The synopsis of this book was interesting, but unfortunately, that didn't translate into a well-written story. The main issue for me has to do with two main characters, Ryan (the heroine) and Ellis. I couldn't seem to find an emotional connection with them which meant that I really couldn't root for them nor did I really care whether or not they were going to get their happy ending.Let's start with the heroine, Ryan. She was simply all over the place. She's portrayed in the beginning as almost a tomboy and someone who can handle herself in the motorcycle club she grew up at where her brother was the President. Yet, while in the marines, she becomes involved in a two year relationship with a fellow marine, Jeremiah, who's abusive towards her.By the way, regarding her joining the marines, I would liked to know her motivation for doing that in the first place. Perhaps, that would have given her character more dimension.Considering that she was presented right away as a seemingly strong person, the abusive boyfriend was a bit surprising. It came up later on in the story that she was raped by a fellow, unknown, marine, but there was no mention of when this happened. Was it before or after getting involved with Jeremiah? If it was before, then that could have served as some sort of motivation as to why she eventually got together with Jeremiah in the first place. Perhaps due to issues of lack of self-worth? Perhaps due to issues of her feeling like she should have been able to fight off her attacker? But at the time the rape was brought up, none of this info was put into play, so you're left with not understanding how Ryan ended up with Jeremiah. Of course, later on, it came up that Jeremiah was that unknown marine who raped Ryan and then got involved with her. Interesting twist that didn't really go anywhere, so why even bring it up?She was also inconsistent in explaining away other things. For example, she tells Ellis that she would never cheat on her boyfriend when the subject came up with Ellis; yet, both she and Jeremiah, while deployed, slept with other people. When it looked like Ellis and Ryan were going to have sex, it was Ellis who mentioned the cheating thing and pulled away. Although not much later, they ended up sleeping together anyway.Speaking of Ellis, almost as soon as Ryan arrived, Ellis, expressed interest in sleeping with her. That came out of nowhere. There was some mention of Ryan having a crush on Ellis while she was growing up, but nothing was even hinted about Ellis feeling the same way. So it seemed really disingenuous for him to suddenly come on to her like that. Perhaps, if there was a prologue that set up this supposed attraction that both Ryan and Ellis felt towards each other, this whole push and pull "I want you. I don't want you" would be more realistic. While the sex scenes were fine, the chemistry and emotional connection that these two characters should be feeling just wasn't there.There were other things about this whole book that just didn't work well. For example, the MC itself didn't seem like it was a MC. There was no real reference to Church, Prospects, etc. which are all part of MC culture. Not that I have any personal experience, but the whole club seemed a little vanilla. until they did the hardcore thing of killing Jeremiah after they found out that he was abusing Ryan (which by the way, she was practically beaten within their club walls for 2 to 3 days and yet, no one did anything????).There were long chapters where nothing was really going on. For example, it didn't take until Chapter 12 for Jeremiah to show up at the clubhouse for anything remotely interesting to move the story along. Then it's followed with chapters filled with Ellis and Ryan holed up in a hotel for her to recover eventually followed by Ellis going with Ryan to DC, sprinkled with stories about their stops along the way.Ellis going with Ryan is in itself kind of interesting considering that Ellis is a VP of his MC and that Ryan isn't even officially an old lady. Wouldn't he be more needed back at the MC?Anyway, throughout the book, Ryan talks about going to DC, but the big mystery of why Ryan needs to go to DC is finally revealed about 90% into the book. She has cancer and is going for testing, but is unsure if she wants to receive treatment.After that, it's a rushed reveal to Ellis telling him the whole story and also that she had planned to just go away and die on her own because she didn't want anyone to deal with the stress of taking care of her. Ellis, of course, reassures her that he'll be there. Then jump to the epilogue where it's a year later, she's cancer free and gets a marriage proposal for her HEA. Overall, the characters weren't fleshed out enough, the MC wasn't fully realized and finally, story lines were either not fully developed or too rushed. I do love a good meaty story, and I do love a good biker romance but sometimes I wonder if the biker setting is an unnecessary distraction. This book dealt with so many topics that are in of themselves serious enough, they could have just been written as a good family drama in the romance genre or a military setting and not an MC. Ryan was a Marine and that in itself made her an interesting and strong woman (you have to be to survive in that world). Her Ride was more a journey of self-discovery and revelations of secrets that should not have been kept from family members, especially since Ryan and her brother were so close. Many books deal with topics of abuse of women, serious illness, heartbreaking life changes and reuniting with past loves...and this book dealt with all of these things in depth. The sex was hot and plentiful and at times put me in sensory overload, but it confused me how such a strong woman trained as a Marine, could have allowed herself to be a victim, abused by her boyfriend sexually, emotionally and physically. She has a biker brother and Ellis, the man who would do anything for her...so although something eventually put a stop to the abuse, it was upsetting it went on as long as it did. A different and emotional type of biker book with less emphasis on club life and more on personal relationships and going on a ride for your life.**** 4 **** "proving to be the right one for you" stars
What do You think about Her Ride (2000)?
DNFIt seems to me that every book with biker chicks is the same all over again.
—xyzipper
I randomly was recommended this book, seeing how I'm a sucker for bikers
—bash
loved it great story line..always something going on. well done
—Ava
