Monday, June 6, 2016

Book Tour for Gonzo by Candace Blevins (Review & GIVEAWAY)


Readers who enjoy MC-themed stories will find themselves drawn to this book and its unique blend of the paranormal and the grittiness of a group of hardened men.  Keep reading to get a tempting glimpse of Gonzo by Candace Blevins, along with my impressions of it, then add it to your bookshelf.  In honor of this seventh installment in the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club series make sure to fill out the form for the chance to win 1 of 5 copies of the second installment in this series (Brain) as the character plays a big part in this story too!

Gonzo has not only had to come to terms with the loss of his entire family, but he also barely survived being shot in the chest multiple times while still a human, and was then later turned into a werewolf during a vicious attack while hiking as he tried to put his life back together.
Constance has had her own losses to deal with, and while nowhere near as bad as Gonzo’s, they’ve left a mark on her as well. She’s determined to live her life without a partner though, because her two sexual experiences in college convinced her she’s asexual.
Gonzo’s a biker people cross the road to avoid, while Constance has multiple doctorate degrees and works as a research scientist for a leading pharmaceutical firm. Gonzo doesn’t trust women, Constance has no use for men — and yet they’re going to find themselves working toward the same goals.
Can they form a team to do what needs to be done?

EXCERPT:

Gonzo
Most everyone in the RTMC works in one of our businesses. I can bartend in a pinch, but most nights I work as a bouncer. Duke says I’m not good with people.
He’s right. People are fucked up. Some are more fucked than others, but there’s no way to know who might be just a cunt hair away from losing their shit.
I trust my brothers in the MC and a few of their ol’ladies, but that’s it. I have no intention of having a conversation with anyone else. I mean, I have to talk to people to order food or buy shit at the store, but that isn’t a conversation. I don’t do small talk. It’s pointless.
Funny, though — I get just as many tips as Dawg when I bartend. Everyone likes Dawg. He can look a woman in the eyes for ten seconds and make her fall in love with him. Brain says they tip me as much as Dawg because I scare the fuck out of them and they don’t want to piss me off.
Apparently, I look at people and give them nightmares. Maybe they know I’d just as soon bite their head off as talk to them?
On this particular Thursday night I was bouncing, and something was up with a woman sitting at the bar.
She’d had one margarita when she first arrived, but now she was nursing a soda, and she kept looking at me, but she’d look away when I turned towards her. She wasn’t doing anything bounce-able but she had my nerves on edge. My wolf’s, too.
A group of women were having a party at one of the tables, and two of them staggered off to the bathroom. On their way back two men stood in their way — it was apparent the women wanted to go back to their table and the men weren’t letting them. I tuned into the conversation and heard the men telling the women they wanted to take them back to their place to party. The women were shit-faced, but still obviously weren’t interested and only wanted to get back to their friends. I walked to the men, wrapped a hand around the back of their necks, and leaned in to say, “They told you they aren’t interested. I see you approach them again and you’re out of here."
I moved the men out of the way, nodded to the women to go around, and looked back to the men as I squeezed hard enough to bring tears to their eyes. “Not cool. Don’t try to pull that shit again in our bar."
As I returned to the wall, the woman at the bar downed the rest of her soda and went to the restroom. I put her out of my mind as I stepped towards two gentlemen who seemed to be arguing over a piece of ass — and not even an attractive piece of ass. One had apparently been dating her and only broke up earlier in the week, the other had her out on a date tonight and the wounded party felt like the new guy had broken the bro-code by taking her out so soon. All I had to do was stand five feet away, cross my arms and look at them, and they sat down and lowered their voices.
Looking scary can come in handy, sometimes.
I moved back to my favorite perch, leaned against the wall so I could see the bar and dance floor, and my stomach dropped as the woman I’d been watching earlier came out of the bathroom and made a beeline for me.
Our bar in Atlanta had been a biker bar, with pretty much only friends of the one percent feeling comfortable stepping in the door. However, somehow we’d attracted the ninety-nine percent here in Chattanooga. It was incredibly profitable, but a pain in the ass to deal with outsiders, sometimes.
