Having read and loved Incandescent, I couldn't wait to read Affliction, the second book in the Knight's Rebels MC series. Affliction was a but of a surprise, having a much more emotional story than the first book in the series. This book can absolutely be read as a standalone, although the characters are first introduced in Book One and some of the plot might be a little spoiler-ish. 
 Sy is angry, gruff, and hard-edged, having suffered a very, very painful loss several years before. He spends the first part of the book acting like a complete jerk towards our heroine Holly, and at times I almost felt like the author was making him into a lost cause. Holly is spirited and outgoing and we first meet her in Book One. She meets Sy when her best friend becomes involved with the Club President. 
 Holly, too, has spiraled into a very dark place and Sy is drawn to her and knows that he can help her overcome her emotional scars. I grew to love Sy while reading this book and absolutely adored the protective way he treated Holly. While this story might seem like it is dark and very emotional, the sex scenes are off the charts hot and very, very steamy. And, there is actually a beautiful love story here and a lovely message about forgiveness, acceptance and letting go of the past. All in all, this is a great story for all fans of MC romance. I can't wait to read more from this author! 
 (*ARC provided by the author in return for an honest review.)