Dare to Run by Jen McLaughlin Series: The Sons of Steel Row, #1
Published by Signet Publication Date: February 2nd 2016
Pages: 384
Also in this series: Dare to Stay, Dare to Lie
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The New York Times bestselling author of the Out of Line Novels takes readers to Boston, where one gang of criminals knows how being bad can be so good...
She knows what he’s like on Boston’s mean streets. Now she’s going to find out if he’s got some heart.
Lucas Donahue is not ashamed of his criminal past, but after a brief stint in prison, he’s ready to go legit and live a normal life. The problem is, no one leaves the gang without permission—even if he is one of the boss’s top men. Plus someone’s placed a hit on him. And then there’s that feisty little bartender who’s going to cause him even more trouble.
Heidi Greene knows to keep her distance from a ladies’ man like Lucas—even if she can’t keep her eyes off him. When he rescues her from an attack in the alley outside her bar, she’s forced to stay by his side for safety. But the longer she spends time with him, the greater her chances are for getting hurt in more ways than one.
Cocktails and Books received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.
Dare To Run is the first book in this new series, Sons of Steel Row by Jen McLaughlin. This book sucked me right in. I love Boston and it provides a nice backdrop to this storyline. The book begins with Lucas getting out of prison and returning to his gang: The Sons of Steel Row. He seems closed off from everyone and leads a lonely existence. He has a brother who is in the gang and a best friend Chris but he doesn’t seem to be close to anyone else. The story opens with Lucas chatting with Chris about the fact that someone is trying to kill Lucas. You have no idea who or why.
Heidi runs a bar, The Patriot, that she inherited from a nice man who took her off the streets and treated her as his daughter. She is fighter through and through and honestly tough as nails. Life has handed her tough knocks at every turn but she is still positive presence in a dark part of Boston. Lucas comes into her bar because it is blocks from his apartment. He doesn’t expect to meet Heidi and he certainly doesn’t expect to save her from the Bitter Hill gang. He must claim her as his girl to keep her safe. Lucas doesn’t save people and he certainly stays away from complications. Unfortunately, no one believes Lucas has a girl. So they lie and their lies blur together and these two start to feel something for each other. I don’t want to give away too much more but the story’s ending was unexpected. I’m still pondering what is going to happen in the next Sons of Steel Row.
Heidi and Lucas are characters that you fall in love with. You want more of them on the pages and they are supported by an interesting cast of characters that you hope future books give you more and fill in the missing blanks. So much happened with the all the characters at the end, that you are dying to know more. That is a good series. It pulls you in and will not let you go. Well done, Jen.
About Jen McLaughlin
Jen McLaughlin is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sexy books with Penguin and Random House. Under her pen name Diane Alberts, she is also an USA Today bestselling author of Contemporary Romance with Entangled Publishing. Her first release as Jen McLaughlin, Out of Line, released September 6 2013, and hit the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal lists. She was mentioned in Forbes alongside E. L. James as one of the breakout independent authors to dominate the bestselling lists. She is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.
Though she lives in the mountains, she really wishes she was surrounded by a hot, sunny beach with crystal-clear water. She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania with her four kids, a husband, a schnauzer mutt, and three cats. Her goal is to write so many well-crafted romance books that even a non-romance reader will know her name.
