12.27.2023 | Wednesday

Dodge

category: Book Reviews
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Dodgetitle: Dodge
author: M.L. Nystrom
series: Dragon Runners #6
published: 12.26.2023
publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
genre(s): romance
pages: 248
source: client
format: manuscript
buy/shelve it: Amazon | BookBub | BookHype | Goodreads

rating: five-stars | series rating: five-stars

the blurb

The world is stacked against Fauna Somers. Constantly at odds with her family, she struggles to make a career as a Black woman to become a top chef in a male-dominated field. A chance one-night stand leads her to buy an old diner to forge a new path.

Dodge is torn between his father’s expectations and an ex-wife who regularly drifts in and out of his life. His passion is custom artwork for motorcycles and cars; his regret is losing the woman he met at a hotel bar for a single night.

Against the backdrop of roaring engines and the vibrant Dragon Runners MC world, can these two kindred spirits reignite their flame and find the happiness they've both been yearning for? Get ready for a heart-revving ride of romance, redemption, and the ultimate pursuit of love in "Dodge."


  • a few notes
  • review

content warning: ❗drug use, SA, family dysfunction❗

POV: 3rd person/1st person
keywords/phrases: mc, assault, drugging, racism, family
spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
language: 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

As with the other books in this series, the author has created great characters and storylines that have impact. And she has built a beautiful family dynamic within the Dragon Runners MC that is carried throughout the series.

In this one, Fauna is a strong, determined woman, true to herself. She’s had to be. In her professional life as a chef, she’s been held back, in part because she’s a woman and in part because she’s multiracial. Even in her personal life, her mother (a Black woman) has pushed her to shove aside her Black heritage in order to better fit into the world her mother has made for herself. Dodge has his own baggage in a father who has always been rather aloof and in a drug-addicted ex who keeps dropping in and out of his life. Both of them take Dodge for granted, and his kindness keeps him from standing up for himself when he should.

That’s the kind of thing I love about this series… the very real issues that exist for the characters. The author digs deep, exposes the shadows to the light. I appreciate that, because life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Those shadows, those experiences… they form a person. There’s a real level of hope in reading stories like this one, that from the bad can come the very good.


About M.L. Nystrom

ML Nystrom had stories in her head since she was a child. All sorts of stories of fantasy, romance, mystery and anything else that captured her interest. A voracious reader, she’s spent many hours devouring books; therefore, she found it only fitting she should write a few herself!

ML has spent most of her life as a performing musician and band instrument repair technician, but that doesn’t mean she’s pigeon-holed into one mold. She’s been a university professor, belly dancer, craftsperson, soap maker, singer, rock band artist, jewelry maker, lifeguard, swim coach, and whatever else she felt like exploring. As one of her students said to her once, “Life’s too short to ignore the opportunities.” She has no intention of ever stopping… so welcome to her story world. She hopes you enjoy it!

Rating Report
plot
five-stars
characters
five-stars
writing
five-stars
pacing
five-stars
Overall: five-stars

reading challenges:

  • 2023 Alphabet Soup: Author Edition Reading Challenge
::spread the love::

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