RULED (Outlaws #3) by Elle Kennedy-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway
RULED
Outlaws #3
by Elle Kennedy
Genre: adult, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, erotic, romance
Release Date November 1, 2016
Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM /
ABOUT THE BOOK: RELEASE DATE November 1, 2016
Despite his magnetic personality, Rylan can’t seem to seduce Reese, the deadly leader of their town of outlaws. Winning her over is a welcome challenge, but her indifference isn’t the only thing standing in his way. If he wants Reese, Rylan must also win over Sloan, her stoic protector…
Sloan has always loved Reese, but their painful past has stolen his chances of a future with her. Rylan’s interest in Reese only intensifies the tension—until Sloan begins to wonder if the reckless man might be the one person who can bridge the distance…
The last time Reese fell for the wrong man, she had no choice but to kill him. Now, she desperately wants to take what both Rylan and Sloan are offering. But if she makes the wrong call again, she risks losing them both.
•••••••••••
REVIEW: RULED is the third installment in Elle Kennedy’s adult , post-apocalyptic/dystopian Outlaws erotic, romance series. This is Rylan, Reese, and Sloan’s story line. RULED can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and history.
NOTE: RULED contains graphic and explicit scenes of M/M/, M/F and M/F/M sexual situations and may not be suitable for all readers.
SOME BACKGROUND: The OUTLAW series by Elle Kennedy focuses on the post-apocalyptic USA where the country is now divided into a number of respective territories without government control. There are various factions of bandits, enforcers, outlaws, and the people from the city. Life on the outside is hard; there are no laws, no law enforcement, and death is often the better option. Several groups of outlaws have banded together in gated communities for protection and control.
Told from several third person points of view including Rylan, Reese, and Sloan RULED focuses on survival. Reese is determined to end the suffering of the people in her ‘town’ and gathers together the leaders of the outlying camps in an attempt to take down the Enforcers patrolling the area. With one woman pregnant and about to give birth, and a number of under-aged children under her care, Reese’s settlement has been targeted by the people who claim to be in charge. Meanwhile Reese battles her attraction and the emotional fall out for the two men who call to her heart-Rylan and Sloan-both strong, alpha males whose attraction to one another adds fuel to the fire that is already burning. What ensues is the building relationship between Rylan, Reese and Sloan, and dangerous battle for power and control in a war between the Enforcers and the Outlaws.
RULED is a graphically, erotic story line of ménage between three people whose lives will be changed when the potential loss of one means the loss of their hearts. Sloan has been in love with Reese since the first day they met five years earlier; and Rylan’s need for his ‘fearless leader’ is compounded with his need for her second in command. The $ex scenes are intense, seductive and energetic with M/M, M/F, and M/F/M sexual situations.
The world building continues to focus on survival in a post-apocalyptic world where life expectancy is short; food and supplies are scarce; and security and safety is never guaranteed.
Elle Kennedy’s RULED and the OUTLAWS series is a gritty and graphic look at survival of the fittest. The premise is imaginative and clever; the characters are heartbreaking, vivacious, and heroic; the romance is real and raw.
Reading Order and previous reviews
CLAIMED
ADDICTED
RULED
Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley
Reviewed by Sandy
Rylan didn’t waste time. He strode to the two-story brownstone on Main Street and entered behind her. He didn’t bother to knock. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission and all that.
He found her upstairs in her small kitchen, arms braced against the counter as she stared out the window at the unkempt yard behind the building. It was empty, save for a decrepit playset in the back corner. The slide was long gone, but a single swing hung from a rusted bar.
“When you die,” she said without turning around, “I’m going to dub you Saint Rylan, patron of lost causes.”
Rylan stepped close enough that he could feel the heat from her body, but far enough away that there was room for her to escape. “How’d you know it was me instead of Sloan?”
“Your footsteps are different.”
“Huh.” He chewed on that piece of information a bit. He was probably reading too much into it, but the fact that she could distinguish his footsteps from someone else’s? That was all the encouragement he needed to stay. “You’re a damn impressive woman, Reese.”
“Is that right? Because I can tell you and Sloan apart?” She sounded tired, almost resigned. Rylan experienced a pang of concern. Connor had never sounded like this before, but then again, Rylan’s leader had never been in charge of eighty-plus people before either. Con kept his camp small. Even Hudson, his woman, had been an interloper he hadn’t wanted to take in.
Reese, on the other hand, threw her doors open to any misfits, wanderers, and beggars that rattled on her gates.
Rylan briefly pondered what it would’ve been like growing up if there’d been a Reese around when he was young. Maybe then every night wouldn’t have been filled with his mother’s tears and his father’s angry shouts, followed by mournful pleas for forgiveness and hollow exchanges of I love you.
“That, and because you’ve got a vision for the future that few people would ever try to make a reality,” he said frankly.
“You and Connor think I’m nuts, don’t you?”
“Nah, brave.”
And maybe a little foolish, but hell, if it wasn’t for Reese’s foot in their asses, they’d still be holed up in their isolated camp, avoiding Enforcers and scavenging for supplies. Reese’s plan was big and bold and possibly suicidal, but the alternative was to cower, and Rylan had had enough of that.
She sighed and finally turned to look at him. “Did Sloan send you in here to cheer me up?”
Was that a dig? It kinda felt like one. But it was also true—Sloan had sent him. Or at least given him the signal that he wasn’t totally barking up the wrong tree by running after Reese.
He searched her eyes for traces of derision, but he only saw fatigue with a side of melancholy. He wanted to scoop this tough woman into his arms and pleasure her until she was too satisfied to frown.
“I’m here because last night was the best sex I’ve ever had. Because walking away from you isn’t an option for me.”
She made a strangled sound—half laugh, half groan—and rubbed the back of her hand across her forehead. Is that all you can think about?”
“Around you? Yup. I fuck and I fight. Don’t scratch too deep because there’s nothing there.”
She snorted in disbelief. “Tell that to someone who’ll believe you.”
Rylan’s brow furrowed. He’d always skated on the surface of intimacy, enjoying the physical nature of sex—the hot embrace, the rough friction, the sharp desire. What he’d just told Reese was absolutely true. He didn’t feel deeply. He could appreciate it in others, but he’d witnessed firsthand the emptiness of love. What he wanted, and what he could give, was pleasure and nothing more.
“What’re you talking about?” he finally asked, feeling slightly off-center that Reese saw something in him that didn’t exist.
She studied him for a moment before waving her hand carelessly. “It’s nothing. Look, last night was hot, but there’s nothing left here for you.” She presented her back to him and stared out the window again.
Was that a challenge? Sure sounded like one.
The Reading Cafe and Elle’s publisher are offering a paper copy of RULED to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe
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