Title: Rough & Ruthless
Series: Notorious Devils MC #4
Author: Hayley Faiman
Genre: MC Romance
Mary-Ann Lukin has never had it easy. Having survived the torments of abuse for far too long, it's a miracle that life somehow managed to leave her with a little bit of hope—hope of a future filled with happiness.
Max "MadDog" Duhart has lived more than one lifetime, earning the respect he's due as the president of the Original Charter of Notorious Devils. Nevertheless, with life still yet to live, he wants more than the regret that's tarnished his past.
Their connection is instant, though they know they shouldn't act on it—not with more than thirty years between them. Not with their families tied together by the club's brotherhood.
Yet, there's something about the sweet, broken woman that whispers of a fresh start for an old man. And while he may be rough and ruthless, she cannot deny the way she feels when she looks into his haunted blue eyes.
One phone call. One cry for help. One motorcycle ride, and life as they know it is never the same. 
4 Stars!
I'm on the fence about this one because, honestly, there is so much I love but at the same time, so much I hate. It's a given that the H is going to piss me off, that's pretty much par for the course when it comes to MC Romance. But wow did Max piss me off, I wanted to seriously punch him in the throat. Now, let me say that Max could be a great man, very sweet and very loyal, but when he messes up he does it big time and as cheesy as it sounds he should be the poster child for "Go Big or Go Home".
Mary Ann only annoyed me when she gave in to Max the way she did. He messed up and she just forgives him. The last time she forgives him, I actually started screaming at my Kindle. My poor husband thought I'd lost my ever lovin' mind and threatened to throw my Kindle in the trash. How in the heck she forgives him so easy I have no friggin' clue. Ugh! I'm pretty sure at that point if it had been me, I'd have kicked his old a** to the curb and ran over him with his own bike.
There is a lot going on in this story. In a way, a little too much drama to really be contained in one story. We start off with Mary Ann, who's 27 and living in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend. Desperately in need of help out of her situation, she calls Max, the President of the Mother Chapter of her brother's Motorcycle Club. When he sees her he instantly wants her. It doesn't matter that Max is 60 years old and has a grown son and grandchildren.
Mary Ann and Max begin a relationship or what can be considered a relationship at that moment because he demands that she be monogamous with him and only him and says he won't sleep with anyone else either. Of course, there are the club whores who would love to change that fact and begin to cause trouble.
I don't want to go into too much detail because I don't want to give too much away but, basically, we deal with a laundry list of dramas and conflicts in this one story. We have Kyle, Mary Ann's boyfriend who is an abusive jerk and needs to be dealt with as well as his father. We have Mary Ann's past, she grew up being abused by her Father as did her brother Sniper who is a member of the Idaho chapter of the club. There's also the problems with the Club girls who think they can manipulate the men of the club.
The main issue or central conflict for the entire story, however, seems to be the age issue. I'm not going to lie, I couldn't process it and had to lie to myself and pretend he was 50 instead of 60. Generally, May/December doesn't bother me too much (my parents were 10 years apart) but 30+ year age gap was beyond my comprehension. It seemed to bother quite a few characters in the book but I really commend the author on how well it was handled. The age difference doesn't bother the MC's and they are able to show those around them that it shouldn't matter. I think all of this was done in a realistic way, we get to see how the public perceives couples like this, how their families react to them being together and how each of them feels about what it means for their future together.
Overall, this is a good read (when I'm not imagining throat punching), well-written and addicting. It definitely evokes some pretty strong feelings towards the characters that wouldn't be possible had I not been so invested in the story. I couldn't put it down even when it irritated me. Really, my only gripe is the fact that it had way too many conflicts. I would've loved to see the Kyle thing drawn out more and had that along with the age thing be all the drama. I could have gone for less sex (my God these two have a ton of sex) and instead focused more on Mary Ann getting away from Kyle and integrating into the club.
I'd definitely recommend Rough and Ruthless.
***Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author/publisher for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.***
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