Review: Brilliant, Masterful, Epic Ending to the Signal Bend Series!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 2, 2014
Susan Fanetti writes a romance book like no other. Edgy writing, pushing boundaries, skirting the brink of reader’s beliefs, describing even the most heinous of acts with such great finesse, you’re completely absorbed in Signal Bend from the very first page. Fanetti forces you to fall in love with the Night Horde with her poignant prose, cleverly developed plot points, and characters so raw and real you feel for them as if you’re living in their world.Family, Justice, Loyalty, Love – terms defining the greatness of this entire series, these people, and this motorcycle club. There’s a lot of love and loyalty in the Night Horde. Their beliefs may not be “conventional” but the conventions the Night Horde follow are codes of an unbreakable brotherhood, of their faith in each other and their families. Each of these terms describe the most loyal group of people I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The Horde serve as the Batmen of Signal Bend, vigilantes wearing the depth of their beliefs in the scars on their skin in order maintain a strong net of safety for the people and the place they most cherish. They’re bad men but in the best way possible making you believe each of them is of the utmost worth.In Leave a Trail we get the pleasure of Badger and Adrienne’s story. Their relationship is sweet, nave even by Horde standards. After everything the Horde has been through – good, bad, and devastatingly ugly – the choice to end the series with the freshness of young love, the building of a trust in each other through the naivety of never having a serious relationship in the past, the promise of light in the next wave of Horde to grace the Keep - pure brilliance.Adrienne is nave in a way that makes her acceptance of Badger that much more beautiful. She’s strong, mentally tough in the choices she decides ultimately leading her to a family completely different than what she ever understood. Adrienne once led a life of experiences worldly and vastly opposite from Badger - fitting for this girl who’s spread her wings so wide only to find roots in the most rudimentary and unlikely of places.Badger’s a guy so alluring with his long hair, beard, and devastating eyes it’s hard to wrap yourself around his luster. Deep inside him, outwardly scarred into his innate hotness are brands of the battles he’s fought alongside his brothers for the convictions he truly believes. He’s Horde through and through. The craving inside him satisfied by the allure of Adrienne steals your breath. He’s not only in awe of her; he worships her in this very delicate way. Which, given the brutality he’s capable of, proves his strength and commitment. Even when he loses himself completely, she shines her light and makes him understand the immense worth in his being.The story of their love starts off a beautiful friendship built upon trust, loyalty, curiosity, and equal admiration. Hard times, really hard times, find them in a part of the book that splits you open and bares your raw, hurt emotions. Their eventual rainbow shines a dull light on the storm of their life. The beauty in the dullness is the constant reminder they’ve survived the most brutal of events only to find each other and not let go.The series as a whole structures itself quite the same. Gruesome justice and injustice alike, each conflict provides a hit to the soul of the reader so profound we’re reeling well past the end. We feel immense loss through everything conversation and conflict even during the good times. Each conflict allows its characters to continually rise from the ashes. Redemption. It doesn’t come easy but it’s there scratching the surface of every chapter.Poetically, Ms. Fanetti chose to completely end the series with a novella, an epilogue of sorts finishing with the same beating hearts of the series that started this incredibly evocative journey. As not to spoil it, I’ll leave it up to you to read this piece of Signal Bend history. Through the eyes of the King and Queen of Signal Bend, beloved characters come full circle reminding us why we adore them - an EPIC ending. You’ll have tears in your eyes no doubt because nothing is ever easy in Signal Bend. As well it shouldn’t be – the hard is what makes it good. No, the hard makes Leave a Trail masterful.