It was hard to say this woman didn’t belong here, because so many other people were dressed just as prissy as this bitch, but I had a feeling she hadn’t stepped into any bar in years, and I wondered why she was here, alone. She might’ve been attractive if she’d been dressed different, or had her hair down — but all I could see was the prissy-assed bitch I’d first noticed paying way too much attention to me.
She stepped to me, held out her hand as if to shake mine, and said, “I’m Constance."
I just looked at her, my arms crossed. Eventually, she dropped her hand and said, “Ummm, you’re working, right? Do you not talk when you’re working?"
I gave her my most intimidating look, but she planted her feet, squared her shoulders, and asked, “What time do you get off work? Do you think, if I stuck around, we could talk when you aren’t working?"
What the ever-loving fuck? “Are you one of those chicks who just drew up a bucket list, and you need to check off fuck a biker?"
“What? No!” she looked down a few seconds, and then met my gaze again. “I’ve never been good at this, but I appear to be doing even worse than usual. I’ve watched you, and I’m intrigued, and I’d like to get to know you."
“You a reporter?"
She shook her head.
“A cop?"
“I’m a research scientist."
I moved one hand to my crotch and casually rubbed. “Behavioral research? You wantin’ to know what makes bikers tick?” Okay, so now I was just fucking with her, but at this point I needed to find out who she was and why she was interested in me.
“No. Pharmaceuticals. I help invent new drugs."
I looked up and around, zeroed in on a few conversations, and looked back to the woman. What had she said her name was? Shit. Total blank. I hadn’t given a fuck when she’d told me. Still didn’t care, but I seemed to remember it was a prissy-assed name that’d pissed me off just by watching her mouth say it.
Despite my silence and hostility, she tried again. “I’d like to take you to Waffle House, or another restaurant if you’d rather, when you get off. My treat."
Like I couldn’t afford fucking Waffle House. If I chose to eat with the bitch, I wouldn’t let her feed me. I crossed my arms again. “And if I wanna get off while I pound my cock in your ass?"
She took a step back as her face flamed hot, and I smelled true fear from her. She’d been wary and nervous before but I’d finally managed to scare the fuck out of her.
I shook my head, disgusted. “Not gonna do anything you don’t want. Plenty of willing ass I can have — don’t have to rape someone to get it."
“Oh, you’re mad at me for being scared when YOU are the one who said it!? Shit, this was a mistake. I’m sorry."
She turned to leave and I grabbed her arm as I touched my earpiece. “I’m gonna take a twenty minute break."
“She don’t seem like your type,” Dozer said with a chuckle, but I didn’t respond.
I pulled the woman into the office and closed the door. She shook her head, “No, I don’t want to be alone with you. I wanted to talk to you in a public place."
“You want to talk? This is your only option."
She pulled a phone out of her purse, quickly engaged it, and turned it towards me as she asked, “Do you remember her?"
I recognized the face but couldn’t remember a name. “Yeah. Years since I saw her, though. Bud kicked her out when I caught her snorting a line in the bathroom. She isn’t welcome back on RTMC property."
The woman stared at me, her face stricken. “Someone else kicked her out? Not you?"
“I told her she had to leave because we don’t allow that shit in our compound, but Bud’s the Prez in Atlanta so he made it permanent.” I paused a few seconds as I smelled true grief coming from her. I’d been about to ask if she was a private detective who’d lied about being a research scientist, but this was personal.
“Why, what happened to her, and how do you know her?” And even more, why had she come to me, specifically? The bitch she was asking about hadn’t been a club whore — she’d only fucked me, as far as I knew. It wasn’t a relationship, but when she was around I’d usually fuck her instead of someone else. The fact I couldn’t remember her name, and had never given her a nickname, should speak volumes to how little she’d meant to me. The bitch had known her place, though. She fucked me and then left. She didn’t want conversation, didn’t ask for meals. Just spread her legs and went on her way. She’d been a damned good lay for a human, too.
“She was my sister. She’s dead."
“And why did you come to me?” My wife died of cancer and my kids were murdered. Everyone has dead loved ones — if this cunt wanted sympathy she’d come to the wrong place.
“Can we sit down?"
Fuck, why not.”


MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

Fans of shifter reads will find some familiar mythos in this scorching story along with a few inventive twists that sets this apart from the rest of the genre.  From its political system to its hierarchy between those born and bitten that shows differing strength, the depiction of pack life is an intriguing one and is perfectly blended with the mentality of the MC world to keep readers invested in this story.  Add in a hero who's difficult to define, a heroine that left me a bit frustrated, and a set of twins very mature for their age and you end up with an unconventional family that drove this story and was a nice addition to an entertaining series.

Gonzo's a broken man after the death of his first wife and the betrayal of his second one who took his children from him.  With nothing to live for he let his wolf take over until finding the RTMC and a new family who supports him despite his anger and callousness.  His heart's still closed off though as his trust in women is gone.  Life for him is full of meaningless sexual encounters and working for his Club to work out his rage.  Discovering that he's the father of twins changes his life irrevocably and returns him to the land of the living in scenes that are in direct contrast to his previous nastiness.  Gonzo tends to speak before thinking, casually and often talks about sex and his treating women in interchangeable ways, which is sometimes off-putting.  When around his children though he's a kinder and gentler man, much more appealing as he let his heart show.  Meeting his children's aunt also catches him off guard as her prissy nature slowly pulls him in as he longs to dirty her up.  As their sexual connection grows so too does their unified parental front.  As he gets closer to his newfound family there's a sense of peace that comes over him and makes for more smiles and laughter from the bad boy biker as well as more intense glimpses of his Dominant tendencies in the bedroom.  All his differing facets make for a compelling hero who I might not have always liked but who I couldn't look away from.

Gonzo's twins are very exuberant with sparkling personalities and mature thoughts wrapped up in a child-like package.  I don't normally like kids in my romances but these two meshed nicely with the overall story bringing out more facts about living as a werewolf and bringing Gonzo and Constance together in very subtle ways.  Constance is a good caretaker to the twins, sacrificing everything for their happiness which was admirable.  She's purported to be very smart but in many ways she's naive.  Because she's had unfulfilling sexual encounters in the past, she's convinced she's asexual which has her blushing whenever Gonzo discusses sex.  Her naivete didn't ring true and left me frustrated as sex talk always left her flustered and uncomprehending.  Once Gonzo got his hands on her though she turned into an insatiable sex kitten that resulted in LOTS of sexual encounters and even more sex talk that overtook the story.  The early scenes of romance and sensuality soon morphed into more erotically-charged encounters with moments of light BDSM that overshadowed the issues the MC was facing.

Overall this was a unique read that brought new concepts to the shifter sub-genre.  Affection was casually gifted which showed a softer side to these bad boys as hugs were common between them.  Running in their werewolf form was vividly depicted to reflect the sense of freedom they got when they shifted.  Sex was casually brought up too with scenes that grew in intensity as the story drew closer to the end.  All this was wrapped up in the MC world which was seen as a bit bloody and dangerous, everything we've come to expect.  Though this is the seventh installment in the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club series I had no problem getting immersed into this world.  Though the story went on a bit too long, and got a bit bogged down by the sexual interludes, it was still an entertaining ride that fans of the paranormal will enjoy.

My rating for this is a C+

*I got this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Candace Blevins lives with her husband of 18 years and their two daughters. When not working or driving kids all over the place she can be found reading, writing, meditating, or swimming.
Candace writes Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Contemporary BDSM Romance, and is currently writing a kick-ass Motorcycle Club series.
Her urban fantasy series, Only Human, gives us a world where weredragons, werewolves, werelions, three different species of vampires, as well as a variety of other mythological beings exist.
Candace's two paranormal romance series, The Chattanooga Supernaturals and The Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Club, are both sister series to the Only Human series, and give some secondary characters their happily ever after.
Her Safeword Series gives us characters who happen to have some extreme kinks. Relationships can be difficult enough without throwing power exchange into the mix, and her books show characters who care enough about each other to fight to make the relationship work. Each book in the Safeword series highlights a couple with a different BDSM issue to resolve.

**********GIVEAWAY**********

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