I'm kinda on the fence with this book. I loved the all the bail bondsman books, but felt a little let down with this one. The whole problem for me was Charlie. I'm still not sure if I liked her. She was very judgmental at times. JoJo was great. I liked the big bad biker. I did have a problem with the wives and girlfriends (or old ladies) attitude towards Charlie. They were pretty shitty to hear. I didn't understand that; I mean come on, they were once in her position. Oh well, I still liked reading it and will keep reading them as long as they keep coming.

I reviewed this for the January edition of RT magazing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Kris – ☆☆☆☆
I've read all the Jericho Brotherhood series to date and have really enjoyed them, so when a spinoff happened, I got on board. The first Brotherhood Bonds book was pretty good; I liked both of the main characters in that story, but I'm feeling sorta on the fence about #2. I'm not sure I liked Charlie, although I really liked JoJo! JoJo is a biker and the brotherhood is his family. Charlie is a cop, from a long line of cops in her family. Never the two shall meet. Kind of. Charlie has all these preconceived notions about bikers with their illegal activity and JoJo is almost constantly needing to defend himself and his brothers. I found JoJo's character pretty selfless and likable, but Charlie not so much. There's some intermingling of our beloved Jericho Brotherhood characters when the two are forced into hiding in the brotherhood compound that I enjoyed quite a bit. But, I found this book a little slow going at times.

Jade Chandler's Bail Out is easily my favorite action romance of the year. This sequel pairs a bail bondsman and a cop but ultimately fails to deliver the fun and chemistry that made the first book a standout. Detective Charlie Pine and biker bail bondsman JoJo Marcone cross paths at Charlie's precinct and exchange sexy looks but nothing else. Though they instantly lust after each other, Charlie's put off by the whole biker thing. Eventually, a case they're both working on and a perilous situation get them thrown together and the inevitable sexy times throw a kink in Charlie's plans to not get involved.

The conflict in this book comes from two fronts. The first front is external - Charlie and her partner get into the mob's crosshairs and JoJo takes on the job of keeping them from being assassinated. There are lots of shootouts and bombings and bad guys everywhere they turn. The action scenes are pretty exhilarating, overall.

The second front has to do with Charlie being rather less than enthusiastic about the biker lifestyle. Her career, and coming from a family of cops going back multiple generations, means that she's not tolerant at all of illegal activities and makes assumption based on her previous knowledge of motorcycle clubs. Charlie is rather sheltered and a tad judgmental and being thrown into the deep end without a life preserver doesn't help the situation. She doesn't know the lay of the land, Jojo fails to explain pretty much anything to her in a timely fashion (this is an unfortunate recurring theme), and all of the bikers and old ladies she meets are straight-up confrontational jerks to her.

The confrontational club members drove me up a wall. It's come up in various degrees in the last couple of books but it really makes no sense here. I'm really freaking over the other women in the motorcycle club being assholes to new love interests. They've all been on the outside looking in themselves but suddenly they become old ladies and they are instantly incapable of having any kind of empathy? Eff that noise. Eff it to hell.

One of my favorite things about the previous book was the heroine's extreme competence at her job and the hero's genuine and sincere appreciation for her skills. That's not really a thing here. Charlie feels rather green but I didn't get the impression she was a rookie cop learning the ropes. Part of the problem is JoJo getting high handed and not giving her the information she needs but it's irritating nonetheless. JoJo is the one who gets to be super competent. Charlie not so much.

This was a disappointment for me. The whole thing felt disjointed and rushed and sloppy in places. The central romance was okay but there wasn't a lot of meat to it and pretty much everything else was a hot mess. I generally really enjoy Chandler's writing and I hope the next book turns things around.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Carina Press for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. First time reading this author. I know that this is part of a series but it reads really well as a stand alone book. I enjoyed the book. I thought it was paced well, meaning no sex the first hour after meeting. I didn't understand her prejudice about bikers. I guess they have a bad reputation, but I would have thought a woman cop would be the last to judge. Overall a good book. 4 stars. Enjoyable and fast paced action wise.

Fantastic!! I really enjoyed this one. Lots of action, suspense, and steamy sexy times. It's a very well written book with characters that are intriguing. I loved Jojo. The sexy biker bounty hunter makes this story. Charlie, a detective and use to working in a man's world, was a bit annoying to me. She was always pointing out how capable she was rather than just letting her actions prove it. Luckily, Jojo made up for it! As these two find themselves working together to stop a couple of Bonnie & Clyde wannabe's the spark between them flares to life but can Charlie accept Jojo and his world as they are??

Don't miss this one. I definitely recommend it.

I enjoyed this story quite a bit. I really liked the characters, though sometimes I wanted to knock some sense into the heroine. I love a hero who is all in, and he was here, which was great! 3.5 Stars.

Charlie is a homicide detective, and she and her partner have been chasing a Bonnie and Clyde type married couple, who are bank robbers-turned-killers. She comes from a family of (male) cops, so there was never really any other plan for her life once she grew up. She's very close to her family. Also, she was engaged to a fellow officer, when he was killed 3 years before, in the line of duty. She still hasn't quite gotten over it, and she definitely hasn't really attempted to move on. Sexually, or otherwise. When she draws the short straw, and has to contact the bounty hunter who put down the most recent bond on one of the fugitives, she has no idea what she's in for.

