Book Review: Defiance (Defiance #1) by Stephanie Tyler

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Defiance

Defiance #1

By:  Stephanie Tyler

Published:  June 10, 2013

Published By:  Carina Press

Mature Content 18+

Source:  Publisher

GR's Summary:

Rebelling against her legacy as the MC's princess, Tru Tennyson escaped the ruthless, male-dominated culture of the Defiance motorcycle club. Three years later, her newfound freedom is ripped away, thanks to a massive hybrid storm that killed millions. Now, in the post-Chaos world of semi-darkness and near-total anarchy where gangs rule, she discovers the dangerous world of Defiance may be the one thing that can keep her safe.

Tru is at the MC's mercy when she's dragged back to her former home … and to the only man she's ever pictured a future with. Caspar is the bastard son of the club's leader, her safe haven when life got rough — and her onetime lover the night she left. When Tru refuses to trade sex for power and be claimed by a rival club leader, she also dares to announce she wants Caspar instead, throwing the MC into turmoil.

Tru's brazen revolt could start a gang war and destroy the club from within. Now both Tru and the MC must wait for Caspar's response … and the inevitable fallout.

My Thoughts:

Defiance, by Stephanie Tyler, is vastly different from anything I've read thus far.  It hooked me with a dark, twisted, and crazy reality.  It had a post-apocalyptic setting, where both war, and natural disasters have ravaged the land, causing a shortage in the necessities of living.  The sun was no longer making an appearance, and the world had taken on a "survival of the fittest" mentality, ruled by motorcycle clubs, outlaws, and corruption.  Women bartered sex for power, while men fought one another for respect.  When a man chose a mate, they became "bonded," for life, and would each get a brand or tattoo on them identifying that they were taken.  Women wanted to be bonded, as this was their protection from the outside world.  Women deemed not worthy of being bonded with were used, and abused by men.

Defiance is told in three points of view.  Tru, was born in to the Defiance Motorcycle Club, and her father was the enforcer, and second in command to the corrupt leader Lance.  Tru was treated with respect, because of her father's position within the Motorcycle Club (MC), by everyone but her father, Hugh.  He beat Tru's mother, and then as Tru got older, he started beating her.  Nobody stood up to him, as he was a strong, powerful, and dangerous man who was both feared and well-respected within their community.  Tru dated one of Lance's son's, Silas, and was expected to eventually become bonded with him.  However, she had been in love with Casper, (Cas) since she was a young girl.  Cas was the illegitimate son of Lance, and was treated horribly, as he was growing up, until he earned respect through his fighting skills.  Cas was the ultimate alpha male, and he was extremely sexy!  He had always had a thing for Tru, but believed that she was too good for him, and would bond with Silas.  Cas & amp; Tru end up having one night of passion, and go there separate ways as Cas joins the Navy (which is expected of every Defiance man), and Tru runs away from her father after he beats her, and attempts to rape her.  Tru ends up returning to the rival MC for protection, but refuses to bond with the leader of the club.  He returns her to Defiance, and it is expected that in order to show respect for the other MC, Tru must be publicly raped, and then killed for embarrasing the rival MC's leader.  Instead, Tru makes it known that she wants to bond with Cas, who is now the current enforcer, having taken the place of Hugh when he died.  It is up to Cas whether he accepts her bond, or does what's expected of him in order to prevent a war between the two MC's.  In the meantime, we are introduced to Mathias, and his sidekick Bishop (Bish), both highly skilled Military Men on the run, who have information for Cas, and both become loyal, protective, and close friends of Cas and Tru.  We get a well-rounded perspective of the story as Tru, Cas, and Mathias tell their points of view in the story.

Cas and Tru have a hot and heavy relationship filled with sexual tension.  It is obvious to the reader how they feel about one another, but they are both stubborn, and have both miscommunications and lack of communication at times.  I enjoyed Tru's character! She was strong, brave, intelligent, courageous, and loyal.  She was the perfect mate for Cas, and really stood up for him, and what she thought was right.  I enjoyed getting to know some of the secondary characters, especially Mathias, (who was mute) and Bish.  These two guys became a part of Tru and Cas' surrogate family.  Defiance, deals with a lot of dark subject matter, and themes such as abuse, rape, murder, anarchy, corruption, and the post apocalypse.  It also deals with love, passion, chemistry, loyalty, healing, standing up of those weaker than yourself, and making a change in the world you live in.  If you are looking for a fast-paced, whirlwind of non-stop action, passion, adventure, and an alternate reality, Defiance, is a great read for A Bookish Escape!

My Rating:

I give Defiance by Stephanie Tyler 4 Action-Packed, Sexually Charged, Transformative, and Courageous Stars!  Ms. Tyler drew me in to a frightening future, where chaos, and anarchy reigned supreme, sex was used for power, and only the strong survived!  The erotic chemistry between the alpha male Casper (Cas), and the sexy MC's princess, Tru was explosive!  You will feel their need and desire for one another, turn in to love and loyalty.  Cas got Tru to stand with him in the war to take down the corrupt leader, Lance, and make living conditions better for both the men and women in the Defiance Motorcycle Club.  Read Defiance for a fun, Post Apocalyptic New Adult read that has action, adventure, romance, and sex!  You will definitely get lost in this story!

