Title: Give It All (Desert Dogs #2)
Author: Cara McKenna
Genre: Romantic suspense, Bikers
Release Date: 3 Feb 2015

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Tumblr / Goodreads

My rating: 4.5 Stars
Add on Goodreads

Synopsis

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer....

Bar owner Raina Harper can’t say for sure what Duncan Welch is to her. With her small Nevada town under siege by a ruthless casino development and still reeling from a spate of murders, she knows that trusting the public face of the corporate invaders is risky to say the least. Though, damn, it’s one fine-looking face.…

Duncan may be a mercenary when it comes to getting the job done, but he’s no villain. In fact, the calculating fixer soon finds himself in the bad guys’ crosshairs, framed and facing professional ruin. To clear his name, he’ll need help from Raina and her roughneck motorcycle club, the Desert Dogs. Gaining their trust won’t be easy, and the molten sexual tension between Raina and Duncan only makes things more complicated—especially since Miah Church, Raina’s friend and ex-lover, would sooner strangle Duncan than shake his hand.

One thing’s certain, though: If they don’t deal with their incendiary attraction soon, the whole damn town might go up in flames.…

This is the second book in the Desert Dog series of romantic suspense biker stories by Cara McKenna and it's an addictive read with great characters and a twisty suspense plot. 

The hero, Duncan, oh, boy, he was something else - I really hated him in the first book and when I learned that the sequel will be about him and Rain, I was anxious if and how the authro will developed his character in a convincing way for me to accept him as good enough/right for Raina. I needn't have worried. Ms McKenna not just made me accept Duncan but she basically made me fell in love with him, with his weirdness, his obsessions and pretences.

It's a very character driven story and the focus is on the journey/transformation of Duncan from the perfect emotionless almost robotic man in book 1 into a real human being with weaknesses and messy emotions. I felt deeply for Duncan and loved the person he was deep down and just let himself be in the end of the end. The relationship with Raina seemed impossible, illogical, they had nothing in common besides hot chemistry and they acted on it without too much expectations. He needed love and acceptance and the feeling of being wanted, valued, needed and Raina was not the most nurturing woman out there, at she was unwilling to open up to needing anyone, giving them more of herself than just sex. The love scenes were passionate, both rough and tender at the same time creating a sense of true intimacy, something Ms McKenna is a true master of.

Duncan and Raina went by trial and error in their relationship and there were some spectacular errors made by both sides. Apparently, a diamond bracelet given as a gift can the absolute thing to do, go figure :) On a more serious note, Ms McKernna examines the human heart, how difficult is to open up, to let ourselves feel any emotion since they could hurt us.

The suspense plot was not my favourite and I think it was the weakest element of the story. the characters and their interactions were much more interesting and well developed. I loved the glimpses of Miah and Casey.

I'm excited about the next book in the series and I hope it will be about Miah (he deserves his own HEA), though it might be about Casey, since we saw a lot of him in this book and by the looks of it things with him are pretty messed up. Meanwhile, Ms McKenna shared that she is working on a novella on Raina and Miah (back when they were together).

Recommended read for fans of romantic suspense with strong characters and focus and human relationships and matters of the heart!

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N