This book completely sucked me in! I almost said hooked me, but didn’t want to be too punny lol! I loved the chemistry between Zach and Grace. I didn’t feel like it was too much of a MC romance, as the club was only mentioned occasionally. Zach didn’t seem too hardcore, though he DEFINITELY had the bad boy thing going on. Grace was definitely naive, but she held her own, and her bubbly personality made up for her inexperience. I was a bit confused at the end about how Grace’s family completely flipped the script, and I wish the author would have explored that a little more. Overall, this is a great bad-boy-and-the-girl-who-tamed-him book!

3.5 Hooked Stars

Hooked is book one in the Viking Bastards MC series by Christina Phillips. This is my first read from Christina and I was looking forward to diving straight in. The story was OK although I'm not sure I would have classified it as an MC book as it was more centered around the Grace and Zach than the club. This was a little disappointing. Anyone who knows or reads my reviews knows I love the secondary characters within a book and in my opinion make a book ten times better. OK yes there where a few in there and they where great but there could have been more.

I also found there wasn't much connection between the two main characters other then great sex. I needed more out of the story and Christina was on the tip with it but never quiet got it in there, excuse the pun! This story has the potential to be brilliant but it feel short for me and it was only OK. Not only was the ending rushed I didn't connect at all with Grace or Zach for that matter.

http://realtastypages.com

Sexy. Sweet. Unforgettable. I love this author and the stories she writes. Great chemistry. Undeniable attraction. Smoldering tension. Characters that make you feel everything. Highly recommended this book y'all!

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book!! Characters were well written and the plot was exciting. This is a definite must read book.

I'm a sucker for a good MC read and I've read quite a few in the last year. So when digging into Hooked I was thrilled to have another to add to my list. However, while this was a good read it was very predictable. You have the stereotypical rich girl who wanders into a biker bar looking for help and manages to fall for the rough, tough, bad biker man. It all became a bit cliche with the whole boy from the wrong side of the tracks that only does one night stands ends up falling for the princess for the wealthy family. I know my review may not make it seem like I enjoyed the book I really did. I think the predictability of it all just kind of took away from me being able to give it a higher review.

It was a good racy read. Typical good little rich girl and the badass, hard as nails biker. She breezes in and he turns to put in her hands. An easy way, however stereotypical, to pass a few hours.

Rich girl Grace has car trouble in a bad part of L.A. and wanders into a biker bar, looking for help. There she meets bad ass biker Zach, who's just looking at the beautiful, sexy sweet redhead and all he can think of is getting in her pants.
These two have crazy chemistry, but is that all? Could they be more opposite? Grace is an uptown girl working for her family's upscale chain of hotels. But that's not the career she wants. Zach is an across the tracks guy involved in an MC club, who only does one-night stands. Relationships? who needs them. But there's something about sweet Grace that makes it impossible for Zach to give her up. So their one night turns into one month...and it's time to see if Zach can compromise his rules a bit. Is Grace worth the effort it would take to keep her?

Loved this one so hard!

Hooked is book one in Christina Phillips’ Viking Bastards MC series, and I was simply blown away by this romantic and edgy romance. Usually, MC stories are hit or miss, and this one definitely is a mega hit.

This is pure one-night fling, opposite attract romance at its finest. Zach is part of the Viking Bastards MC, and he looks the part with a heavy beard and long hair. One night, in walks a woman who couldn’t be more different from him. Or more unexpected.

Oooh, boy. The chemistry! Grace’s car breaks down, her phone battery is dead, and her only refuge to call for help is in a seedier bar on a dark street. She lands herself in the Viking Bastards territory and catches the eye of a hot, demanding biker. But Grace has been burned, too, and she tries to keep it light and take a walk on the wilder side for once.

I couldn’t stop giving this book heart eyes. Emotion seeps off the page and makes you really feel for these two. They interact every other page together and it’s an organic journey that pulls you in until the very end. It doesn’t hurt that they both just keep surprising the other.

And the sexual attraction is instant and intense. My god, is there an Alpha in Zach. It just worked for me on every level. I highly recommend this explosive novel that whittles the story down to romance at its very core. I'm a fan.

5 stars!

