The Wicked Aftermath: Tank Wicked (The Wickeds: Dark Knights at Bayside) - Gripping Motorcycle Club Romance Novel for Adults, Perfect for Fans of Dark Romance & Biker Stories

The Wicked Aftermath: Tank WickedBy Melissa FosterWhen I finished the last page of Tank & Leah’s story, I was giddy like a school girl! I absolutely loved the way Melissa Foster ended this book. This book consumed me with all the pain, sorrow, (survivor’s) guilt, longing, love, and adoration. Basically, it gave me all of the feels!A quick note: I read book 5, His Wicked Ways, which is Blaine Wicked’s story. I had seen Foster’s IG promoting this book heavily before I started the series and all are considered stand alone books, however there is a natural progression amongst the characters/family beginning in book 1, so while reading His Wicked Ways first got me to go back and read the series from the beginning, IF YOU HAVE NOT STARTED THIS SERIES, I would recommend you start from the beginning, especially if you enjoy a good series where you see prior characters continuing to develop through a smaller plot line as the story focuses on new characters in each book.In The Wicked Aftermath, the two main characters are Tank Wicked and Leah Yates. Leah is a waitress at Tank’s family’s bar, The Salty Hog. In the first book of the series, A Little Bit Wicked, the reader feels an underlying current between Tank and Leah, when they are both at the Salty Hog at the same time. Tank is interested in Leah, thinks she is beautiful; meanwhile, Leah avoids Tank at all costs because she can sense turmoil and guilt radiating off of him each time they make eye contact. She is not certain of the explanation for these feelings she picks up from Tank, so it naturally scares her. Until one night, a tragic accident happens involving Leah, her brother, River, and River’s two little girls, Junie and Rosie. Tank arrives on scene and helps to pull survivors from the accident Leah and family are involved in, which ultimately leaves someone unable to be saved. Leah is consumed with survivor’s guilt and all of the feelings associated with a traumatic event such as this one. Throughout the following months, Tank refuses to be anywhere but available to Leah and her family, understanding her grief, based on a significant loss he’s experienced in his own family in the past. He wants to help her learn how to live through the traumatic loss while also giving honor to the lost while carrying those cherished memories with her forever. This is just a brief summary of the plot in my words, but there is so much more going on in the book and it definitely deserves the read. Unpack the grief and loss, sit with those feelings as you are going through the book, and find yourself falling in love with these characters.The relationships that absolutely consumed my heart and soul in this book was Tank’s relationship with Junie and Rosie. These two little girls are the absolute CUTEST and Melissa Foster captured their personalities flawlessly – you can’t read this book and NOT love them! Papa Tank adores these girls as if they are his own, and the way Junie takes to him, wanting to become a tattoo artist like him in the future – major swoon. The way he describes all of his tattoos to the girls is by explaining that they are like stories, each one having a significant meaning to its owner – in response, both girls begin referring to tattoos as “stories” and it becomes a common conversation topic within the book. The way Tank cares for these girls, and Leah, it makes all of the trauma and heartbreak from the beginning of the book so worth it.Having read all five of the books currently published for the Wicked family, the first book was my least favorite and I was a little uncertain about continuing the series after reading it, but I knew I enjoyed Blaine’s book (book 5), and I am so glad I continued with Tank and Leah’s story. Truly, each story gets better with each book. You can’t miss this series – do yourself a favor and get it downloaded to your Kindle now!Melissa Foster’s style of writing is easy to read and she creates characters who are so interesting, you can’t help but keep turning the pages, even when it’s time to go to bed for the evening.  I will mention, many of the books I am used to reading are written in the first person POV with multiple POVs. While Melissa Foster writes the Wicked series with two different POVs, it is written from the third person perspective, so I feel it is worth mentioning in the review, in case this is something you are not used to reading. While I was not used to reading from this POV, it did not take long for me to get adjusted to the difference in style.I also read this book with the Audible narration companion in order to continue the book while driving or at the grocery store and the narrators were great, in my opinion. I loved the gravel-like timbre of Tank’s voice in the narration. Leah’s little southern twang was cute, too. I think the narrators did a great job of bringing this story to life in audio!