thank goodness for holidays – i find myself with even more free time to breeze through a few additional books. As i was looking on listopia on Goodreads.com i came across Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan and the description was really interesting. The snippet that was posted about Eva being 5 and Deuce being 23 when they met is enough to draw anyone in i think.
So the opening scene of the book we’re introduced to Eva where she’s at Riker’s Island visiting her father in jail. Her father ‘The Preacher’ is the leader of a gang so to speak, and is a single father trying to raise his little girl as best as he can. While there, Eva’s eyes fall on Deuce who is also there visiting his father ‘Reaper’ who is also in Jail. ironically, they are from oposing ‘families’ if you want to use mafia terminology (they aren’t quite mafia, more like hell’s angels). in any event, Eva’s cuteness and genuine sweet temperment draw Deuce in, in a way that he could never have expected since he’s all hard and calloused, both physically and mentally.
So this story takes us through a series of fast forwards where we meet up again with Eva when she’s a young teen, being shadowed by her adopted brother Frankie who has a very over bearing protective side. Deuce comes across them at a family BBQ ….and of course Eva continues to be drawn to him. But alas, she’s way too young and he’s way too old for her. Frankie even almost comes to blows with Deuce becuase he’s that over protective.
Fast Forward a few more years when Eva is 16 and she and Deuce cross paths again at another ‘family party’. This time, Frankie literally does come in Deuce’s face and has a little battle, Eva gets in the middle, gets into a fight with Frankie (we’re strating to see a trend here that Frankie is way too aggressive and can’t handle his temper), and Eva and Deuce are drawn to one another. Their chemistry has clearly built over the years, partly becuase they don’t see each other expcept after a few years, and she’s beautiful now while he’s exudes sex appeal. (he’s not want for attention for company that’s for sure). That night, they start to cross a line, making out a little bit, and well, Deuce gets himself shot for it (by her dad)
Fast forward again a few more years when Eva is now ‘legal’ and is out with her best friend Kami at a bar (illegally) and crosses paths yet again with Deuce. Mind you, part of the excitement of all this is that she’s had to sneak out of her house becuase her father wouldn’t approve and she constantly has to slip away from Frankie who’s really beginning to take things too far. He sleeps in her bed at night (has for a long time) and has some how taken this to mean that he’s staking his claim. he’s kind of ‘peed on her’ to mark his territory although i don’t think that Eva has realized this quite yet. This time that Deuce and Eva cross paths though, they practically combust, in the alley, in the rain. how romantic right? Alas, they’ve finally gone and done what they’ve wanted to do for YEARS but it’s not without it’s own problems following.
So….fast forward again a bit, and Eva and Kami decide that becuase of this sexual chemistry, they are going to take a little ride out to Montana where Deuce and his buddies live, and see what comes of it for the summer. Knowing how the 2 of them can’t stay apart at this point, you know that only lots of sex and heat will come of it. Kami is no slouch herself and finds a way to entertain herself with a couple of Deuce’s friends. (who like to share so it works out well). Eva has managed some how to get away from Frankie and her dad, they have no idea that Eva’s gone to the Horesmens home, and well….that is definitely not going to be good.
Long story short, something comes between Deuce and Eva (meaning that he wants her to be stashed away from the raunchiness of the club, and she doesn’t want that), she runs…and we are forced to fast forward again.
This story keeps fast forwarding, putting us into interesting situations…and not all of them good. most of them bad actually. Frankie goes psycho showing that his aggressive nature continued to get out of control. Eva continues to be too sweet for her own good…her chemistry with Deuce continues and has no intention of going anywhere…and there are more twists and turns, anxiety, hospitals…all that coming in the future for everyone involved.
So….i really wanted to LOVE this book, but i’m not quite there. i enjoyed it..it passed the time, but i thought that all the fast forwarding confused me. i never got the sense that either Eva or Deuce were as old as they were supposed to be. it’ll be nice to see what comes of everyone in book 2. there’s definitely a lot of different directions tht the story can take.
