’d lived by one motto her entire existence– family was to be protected above all else. An ancient cult murdered her parents and siblings when she was little more than a child. The Order of Angelus hadn’t understood the Hell they’d brought down on themselves that one brutal night.
Amora was many things in her four centuries. A daughter and a sister, a mother, yet she was best known as a killer. When she finally meets her end, Amora will have hundreds, maybe thousands of lives to answer for. Her only wish is to find one moment of peace. She denies her need as much as she fights to protect it. When the one woman who can bring her serenity comes into her life: can Amora destroy century old walls to let her in?
Lies and conspiracies tear at the fabric of sanity—of what’s right. Can truths come to light that change the reality of a family who’s known only the taste of revenge and loss?
Author’s Note: This is a previously published title. It was released as a two-part novel, it has been expanded and re-edited. This is a standalone novel.
REVIEW:
I read the first edition of this story in 2015 and very much enjoyed it, therefore I jumped at the chance to read the new, apparently improved, version. By doing so, I’ve discovered it’s not easy to review a revised book without comparing it to the previous one. Especially when I rated the original highly – 4.5 stars.
The first book had female/female and male/female pairing. The new version focuses on the first half of the old, and is a paranormal lesbian romance – a genre I’m fond of. It starts with the heroine witnessing the murder of her parents. The raw brutality and gut-wrenching beginning reeled me in. The story is most definitely dark in places. A tad confusing at times too. There’s talk about the heroine wanting to go to her club, but the club is very much background noise. I personally would’ve liked to have known more the place.
Around the middle of the book the story becomes bogged down with numerous sex scenes. There’s some mild spanking, and a strap-on scene which is sure to appeal to some readers. Personally, I had a difficult time connecting to the main characters, Amora and Lark, their relationship was so hot and cold, I found it difficult to enjoy the erotic content.
Amora’s son Ripper plays a large part in the story, and the interactions between mother and son, had me shaking my head in wonder. I have no clue if it was supposed to be humorous or what the point was. However, the fight scenes between them, as in combat training/sparring, and the way they swore at each other came across as incredibly rude and disrespectful. Which leads me to my next gripe… the dropping of the f-bomb. I’m no prude and am rather partial to the word myself, but the randomness of it being dropped in jarred me out of the story, more than once.
As I write this review, I realize edited and revised doesn’t necessarily equal better, or perhaps the story has improved but my reading tastes have changed vastly over the year. I’m sure readers who haven’t read the first edition will get more out of the story than I did.
As per the first edition, there are a number of grammatical errors. However, they didn’t factor into my rating.
I urge readers to read the blurb, which sums up the story much better than I have. If it appeals to you take a chance on this book, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised.
RATING: 
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