ARC Review: Bad to the Bone (The Dogfather #5)

Bad to the Bone (The Dogfather #5)

by Roxanne St. Claire

Blurb:

Trace Bancroft has been in prison for fourteen years, paying for a mistake that cost a man his life. Now released, Trace heads back to Bitter Bark with his mutt, Meatball, and runs into Daniel Kilcannon, who offers to provide some medical care for the dog. Trace knows that would mean seeing Molly Kilcannon, a girl who shared one crazy night with him before his life took a turn for the worst. But when Meatball’s illness intensifies, Trace has no choice. He has to face Molly again and pray she’ll save his dog, no matter what their history.

When Trace Bancroft arrives at Waterford Farm with a critically ill dog, Molly Kilcannon’s entire world is rocked to the core. Firmly believing Trace died in a bar fight years ago, Molly never told anyone that the bad boy of Bitter Bark was the father of Prudence Kilcannon, her very good thirteen-year-old daughter. But Molly has promised to tell Pru the truth about her conception, and now that truth is a living, breathing ex-con whose very existence could change everything, including a precious mother-daughter relationship.

It doesn’t take long for Molly to realize there’s more to this sexy man than his dark past and tattooed arms. And while the realization that he’s a father is the best thing to ever happen to him, Trace doubts anything could make him worthy of Pru or her spirited veterinarian mother. As they nurse Meatball back to health and grow ever closer, Trace and Molly have to decide when and how to tell Pru the truth. But will the secret that binds their hearts be the very thing that breaks them apart?

Themes: Contemporary

Rating:  4.75 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 The series that has captured every romantic dog-loving centimeter of my heart continues with a story we never thought we’d get about a man that once thought he’d lost everything to a stupid mistake and a woman that gave her heart away long ago and never truly got it back.  Molly and Trace—and Pru’s—story was so full of feels that I knew by the end my heart was going to be broken at least once, but I had faith that Rocki would find a way to mend it as she always has. Rocki’s built this amazing world around a family of overachieving, animal-loving, and family oriented individuals that are all about to find out that love is not something that you can ever see coming, even if it is coming back around for a second chance.  I loved this story even more than the others in the series, even though some might say that the long lost lover returning to the existence of a half grown child is a bit of an overdone trope, but with the skill of our favorite author leading the way, Bad to the Bone is in no way a letdown.  If you like a sweet but angsty love story with all the fears and emotions on the wide range of the human scale and even a few that we like to pretend don’t affect us anymore, then Trace and Molly will give you everything you could ever need in a read.  I cannot wait for whoever's love story comes next, as well as the chance to check in with our previous couples to see how they are moving forward in their lives. 

Trace and Molly had a brief but intense moment one night that neither of them ever imagined would have the consequence it did—not the least of which is the existence of their daughter Prudence.  Now Trace is back and Molly is in no way prepared for him to be back in her life.     Trace knows he’s not anywhere near good enough for Molly, even if he might have been close before, but now that he’s an ex-con with not much more than a broken down trailer and a sick dog to his name, there’s not even an iota of a chance.   But when he is forced to beg for her help to save the only creature he has that loves him, his beloved dog, Trace will give anything to Molly for her to save Meatball.  Thrown together in their love of animals and the close confines of the training facility where Trace soon finds himself employed, Trace and Molly clash and have to find a way to come to terms with their past, especially once Trace understands that Pru isn’t only Molly’s daughter, but his as well.  Too bad becoming a father to a precocious preteen was never something he learned and Trace has no idea how to handle all these changes in his life, but now that he knows, he will do anything to make her happy…even give up his chance to be in her life.

The interesting part of this story is that Rocki gave us several flashbacks to the time when Trace and Molly’s lives changed forever, times that they both had to change along with their circumstances in order to survive.  I loved seeing Molly and her mother interacting as they worked together to handle the pregnancy as well as the early years of Pru’s life and seeing how supportive Molly’s mother was, despite possibly being disappointed in her daughter’s mistakes. Molly was one of those characters that intrigued me in previous novels because we needed to understand her story to know just how awesome a person she really was.  I was a bit sad the few times she struck out at Trace in her anger, but at the same time could understand that a woman sometimes uses the man she loves as the most convenient outlet for her frustrations and disappointment.  Trace on the other hand made me cry so many times; I could see just how self-aware he was, but at the same time he also couldn’t see just how wonderful of a man he truly was.  Yes, he made a mistake, a deadly one, but it was not something he did out of spite or evil, and he paid for it more than anyone should ever have to.  I loved seeing him come to understand that he deserved the love of the family that wanted to pull him into their fold, including his daughter and the mother of his child, the woman whose heart he stole a decade before and never returned.  He was the perfect balance of sweet, sexy, alpha, and forgiving, making him the perfect man to me, not to mention he was awesome with the animals and all animals know a person’s true heart. Two people so obviously meant for one another,finally getting a chance to have their love, what more could a reader ask for?

While I have never read a single story by Roxanne St. Claire that I didn’t love, this story especially hurt my heart, with two people both spending so many years believing they were undeserving of the love of the other.  In the end, only by coming back to each other, in trust and perfect love, were Trace and Molly able to understand that their love while developed quickly in their youth, was one that outlasted even all their years apart and was always meant to pull them back together.  It was hard experiencing all the traumas with them as they dealt with their issues and found a way for their family to mend their shattered foundations, but in the end the experience made me a better person for having shared in it.  Molly was a woman torn, dealing with turbulent emotions ranging from passion, fear, anxiety, anger, and ultimately deep and abiding love, but she was also a mother bear protecting her family from those that would tear it apart from the outside.  Trace was an example of a truly great man and a wonderful father, even if he’d never been one until this very moment, sacrificing even his own happiness and deepest wishes in order to protect his daughter and the woman he loves more than life itself.  The passion between these two while mellowed a bit with age, was in no way a dying fire, and I loved every second of these two finding their way back to one another’s arms. Bad to the Bone combines the best and worst of human nature and relationships and reminds us that even the most life-altering mistakes can be overcome with the truth of a love we all wish to find for ourselves someday. I am looking forward to the rest of the Kilcannon Clan finding love and getting to experience the drama of finding their true matches, and of course whatever adventure Rocki takes us on next. Another masterpiece of doggie-lovingly-epic proportions.

*eARC provided by author the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.