Beyond the Cut by Sarah Castille

beyond the cutNarrated by Chandra Skyye

Proving that not all Motorcycle Clubs (MCs) or bikers, for that matter, are alike, Beyond the Cut, Book 2 in Sarah Castille’s Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club series, provides an interesting comparison between the “good,” if not necessarily completely law abiding, MCs and the “bad” MCs. Beyond the Cut also straddles the line between a light and dark romance, covering some of the typical dark romance themes that are prevalent in the MC romance sub-genre, including domestic violence, without being so overly descriptive as to alienate some of the more adventurous, mainstream romance listeners. As for the erotic content that typically is synonymous with this sub-genre, well, there is plenty of that – so much so, that I did find myself fast-forwarding through a couple of the scenes. This MC romance also sports a complementary, above-average narration by Chandra Skyye, whose performance helps bring this story to life.

Dawn Delgado has not had the best luck with men. Having recently managed to somewhat disentangle herself from an abusive marriage to Jimmy “Mad Dog” Sanchez, the Vice President of the Devil’s Bretheren MC, Dawn has made it her mission to avoid bikers at all costs. The only thing that matters to her now is her young, twin daughters. Unfortunately for Dawn, however, Mad Dog has managed to fraudulently get full custody of the girls. This is particularly troubling to Dawn given Mad Dog’s apathy towards the girls. Instead, Mad Dog and his equally cruel sister just use the girls as an additional mechanism to maintain control and extort money from Dawn, who keeps three jobs just to make enough money to be able to buy some time with her girls.

When Cade “Ryder” O’Connor, a member of the rival MC, the Sinner’s Tribe,, manages to smooth talk his way into a one night stand with Dawn, however, the passion that they unleash opens the door to something that holds so much more. Having been unable to stop the domestic abuse that his mother endured, Cade is a firm believer – which fortunately his MC shares – that no woman should have to suffer such abuse. Later when he discovers the untenable situation that Dawn is in, he makes her certain promises. Dawn, however, doesn’t know if she can ever trust another biker again. After all, aren’t all bikers the same? Moreover, when an admirer from the right side of the law offers her a potential permanent solution, Dawn is left with a very difficult decision. Is there any way that she can have it all?

Chandra Skyye delivers a solid performance in Beyond the Cut. Making distinguishable voices for each one of the members of the large cast of characters, Ms. Skyye excels in one of the main characteristics that I look for in a good narrator. Additionally, Ms. Skyye has a good feeling for the tone, and aids in the setting of the mood, of each scene, varying her delivery to fit the particular action, whether it be the fast-paced action filled ones or the slower, and yet more urgent at times, passionate scenes.

My only reservation is that I wasn’t completely convinced with Ms. Skyye’s choice for Cade’s voice. In that regard, he had a raspier sound to his dialogue, but not as deep and masculine as I would have hoped for. Perhaps part of the issue here is that certain voices were already spoken for in Rough Justice, Book 1 of the series. Although I read this prior book in the series, it wouldn’t surprise me, given the number of characters who first make their appearance in that predecessor book, if some of Ms. Skyye’s preferred deeper, more masculine sounding male voices were already attributed to other characters who played a more prominent role in that book.

All in all, Beyond the Cut is a well rounded MC romance. I enjoyed the good versus evil themes, and the final message that not everything is black and white or clearly good or bad in the world. Instead the most important thing is that you are true to who you are and follow your heart.

BJ


Narration: B

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: For your burning ears only

Violence Rating: Fighting, Domestic Violence

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Beyond the Cut was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for a review.

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