Loved this book about stereotypes and the bad perception we may have when we meet someone outside of our comfort zone. Grace is single again and not looking for a relationship and definitely not with a MC member. There's and instant attraction between the two when she enters the bar after being stranded. Misconceptions between the two about the person beneath. Once they spend time together they discover there's more to each other and they help each other discover what they really want from life and each other. Recommended read

So bummed but I am not a big fan of pointless sex without some sort of relationship build. I was so disappointed how the sex in the bar in the start of the book just happened. I might be old fashioned but I like my sex dirty just with a little more build.

I still recommend, just because it wasn't for me doesn't mean that others wont enjoy it. :)

ARC received for review

3.5 stars

Zach and Grace hook up for a one night stand which grows into more. No MC angst or drama as a matter of fact we only met his brother, Gage, and a couple others mentioned in passing. I was expecting more drama from her family. It needed an epilogue

Hot bad boy biker plus good girl hotel heiress equals a fun and sexy read.

Here’s what’s going on: When Grace’s car breaks down and she walks in to Odin’s, a biker bar, Zach thinks she’s just another good girl looking for a hot shag on the wrong side of the tracks. After a wild romp on the pool table—that prim and proper Grace thoroughly enjoyed—, Zach realizes that Grace was really was there just to use the phone and she’s nothing like the other girls that come in to Odin’s. Determined not to let her go, he invites Grace back to his place. As one night turns into the next, they learn more about each other and Zach, king of one-night stands, realizes he’s falling for Grace and she feels the same about him. There’s only one problem, he’s from the wrong side of the tracks.

I enjoyed this one. If you’re looking for a quick, hot little opposites attract read, then this is the book for you. Although if you’re looking for a gritty, in-your-face MC (motorcycle club) read, you’re going to be disappointed. Very little of what’s going on with the Viking Bastards MC is mentioned and what is mentioned doesn’t really amount to much. Honestly, the worst thing that happens is someone gets punched, so no Sons of Anarchy here, sadly.

Still, I found Zach interesting and he does have that potentially dangerous bad boy thing going on. There’s some things he’s dealing with that he needs to work through, but I still found him to be one of my favorite heroes. Grace is a good girl who always does what’s expected of her so it was fun watching her come out of her shell and figure out who she really was. There were moments that I struggled with liking Grace. I really just wanted her to stand up to her family and fight for Zach and it annoyed me that she was okay with being in the passenger seat of her own life.

So, the relationship started off as the whole instalust thing. Or as Grace sums it up in chapter three as ‘wild monkey sex with a stranger’. Seriously, they spent the majority of the first few chapters shagging like rabbits. Although they eventually started opening up and allowing the relationship to develop into something more meaningful.

Overall, even though the MC aspect was severely lacking (the reason I gave it a 3.5), I still enjoyed Grace and Zach. Although if you are going to have an MC series, please focus some of the writing on the MC.

This is the first book in the Viking Bastards MC series. I am an MC romance fan (motorcycle club romance for all you newbies). It doesn't take much to get me "hooked" on a book with a dirty biker and his future 'ol lady.' For all you MC romance readers, I would warn you that this book is very light on the stuff you typically see in MC books. Besides referring to the fact that Zach is in a MC and is gruff and bossy, there isn't really information about the MC or MC life in the book. In fact, Grace never even goes to Zach's clubhouse in the book. Because an MC is usually so important to the members in these books, a lot of the romance between Zach and Grace seemed completely unrealistic. There is just no way in 98% of MC books a club member will consider a relationship with a woman before making sure she fits with his club.

Grace is super rich an happens to meet Zach in a dive MC bar when her car breaks down. Zach offers to fix it but he winds up fixing Grace. Within minutes of meeting her, Grace is spread out on a pool table living her wildest fantasies. Turns out Zach didn't even really think her car had broken down. He thought she was some rich chick just looking for a good time. After the pool table shenanigans Zach winds up deciding he is not quite ready to give Grace up. He brings her home where even his wild sister notices that Zach is different with Grace. After that, things keep escalating between the couple. Eventually Zach has to deal with his demons and Grace has to decide that she is going to break free of her family expectations. There is a brief conflict and then a HEA.

