Max (Ride: Second Generation #1) (2024)

This is the start of the new series: Ride: The Second Generation!!! As you know, I have been reading the MC series; Ride for the past week and have gotten familiar with the families involved in the story. In this new series, we are treated to a front row seat of the kids falling in love. Of course they aren’t kids anymore!!! These characters have all grown up together with in the walls of the motorcycle club and their families!
In this first instalment, we get to witness Max Jackson and Wren fall in love!!!
There is never a totally smooth ride but it is an entertaining one! I certainly enjoyed this read and look forward to more in the series!

It was a bittersweet moment when Cal, the last book in Megan O’Brien’s The Ride series released. The series had a family atmosphere that I loved and I’d grown fond of the characters. Needless to say I was thrilled when I heard Ms. O’Brien would be putting out the next generation’s stories. Max stole my heart as a little boy. He was a huge part of Cal’s story which made him the perfect choice to kick off the Ride: Second Generation Series.

The adopted son of Cal and Jill, Max was a serious little boy who felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. Under their loving care he grew up to be a fairly quiet albeit badass man who considered himself a protector of his family. He deeply loved and respected his adoptive clan which included the entire Knights MC family.

Wren is the only child of Sal and Kat. A tomboy at heart, she drank in the lessons of her father and became a car mechanic extraordinaire, eventually surpassing even his skill level. She’s also been quietly in love with Max since she was a child, but being pragmatic, she knew he would never return those feelings especially as he stayed far away from her.

No matter how much Max wanted Wren there was no way he would act on his feelings as she was the daughter of a man he deeply respected as well as eight years younger than him. He distanced himself as much as a badass alpha biker is capable of doing, but when Wren finds herself the target of an increasingly violent stalker, Max can’t help but pull out all the stops to keep her safe. I have to admit I struggled with Max at first. In the beginning he was quiet and closed off and I’m not a fan of the “I want her but can’t go there” trope. He ended up acquitting himself nicely though, and by then end I felt he and Wren truly belonged together.

Wren was innocent but not in a giggly or stupid way, which helped me to overlook her virgin status. That’s not to say she didn’t do a couple of things I questioned, especially by not immediately telling her Dad about the weird things going on. She salvaged her credibility as a strong heroine by being smart and open to all the safety measures put in place once things took a turn for the dangerous.

The stalker aspect drummed up a fair amount of suspense and action but huge chunks of the book were more about a passing of the torch from the older to the younger generation. Although this needed to be done to set up the series, I felt like it slowed things down a bit too much at times which made the book easy to put down. Despite this, I enjoyed becoming reacquainted with my favorite 1st gen characters and getting to know their kids as adults. Max and Wren’s story was sexy and sweet and I am definitely looking forward to what’s next. With the trouble brewing, it should be good.

Rating: 3.75 Passing of the Torch Stars

I could not wait to start this book and the second generation of the Ride was well worth the wait. This is Max and Wren’s story.

Wren is the only child and daughter of Sal and Kat, she has loved Max Jackson since she was a little girl and now that she is older she knows he has the power to crush her heart. Knowing that he doesn’t look at her the way she wants and it kills her watching him with another woman so when the times comes for her to choose a college she knows she needs to get away from Hawthorne and maybe move on from the love that will never be returned. Wren and her cousin Olivia have been sharing a house when strange gifts start appearing for Wren but when she gets attacked there is only one person she wants to call Max. Returning home Wren is faced with all her old feeling but when max shuns her for the last time she knows that she needs to move on. But when Wren is involved in a serious accident and Max wants another chance will she let him in or had he pushed her away too hard?

Max Jackson is finally a patched in member of The Knights, now under the leadership of the man he considers his older brother after his stepfather stepped down. Max is an intense character with many layers, he has always noticed and tried to protect Wren never looking too deeply at why he has always taken such an interest in her life but when she finally tells him how she feels he pushes her away telling her they can never be, especially as he is eight years her senior. But when he finds Wren hurt and unconscious he finally has to face the feelings he has tried to keep a secret, can he convince Wren that he loves her or has he lost her for good and how will Sal react to Max & Wren as a couple?

