Review: Opposites do attract
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 17, 2013
When I read the blurb for Bikers and Pearls, I had to read the book. I love stories about the good girl meets the biker bad boy. There are bound to be sparks and sizzle while trying to fly under the radar, especially when the small town loves to gossip and one minute you could be in and the next you're out. The question then becomes what is more important? Love or reputation?April Church was a good girl with a big heart whose volunteer work brought her together with a young boy fighting leukemia. She would do anything to help Ben and his family raise money to pay for his treatments and the mounting medical bills. April also desperately wanted to be a part of the Summerbrook Ladies League, and the fundraiser was to be her way in because what she lacked in pedigree, she could make up for in volunteer work for the community. But her big heart was about to be tested when she was teamed up with a group of bikers. She couldn't have imagined anything more nightmarish than having to work with a "gang". To make things worse, one of them seemed to have his eye on her, Bullworth "Bull" Clayton, and she had to work with him as a team. Even though she felt the stirrings of attraction, her deep rooted fear of bikers and gangs caused her to pull away or try to ignore him. Especially after she learned that Bull used to be a member of the Rebel Angels, a vicious biker gang. When he rescues her one night from a group of drunken, preppy college boys, everything she thought she knew about who the good guys and who the bad guys were was about to be questioned.Overall I enjoyed the story and seeing their relationship go through the motions from being cautious to interested to seeing past the outer shell. The characters were very likeable, perhaps Bull more so than April, but only because he didn't make a big deal out of how others perceived him. Their chemistry didn't burn up the pages, but I felt like they became friends first which made their budding relationship much sweeter. The push and pull between them felt realistic and believable to me. They seemed to have more in common than not, and seeing them come to that realization was a fun journey. I thought the story kept up a good pace, and I was eager to keep up with the main characters and how they would find a way to get their HEA.Unfortunately there were several things that pulled me out of the story, one of them being unnecessary repetition:1) Why the Rebel Angels scared April2) Jenna's insistence that April stay away from Bull and his biker buddies because Bull used to be a member of Rebel Angels3) How the fire ruined her father's business/the town4) Why April wanted to join the Ladies League and5) "... for Ben". Almost every thought or reasoning behind one of April's actions ended with "for Ben".If the reason was to drive a point home, I felt that the point was established within the first couple of chapters. If "for Ben" was part of the heroine's pep talk to remind herself why she was doing certain things, it made her sound like was using Ben as a crutch for her inability to cope with her feelings. Fortunately, the plot in general, some well placed humor and April's ability towards the end to self-analyze made up for the shortcomings. My favorite scene of all was at the end between Bull and her parents. That left me with a smile on my face. I would re-read this again and I would read the next book in the series.Rating: 3.5 rounded up to 4Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.