Heidi Green finally has a place she calls home. It might be a run down bar in a crummy part of town, but it's hers and it's all the history she wants to remember. As she prepares to send her friend and the closest thing she has to a little brother away to college, she never imagines she will find herself in the middle of a street war, or the start of one. 
 Lucas Donahue looks out for himself. He joined the Sons of Steel Row as a teenager in order to keep a roof over his head and food in his little brother's stomach. Having worked his way up the ranks, doing time, and proving his loyalty time and again, he is rumored to be getting a promotion and threats on his life. When he steps in to stop a rival gang from raping the feisty bartender across the street, he paints the same target he wears on her back as well. 
 Heidi has a backbone. Her experiences lend her confidence in everyday situations, and the backbone to stand up to stressor far beyond typical occurrences. She has a way of doing what she thinks best that at times brought a smile to my face and at others made me shake my head at her. But at her heart was protecting herself and Lucas, and getting them both out of the situation alive. 
 Lucas was an interesting character in that he never saw himself as anything but selfish. Watching him take care of Heidi, look out for his friends, and share his history, he reveals pieces of himself that he had never noticed. 
 These two had to grow on me. I had a hard time at first settling with the manner in which they are thrown together. But as the story progressed and they began speaking more than the one or two sentence confrontations that had been happening inside the bar, I began to like them together. Neither was willing to be the vulnerable one, especially with the added stress they were dealing with, which after a time began to get on my nerves. But it fit with their personalities that neither would want to be seen as "weak." 
 I was not expecting the twist at the end, so it came as an utter shock. But I loved what it said about the characters as much as it hurt to find the truth. As the first in the series, other characters could make for interesting continuations: Chris, Scott, even Tate, though we saw the least of the Sons of Steel Row leader (and frankly, his romantic status is never addressed). 
 ARC provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.