I love how we are still seeing the old Ride guys appear with the next generation. And this story was just another success as far as I am concerned.ad Megan O’Brien is a definite one click read for me.

Wow. If I had any complaint it would be that I wanted more. More scenes of them together and more story. So good. This is the beginning of the next generation but all the former couples are there as well.

Loved Max, he fought it but when he gave in he was so sweet. Wren is now one of my favorite all time heroines. Not afraid to say how she feels, no games, no tstl.

The set up there for future books in series. I hope the author writes faster.

4.25 STARS

I loved the first generation and I am loving the second generation.
Hope there is more in this second generation series.

Max Jackson is a member of the Knights MC and a friend of Wren Armstrong's father, that means Wren is off limits even if he is attracted to her. When Wren ends up in danger, she is on Max's bike and although he tries to push her away he can't find a way to live without her. Wren knows what she wants, does Max?

I am not sure why I put this off for so long but this was fantastic. I loved every moment of the story and like always with a Megan O'Brien story it had some surprises. Now I need to pick up the next book. Page turner that you can't get enough of.

It's a good story.
Next generation but you get plenty of scenes with old and new characters.
There are other women on the scene at the start of the book but no intimate scenes and no details.
He is a few years older than she is so although I am not a fan of other women it is realistic that he would have been involved with other people prior to the heroine.
They are together by 35% ish. After that no ex drama flirting etc, cheating and a HEA.

🐱🐈🐕🐶

🔧🔩🚲🚙🚘🚗

💕💓❤💘

💘🏍🏎

I’m always a little nervous when I read a book that’s the next generation of characters from a series that I love, it’s hard to get it right. But This one was done really well, i enjoyed the whole story, I loved Wren and once Max Stopped fighting it he was wonderfully protective and sweet. I’ve loved every single one of Megan O’Brien’s books and this was no exception!

Enjoyed this story, nice start to the next generation of the MC. This to me was just sweet as they had been in love with each other unbeknownst to one another their wasn’t really any gradual relationship development they just got together and that’s it. I was a bit disappointed that there was no Ryder or piper scenes, Ryder is my favourite so I’m like where are they and their children. I’m guessing either gunner or Maddox is next, either way I’m looking forward to it. Keep up the great work:)

Yay!

I was excited when I found out MOB would be writing the next generation's stories! I had to make myself a little family tree to keep up with who belonged to whom LOL! LOVED Max and Wren's story and I'm so excited for the others to come too!

Love these stories

I love Megan O'Brien books! She's an automatic one-click for me. I've been more than pleased with all of the "Ride" stories. The Second Generation has started out spectacularly! I can't wait for more!

An okay read for me, I wasn't a big fan of Wren. Max was a great Alpha, strong yet sweet.

I was so happy to see this spin off series!!! this first book has been just as good. Can't wait to dive into the next.

Love this book! Didn’t know that there was a series of The Second Generation of The Knights MC.
Love Wren and Max’s story. Love everything about this book; the storyline, suspense and the chemistry between the main couple.
Now on to Mad’s book.

My Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

2,5 Stars

The first half was way better than the second half.

The first half had all the feels, I was LOVING it! The second half was just, ...cheese ... zero bacon.. just plain cheese.

I was Bummed.

Absolutely fantastic

Wow the pace of this book has not changed from the first series. The next generation of guys and girls are every bit a fierce and funny as the first. If this keeps up it will be another brilliant ride.

So glad to finally get Max!!

I have loved this series since the beginning! So glad we get the second generation. Loved Max and Wren!!!! Max really deserved his happily ever after!

