Throttle Me by Chelle Bliss

Category: Contemporary romance
Publication date: 03/29/2014
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Biker romance isn’t always my favorite. Sure, there are plenty of exceptions, but that said, y’all will have to take my thoughts on this one with a grain of salt because I’m definitely not the intended audience. 

Plot overview: Suzy, a young, good-girl control freak with her whole life mapped out, meets City, a bad-boy biker. Lots of sexy times ensue.

So, first of all, I’m going to say that I really enjoy the author’s writing style and voice. The dialogue is smooth, the pacing is solid, and the characters are well-developed and “real” (for lack of a better word). There’s nothing awkward or contrived about the way this woman writes. 

For the most part, I really enjoyed City (Joey) as a hero, too. He was kind-hearted, devoted to his family, and treated Suzy with respect. His past relationships and the way he saw other women wasn’t always flattering, but I tend to overlook brief mentions of such things, so long as it doesn’t become an ongoing issue. (It wasn’t with City)

Now, I’m not a big fan of contemporary books where men threaten to beat/kill/maim other men for daring to talk to “their girls” (note I said contemporary books. I cut paranormal romance some slack in this area), and City did that pretty early on in this book, but it wasn’t obnoxious enough to make me stop reading. 

Suzy, on the other hand, was pretty tough for me to like. She was judgemental about the way City looked and his profession, and was super insecure all the time. I also didn’t really care for the way Suzy and her friend always referred to each other as “bitch” and “whore.” It just seemed ridiculously immature to me. Overall, I just found her hard to like. I would’ve rather seen City fixed up with someone a little...better. Like, all-around better. 

There was also some other man/other woman drama that was absolutely pointless, in my opinion. Suzy had a dude at work sexually harassing her, and of course, City fixed things by threatening him. And there was an old “friend” of City’s that popped up for no good reason whatsoever (other than to delay City long enough for someone to attack Suzy so that she had to be saved AGAIN). I really hate pointless characters in romance novels.

And I won’t give any plot points away, but the fact that City took Suzy to a dangerous bar and had to rescue her (TWICE) irked me. I mean, if you know the place is dangerous and she can’t handle herself, why keep taking her there? 

But, like I said, take my thoughts with a grain of salt because I’m not the intended audience. I never found Jax Teller to be an especially good romantic lead, either. I liked him as a character, but let’s face it: Tara would’ve been better off without him. (Or at the very least, she might not have died with a BBQ fork jammed into her brain. But I digress…)     
 
Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s not stigma-y. It just wasn’t my cuppa.

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