Review: Beyond Shame by Kit Rocha

Synopsis:

All Noelle Cunningham has ever wanted is a life beyond–beyond the walls of Eden, where only the righteous are allowed to remain, and beyond her stiflingly restrictive existence as a councilman’s daughter. But only ruins lie outside the City, remnants of a society destroyed by solar storms decades earlier.

The sectors surrounding Eden house the corrupt, the criminal–men like Jasper McCray, bootlegger and cage fighter. Jas clawed his way up from nothing to stand at the right hand of Sector Four’s ruthless leader, and he’ll defend the O’Kane gang with his life. But no fight ever prepared him for the exiled City girl who falls at his feet.

Her innocence is undeniable, but so is their intense sexual attraction, and soon they’re crossing every boundary Noelle barely knew she had. But if she wants to belong to Jas, first she’ll have to open herself to the gang, to a dangerous world of sex, lust and violence. A world where passion is power, and freedom is found in submission.

I liked this a whole bunch more than I thought I would after just reading the synopsis. From the description you might the story is a series of setups for tawdry sex, (cage fighting, lol)  but it wasn’t like that at all. I was sucked into the story right away, the plot moved forward at a good pace, and the ending left me satisfied and wanting more. I think that’s pretty good.  I’ll even say I was surprised to find this book stuck with me for a day or two.

When Noelle breaks the law, she’s kicked out of Eden where she’s been trained to avoid touch in all forms, among other restrictions. When she’s dumped out in the sectors, Jasper saves her and she ends up part of Dallas O’Kane’s gang/family.  With Lex, Dallas’s woman, to teach her the ropes, and Jasper to protect her, Noelle takes to her new environment with its new rules like a duck to water.

There’s a nice cast of characters, although a little overwhelming at first, but all with something that interested me. There is a truck load of alpha males between these pages, each one with a hint of vulnerability. It’s a buffet of bad boys. Personally, Jasper was the least interesting of all of them. There’s lots of potential here.

The woman are interesting too, and likable for the most part. In this world, they hold their sexual power over the men, since there are so few available women. They are smart too.

As for the plot, there was just the right blend of well-paced action and “action” for me. The alpha pack gets into some minor skirmishes and there isn’t a vanilla sex scene to be found. The erotic scenes were both steamy and fresh. The world building was believable and delivered in small bits to keep my interest without overwhelming me with lots of details. It was hard enough to remember all the characters.

Because of the number of characters, there were places where I found it difficult to discern who’s point of view I was reading. While it didn’t detract too much from the enjoyment of the story, there were a few parts I needed to reread.  

There was a satisfying and believable wrap up to Jasper and Noelle’s storyline.

Favorite quote: “Real forgiveness is damn hard, and you have to be strong to do it.”

So overall, This was a 4 out of 5 book for me. I’m looking forward to book 2, Beyond Control, expected publication: March 19th 2013.  

Thanks to Kit Rocha and Netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.