I recieved a copy of Broken Rebel from NetGalley in exchange for honest review.
I loved this book! Naturally I went and read book one in the series before diving into this one (didn't want to miss anything) and I am so happy that I did!
Ruby is a such a tough girl that has had to overcome so much she also fights very hard for what she wants and she definitely wants Neco!
Neco is the ultimate alpha male. Protective and and strong and always there when you need him. He's superman.
It is such a sweet "since childhood, girl next door" kind of love story with a very suspenseful plot. I love all of the characters in this series and I hope all the "Lawless King" men get their own books. I would surely read them all.

This premise of this series is of a group of kids who grew up in the same neighborhood, had rough life's, somehow made it out, mostly, and now have their own business together. The King Brothers and the others work for them.

This is Ruby and Neco's story and it's heartbreaking and heart mending all at the same time.

Ruby was terribly abused by her stepmother and she found solace in Neco's home. And while Neco's mom had major issues of her own she was always kind to Ruby.

Flash forward to adulthood and things have changed, or at least the dynamic has, between Neco and Ruby and she's decided that maybe enough is enough.

While making plans to obtain the dream she's been wanting he roommate, Scott, has been weird lately and when she confronts him over stuff she found in her apartment he goes off. She can't understand why he's saying the opposite of what he's doing. When she wakes up in the hospital she is angry at herself and now the fight truly begins for Ruby and Neco.

I enjoy this series and I hope the fix the errors in the book. It could be a five star book. Still, I'll read the next one.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love this author however I am sad to say this one missed the mark.

Book 2 of the series. I love Sherilee's books, that goes without saying. This was a tough read. It's emotional, contains some quick snapshots of the abuse Ruby went through and Neco being her protector and now that they are adults he's a pain in her backside. He was a pain in mine.

This book had so many twists and turns and honestly her writing lead you merrily down this path toward some pretty intense situations that occurred and the intrigue and mystery factors were insanely good. I honestly can't say more because like the blurb, giving too much away will spoil the story. Just know that when you pick this one up and you'll want to, it's one wild ride so hang on!
It's a great second book to this series.

Fantastic read.


**arc from NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for a fair review**

I completely enjoyed this story, and I must admit that I LOVE Sherilee Gray's writing. I felt every single one of Neco and Ruby's heartbreaks and I found both of them believable and relatable. (And I will also admit that I want to be Ruby because Neco is HOT.

Great story, and I enjoyed visiting in with Lulu and Hunter from the last book. Now I need the next in the series because these men are addictive.

2 1/2 Star Review.....

I found this story a little hard to push through, as the characters didn’t resonate with me and the plot was frustrating. Neco’s character was predictable, but OK overall, however Ruby was irritating for the majority of the story.

This definitely isn’t my favourite series by this author, but others may find it satisfactory, if not enjoyable.

Being someone with a damaged past, I can relate to characters in books with similar pasts. I can feel some of the pain because I myself have gone through it. They are both broken people just trying to heal and they find that in each other. I can especially relate to someone with an evil stepmother!

I'm not sure how I feel about Ruby and Necos relationship. It's toxic. The emotions in the story are so raw. I mean you can tell Neco wants Ruby and Ruby wants Neco. He's kinda controlling. Like wanting her to listen to whatever he says. Yea it's to keep her safe and because he wants her, but of course she pushes back.
When he says "“Woman, you’ve been mine since the first night you climbed in my fucking window" realization hits!
He's got that possessive demeanor and I like that in a book boyfriend 😍 he doesn't want anyone messing with what's "his"
And the love he has for his mother is amazing.

The attraction between them literally comes off the pages! You can feel it. When they finally
Do hook up....mind blown! The sexual tension is so hot! Only negative thing was all the fighting about the same thug throughout the book. He doesn't want her to do a job and she wants her independence. The story was good. I'm glad I was approved to read it!

I absolutely love this author. Her books are amazing, gut wrenching love stories. Neco just wants to protect Ruby even from himself. Ruby has loved him all her life. Looking forward to more stories...

I’ll say from the start that I love Sherilee Gray’s writing, which is probably even harder to admit that the Lawless Kings series has been a sore disappointment so far. Gray’s prose is always easy to get through and her stories are decently plotted, so it was a huge surprise (or shock even) when I ended up with the problem of trying to get behind the protagonists and failing miserably.

‘Broken Rebel’ is in essence for me, a version of a toxic relationship—of enabling and needing—that presents a different definition of love that I find myself struggling to subscribe to. It’s something that the protagonists do acknowledge as well, which forms the basis for the screwed up relationship that they’ve always had. Having known each other all their lives and coming from broken pasts, Neco has always assumed the role as protector when she needed him. The years pass and Ruby appears to yearn for that status-quo, doing everything she can to get his attention back on her, which he rebuffs by doing every cruel and vile thing possible (including screwing a woman so that Ruby could see it) in the attempts to wean her off him.

I found it immensely difficult to even get on Neco’s side as he gives the (rather hypocritical and unbelievable) rationale that he is not good for her—having done unsavoury things—and is protecting her even from himself and his shady criminal past. With the idea that she’s forbidden goods, Neco’s repetitive justification of keeping her at a distance, saying hurtful things and screwing women while pretending it’s Ruby just didn’t sit with me at all. I got unhappier with page after page of the injustice he’d done to her, then suddenly turning up to ‘claim’ her as her man after she gets hurt badly and he wasn’t there to respond because he was preparing to get a blowjob in a strip club.

There were parts where I felt sorry for Ruby for enduring all that she had to endure just to get Neco’s attention, though her desperation for him made me cringe at times. Taking him back so easily after her short, albeit failed attempt to be the strong independent woman free of him meant she got him after all this time (with him reciprocating), though his obnoxious, protective and controlling behaviour even after this finally made me give up on the story.

Truth is, I’m conflicted about rating this book the way I have, all the more so because I know Gray has written books that I love. But the long and short of it is, ‘Broken Rebel’ doesn’t quite feel like a romance to me. Instead the ingredients for a ‘darker’ type of erotica are there, like the scorching sex, the alpha posturing, the overprotective ‘claiming’, but with Neco/Ruby having been caught in the game of hurtful push-pull for ages, the chest-heaving, angsty emotions that bled off the page merely convinced me that both these broken rebels might have really been better off without each other.

So much emotion is packed into this story. Anger, feelings of betrayal, jealousy, and love for both each other and their colleagues. Who is the “broken rebel”? Both! Seeing how Neco and Ruby worked out their relationship was both heartbreaking and wonderfully fulfilling. And Neco’s love for his mother is so beautifully portrayed. Never underestimate the power of love and friendship.

Broken Rebel, could have stood for either Neco or Ruby. They both come from totally messed up childhoods, and came out stronger because of it. I got to say, Ruby truly loved Neco. She had to in order to forgive him for all the stuff he did, and the anguish that he put her through. The best part for me, was the way that they all were just like a family. They had each other's backs no matter what.