Taking the Heat

By: Scott Hildreth

Narrated by: Sarah Jennings, Shannon Gunn

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

After serving half a dozen tours in Afghanistan and Iraq as a US Marine, Cambio Todelli - known as Toad to his MC brothers - is left with a penchant for violence and no emotional attachment between his heart and his groin.

As the Sergeant at Arms for the Selected Sinners MC, Toad has one assignment and he takes it very seriously. Keeping his Brothers safe from harm at any cost.

Although he believes he ultimately stands for what is moral and justified, he admits sometimes the lines simply become blurred. In short, Toad is a walking contradiction. The descendant of a long line of prideful Italian American US Marines, he is now living a far cry from his upbringing in the Catholic church.

Sydney Shephard is an orphan, and has recently lost her only sibling, an older brother, to a lifelong prison sentence. After losing her job, she is now homeless, penniless, and without any form of family or friend.

As easy as it may be to do so, she refuses to lose her spirit, her spunk, or her sense of humor.

After having been in multiple abusive relationships in her past, Sydney has vowed to either live a life of solitude, or find a man who will treat her as an equal.

When a bank robbery goes awry, leaving Toad on one side of the bank, and Sydney on the other, Toad must make a decision and make it quick.

And when Toad decides to do something, heaven help anyone who tries to stop him.

Author's Note: Taking the Heat is a stand-alone love story. No other book is required to tell this tale. It does contain explicit language, sexual situations, and the intricacies of being in an Outlaw Motorcycle Club. All sexual partners in this MC Erotic Romance are over the age of 18. Stand-alone love story. HEA. No cliff hanger. Taking the Heat is Book II in a series of stand-alone MC Erotic Romance novels.

©2015 Scott Hildreth (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Two Broken Souls ~ Complete & Unbreak Each Other!

I enjoyed the second book in the Selected Sinners series much more than the first. It has a captivating plot, with a few heart breaking moments, filled with drama, humor, excellent character development and a sex scene that truly push boundaries, but when It's all said and done, you are left with a touching love story.

Some Spoilers;
I really liked Toad's character, he was fascinating, strong, complex, and had many facets to his personality. After a few tours in war, he suffers from PSTD, survivors guilt, and no longer desires normal intimacy but uses what some would consider sadistic sex acts to cope and get off. He's developed his own code and morals and only does what he can justify as right, from helping those in need to killing those who deserve it. While he can be hardcore, he also has a softer compassionate side with a poetic touch. Deeply rooted in his beliefs, he has strong ties to the Selected Sinners MC and his family, especially to his deceased Nonno. He's honed his instincts on who he can trust, and helps those who truly deserved it. Toad was an intriguing character.

Sydney may be down on her luck, not wanted by her family but she's resilient, and no pushover or a stranger to the MC lifestyle. After Toad botches a bank robbery Sydney's involved in, he throws her a life line and a way out before the police make it to the scene. With no other options, she takes the life line and leaves with another MC member before the cops can arrive. Later that day, Toad finds out she's homeless and doesn't have any money, he offers her a job, and a place to live and she jumps all over the opportunity. For Sydney this is a new beginning.

There's something about Sydney that draws Toad to her like a month to a flame and Sydney craves Toad and looks forward to every visit. Individually, they were both broken in their own way, but together they piece each other back together and become stronger.

The narration was great! My first audio narrated by Sarah Jennings and Shannon Gunn, and I enjoyed both of their performances.

A slightly dark but captivating MC, with diverse characters, heart breaking animal rescue, excellent character growth, but be warned there's a sex scene towards the beginning that may turn some people off. This scene does not define or set the tone for the rest of the story. Once passed, you'll enjoy the story! For true MC Romance fans this is well worth a credit!

Talk about a trashy romance

As a veteran, I’m irritated by the hero, who is a total sociopath who clearly isn’t getting help for PTSD if he’s abusing women the way he does in the opening chapter. I’m also irritated by the 18 year old overweight black male supporting character and how he sounds like he walked off a Virginia plantation in the year 1860. I DNF’d this and I’m really disappointed this is the kind of book audible is picking up as an exclusive.

Good

This was a good story that twisted several lines into one great good!!! Ready for book 3

Toad and Sydney

Absolutely fantastic story about growth, letting go of the past, understanding, and unconditional love. I enjoyed this thought provoking, heartfelt, and entertaining story.
Narration was great!

Good story, more low key.

Coming off of the 1st story of Axton and Avery, I was expecting a similar story out of this one. Toad was a force in the 1st book, but the 2nd book now focused on him, seemed ..... tame. Now don't get me wrong, I laughed, cried and held my breath throughout the book. It just seemed to be missing something. I kept telling myself, "oooh, I think something is going to happen soon." But then, nothing. I loved the reference between Nonno and Toad throughout the storyline, especially through Sydney.

Sydney's back story and character in itself seemed a little week too.

Don't get me wrong, Sarah and Shannon carried this book and I loved listening to them from beginning till end. Just wished for more power in the story. Overall, a good, decent read.

A bit misogynistic

I only listened up to Chapter 23, and then shut this one off. I love a good biker romance novel, but this one had the faint odor of misogyny all over it. The female protagonist takes every opportunity to tell us how she doesn't like or trust other women, how women always overreact, how men make better friends and are more straightforward and dependable, etc. She seems surprised when another female character she interacts with is honest and intelligent. Gross. I think you can write female characters better than this, Scott.

I don't know, but is the author racist?

Um the N-word in the 1st book was a no-no, so I opted not to try that one, only to witness the fuckery in this one. I don't think I heard the N-word in this one, but my god ,the character known as "Junior" was just, unnecessarily coonish. This is 2020 not 1920 with the "Isa sir, no sir" speech from a kid who's like 18 years old. That's just ridiculously, offensive dialog from an asshole author, that's obviously never met a person of African decent. Despite how upsetting that concept was, the narrators were both top notch. I don't know whats up with people in the comments section, but the male narrator is awesome, he's the one bringing the story to life and he's hella sexy doing it. Looking forward to trying more novels with his narration. 3 star read, Would've been more if the author didn't always try to sneak in the obvious racist views of my culture.

Toad and Sydney

Love this book and the first one. This is a truly a twisted love story love it any way. Hope next book is as much enjoyable as the first two.

Give it a chance.

WOW!
what a book. It took me a few trys to get past the Saran wrap beginning but once I did (2 trys), I fell in love with the characters and the book. Way better than book 1 in my opinion.

Great book but a little disappointed.

I read the book before and decided to listen to the audiobook. Although the story was still great I didn't care much for the person doing the male voice. The voice just seemed off to me. I know he was supposed to be Italian but it the voice was a little much. Plus, I was really looking forward to finding out something about Sydney's brother. This is only the second book so I don't know if he comes up in another book.