Review: Actually 3.5 - 3.99
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 21, 2014
TITLE: Shade's FallAUTHOR: Jamie Begley.  Contact: [...]; on Facebook and Twitter.MALE LEAD: Shade (John Hunter)FEMALE LEAD: Lily Cornett (Callie)SERIES: The Last Riders (there are two off-shoots of this series, Biker Bitches and The VIP Room, which cross-series the characters).STORYLINE:  Shade has decided he can't wait for Lily anymore. We first saw his feelings for her in The Last Riders series book 1 and continue on thru books 2 and 3 and into Biker Bitches book 1.  We saw Callie in The VIP Room, book 2 primarily.LIKABILITY (Male): Overall a 7.  He was a 10 sometimes (during Lily's episodes) and planning the Winter Wedding of her dreams and what he confessed after she had been kidnapped; but his "sharing" her brought him down a 2 or 3 for me - I thought, had hoped, he would be different.  And his irresponsibility of 'forcing' an unconsented BDSM relationship on Lily made him a 4 or 5.  Granted it was used to be part of her healing process; however the basic tenets of a BDSM relationship weren't observed.LIKABILITY (Female): Overall  an 8.  She was annoyingly fragile at times, however given her history and the demons hiding behind the doors of her mind, it was perfectly understandable. And sometimes her childish behavior with Shade (tantrums for lack of a better word) made her look like a selfish, spoiled brat rather than a young women re-pressing and then coming to terms with her horrific childhood and not understanding what she was feeing or how to appropriately re-act.HOT FACTOR between Leads: 5. Didn't really feel it.  They were well-written.  I just didn't feel the passion or love between them.  I believed the feelings more on Shade's side, by the end of the book.HOT FACTOR between Secondary Characters: Other than gratuitous sex with club-bunnies there was none.  And the scene with Knox/Diamond and Shade/Lily in the same bed.  I didn't think that was hot at all.LIKELIEHOOD OF THE SERIES CONTINUING: 100%, much to the delight of Ms. Begley's huge fan base.  However, with all the hype for this book and my less than OMGness of it, while I will most likely read what the author writes, I won't be anxiously awaiting it.  I would be interested in reading Penni's story, but I do not like The VIP Room series at all and I imagine that's where it will be.  It would be interesting to see where she goes with The Last Riders. She's not indicated.WHAT I LIKED ABOUT HE BOOK:  (1) We finally found out about Lily's tortured mind. (2) We see the truth come out about Penni and the clubhouse.  (3) I waited for the re-union of the sisters and Callie's father and was happy to see it included. (4) Side characters Pastor Dean (Lucky...not sure how I feel about that yet), Rachael, Penni, and now Willa or as a fan said, "the cupcake lady".WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE BOOK:  (1) The Prologue had nothing to do with the storyline. Then it picks up a month later.  I was hoping the prologue would be his side of it. How he would drive to the school or at least from the time he got the call from Razer  (2) Holding her, basically against her will, in the name of protection.  First when he took her from college (after telling Beth that he wasn't going to give her a choice) and then at the house. All have done it. I was hoping this would be different.  Sure, he felt the need to keep her safe, but when she expressed a dislike of the atmosphere, the male lead's attitude was "Tough, this is who I am!"  What about who the female lead is? Why is that never understood by the male lead? They say they don't force them to participate, yet they a little bit covertly. The women end of falling for them and will do whatever they want in order not to lose them. (3) I am not condemning their lifestyle.  If the orgy-atmosphere works for them...great.  But I would like to see one of them sacrificing  their preference for the female leads; not turning into a weakling...but just walking away from the lifestyle for her, until she was comfortable entering that kind of atmosphere, if ever. I thought maybe Knox had done it; but now know that's not the case.  (4) I didn't like that Shade did not explain the dynamics of a BDSM relationship to her.  This was not spicing up the old sack-a-roo; it was clearly a BDSM relationship he wanted with her.  There was no negotiation, no hard/soft limits set, no safe-word given before any play began and then stopping when it is used.  And (5) ironically even though the book was super long, I didn't feel like I knew Shade and Lily any better than I did before.KEEP or REFUND: Were it a stand-alone book, I might say REFUND, but it is a part of a series and if you like the series, you will want this book as part of it. It was difficult rating this book.  3 stars is OK.  4 is REALLY GOOD, READ IT.  5 is OMG YOU HAVE GOT TO READ THIS NOW!  I wouldn't say it's a 4 for me, but it's beyond a 3 for me.  Since there isn't "a spit under 4", I had to mark 3.ReaderGurlReviews: 1418