Where to begin... I don't even know. Megan was one of the authors on my to meet list. That became a reality in July when I went to MMM. It was so amazing to meet her and she is a super nice person. It has been a few years since I found Cole, and then read all of her stories. One thing I find with her books is that I can read them over and over again and it feels like the first time...everytime. I get excited, nervous, and fist pump in my head...now that I am completely sidetracked :) check out the Ride Series (Cole, Sal, Axel, Ryker, and Cal) then Talon Security (Crave, Claim, and Collide). A note read Talon Security after Ryker.

Max is the next generation. You first meet him in Cal's story. Megan picked the perfect kid from the originals to start this series off with. You don't have to read the others to understand this story, but I recommend you do. Even when we first met him, you knew he was going to be powerful and make a lasting impression on you. Max had this strength and weight on his shoulders. When that weight gets too heavy, he must work to lessen the load. Share and let someone in. He wants that someone to be Wren. He sabotages himself and wastes so much time and energy in his head. Max is a calculated deep thinker. I really enjoyed how Megan portrayed Max as an adult. I don't want to spoil, but I think he is my favorite character by her.

Wren is what I would expect the daughter of Kat and Sal to be like. She is strong willed, sharp and a tack, and has a heart full of love. Wren knows what she wants professionally and personally. When hopes of her personal wants are dashed, she is left forging ahead. I liked how Wren grew in this story. I felt she couldn't be honest with Max as first. Once she admitted it all to him it was his turn to wake up

the threat to Wren was obvious to me, but Megan kept it different and exciting. She kept you guessing on when the shoe would drop. When it did I didn't expect what happened to happen. I know that's confusing, but didn't want to spoil. LOL.

The originals are all present and it is awesome reading the dynamics and visiting with these characters again. Sal and Kat were my fave in the original series. Watching their interaction with Max had me fist pumping and laughing. the relationship Cole and Max had was captured well within these pages. I liked how they had this brotherly bond. Even some characters you didn't expect to see make an appearance. That was shocking, to say the least.

Overall, I could not put this story down. I didn't have any expectations but this went above and beyond anything I could have hoped for in the second generation. I cannot wait to see where she takes this story. 5 pointe shoes because as I write this I want to go back and read ALL of Megan's stories again.

3.5 Stars

Oh how I love the 1st generation ride series. The Heroes/Heroines/Club aspect all make me look like that heart eye emoji. That's why when I heard she was making a second generation series, I was SO excited. I, personally, love second generation stories because it shows you how life has changed your favorite characters and their children plus its like an extremely long epilogue for the 1st generation so there's literally no reason not to love them. However, even with my love for second generation books and my love for the ride series AND my love of Max in Cal's book (hello what a perfect mini alpha), the reality of Max and Wren left me wanting more...drama. Where was the difficulty? Where was the thrill? Where was the grovel? Wren has been in love with Max since she was 10 years old and he has continually shunned her, shut her down, and hurt her (so you'd expect some hurt feelings), but the minute he says "I'm ready now", she's okay with it? I would have loved to see Max fight to regain her love. I also wish Sal would have been more of an Alpha Dad. He had like a 4 second freak out and then he was cool with it? Does not seem to align with how protective Sal is described. Also, it seemed like this book moved at warp speed and lacked very necessary transitions at certain points, which caused some frustrations.

I loved how involved the 1st generation of Ride was and I loved how Megan set up the friendships and relationships within the Ride children. Even though I wanted more, this was still a worthwhile read, especially if you loved the 1st generation. I hope she continues writing because I would love to see Emmie & Gunners story or maybe Gracies story and how Cole reacts to his little girl falling in love.

