| Title | : | Blameless (Black Thorns MC, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 344 |
| Publication | : | First published January 11, 2016 |
An angel doesn't belong with a devil
Nothing will ever be the same
Runner
He's the wild playboy of Black Thorns MC, until life in the fast lane gets tired.
A shy diner owner catches his eye and his world spins on its axis.
He can't walk away.
He'll protect her with his life.
But it might cost him everything.
A blast from the past comes at him and he struggles to hold on.
Can their love weather the storm?
Sarah
She's spent years hiding, then the past comes calling.
Her biker crush defends her, but it puts him and his club in the crossfire.
They're an unlikely match.
The connection between them is undeniable.
Scarred by the darkest parts of life, they fight to heal each other.
Blameless (Black Thorns MC, #3) Reviews
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Zeb ‘Runner’ Wilkes has been clean for twenty years. He’s swapped the high of addiction to hard drugs to finding that high in living a life of danger, women and booze branding him the playboy of his MC. But that kind of life is no longer working for him. The thrills and highs he seeks can no longer be found in the women who hang around the club. More and more he feels as though something is missing. Sarah has escaped the clutches of a sadistic ex-lover and is living a quiet life she’s built up for herself. She owns a diner that Zeb and his brothers sometimes visit, and while she’s always had a crush on the rugged biker, her mental and physical scars have turned her into a mousy, insecure woman who would never dream of a man like Zeb taking a second look at her.
But, during one of the nights Zeb visits the diner, Sarah’s ex shows up and he saves her from him. It's then his eyes are finally opened and he sees there’s more to the shy woman than just her inability to look him in the eye and the good food she cooks. He’s confused by his feelings for her, torn between wanting her and knowing that she’s way too sweet and vulnerable for the likes of him. She’s all flowers and tenderness while he’s all motor oil and violence. When a shared enemy and an old familiar face reappears to throw Zeb’s life into turmoil, he cannot find the strength in himself to fight the battle, but Sarah may just be able to give it to him.
At first, I had trouble connecting with Sarah who was way too naïve for me and her goody-goody Sally homemaker ways were annoying, especially since she was such a contrast to Rox from the first two books in the series. But as I kept reading I was enraptured by the plot and I loved Zeb. He was the best kind of alphahole with his gruffness and stony ways because inside, he was totally broken. He was a very proud man and used to the violent and sexual lifestyle of MCs but as his vulnerability began to show, I thought his confusion about all the new feelings he was feeling for a woman was endearing. He was tough and hard but incredibly sweet and tender towards Sarah who slowly began to grow on me. Closing the book, I couldn’t imagine another woman being more perfect for Zeb.
All in all I found the book to be a fast-paced page turner with a lot of violence and turmoil and many twists. The sexy times that alternated between sweet and tender and rough and hard were extremely hot with Zeb’s inner turmoil adding to the tension between the two. I loved the secondary characters and I devoured this book in one sitting. If you like MC romances and gruff alphas, I definitely recommend picking this up.
(ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review) -
Zeb aka "Runner" is a biker with a terrible past. He uses sex and alcohol to keep other addictions, emotions, and past at bay. Sarah is shy and damaged woman who escaped from a sadistic ex and is now in hiding but owns her own diner. They first meet at Zeb's prez and best friend's wedding but he is also a frequent customer at her diner. Sarah has crush on Zeb but doesn't think anything will come of it. Zeb find her attractive but thinks she is too good and too shy for him. Things begin to change when Sarah's ex finds her and Zeb steps in to help her not knowing that her ex will bring him into contact with his own past. Both are extremely damaged and don't always know how to take or deal with each other or what is happening between them but with so much attacking them they need each other to make it thru and just maybe be happy too.
I have had a really hard time trying to rate this book. It had some good stuff and some stuff had me like bitch please.
Let me start with the hero. Zeb is someone who was heavy on drugs but with the help of his prez and his club he got clean and been that way for 20 years. He is someone that is club for life but also has problems with falling in line on occasion and is having growing tired of the way he has been living his life. Can be immature but also someone who can do right when confronted or when he cares. Sarah is someone who was seriously abused by her ex and it has made her shy, insecure and fearful. She wants to not be a victim but also sticks her head in the sand at the danger from her ex.
The thing is I liked the hero a little better than the heroine and that is not good. He had some serious ahole moments but he also made up for many of them too. The heroine was one that to me was all over the place. She was really shy, insecure and scared but then she is all pistol whipping knife wielding woman and this is before anyone helps her learn how to fight. Don't kill them, which I hate that heroines say, but then she is ready to take back her power by shooting someone but then the hero still can't. Are you f'ing serious?? The hero goes thru a bad time and all she can think is about how he isn't showing her he wants her. Really?? Don't you think you can be supportive and let him recover before you go all woe is me. At the end she was so freaking up and down in her behavior and emotions that I was thru with her by that point. I also didn't buy her climax moment with ex. He is huge guy but the way she is supposed to be taking him down was total BS to me. Now this is a biker book with some real heavy stuff but then it keeps talking about sexism. It felt like a afternoon special telling the big bad bikers that women have equal rights to show the people reading that see we have strong women in this book. It felt odd how it was spoken about is really my problem I think and that it felt fake instead of natural. The prez and his old lady got on my nerves big time too. The book didn't give any real time line of how long this happened from this happening. Big time jumps and it felt odd. Then they tell you about stuff that happened but it is all off script. It felt like too much given to some and not enough to others.
I have to say that I started off liking it but as the book went on it started going down but I was still interested enough to want to know what happened. It felt way to long and that slowed it down and the inconsistency didn't help either. I would have given it 3 stars but the ending just really made me roll my eyes too bad. It did have a nice epilogue and HEA but too many things kept it from being a better review for me. -
Review coming tomorrow.. xx
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The Angel & The Asshole...
Blameless was worth the wait. I've been anticipating it's arrival since I read the last page of Soulless. I'm totally addicted to the Black Thorns and hope that the series continues for a long time. Franca Smith is a wordsmith. She writes the dialogue in a way that I can hear the tone and inflection of the character's words. I get chills imagining Runner saying Darlin'
Runner has all the qualities I love in a good book boyfriend. He's not just a sexy, muscled, tattooed, badass biker. Nope, he's a broken bad-boy, my favorite kind. He's got demons that keep him living on the edge, seeking the release that takes his mind away from what haunts him. Yes, he's a manwhore. He takes advantage of what is freely offered to him. But, for some reason, the satisfaction is not as good as it used to be. Seeing his president, Axe, so happy with his ole' lady and their baby girl makes him happy for his best friend. But that's not something that he ever thought about for himself. His club is his life. Being part of a brotherhood gave him a sense of belonging and saved him from the path of destruction he was headed toward. There's no turning back for him, his past is a dead end. Until it chased him down and forced him to fight for his future.
Sarah is running from her past too. She's been successful for years, until she wasn't. When he showed up and all the ground she had gained, all the fear she had suppressed, and all the confidence that she had struggled to claim went flying out the door that he came in through. And then, right when she needed him, there hewas. Her rescuer, that beautiful man with the auburn eyes and spiky black hair. He stepped in and protected her. She should be afraid of him, but for some reason she wasn't. She's afraid of all the other scary bikers. But not him. "He makes her into a gooey mess every time he looks at her or shows her any attention." But unfortunately that doesn't happen often. He's polite, but he keeps his distance because he knows she's too good for him.
She's shy and soft spoken, wearing clothes that cover every inch of exposed skin. She's definitely not anyone's idea of someone suited for a biker lifestyle. But he was drawn to her. To her goodness. To her light. They were 'The Angel & The Asshole', "Two people so damaged and scarred by the darkest parts of life, finally finding comfort in one another." -
💝FREE on Amazon today (9/8/2018)!💝
(This book can be read as a standalone, but characters from the previous books appear and situations/relationships from the first two are also referenced.)
He never saw her coming. An angel doesn’t belong with a devil.
Nothing will ever be the same….
Zeb “Runner” Wilkes has always been the wild playboy of Black Thorns MC. The shallow joker who spends his life partying and screwing. He never once imagined it would get tired. Until it does. When he steps in one night to protect shy diner owner, Sarah, he quickly realizes there’s more to her than he gave her credit for. But this down and dirty biker doesn’t do sweet and innocent. Or, so he thinks, until he gets a taste of her. Before long, he’s unable to maintain his own denial. He’s in trouble, because she’s on his mind. He wants more than a taste. But can a man like him really have a woman like her?
Sarah Hughes has been living her life in peace, running her diner in Brockford. She keeps to herself and never lets herself get mixed up with any men, not after her awful past. But when her ex finds her and starts trouble in her diner, everything changes. Her biker crush steps in like a knight in shining armor. Her ex and his business partners turn out to be enemies of Runner’s club and the mutual threat throws her and the sexy biker together.
