4.5 Bloody Gritty Stars! 
 Ok to start with I need to get some thoughts out here... This book put me through the wringer!!! I liked him; I hated him; I wanted to cry for him; I wanted Styx to find him: I wanted him to get away...and that's not even the main characters. 
 Ms. Cole, I knew you would put me through the wringer and I knew you would twist my heart, but this gripped me! I couldn't not think about it until I finished, and now I want more! 
 The story starts when Styx and Mae first meet as children. Mae is in a compound when Styx gets lost in the woods and stumbles onto the compound where Mae is trapped and hiding by a tree. Styx finds himself able to talk to her eve with his speech impediment. After their encounter Styx can forget her, even though no one believes him. 
 Styx grows up to take over the Hangmen MC Mother chapter as Prez. He is a seemingly cold and unfeeling leader. He is Club first, everyone else later. It makes him an interesting character. I wasn't sure that I would be able to relate to him and yet I did. He committed heinous acts and he was cruel when he needed to be yet every person in the MC abhorred what was done to Mae. 
 Speaking of Mae; she finds the courage to leave the commune when she finds her sister beaten and raped nearly to death. Her sister pleads with her to leave as she dies. After being attacked while running she gets a lift to town where she passes out at the MC club. Here Styx finds her and thinks she's dead. When she opens her eyes he recognizes her and decides to keep her, surprising the brothers. 
 Watching Mae cope with the outside world and learn that things didn't operate the way she had been taught was heartbreaking! Her experiences were atrocious. Ms. Cole states in the beginning that her experiences were inspired from stories interviews she had done from cult survivors and it rocked me. What Mae and her sisters went through made my heart hurt. After messing up a few times Styx finds himself claiming Mae and their relationship blooms. 
 Maes relationship with Rider was sad, I had a feeling it would turn out the way it did but I desperately was hoping it wouldn't. I'm not going to say any more that it was emotionally gut wrenching and sad on both sides. 
 I used to think I would only like reading about "Good Boy" MCs. Ms Cole you showed that even Bad boys can have good sides and that their profession doesn't make them love their old ladies any less. In fact they might love them more. 
 I cant wait to read Ky and Flame, and honestly I thought you were crazy to give him a book before I read to the end, now I cant wait to read it, How? How do you completely change my mind?