Heavy by Cate C. Wells Contemporary Romance September 15th, 2021, Self Published Reviewed by Melinda
Cate C. Wells has this weird magic about her that makes me love a motorcycle club romance every single time and honestly, it confuses me, but I don’t question it at this point! One of the things I think she does so well is take at least one aspect of each book and make it slightly unusual for an MC romance and focus on it. I’ve read all of her books and each one does this so well. In Heavy, she focuses on Dina, the heroine, who is neurodivergent.
Dina is on the spectrum, and I don’t know if the representation was done well as I don’t have personal experience with that, it did feel that way to me, but I will let someone else with that experience speak on that actual rep. What I did love about it is that it felt like a new voice in an MC book. She approaches Heavy, the MC president, and essentially tries to blackmail him. And really, I fell in love with her in the first two chapters because I have a thing for murderous heroines? Which is such a double standard I have in reading…but Dina is one of those morally gray characters I love.
The first half of this book is really setting up a marriage of convenience between these two. It’s very concentrated on basically 2 days and a Vegas wedding. And, to me, that was perfect because we needed that much time to see Dina and Heavy fall in love. Dina expresses multiple times that she doesn’t have feelings, and Heavy does not understand how Dina acts because it’s not like the women he is used to. So, while this is a departure from the regular narrative structure the author uses, I loved it. In particular, there is a STEAMY scene at a strip club that…phew, I will be thinking about for a while. Without this first half of Dina and Heavy having this time – mostly alone – I don’t think they would have been able to develop feelings for each other. At home, Heavy is constantly torn in a million directions. In Vegas, he was with Dina, and some of the older guys in the club at one point, and that time is pivotal to their relationship.
The second half of the book speeds up in terms of action. One of my favorite things about this book was just seeing Dina be integrated into Heavy’s life. Many people in her life just assumed she wanted to never leave the house – and admittedly, she didn’t. Being with Heavy and wanting to be around him makes that desire to be isolated change. The scenes with her and the other women amused me to no end. I laughed out loud numerous times in this one actually, which is something I didn’t expect. Especially since Dina had approached Heavy initially because she wanted him to help her murder someone.
Which leads me to the one thing that I didn’t love about this book. There is a big overarching series plotline with the club; and we find out a major secret in this one, and it didn’t really make sense to me. I’m hoping it will make more sense in the next book, because logistically I couldn’t work it or figure out how it made sense with what we already knew. Harper is the one who reveals the secret to Dina, and I did not get why Harper knew this information and didn’t tell Heavy of all people, who is her brother, and they’re super close!?
Besides that, while I hate Harper, I’m incredibly ready for her redemption arc. Like now, please!! Harper and Heavy’s relationship was interesting and one that made sense to me, given that they grew up in a motorcycle club, and that they are still in one. I actually really liked that they were close and loved seeing Harper and Dina develop a weird friendship.
In the end, there is quite a bit of violence in the book. I don’t want to give spoilers as it’s key to the plot, but this author could just be my problematic fave. I haven’t read a motorcycle club book in about 3 years until I read her, but now I’m hooked. Cate C. Wells is incredibly talented at keeping my attention at every turn.
Content Notes: Violence, Murder, mentions of sexual assault
Grade: A
I’ve read all this authors books, too, and they do somehow just work for me. I’ve tried other MC books looking for that same “thing” I get from CCW and haven’t found it yet. I really enjoyed this one a lot. And Dina is nothing like what I expected for Heavy’s love interest.
I’m so looking forward to Harper’s story. And I was a little confused by the secret Harper tells Dina, too. I hope it’s fleshed out more in Harper’s book.
I’m hoping the explanation in the next book is done in a way I can follow lol!
Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve tried various MC romances over the years, but the only ones that I could get into were Kati Wilde’s Hellfire Riders books. I found many of the other MC series I tried treated women (except the heroines, of course) like dirt. The Hellfire Riders heroes aren’t angels, but they do show some respect for women. I’m ok with dark and even with violence, but bad attitudes toward women in general (not specifically toward the heroine) really turn me off. How are CCW’s MC romances in terms of treatment of women?
Ooh I do like Kati Wilde too! I generally hate disrespect towards women, there is definitely the usual ‘my woman’ type attitude in these books but there is just something about how the heroes treat the women in these that I love. It’s hard to put into words but it just *felt* different to me? But YMMV!
I’m working my way through Cate C. Wells “Steel Bones” motorcycle club books right now. IMO, the club’s treatment of women is perhaps, better than most MC books. This club is not a 1% club. They had been, and Heavy, the president, got them into a (mostly) legal construction business. I’ve read, or tried to read, many MC series. I can’t make it through many of them because of their treatment of women, among other things. I am totally binge reading th Steel Bones” series. Give it a try. I think you will like it.
I think you make good points about it not being a 1% club. I did just try another MC series and I had to DNF because of the treatment of women. Glad to know I’m not alone in thinking this series is slightly or even majorly different for some reason!