Jojo is part of a motorcycle club, that has become more of a family to him than his actual family ever will be again. He also works for the MC's own bail bonds business, Jericho Bail Bonds. He is great at his job. As a former Marine, he knows everything he needs to know about protecting himself, investigating people, and tracking them down. He loves everything about it, and he loves even more when he makes good bonding decisions, and doesn't lose money from his club. He really screwed up this time though, bonding out a guy who later turned spree bank robber, and killer, and is now in the wind. He will do whatever he can to track the guy down, regardless of cops or anyone else trying to get in his way. But, he never saw Charlie coming.

Jojo and Charlie's chemistry was strong, but she was determined to fight it. Even when her life is in danger from an unexpected threat, and Jojo offers his help and protection, she wants to fight their connection. She's convinced they don't have any common ground, and doesn't see how it could ever really turn into anything. Jojo is very determined to get her to see what they could have together, and I loved his dedication and care for her. She however, pushed my buttons at every turn. She was very judgmental of Jojo and his MC, even though she didn't know much about them, especially at first. She also was mistrustful of his reasons for helping her, and she was worried of what others, especially other cops, would think of her if she got involved with a biker, or a bounty hunter for that matter. I get that as a female cop, she has to worry about such things regarding her reputation that no male cop would ever encounter, but it was so frustrating to watch her let it rule all of her decisions.

Charlie's best friend and partner, Brie, was a great side character, as were her police captain (also a good friend of Jojo's), and each of Charlie's big and boisterous family. I enjoyed getting to know them, and I loved when they told Charlie the truth at all times, even when she didn't want to hear it. Especially then. Some of Jojo's MC brothers were also great side characters, and we got to revisit the main characters from book 1 in this series, Rebel and Elle, as well. I loved the banter between all the brothers, and how they're constantly ripping on each other, as brothers do.

My only real issue was Charlie, who at several points along the way, made it hard for me to like her and pull for her happiness. I try not to be overly hard on heroines over heroes in general, but in this case, it feels warranted. Jojo went out of his way and put his life on the line for her, over and over. He cared for her, and took care of her, all while giving no care to himself or his own feelings. She not only seemed to sometimes take that for granted, but constantly made him feel, purposefully or not, that he wasn't good enough for her, and that there was no chance of a future for them. I understood many of her hesitations, but I didn't understand some of her decisions, and they were often hard for me to swallow.

Overall I liked this story, and I'm definitely interested in reading book 3, which will be about Jojo's best friend and roommate.

If you aren't familiar with Jade Chandler, you need to read her books. They have all been so good! I read her first book and have been hooked ever since. The men are got and just a little on the bad side. The women are strong and interesting. I eagerly await each book she writes and each one keeps getting better and better.

Book Info
Kindle Edition, 1st edition
Expected publication: December 11th 2017 by Carina Press
ASIN B0769XB1LL
URL
Series Brotherhood Bonds #2
Other Editions None found
Source:Netgalley EARC

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BOOK BLURB


The by-the-book detective and the badass bounty hunter: opposites attract as they’re forced to work together

CHARLIE

Hunting murderers is what I do, but this pair is different. A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, they’ll kill again unless I stop them. I need help—and help in this case looks like bad-boy bondsman JoJo Marcone.

Good. Bad. Right. Wrong. Gray is dangerous, and Marcone is the most annoying shade of gray—the one that pushes me from merely turned on to totally insatiable.

JOJO

Tracking down a skip for Jericho Bail Bonds doesn’t usually involve partnering with a hot lady detective, but this is no ordinary case. Too much blood has been spilled on my watch, and with the mob after us, it’s getting harder to keep Charlie safe.

It would be easier if she’d stop stealing my bike.

I’m the last guy Charlie ever saw herself with, that much is clear. But I need to find her before our enemies do—and then convince her to follow her heart.

This book is approximately 80,000 words.

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise : all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Deborah Nemeth

My Thoughts


A definite opposites attract romance just like it is billed, however sometimes being opposites is a little more complicated for some couples than it is for others.

In the case of Detective Charlie and Bail Bondsman Joe Marcone it boils down to whether or not one can not only trust the other but also accept them for who they are both internally and externally. Joe/JoJo has had no problem with either of these from the very beginning but Charlie struggles pretty much all the way to the end with the acceptance part. Which of course is not helped by either her past upbringing or her own personality.

I found myself identifying quite a bit with Detective Charlie Pine at times as I grew up within a pretty opinionated household my own self. However not able to actually totally connect or even really empathize with her on a deeper level. This actually did not surprise me as she is quite hard to work up a lot of sympathy for when she comes across as pretty narrow minded when faced with situations that make her uncomfortable.

Rather than trying to get all the facts from JoJo, instead Charlie instead jumps to the wrong conclusions which of course leads to conflict between the pair and in turn puts her in more needlessly dire situations.

The upshot of it is that her own actions are more dangerous in the long run to not only Charlie but to JoJo, his best friend and the members of the Jericho Brotherhood as well.

Once again we are immersed in 2 very different worlds as the main characters find themselves challenged by one another despite their conflicting backgrounds.

For me it was a treat to meet JoJo and not quite as much so for Charlie but together they provide as much of a kick as did Rebel and Elle.

[EArc from Netgalley]

On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.