Heedless by Shannon McKenna – Book review

Published: December 11th 2020
Series: The Hellbound Brotherhood #4
Warnings: Language, suggestions of torture, verbal abuse

Whatever it takes to protect her…

Security expert Nate Murphy came to Shaw’s Crossing to kick ass and help the Trask brothers fight off their enemies. He didn’t expect to get knocked off his feet by the elusive, gorgeous Elisa, the mysterious woman who works in Demi’s restaurant. Elisa’s holding something back…something big. Nate’s a Marine and ex-bouncer whose specialty is breaking heads…but the fear in Elisa’s eyes makes him want to crush whoever put it there. If only she would tell him the truth…

Secrets and lies…

Elisa Rinaldi is on the run from a killer. She doesn’t dare expose him because he’s holding her little brother captive. Hiding in the mountain town of Shaw’s Crossing had seemed like a good idea at the time, but getting attached to the people there was not…particularly the hard-eyed, hard-bodied Nate Murphy. Because her new friends have big troubles of their own, and their trouble makes a lot of noise. Things have gotten messy in this town, with cops and media coverage everywhere. If she shows up on TV or online, she’s dead…and so is her beloved brother.

Elisa has to leave Shaw’s Crossing—after a parting gift to herself. One unforgettable night with Nate, and she’ll do the right thing…even if it breaks her. The passion between them leaves Nate gasping for breath. Then Elisa vanishes. Nate can’t rest until he finds her. He means to solve her problem once and for all…by any means necessary.

Elisa will risk everything to protect the man she loves, but Nate just won’t back down. Now danger is coming from all sides, while her mortal enemy is playing a game of cat and mouse…

And the stakes are both their lives…

Find out why New York Times bestseller Maya Banks hails McKenna’s books as “A non-stop thrill ride…”

Author’s Note: Heedless, Book Four of The Hellbound Brotherhood, is part of a connected series, but with its own couple and its own HEA.

As an Amazon Associate, I may earn commission from any qualifying purchases made from Amazon through links on this website.

Heedless drew me in right from the start and continued to hold my attention all the way through to the end. The level of intensity that the author, Shannon McKenna, created was great and the mood of the book was intense enough to keep me not wanting to put the book down. It was a gripping story and I totally enjoyed the pace that the action moved along at.

Elisa works in a café where she sees Nate come in regularly. He provides security for the family that owns the café, so he is often around. They have been eyeing each other off, but Elisa is holding Nate at a distance. That is until she decides to give herself a parting gift of a night with Nate, before she leaves town without telling anyone. Her intentions for leaving are good, but it doesn’t quite go to plan. Luckily for her, Nate plans to come to her rescue!

This was the point where Heedless really picked up in speed and action, as did the heat between Nate and Elisa. I did get a bit annoyed at first by the speed that Nate moved at in regard to the relationship with Elisa, as it kind of moved from a ‘one night stand’ to ‘serious and heavy’ almost between one page and the next. But, Nate did say – more than once – that he’d been waiting for her for quite some time. (Other characters also made reference to this to support Nate’s claim too.) And as the story went on, I found myself believing him more and the speed of it all became somewhat unimportant to me.

Heedless is part 4 of the The Hellhound Brotherhood series. I haven’t read any of the others that came before it and I certainly was still able to understand, and enjoy, Heedless as a stand alone story. (The detailed ‘cheat sheet’ that the author provided at the start of the book helped considerably!) But I suspect I would have been able to keep up with it a little more easily if I’d read the previous titles in the series. (I probably would have also better understood some of the characters that I was obviously already l supposed to know well.) Having said that, my enjoyment of the story wasn’t hampered at all – I just think it probably would have helped in parts to make things come clear a little faster.

There are other parts to the story that are going on in the background, involving the supporting characters, that are part of a running underlying storyline that is taking place throughout the whole series. I’m not going to talk about it as I don’t want to give anything away, other than to say I was totally sucked in by it all and want to know what happens next! The background story was strong in its own right and held its own pull, in addition to the main story involving Elisa and Nate.

Some sections of this book do feature violence, but nothing too overtly graphic. I’ve given Heedless a ‘4 hatchet’ rating for violence mostly because of the amount of time that is spent focusing on fighting (only against bad guys!) and because there are gunfights and discussions of torture. It is worth noting, however, that Shannon McKenna hasn’t gone in for vivid descriptions in reference to any of the violent scenes.

I really enjoyed this story. If you like your romance novels with a bit of grit and a lot of steam, this book will suit you well. Thank you to Shannan McKenna and Xpresso Book Tours for my copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

A photo of the author, Shannon McKenna, with her head tilted to the left

Shannon McKenna is the NYT bestselling author of more than seventeen action packed, turbocharged romantic thrillers, among which are the stories of the wildly popular McCloud series and her scorching new series, The Obsidian Files—rip-roaring romantic suspense with a sci-fi twist. She loves tough and heroic alpha males, heroines with the brains and guts to match them, villains who challenge them to their utmost, adventure, scorching sensuality, and most of all, the redemptive power of true love.

Since she was small, she has loved abandoning herself to the magic of a good book, and her fond childhood fantasy was that writing would be just like that, but with the added benefit of being able to take credit for the story at the end. Alas, the alchemy of writing turned out to be messier than she’d ever dreamed. But what the hell, she loves it anyway, and hopes that readers enjoy the results of her alchemical experiments.