Review: Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan

Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars


To sum it up:

Eva Fox is the princess of the Silver Demons Motorcycle Club. Growing up with bikers in the club lifestyle is all that she knows. When she’s a young girl, Eva meets the reason for her existence. Deuce West is the sexy, biker bad-ass of the Hell’s Horsemen Motorcycle Club. Like Eva, he was born and raised in the club—but that’s where the similarities end. Their first meeting is innocent, but as Eva matures into a woman, their chance reunions evolve into a fit of lust and love. Fate continues to bring them together time and time again, but their twisted journey is filled with pain, betrayal, and bloodshed that could tear them apart. Eva sees in Deuce what he cannot see in himself—A man worthy of love—And Eva spends her lifetime proving to him that her undeniable love is the one thing he can’t live without.

This is Eva and Deuce’s story.

It wasn’t easy.
Nothing worth doing ever is.
And love is worth everything.

★ ★ ★ 3.5 Stars! ★ ★ ★

So... I'll be fair and admit that I was hesitant to go into this story, only because I had attempted to read it a while back and could never get into it. I chalked it up to a case of me just being too picky and decided to give it another try sometime down the road. Eventually, the book called to me again so I decided to put all of my reservations aside and give it a fair shot. ...And while I was happy that I stuck through with the story until the end, I can't say that my feelings for this story was the same as the majority of the people who loved it.

First things first: This is my first biker book. *gasp* ...I know, I know- Shocking, right? Especially when there seems to be so many of them floating around in the romance genre these days. After reading a lot of reviews, I was prepared for what I was jumping into- The raunchy biker talk and the rough sex... Being an avid reader of dark romance novels, I thought for sure this gritty story would be my cup of tea. Turns out though, it wasn't quite what I expected.

This is a story of Eva and Deuce- Two people that end up in and out of each others lives over the course of many years. Is this what I would consider a true love story? In my opinion, no. I couldn't help but feel instead, that this was a story of how two broken people who have a strong connection make mistake after mistake throughout their life and eventually always find their way back to each other. I never honestly felt the love between both Eva and Deuce- Sure, there was cheating involved throughout this story but for me the lack of connection I felt went beyond that. Instead of love, it felt as if these two only really felt a strong attraction and attachment towards each other; Nothing more, nothing less.

The heroine Eva is an interesting character- I loved her in the beginning of the story when we were first introduced to her as a child. Life eventually took it's toll on her though and her personality quickly went from fun and innocent to damaged and a bit trashy. Granted, she's put through a lot throughout this story... From rape to mental and physical abuse, she experienced it all. I suppose a person changes once they become a product of the environment that they grew up in- Unfortunately though, for me Eva's character didn't change for the better.

As for the hero Deuce... Definitely an asshole, without a doubt. Of course I loved this about him, only because I have a slight obsession with jerk heroes. Yet instead of warming up to his character throughout this novel, I felt myself feeling indifference. I wanted him with Eva only because I knew how much Eva wanted that- Did I think he showed that he wanted to be the man she deserved? Sure. I just didn't buy that his feelings were as strong for her as hers was for him.

I think what made it hard for me to feel a true emotional connection between both Eva and Deuce was the way the story was written- It consistently jumps in time... Years at a time in fact, which in turn made me feel like I never really got to spend a lot of time with them throughout their relationship. Instead what I got was reminiscences of the highs and lows that they had been through.

Another thing that bothered me was my lack of feelings towards the characters involved in this story- Especially Eva and Deuce. I'll admit, I was intrigued when I first started this story... In fact, I was actually quite loving it. As time went on though, I began to realize that I honestly didn't give a shit about these characters and whether or not they even got their happy ending. That's when I knew that I wasn't invested in this book as much as I should have been.

I will say this- It was interesting to see first-hand what the biker community was all about- And I wasn't impressed. I learned that the majority of them in this novel dealt with drugs, guns and murder. All women seem to be nothing more than property. There's a lot... And I mean A LOT of swearing and cheating involved. Oh, and all women are referred to as "bitches" as if it's nothing more than a term of endearment.

Yeah, definitely not my thing. Now this didn't bother me because I considered it too "dark" for my taste- In fact, I've read and loved a lot worse. I'm not appalled by anything this story entailed, nor did I find anything offensive or degrading. In fact, if I'm being completely honest I'm actually a little bummed that it wasn't darker... Something I was truly looking forward to. I definitely see the appeal of this story for other readers out there- For me however, I was just expecting so much more after hearing all the hype when it came to this book.

If you're looking for a story revolving around a very unconventional relationship and involving a lot of drama, then this is definitely the book for you. It didn't work for me as much as I thought it would, but to be fair I don't think I'm really into the whole biker element when it comes to my romance novels. With that being said, Madeline Sheehan is definitely a talented author and it shows in her writing. I think what it really comes down to is knowing that this type of story just really isn't my thing- It just felt... Trashy. I know, I know... It's a story involving bikers, who are supposed to be extremely raw and dirty or whatever... Unfortunately though, I just didn't really find much of this book or it's characters to be attractive or exciting.



View all my reviews on Goodreads.