Reviewed by Jen
TITLE: Ruin
SERIES: Hell’s Mayhem MC, Maine Chapter #2
AUTHOR: Penny Fox
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 546 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 12, 2025
BLURB:
He’s the only man who makes me weak. He’s the only man strong enough to ruin me. And he’s the only man I’ll ever love.
Snapper
No questions. No witnesses. No attachments. No casualties.
That’s the code I live by in the Hell’s Mayhem MC. It keeps me in check, keeps the monster my father created under control. At least, it did—until Lucian storms back into my life, threatening to unravel everything I’ve built. Now, I’m stuck proving my loyalty all over again.
Can I bury my past along with Lucian? Or will my secrets consume me before I get the chance?
Lucian
Obsession has a cost. I wasn’t willing to pay it before, but now that I’m back, with him so damn close, I don’t care about the consequences.
They call him dangerous, and they’re not wrong—I’ve seen what he’s capable of. But the only thing he’s ever destroyed is me.
Can I walk away before I lose myself completely? Or will my obsession destroy us both?
*The club storyline will make the most sense if the books are read in order, but it isn’t necessary as each book focuses on a different relationship.
REVIEW:
This is book 2 of a romance series that I decided to pick up when I saw it was m/m. Books 1 and 3 appear to be m/f about existing characters which would certainly round out the overall story. However, I never felt lost having not read the first book and was quickly sucked into the current timeline. Here, we have Kolton, aka Snapper, Treasurer of the MC, along with his brother, Kaison, aka Shark (whom book 1 focuses on), the current VP of the MC, who are following in their now deceased father’s footsteps in the MC. There is a lot of family backstory that plays into who these guys are today and how they got here. Snapper is the one who took the brunt of it and it explains a good bit about his current mentality and lack of actual interest in the club.
Lucian was Snapper’s dad’s best friend who has no connection to the MC. He and Kolton, began a “relationship” many years ago when Kolton was a teen and Lucian was married with a son Kolton’s age. A promise to leave his wife and pick up Kolton to start anew was broken in what seems an irretrievable way. Now, Lucian is back with a plan to make amends and prove his love and devotion to make things right with Kolton. Needless to say, it isn’t easy to win Kolton back over. He has been through an awful lot of hurtful stuff and now has some pretty deep trust issues to overcome. On top of all that, Kolton is dealing with some shady things going on in the MC with the current Prez and things are pretty precarious for most of this story.
Lucian is set on his plan though, and he very carefully handles Kolton with the push/pull needed to eventually succeed. It is clear to see the chemistry these two had and how they ended up together in the first place. I really liked these two together and was rooting for them to get past all of the miscommunications and truths coming to light so they could move on together. Further, Kolton and Kaison’s relationship does some mending in this installment as well. Now that everything is in the open about their father and what he put Kolton through, Kaison is set on making up for lost time in the big brother department. I liked how it didn’t happen overnight but you could definitely see progression in all of Kolton’s relationships and issues.
This was my first book by Ms. Fox, and I really enjoyed it. I was turning pages quickly and would never have guessed it was almost 550 pages. That, to me, is good storytelling. The next book is also m/f about one of the other MC characters and someone they helped in this story. It seems that Kolton’s book was the darker of the three, which I didn’t mind at all, but I would mind the tags and then just enjoy the ride. I will definitely be looking out for more m/m from Ms. Fox in the future.
RATING: 
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