PRAISE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING REAPERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB SERIES
“Raw emotion and riveting characters, I fell in love from page one!”
—Katy Evans, New York Times bestselling author
“Sex that blisters the imagination, resulting in a thrill ride as raw as it is well written.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Joanna Wylde has a great voice in this genre.”
—USA Today
“Hooked me so hard that I could not put it down.”
—A Bookish Escape
“If you like . . . [a] grittier romance, definitely check this one out.”
—Smexy Books
“I loved this book. It’s raw, gritty, and incredibly sexy . . . Very real and very dangerous, and I couldn’t stop reading. The sexual tension is off the charts . . . Prepare to get seriously hot under the collar. Sexy, dark, realistic, and yet romantic.”
—SeattlePI.com
“This was just the fix I was looking for.”
—The Book Vixen
“Smokin’ hot! . . . I continue to recommend this series as a real peek into a different kind of life.”
—RedHotBooks.com
“The perfect balance of badass alpha hero, feisty kickass heroine, supernova-hot erotic sex scenes, real genuine emotions, and love and brotherhood.”
—SinfullySexyBooks.com
“Raw and intensely erotic.”
—The Book Pushers
Berkley titles by Joanna Wylde
Reapers Motorcycle Club
REAPER’S LEGACY
DEVIL’S GAME
REAPER’S STAND
REAPER’S FALL
Silver Valley
SILVER BASTARD
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Copyright © 2015 by Joanna Wylde.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
BERKLEY® and the “B” design are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
For more information, visit penguin.com.
eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-19180-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wylde, Joanna.
Reaper’s fall / Joanna Wylde.—Berkley Trade paperback edition.
pages ; cm.—(Reapers motorcycle club ; 4)
ISBN 978-0-425-28064-5
I. Title.
PS3623.Y544R42 2015
813'.6—dc23
2015025747
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / November 2015
Cover art by Tony Mauro.
Cover design by George Long.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Version_1
For Dawn Dawn and Colleen.
Every writer needs a nurse and a lawyer in her corner, and I got the two most badass ones available.
Thank you.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you very much to everyone at Berkley who made this book possible, especially Cindy Hwang. Thanks also to Jessica Brock, the Goddess of Publicity who not only works hard to sell my books, but also gives my online readers’ group fabulous, shiny stickers. They like the stickers. A lot. (I’m also a huge fan of the stickers, but I’m far too cool and fabulous to ever publicly admit that.)
I owe much to Amy Tannenbaum, my incredible agent who I’m fairly certain is secretly a superhero. Someday I’m going to catch her riding a unicorn while wielding a rainbow sword against all who oppose me. (Okay, probably not, but she’s really good about returning my emails and never makes fun of me even when I’m crazy.) Amy, you kick ass. I’m pretty sure you’re already aware of this fact, but it never hurts to repeat it.
My writing friends keep me sane(ish) and I couldn’t do it without you. Thanks to Rebecca Zanetti, Cara Carnes, Kim Jones, Renee Carlino, Katy Evans, and the ever dreadful Kylie Scott. I love all of you except for Kylie, whom I tolerate.
Every day, I’m supported by amazing friends online, including the Sweetbutts, the Junkies (dino-power!), Hang Le, Kandace, Danielle, Lori, the other Lori, Milasy, and Lisa. “Thanks” seems fairly inadequate for all that you’ve given me.
Special thanks to Matt “Boo” Hintz, who taught me all about paint, boards, matte medium, the art world, and Willie G. I’m still fangirling a little that you were willing to talk to me.
Finally, thanks to my long-suffering husband and kids, who still love me despite my writing career. I’m not sure how you put up with me, but it’s much appreciated.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for giving my book a chance. As with the previous books in my series, this one has been read by a woman who has lived the MC life for accuracy, although I never let reality get in the way of telling the story I want to tell. For that reason, it’s worth noting a few realities that I’ve deliberately chosen to ignore while writing it.
In this book, the words “jail” and “prison” are used interchangeably by several characters. In real life, they’re two very different places, but for the sake of word variety I’ve opted to ignore that.
Rodeo is a complicated sport that I’ve described in a very simplistic way for the sake of brevity. Please know that I made a deliberate choice to streamline my description of events.
Finally, I’d like to make it clear that any officials or law enforcement personnel portrayed in my books as corrupt are not there because I believe they’re corrupt in real life. My stories would be very boring if there was never any conflict, which means someone has to be the antagonist. Because of the nature of the stories, that antagonist is often connected with law enforcement. Please know that in my own life, I have the utmost respect for the law enforcement officers who risk their lives daily to protect the people of Coeur d’Alene. Thank you so much for your service.
CONTENTS
PRAISE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING REAPERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB SERIES
BERKLEY TITLES BY JOANNA WYLDE
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
AUTHOR’S NOTE
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO