Waiting on Wednesday (13)

*This is a weekly event hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine. "Waiting on Wednesday" spotlights upcoming releases that I'm eagerly anticipating.*

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Unbeautifully by Madeline Sheehan

(Undeniable series #2)

Expected Publication Date: 2013

Synopsis from Goodreads:

*Warning: This book contains several aspects of the uglier side of life; it is not for everyone*

The story of Ripper and Danny.

The first time I fell in love it was with a pair of blue eyes and a wide dimpled grin. 

"Your old man loves ya, Danny girl," he whispered. "You never ever forget that yeah?"

I never did. And I never thought I could ever love any man as much as I loved my father. But as we grow, we change, we begin to make our own decisions and thus become independent and self sufficient and start turning away from our parents and turning to others. We form friendships, strong bonds and ties and begin experiencing life outside the bubble we grew up inside of. 

And we fall in love...a second time. 

The second time I fell in love it was with a badly scarred face, the stuff of nightmares; the sort of disfigurement that mothers steer their children away from. Ugly, jagged slashes marred the skin from the top of this skull, down over his right eye, an eye that had been dug out of his face with a serrated blade. The scares continued across his cheek, over his lips, and down his neck, ending at the top of his shoulder. His chest was a hundred times worse; scar tissue as far as the eye could see. 

"Baby," he said gruffly, "Man like me got no business with a girl like you. You're nothin' but fuckin' beauty and I'm a whole lot of fuckin' ugly who's already halfway to hell."

But he was wrong. 

Everything has beauty. Even the ugly. Especially the ugly.

Because without ugly there would be no beauty. 

Because without beauty we would not survive our pain, our sorrow, our suffering. 

And in the world I lived in, the world he lived in, a secret world within the world, a world of constant crime and cruel, cold, death, there was almost nothing but suffering. 

"You may not be beautiful the way you were before," I whispered, cupping his ruined cheek. "But you're still beautiful. To me."

Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan

(Undeniable series, book 1)

The story of Deuce and Eva…

An undeniable connection that stands the test of time.

Unforgettable moments.

Love and pain and everything in between.

I was five years old when I met Deuce, he was twenty-three, and it was visiting day at Riker’s Island. My father, Damon Fox or “Preacher”, the President of the infamous “Silver Demon’s” motorcycle club – mother chapter – in East Village, New York City, was doing a five-year stint for aggravated assault and battery with a deadly weapon. It was not the first time my father had been in prison and it wouldn’t be the last. The Silver Demon’s MC was a notorious group of criminals who lived by the code of the road and gave modern society and all it entailed a great big fuck you.

“Never forget the day Eva came bouncin’ into my fucked up life, shakin’ pigtails, singin’ Janis, wearin’ Chucks and sharin’ peanuts and straight up stole any decency I had left which wasn’t a whole lot but she fuckin’ took it and I’ve been hers ever since.”

“I don’t remember the day I was born but I remember the day I found out why. His name was Deuce. He was my ‘why.’ And this is our story. It is not a pretty one. Some parts are downright ugly. But it’s ours. And because I believe everything happens for a reason, I wouldn’t change a thing…” – Eva

When I read the synopsis for Undeniable, three words immediately came to mind: Sons of Anarchy. I have been hopelessly addicted to that show since the very first episode, so of course I absolutely had to get my little mitts on this book. That being said, I was a little worried. I didn’t want to read it and constantly compare it to SOA because…well…you can’t really match SOA. Despite my back and forth attitude, I decided to read it anyway and Jesus H Christ, I am so glad I did.

Undeniable takes you on the journey of Deuce and Eva, and believe me when I say, this isn’t a pretty journey. It’s not like driving through the countryside on a sunny day with the windows down enjoying the breeze; no, it’s not that at all. It’s ugly. It’s dark. It’s gritty and disgusting and beyond fucked up and yet somehow it’s still incredibly riveting.

Okay, now onto my thoughts on the characters. I had a pretty serious love/hate relationship with Deuce. There were so many times during this book that I just wanted to smack the shit out of him, but then he’d turn around and call her darlin’ and say some other sweet shit and I’d be right back on Team Deuce. Now…when it came to Eva…I absolutely loved her. Yep, absolutely fucking loved her. Was she fucked up? Incredibly, but I am immensely drawn to characters like her. And honestly, what about their love story wasn’t fucked up? Not…much. But honestly, any girl that rocks Chucks all the time gets some serious cool points in my book (I live in Chucks and cowboy boots.) I loved that she had that badass attitude from growing up in the MC world, and even at her lowest, she was still likable to me.

So why didn’t I give Undeniable 5 stars? Well, a couple reasons; the way Deuce acts towards Eva when he first meets her and she’s a child seemed a little bit creepy. It just didn’t really sit right with me. Also, some of the things he did to her throughout the book just pissed me off to the point that I couldn’t quite rate this book as perfect.

However, I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a wild ride. There is some seriously disturbing material (rape is just one example) so check yourself before you wreck yourself, but honestly, it’s an incredibly captivating story. It will make you cringe and want to punch someone, and then 5 minutes later you’ll start getting an little tingly feeling down south and wish you weren’t reading this around other people. Undeniable takes you on a seriously dark, disturbing ride but if you’re anything like me…you’ll want to hop on the back of Deuce’s bike by the end.  

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