4.0
Beyond Solitude
ByPublisher Description
Novella #4.5 in the bestselling, multi-award winning BEYOND series.
Mia risked everything to walk away from a gilded cage in Sector Two, but grasping at freedom was only her first trial. With no protection in the sectors, every day is a struggle to stay alive. Her best hope now is a job working for the most dangerous gang in Sector Four--the O’Kanes.
When a motorcycle accident leaves Derek Ford riding a desk at the O'Kane compound, the last thing he needs is a sexy new assistant upending his office and his life. Especially someone like Mia, who greets his growls and commands with smiles and a fierce independence.
The friction between them generates an undeniable heat, and Mia's stubborn refusal to let life beat her down stirs Ford's darkest protective instincts. He has the power to take care of her, protect her not only from discomfort but from threats of her past...but first he'd have to claim her.
And Mia will never be kept again.
Set during Beyond Jealousy.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesBeyond Solitude Reviews
4.0
“I have to admit that I am an O'Kane junkie.... I LOVELOVELOVE the Beyond series and I was thrilled when the girls announced they were writing a novella featuring Ford and Mia.
I'm intrigued by the whole post-flare world that the books are set in and reading more about what goes on outwith the O'Kane compound and Sector4 was right up my street!!!
Ford is a bit older and he's kinda rough round the edges. We met him briefly in Beyond Jealousy but knew next to nothing about him! He's gruff, grouchy, and has mostly closed himself off from the people around him....
Mia has fallen on tough times after escaping Sector 2 and she's living is one of the worst parts of the Sector with very little to her name but she's a fighter and has survived without having her spirit broken.
She's a caring, lovely but tough wee thing who speaks her mind and isn't put off by Ford, regardless of how he comes across when she first meets him.
They have a mutual attraction from the get-go and I loved reading about the development of their relationship (and being an O'Kane bloke, Ford managed to royally mess things up - even though he had the best of intentions!!). It's was fab learning a little more about the other sectors and of course, we had the appearance of some of our S4 favourites......
As ever, the dialogue between the characters is fantastic, the sex and smokin & I'm in lust.... this time with Ford!!!
BEYOND SOLITUDE is a great addition to the series and a MUST READ for all O'Kane/Kit Rocha fans!!!!”
“4.5 Stars
This is another short novella installment of The O'Kanes that introduces us to what life was like in Sector Two.......
We all know that Lex came from this sector and we got a taste of it in her book, but to see Mia struggle with actually living outside those borders takes it another step farther. Ford is everything the male that Mia never knew existed, but everything her body craves from the minute he walks into the office. To see them both come to grips with what a true partner can offer was reward above and beyond the ink on the wrist of an O'Kanes.”
“As I've said before, Kit Rocha's Beyond series is my kind of catnip. By all rational accounts, I shouldn't like these books nearly as much as I do: I'm not a fan of dystopias, motorcycle gangs, liquor smuggling, cage fighting, or patriarchy -- all of which feature prominently in the Beyond series plot. However, while these books are set in a violent, patriarchal dystopia, they explore feminist themes like consent, gender politics, and power dynamics in relationships and in other settings. Oh, yeah, and they're also wicked sexy.
The novella Beyond Solitude focuses on Mia and Derek, and it's a change of pace from the prior books in the series because Derek is more of a beta hero than the other O'Kane men. Sure, he's got O'Kane ink and he rides a motorcycle, but Derek eschews the cage fighting and street fighting that O'Kane men seem to favor. He's not an enforcer or a military-trained assassin like Jas or Bren or Cruz (prior Beyond alpha-heroes); instead, Derek supports the clan by working behind the scenes, putting his skills as an economist/accountant to work maximizing profits from various O'Kane business ventures. He's a loner and a misanthrope, his disposition not improved by the fact that he lives with significant physical pain, a result of slow-healing injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash.
Mia, like the O'Kane matriarch Lex, is a refugee from Sector Two, where they train women as companions (read "prostitutes") for wealthy and influential men. Mia has been raised from childhood to see life as a balance sheet and herself as a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded like property. She's escaped from her Patron and longs for freedom in Sector Four, but old habits die hard, and she can't stop thinking of every gift and every gesture from Derek as debts that she'll eventually be called to repay, whether willing or no.
I liked this story a lot, though the abbreviated novella form made the couple's speedy courtship feel a little insta-lovey, and the conclusion also felt hasty... again, probably because this is a novella and not a full-length novel. If you've already read the Beyond books, don't miss this one, because it's a nice change of pace from the alpha-hero/submissive female dynamic of most of the previous books, plus it gives some great insight into series-wide world-building (like how the O'Kane clan's finances work, and the politics of Sector Two), but if you're just dipping your toe into the series, don't start here: I'm not sure this novella would stand alone without the complex background already established in the previous four novels.”
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