NEIL
Sybil Bartel
(Uncompromising #2)
Publication date: August 22nd 2016
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Ex Danish Military Special Forces, built like a legend, and uncompromising in every way—Neil Christensen didn’t walk into my life. The Viking-sized warrior crashed it like a hurricane.
The moment he showed up at my strip club, my life fell to shit. South Florida’s most ruthless motorcycle gang, the cops, the Feds—they all wanted something I didn’t have—something the Viking took from me.
I thought I could run but the motorcycle gang caught me. Now the only thing that stood between me and an unmarked grave was a warrior I didn’t trust.
I wasn’t afraid to die. But I was terrified of weathering the storm. Because when a Viking decides to unleash his fury, no one was going to come out unscathed.
Warning: This book contains offensive language, violence and sexual situations. Mature audiences only. 18+
NEIL is the second, stand alone book in the Uncompromising Series.
Review
4 Stars
Neil is an action movie in book form, complete with bloodshed, smut, foul language, and a whole lot of suspense. Told from the POV of the heroine, Ariel, we are introduced to her struggling life as a single mother surrounded by controlling men in her workplace and the lack of help from her son's father. Her life has been a series of let downs, with the only bright spot being her son. She struggles to make ends meet, strips occasionally, and has no semblance of a life outside of motherhood. A man from her past reminds her of her womanhood and desires, but she'd never act on it even though he seems to force himself on her at every turn. His imposing ways are both annoying and helpful, but necessary when Ariel's ex takes their lives and turns it all upside down. When guns are drawn and threats are issued, Ariel has nothing to do but rely on the man who's emotions she can't read and leaves her desiring his touch despite his gruffness.
Ariel is the kind of heroine I usually hate actually, she easily gives in with no real prompting, but she had spunk and her perspective is an entertaining one. She's young, fighting for a good life for her son, and dealing with a life far more complicated than one needs at 21. I really liked how she was as a single parent, dealing with feelings she has for her ex, and really trying to do the best she can without taking hand outs. The way she felt about Neil, or Viking, is pretty apparent, even if the reader cannot grasp the feelings they seem to share. It's a push and pull situation that's hard to follow. They have an instant lust for one another that makes for some hot scenes, but otherwise it is very much a story of an older man alpha with a younger, disadvantaged woman.
I was really thrown off by Neil being told from only Ariel's perspective, having read Talon previously I expected to read from Neil's perspective or from both main character's POV. While it allows the reader to fully be immersed into Ariel's brain, to really get into the fear of the situation and see why she was so frustrated with his constant inability to be attached or show emotion, it also makes the story very one sided. I was unable to really connect with him or write off his volatile personality as Ariel was able to. He's an alpha to the core kind of character, the kind that takes without asking (because he just knows?) and is overly abrasive. Ariel's ability to get over his glaringly obvious controlling ways is quick after she learns of his past, but as a reader I never truly connected to them as better halves. Overall I really enjoyed the story, but Neil is a hard character to like and I think readers will find themselves either loving or hating him and his story.
It's not traditional romance by any means, but it is an entertaining story that I couldn't stop reading and a complete series that I'll be seeing through to the end. If you love your male characters alpha and your female characters snarky and independent, this is a series for you. I was never bored with the character dialogue, I loved the secondary character involvement, and the action notches it up another level as well.
Author Bio:
Sybil Bartel grew up in Northern California with her head in a book and her feet in the sand. She dreamt of becoming a painter but the heady scent of libraries with their shelves full of books drew her into the world of storytelling. She loves the New Adult genre, but any story about a love so desperately wrong and impossibly beautiful makes her swoon.
Sybil now resides in Southern Florida and while she doesn’t get to read as much as she likes, she still buries her toes in the sand. If she isn’t writing or fighting to contain the banana plantation in her backyard, you can find her spending time with her handsomely tattooed husband, her brilliantly practical son and a mischievous miniature boxer…
But Seriously?
Here are ten things you probably really want to know about Sybil.
She grew up a faculty brat. She can swear like a sailor. She loves men in uniform. She hates being told what to do. She can do your taxes (but don’t ask). The Bird Market in Hong Kong freaks her out. Her favorite word is desperate…or dirty, or both—she can’t decide. She has a thing for muscle cars. But never reply on her for driving directions, ever. And she has a new book boyfriend every week—don’t tell her husband.
To find out more about Sybil Bartel, be sure to follow her on Twitter (she loves to hear about your favorite book boyfriend!), visit her website, like her on Facebook or join her Facebook group Book Boyfriend Heroes for exclusive excerpts and giveaways.
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I like how character driven this seems! Glad you liked it, Carlene. Great review! :)
ReplyDeleteI lover the cover and your review! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeletelove the cover. sounds like a good read
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