Runner and Sarah find what they didn’t even realize they needed in each other. He gives her strength and brings out her fire. She becomes the only thing standing between him and absolute darkness.
But when a blast from the past attacks Runner in the most sadistic way, their relationship is put in jeopardy. In the aftermath, he’s sent into a tailspin and being pulled into his old life. Can he hold on? Can Sarah bring him back from the edge? Or will he end up losing everything: the club, Sarah and even his life? -
Great start but then it fell flat for me.
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BLAMELESS: MC Biker Romance (Black Thorns, #3)
Franca Storm
5 stars
Other books in the series: Reckless & Souless – This book can be read as a standalone but I would recommend it … you need to meet Roxanna James, Ax, Smiter, Grit, Runner, Dealer, & Sarah in full force. These characters do appear in Blameless and reference to their relationships will make you appreciate what they have been through to get to where they are now.
Zeb “Runner” Wilkes has never considered settling down. In fact his hands have gotten him in trouble with Halle, the owner of Temptress one too many times that now he isn’t allowed to part take in much of anything with any of them. Being kicked out again by Halle, he finds himself in front of the flashing pink neon sign of “Sarah’s Place.” He knows her from being around Rox and Ax at a particular event. She is a shy and frail girl with several nervous habits making her way too bashful for Runner. Not that he is looking because he wont ever be but putting his junk into the closest and willing woman is getting tiresome. Happy to find peace and quiet at the diner in his corner booth Runner finds himself protecting Sarah as the past has found her and she looks terrified.
Sarah Hughes has finally been calm and uneventful, just how she likes it. Her past is nothing to write home about even if she had one. Finding herself making a tasty dinner for the handsome biker sitting alone she comes back out from the kitchen only to find herself eye to eye with the one person who can snuff out any hope of serenity.
Both of these characters are scarred but in different ways. Each need the other to find their reason to look for the sun. Eddie Torvin will ruin her. His dead black eyes will burn into her leaving her broken for the rest of her life. She cant bring this Runner but little does she know is Eddie is already linked to the club. Runner is pulled back into his own hell and this time he might just not come back from it because after twenty years; he is back to being nothing. Everything he fought to try to become is gone in one swift push.
There are some gut wrenching moments in this one my friends. You come to realize how hard Runner has clawed his way out of his past only to be pushed back in all while begging not to be. Sarah is his angel or at least wants to be. Her own past makes her a warrior but she will need to reach deep within herself to save not only her soul but also Runner’s.
Click this one up friends. If issues with drugs are a trigger for you please do not click this one up. If you have not read the previous two releases grab those as well. This is a wonderful, exciting and tremendously written series. Go click it …
Thank you for the ARC Franca! Keep them coming .. Im in love with the Black Throns. Review to post to Ramblings From Beneath The Sheets. -
I love this series and this book Blameless is no less amazing than the first two. I'm an MC junkie and love how everyone i have read by Franca are different than ones I have read in the past. Take Zeb's way of talking. he uses 'were' when we all would use 'was' at first i was like maybe its an editing error... after reading a few more chapters and of course contacting Franca I find out this is just the way of Zeb. And I LOVED IT!! it sets him apart from others and makes you remember him lol.
Zeb is "getting up there" in age, is rough around the edges, hasnt had it easy, and has been clean for 20 years. He takes a different girl to bed nightly and doesnt ever think about settling down... least of all with a quiet, shy, reserved girl like Sarah. When they first meet Zeb things shes good looking but wold never mix with his way of life.
Both Zeb and Sarah have pasts that should really stay there but when they come front and center will they lean on each other? Or will their pasts pull them apart? They need each other to calm the darkness and put their past where it belongs and needs to stay... IN THE PAST!!!
IF you have not started reading Franca Storm's Black Thorn MC series what are you waiting for? You will not regret this amazing MC story!!! -
I loved Runner, "eff it. Call me whatever the hell you want. Zeb it is. Just don’t effing stop,” he breathes , closing his eyes." Runner is quite protective of his woman and her assets, “me too .” I let go of her hands and slap her a**. “Now, go get dressed. Ain’t no way in hell you’re going out wearing that. That’s for my eyes only.” I loved this book, Runner was a great man, yeah he had his problems but when the right person is by your side nothing can stop you.