So here's the thing- I have no problem with unlikely couples hooking up. But there comes a point when things just stop making sense and I think we reached it in this book. First there is a vast socio-economic difference between Zach and Grace. Grace is from old and very big money. Zach and his sister were basically orphans. Because Zach is into Grace he accompanies her into her world and everyone magically loves him. This includes Grace's wealthy Mother who before meeting Zach wanted Grace to get back with her rich ex. None of this made any sense to me. These people would not have loved someone like Zach and Zach would not have loved them. This book could have only made sense if Grace had made the decision to separate herself from her old life and start over. That was not the case. Instead, we get a book of two people who have absolutely nothing in common on the outside or inside falling madly in love. I know it happens all the time in these books and we go along with it. In this book, however, I needed something more to connect these two characters.

Despite the lack of credibility, I read this book pretty fast and can say that I honestly enjoyed it. I like Phillips' writing style and I look forward to reading books by her in the future.

"Sex and muffins."

What can I say? I'm an MC Romance addict and the cover caught my attention. This was my first read by this author, but I was intrigued so I gave her a chance. I'm glad that I did. While it took me a few chapters to become invested, the characters grew on me and by the end I had a smile on my face.

I enjoyed the 'taste of the forbidden' aspect of this story. The idea of their being together being unacceptable to both of their families and friends. The idea of their attraction being so strong that it might be able to overcome the obstacles in the path of a possible relationship. The witty banter and humor involved in two totally opposite lifestyles intersecting for however long it lasts was entertaining. I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked with the MC, but since this is only book one in the series, I have hopes of getting to know the other brothers that make up the Viking Bastards MC in the future. I look forward to seeing what comes next. The line forms here...

Let me start off by saying that I wasn't as "hooked" (pun intended) as I thought I would be after finishing this book. I was definitely hooked by the fact it was a biker romance as those have become one of my favorite romance genres (thank you Sons of Anarchy) but overall this book did not live up to the expectations I had for it.

Grace Mulholland's life is all up in the air after she decides to break off her engagement to her boyfriend of four years. She is on her way to start a new chapter in her life when her car breaks down. Add the fact that her cellphone is dead as well and Grace is in a bit of a pickle as she finds herself in a part of Los Angeles she has never been before. Oh and it is raining so you know everything is working in her favor at this point. Her best bet of finding a phone is the bar, Odin's, across the street that looks less than friendly. Armed with her umbrella, she makes her way into the bar and get a lot more than she bargained for when she meets Zach Reynolds.

"I can't tear my gaze away as the sexiest fucking redhead I've ever seen strolls across the bar as though she owns it."
With those words alone, you get a sense that Zach is not the typical guy Grace is used to. A biker to his core he says what he means and takes what he wants making him extremely sexy in my eyes. He also has that effect on Grace as their initial meeting is full of sexual tension as Grace decides to indulge in this bad boy seeing as she is now free to experience what she wants without her fiancé approval. The back room of the bar is when things really heat up and it doesn't stop there. From then on the two who are complete opposites down to the core decide to engage in a casual hook-up with one another. It may have started out hot and heavy and more on the purely physical side but soon Grace and Zach begin to feel more. Hearts get mixed up in it, which was not part of the deal as Zach in particular does not do relationships.

I really enjoyed Zach and Grace as a couple. They were complete opposites with Grace being the heir to a hotel chain and Zach being part of a MC who works on cars for a living but they still clicked. Zach plays the big bad biker role well but it is obvious underneath him is just a man who misses how his parents, cares for his siblings a lot, and keeps love at arms length. Grace surprised me with the bit of backbone she starts to form throughout the book, speaking her mind to Zach at times when it is not the most comfortable as well as bringing on the sass which leads to some adorable and steamy moments between the two. I also loved her dreams of moving past her life working for her family. I would have never guessed she wanted to be a baker which was a great twist to her character.

While Zach and Grace's story was a joy to read, there were a few things that deterred me from truly loving this book. I realize that the relationship with Zach and Grace starts out purely physical and is therefore suppose to be temporary but I felt that the overall timeline of their relationship in this book was too rushed. The pacing was too quick for me in some parts especially when the storyline hints at another intimate moment between Zach and Grace and instead of giving the readers that moment in detail it is fast forwarded to the next day and basically summarized. I guess I was a little greedy but this happened at least twice and both times I wanted to see those moments between Zach and Grace making me just a tad bit frustrated.

