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!

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Voices

I did not like the mans voice. It was all I could do to finish the story.

moral

this book is intreging it raises alot of questions about right and wronge even in a situation most would see a wronge

Lacked the spark

I really liked Toad the character. he was complex and had a great backstory. the people around him we're great too. Sydney feels under developed.

the romance is pretty much non-existent. they just sort of exist with almost no interaction throughout most of the book. Then BAM! All of a sudden they are madly in love. I just I couldn't relate.

I was all excited for the introduction of BDSM sex in the beginning. I was super hopeful it would be a theme. alas, it is dumped. which left the when book flat.

This is a wonderful story of love

I truly enjoyed this story. There was compassion action, and so much more. loved it

Good book but....

I liked the book but I didn’t like how they had Junior and his mom sounding like slaves!! Uneducated with bad grammar!

oh my god the theorizing drove me nuts!!!

I struggled to get even halfway through this book because there was more philosophy than romance or action and by the time I stopped my teeth grinding and I had started skipping parts of chapters

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.

What an absolute beautiful story!

The first statement I want to make is about the narration of this pair; absolutely breathtaking. Their ability to pull you into the story through their talent to realistically express the characters’ emotion through dialect, was awe inspiring. No other narrator has ever inspired such an emotional response, from me, ever. I have never cried so uncontrollably .

This book is also full of thought provoking statements. I even paused the book a couple of times just to consider my thoughts on the particular statement. In addition, there are some truly, lovable characters in this book; Junior and his mother to name a couple.

So, is this a credit worthy listen? In my opinion, heck yes! My only advice is to have some Kleenex close at hand and probably avoid listening to this book at work or anywhere else that openly crying would gain you unwanted attention.
-V from Kansas

Good mix of MC, romance and erotica

Part of a series but would work okay as a standalone.

Interesting characters and backstories. Suspenseful plot. Moves well from MC action to romance to sex to friendship to family to pets and back again.

SPOILERS...

Sexy times were pretty hot. Interesting that the author creates the most extreme misogynistic sex scene in the first chapter to creatively show the reader how broken the Toad character is and how he is unable to feel. It is such an effective comparison when he is tender and overcome with emotions with his lover later on. Well done.

Good narration.