My Favorite Quotes:

"I'm the only  fu**ing one who counts, Tru.  Don't forget that.  God, she liked that, liked how he held her, told her that.  Made her feel owned and she didn't understand why she wanted that.  Knew it was only with her."  (eARC, pg. 162)

~Tru

"I'm not going to survive you.  I've made it through war, the Chaos...but you've always been my goddamned kryptonite."  (eARC, pg. 170)

~Cas

"The bottom line was, she loved him, with everything she had.  It wasn't about being ashamed of needing protection.  It was about loving him enough to accept that certain things would always be a compromise.  (eARC, pg. 171)

~Tru

"Her shoulder still tingled where he'd traced the tattoo and she already considered herself branded.  The tattoo was simply a technicality."  (eARC, pg. 132)

~Tru

"I knew and I made her mine, Silas.  Took her out of here, made love to her under the stars and made goddamned good and sure to ruin her for anyone else.  Tru's mine.  Always was.  And trust me, she didn't fight me at all."  (eARC, pg. 186)

~Cas

"Took my world from black and white to full-on color, babe.  You were always the goddamned sunshine."  (eARC, pg. 236)

~Cas

Excerpt:

“You can’t give up on me now.”

“I already did that, a long time ago.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You didn’t know me, Tru. Never did.”

“But you know me. And I’m not giving up — I won’t give up enough for both of us.”

He muttered — mainly curses — under his breath. She ran a fingertip over his lips. “You’re going to undo me,” he murmured finally.

“And then I’ll put you back together.”

“You have no idea what you’re asking.”

“I do. You want someone to stand by you while you try to fix everything here. You told me.”

His eyes flickered, a little surprised. “You were too drunk to remember anything that night.”

She smiled, trailed her hand along to cup the back of his neck. “I remember everything about the time we spent together.”

He waited a beat, a muscle in his jaw twitched as he clenched it, his eyes searching hers. Looking for something that she knew she could give him. “That was before,” he told her finally.

Purchase At:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble |Kobo

About the Author:

Stephanie Tyler

Stephanie Tyler was a Secondary Ed teacher for grades ranging from middle school to college while she pursued a PhD in English Literature, all while trying to convince herself that she would get back to her dream of writing as a career eventually. When her daughter was born with serious medical problems, Stephanie found inspiration in the fighter her child proved to be—and found her own way back to writing.

Today, Stephanie writes what she loves to read — romantic suspense with military heroes. Stephanie also co-writes paranormal erotic romance for Bantam Dell under the name Sydney Croft. Stephanie is a member of RWA and NINC, both professional organizations for authors. She lives in New York with her husband, children, and Gus the Weimaraner, and she is always working on her next novel.

She loves hearing from readers, so please feel free to peruse her website at www.stephanietyler.com, Goodreads, Facebook and Twitter.

Guest Post


Five Reasons I love Being A Writer By Stephanie Tyler 

1.      It’s the job I’ve wanted to do since I could write. Seriously — I was maybe 4 or five when I wrote my first book. It was called "Blackout" and it was written by flashlight during a (wait for it!) blackout. J  I guess even back then I had a thing for disaster planning. But really, it’s what I’ve always been — I just never actually thought I’d be able to earn my living from my writing. I’d heard for years and years that it was very hard to do, wasn’t possible and for a long time, I believed it. Lesson #1 –always follow your dreams and ignore the naysayers. They’re usually the ones too scared to follow their dreams.

2.      I literally get to sit in bed in pajamas for work, and it’s legitimate. Really, it’s like, okay, it’s four in the afternoon and you’re still in pjs?  It’s okay, because you’re working! You’re still in bed, curled up with the laptop, scrolling through Twitter? Guess what — that’s all part of your work. Even sitting there, staring into space is part of it. Watching TV equals research. For this job, it’s better to like being alone a lot of the time — to even prefer it. 

3.      I have an entire community of other writers who understand that I talk to myself, that I act out scenes without even realizing it sometimes.  I do a lot of my plotting on the treadmill. I have music blaring loudly and most of the time I’m talking to myself (and I talk with my hands) and partially acting out fight scenes (and almost killing myself because I’m clumsy on a non-moving piece of ground)…which is why I can’t workout in the gym. Other writers understand this. A normal human being who walks in on you doing this…not so much. 

4.      I get to help readers forget their troubles, if only for a little while. This is one of the major reasons I started writing romance, in particular, and Defiance is most definitely a romance. When my daughter was born, she was really sick and I spent long hours by her bedside in the hospital. And hospitals suck and I was always worried and I didn’t want to leave her side. At the time, I’d been reading mostly literary fiction and thrillers and somehow, they didn’t have the same appeal. One of the nurses handed me a romance novel and I was like, I can do this. I want to do this. I wanted happy endings for everyone. So I write for every mother, father, etc. who’s sitting in a chair next to their loved one, needing to escape for a little while and still physically be there. 

5.  I get paid to make shit up for a living. It doesn’t get better than that.