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Were
Would have been a 5 star but there were to many mistakes with the word were. It was hard to get past The story itself was really good. -
This exciting action packed suspense filled MC romance will touch the emotional side of you.The story will have you on the edge of your seat and the characters will captivate you. Runner is going through something he can't get his head around it. The club whores don't attract him anymore he doesn't want them. He's afraid that the pull of the drugs he used to do is trying to get him again and he doesn't know if he's strong enough to beat it again.So while out for a ride to clear his head he ends up in the town Rox used to run he stops at Sarah's diner . when Sarah walks out she can't look him in the eye its kind of strange but as she talks to him a blush lights her cheeks she's so damn cute.She asks Runner how he's been an he says ok but she says he looks tense.Then she asks does he know what he wants he says no she says I know just what you want.Runner says what if I don't like it. Sarah says you will. As he's eating the best tasting food he's ever ate
A older guy in a suit walks in and sets at the counter when Sarah walks out an sees him she freezes like a statue she looks scared to death.The guy says Sarah get over here she freezes at first then slowly walks toward him she stays away but he really he's out and grabs her hard and she says go leave me alone he laughs and say not gonna happen when he squeezes harder she whimpers an runner is on his feet he grabs the guy by the tie and hits him them throws him out telling him to leave her alone Sarah says you shouldn't have done that he'll kill you.The feeling he has with Sarah its like a peace settles over him an he doesn't know what it is.There's danger,touches on abuse ,drug addiction and so much more but seeing Runner and Sarah is great. -
Loved it!!
Omg Runner finally got a girl, for more than a pump ‘n dump. Sarah finally got the only biker that didn’t scare the crap outta her. It was such a good read had humor, heart and addiction. Runner is a recovering addict that has traded one addiction for another. That’s why he’s a man whore. Sarah has been on the brutal end of an abusive ex. That’s why she in Brockford, hiding. But when the two of them come together it’s everything. It’s the first time Runner has ever put someone other then himself first and it’s the first time Sarah every let another man see all of her. Love their HEA -
Zeb and Sarah...yummm
Oh wow, he fell so in love with her. After his fall and getting back over his addiction, he put her first in everything and every way. My God the words the author wrote for the character of Zeb will have you melting. I don’t think I have heard any of these sweet words from anyone. The whole story not only is sweet but also inspiring. I read it twice before I could leave the review because I can’t stop reading their story. Love is not a strong enough word for this story -
Wow this is one story to read!
This one is too emotional and it has issues that might be triggers for some people.
Still an awesome story and at the same time so sweet.
Its so great seeing how Zeb is changing through this story and how he struggles with his demons.
Also seeing Sarah getting over her issues and working with Zeb to get over them made me smile more than one time .
Those two characters were so strong and so lovable it made me smile more than once.
This story is sweet those character are so strong and so lovely that the story has you reading it in one sit. -
Runner and Sarah
Two people dealing with their past and trying hard to keep the demons at bay. One from addiction and one from abuse. How will these two unlikely people come together to slay these demons. They will learn from each other and grow together to get the life they both deserve with the hurdles coming at them non stop it will take the strength and power of love to make this happen. So grab your copy and enjoy the ride. -
The story is interesting enough that I finished it. However, it was a tad too long and wordy that I got bored towards the end.
There were good parts
1.) Hero dyes his hair coz he is an older member of the MC
2.) Their first intimate moment was kinda hot
What I didn't like:
heroine was whiny when Hero was battling his demons about his addiction -
Fantastic emotional story about Zeb and Sarah. When Zeb is trying to sort himself out and have quiet in the diner Sarah owns, he can't help but intervene when he sees the panic on her face when someone from her past appears. They each have their own demons to handle but together they might.
Page turning read with fantastic primary and secondary characters. -
I found this an easy read but I didn't love the characters and story as much as the first two books in this series it didn't have me rivited but I'm looking forward to the next book there a few some characters I wonder if the writer would create some mature HEA stories for Sin and Dealer?
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This action packed story was one outstanding read with a great plot and characters that were so strongly created that as the pages were turned Zeb/Runner and Sarah kept me completely hooked as i read each page until the very end!
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wow.
This was one crazy read. Runner, crazy stubborn man. Sarah, sweet shy women. These two are definitely opposites but they work so good together. At least once runner stops putting up walls. Great read. -
Little Crazy
It was a little crazy. In the end it was a good story. Can't wait to see what other Storm has in store. -
Wow
The momentum of these books has not slowed down at all. This is Runners book and what a ride it is. -
Wow
I loved this book, fantastic storyline and fantastic characters, even had me crying in some parts, can’t wait to read the last book in the series -
I loved all the books in this series and could not get enough of the characters and storyline. Can't wait for the next book.