I'm always wary about next generation books because most of the time they don't live up to the previous generation but I really enjoyed this. Wren is the daughter of Kat and Sal and Max is Jill and Cal's son, their parents had epic love stories and they both grew up in club life and know how things go. Wren has loved Max since she was 10 years old but he's always been indifferent to her. As a patched member of the club, Max does not want to be on Sal's bad side since he's the club VP but he does have feelings for Wren but doesn't want to rock the boat. Wren and Olivia, Axel's daughter had moved away to school and when some really weird packages start arriving for Wren and after she's attacked, Max comes to bring them both home. Again, he's keeping his distance until he almost losses her and then he makes his feelings known to Wren and to Sal. I liked Max, ever since he was a kid in the previous book and now as a man, he's quiet, always assessing and a good man, Jill and Cal did a great job raising him. When he made his feelings known, Wren made him wait a bit because she was a bit confused but when they went all in it was good to see them build their relationship. They talked and challenged each other and loved one another as much as they could. It was cute that Wren was a virgin and that Max thought her everything and then some. And when push came to shove regarding Wren's safety, the whole club rallied together. It was nice to see Cole as President, Sal as VP and those bonds and relationships still stronger than ever. I can't wait to read the books for the rest of the second generation of Knights.

4 Stars!!

Apparently, I missed an entire MC series, because this is the 1st in the series about the second generation of Knights. While it is not necessary to read the first series, after reading this one, I am dying to go back and catch up.

Wren has been in love with Max since she was a little girl. The problem... Max is eight years older than her AND a member of her father's MC. Max has always watched out for Wren, even when she was a little girl. But, he's been hiding his feelings for Wren all these years because he doesn't want to cause trouble.

This book went fast. It starts off with a perfect prologue that gives just enough background to explain the situation between Wren and Max. Then, it skips forward three years and really takes off. Intially, the sexual tension between Max and Wren is palpable and it builds and builds until the moment it boils over. This is fairly early on in the book. Once they give in, the book takes a bit of a turn from a romance to romantic suspense. Wren is in danger and Max will go to the ends of the Earth to protect her.

Wren is strong, independent and puts her foot down when needed, but she loves Max's alpha tendencies. And Max is alpha all the way. I really loved that their relationship developed the way it did. There was no long, drawn out will they won't they situation. They both will and that works, because it lets the book naturally transition to suspenseful but allows the reader to get a real feel for how much they love each other.

This is my first book by Megan O'Brien, but it will definitely not be my last. What a great book!

Don’t get this 3 stars wrong, I actually really like the style of romance this series brings. So far I’ve read 2 books in this series (out of order, oops!) and I DO like the romance.

I like that the alpha male isn’t a big whor* who talks down to club girls (sweet butts) but then falls head over heels for the heroine bc she’s the only virgin around. I like that it’s a slow burn with a lot of references history between the H/h and that there really isn’t any reference to any other love interests in their pasts or present. The focus is on them. I could have lived without the heroine always having to be a virgin, when the hero is definitely not (but again, he’s not the usual man-whor* who is banging every bunny in sight either, it’s just that lovely double standard in these books that’s such a huge eye roll).

My problem is more with the style of story telling. Many things happen, but are more vaguely referenced or quickly summarized. There should be lots of suspense, but instead it reads pretty flat.

Overall if you are looking for that HEA with a biker dude who is alpha but not a total dog, with a heroine who has some substance-then you will love this.

If you’re looking for a suspend-filled biker banger with a side of romance, then I’d say you’ll be disappointed.

Standard "Want you but can't have you cuz you're the boss' kid" plot but well written with substantial groveling by the Hero! The Second Generation is impressing me, so far!

Max was a good hero! Annoying at the start but redeemed himself by groveling (i LOVE a groveling alpha lol) and as he said, once he was in, he was ALL IN. Wren (I love her name) was an ok heroine. All in all they were an ok couple. Nothing amazing to write home about.

GUNNER, on the other hand....This man....I'm just hoping his story is the next book (alas I don't think so, bec Megan was sliding in Maddox & Francesca in the last part, so I'm guessing Mad's gonna get his old lady next...still, a girl can HOPE Gunner get's his old lady first). I'm just pretty biased. I mean, hot, biker, funny as hell, GREAT best friend and he GIVES PETS to people! Like, if you're sad he's gonna give u a pet mastiff or a pet pig. His mom breeds animals OMG this hunka-hunka-burnin love is my DREAM MAN lol.