Another part of the book that I wish was expanded upon was the moments into the MC that Zach is a part of, the Viking Bastards. Yes, this is a biker romance but there is not enough scope into the biker aspect that you sometimes forget that Zach is even a part of it. I get that Zach was trying to shield Grace from that part of his life but I honestly think her being introduced to it would have added to the storyline more. My hope is that we get more of a view into the MC in the other books in this series.

Overall, I think this was a good start to this series. While I didn't absolutely love it, we did get introduced to a number of secondary characters that I can only assume will get their own stories in the other books in this series which I am looking forward to. One in particular I am hoping for is Zach's sister, Kat and his best friend, Cade. We will have to see though.

If you enjoy biker romances that are hot and steamy but pack in some heart as well, then check out Hooked by Christina Phillips.

While I'm a sucker for MC books this one just didn't blow me away. While it's not a bad read it honestly didn't grab me enough for me to feel invested in the characters or the story. I never connected to Grace and truth be told, I didn't care for Zach.

Zach's character felt very overdone and was very much like a caricature of a biker in a romance story. I didn't find anything about him that drew me to him and had me wanting for him to be with Grace and for them to get their HEA. I know I'll probably be in the minority when I say this but I'm not a fan of the way he handled Grace during their first encounter. It put a bad taste in my mouth that I just couldn't get past over the course of the story. While many will probably find it sexy, I found it degrading.

I love the angst and the drama we typically get with Biker books. I enjoy the dynamics of the club, the H and his brother's and how that works with his relationship with the h but that was lacking here. Im not sure if the story had been more drawn out of it would have changed how I felt or not.

I will say, though, that I loved the cover. I'm a bit of a cover snob but when I first saw this one I was in love with it. Throw that together with the blurb and I was in heaven. Unfortunately, in the end, this one wasn't my cup of tea. However, I'm sure there will be readers out there who really enjoy it.

3 Stars

(Bumped from 2 to 3 because I loved the cover and blurb).


***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author/publisher for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***

I have to admit I was a little worried when I started reading this book and the characters got together so quickly. I feared it would end up being a typical insta-love- MC story, which would have sucked. I like a slow sizzle and flirting; the build up is what creates great anticipation for me. Lucky for me both Zach and Grace had great chemistry together and after their one-night stand they did develop a sweet relationship.

A downside for me was that this book really wasn’t a true MC. There was very little interaction with Zach and his motorcycle club and the story's plot was not about the club, it was about the opposites attract relationship between Zach and Grace. It was more about Graces fears and doubts over her life and how her family tries to control everything she does. Zach is the one who shakes things up for her, believes in her and ultimately helps her grow into the person she wants to be. I missed the typical grittiness of MC books that I love so much but I did get a very nice romance. I would also continue with the series to see what the author offers up next.

This book was amazing! Instantly sucks you in from page one and you won’t come up for air until you’re finished.

This books was better than okay if you are not looking for a MC book.In the book your really see that opposites attract. Zach is in a MC but it is not a big club. there are less than 10 members and it is mostly legitimate. It seems that is mostly rep that makes them bad boys. Grace is the daughter of a hotel magnate. She feels that she should follow the family business. What she really wants to do is open a bakery. When they meet it is instant attraction. They both kept saying it wasn't serious. We get a lot more of the relationship than we get about the MC so that is a plus. The story was short but the author did a good job with the characters. you really got a chance to get to know them.
I loved the grovel scene at the end. It was sweet and funny at the same time.

From the moment the book started with Chrissy walked into Odin, a MC bar, needing a phone since her Mercedes broke down. I was hooked. Zach thought she was really there to get lucky with a "bad boy" and is shocked to find out she's telling the truth! He convinces her to stay at his place while he fixes her car. He has NEVER had a girl stay overnight...and then again...and then again. It is a shock to everyone, including Zach! This was such a great MC read but when it's written by Christina, it's not a surprise!