Kit Rocha’s Beyond series deals in the lives and loves of a bisexual love army fighting back against capitalist oppressors after the fall of our current civilization.
The Gideon’s Riders series is a successor series to the Beyond Series. They are fun, quick reads and they are reliable (Which is actually really important in romance readership.) I enjoyed the Beyond books, so I started in on Gideon’s.
This is the second book about Gideon’s Riders, a fighting force of people who have committed to give their lives in service of the head of their religion. Which is already off putting and would be more so if not for the insight we get into that religious leader.
Deacon deals with Ana (N.B. Why is it named after Deacon and not Ana, when her story is way more compelling and we spend most of the book in her POV?) the first female Rider. She has a lot to prove and she knows it. The eyes of the world on her, looking for imperfections. She knows that she is a role model to young women and girls and that if she botches it by, say, getting romantically involved with her boss, Deacon, then that will be used as an excuse to keep women out of the Riders forever.
Deacon was the first Rider. He didn’t grow up in the religion that Gideon leads but he has served it for twenty years. He had a life before the Riders and that life shows up to bite him in the ass. Will the Riders still accept his leadership once they know what he’s been keeping from them?
Ana and Deacon both have reasons to keep it professional. And yet… they fall into bed pretty damn quick. There was no set up of simmering sexual tension or sidelong looks. One comment from a buddy about Deacon being “stern but bangable” and Ana can’t get a hold of herself. It’s hot and all but given the set up of their obstacles, they gave in a bit too quickly for my taste.
Deacon’s story just doesn’t have that much to it, while Ana’s journey is better fleshed out and more satisfying. A B effort keeps Rocha on the auto buy list.