Ok enough gushing.

Now off to reread the first generation bec I didn't rate them the first time I read them! Yummy alpha bikers here I come!

The shorter books tend to not develop characters as well as a longer story. We are to believe that Wren has always had her heart set on Max. This is believable. Only they,emotion they used to talk but it was told to us not shown. The prologue initiated the need for her to create distance from him because he gave no indication he would reciprocate her feelings. His reluctance to let her know how he feels carries on for another three years from that point.

This is the conundrum, it’s an MC book, how well the hero approaches romance toward a member of their clubs relatives shows who they are. He didn’t want bad blood between another member because Wren was his daughter. What I don’t understand in these scenarios is why there is an issue. As long as they aren’t treated badly, if there is commitment what’s the problem? In being a coward in this instance it makes the hero seem more Beta than Alpha. He should be strong undeterred and singleminded in his love for her but he seemed submissive and childish. It got better but there was that point where he could have been a man.

The heroine always seemed young but she was so that’s excusable 🙃

Love each other to the Max!

I’m just going to point out that the first generation books done by Megan were all in the heroine’s POV and this series has started off differently by including both POV’s which makes it that more kickass! I love getting both sides of the story as opposed to trying to guess what the other character is thinking:) Wren is the only child of Kat and Sal but she has a secret, or so she thinks....., she is in love with Max and has been for years. When the opportunity arises to go to a college further away, she’s not sure what she wants to do until Max claims his indifference towards her that she decides to leave. Three years later and suddenly she is the focus of a lockdown back home as it appears she has a stalker. Max is in love with Wren but figures because he is much older than her, he can’t have her and in respect to Sal he doesn’t pursue her, until it’s clear she’s in danger then he pulls out all the stops to protect her!

Great read and I know this is going to be a great new series as there are lots of kids that form the second generation and already lots of emotions and couplings I can see happening:)

Max was a great start to the next generation in the Ride series. I loved the original Ride Series, so I was excited to see that Megan was going to do stories for the kids. I loved seeing all the kids grown up and the parents older. Max is an Alpha male like his dad and brother. There were times that I wanted to smack him, but I loved him. He is all I thought he would grow into and more. Wren is this strong woman, who has had to deal with Alpha men all around her, and who finally gets the man of her dreams. I love how she is who she is and won’t let anyone try and change her. These two were perfect together and definitely had steam coming off the pages. I loved the dynamics of the characters in this one. This was a good read because I just could not put this book down until I knew how it ended.There are a lot of stories I want written in this series and I look forward to reading each one.

Max

I have read EVERY book in the Ride series. So imagine how happy I was to see that Miss Megan started on the 2nd generation of it. Max had his head up his a$$ about Wren until her well being was being threatened. Once Max realizes he can not live without Wren in his life all bets are off. When being a strong willed young woman does not give into Max right away. Let's just say he needs to make amends for being an ass, but once he does all bets are off. The reason for the 4 stars is because the issue with his birth mom. I wish there was just a little bit more to that story line. I guess I just wanted him to deal with it in a different way. Other than that this story rocked! Megan is becoming a 1 click author for me. Especially with the Ride Series.

Great spin off of the Ride series.

First I want to thank Ms. O’Brien for writing this book with 2 POV! I read the 5 first books in the Ride series and was disappointed it was single POV. Having both the H & h speaking made the book so much more interesting and enjoyable. Now about this book it is a sweet MC book. There is some drama, no cheating (a plus for me), alpha men all over the place and a feisty heroine. You really should read the first 5 books, only so you know who all the characters are. This is the first book in a spin off from the Ride series. It focuses on the kids of the characters from the previous books. I loved seeing how everyone grew up. I felt like a member of their tight knit group. Look forward to the next one. I’m hoping it is Maddox’s.