Artist (Redemption Reigns MC #2) by Juli Valenti
Series/World: Redemption Reigns MC, Book 2
Couple/Pairing: Cecili “Artist” Warren × Shakespeare Carter (VP of Hells Redemption)
Star Rating: ★★★★½ (4.5/5)
Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (high-heat MC romance with grit, action, and emotion)
The Main Characters
Cecili “Artist” Warren
Artist is Titan’s baby sister (from Poet), and she comes into this book with one clear goal: earn her patch and stand on her own two feet. When Titan refuses to let her prospect for his club, Poet steps in and gives her a shot prospecting for Hells Redemption under the watchful eye of Shakespeare.
She’s juggling brutal prospect duties with running her tattoo shop, processing past trauma, and trying to prove she belongs in a world that’s still very much a boys’ club. What I appreciated most is that she doesn’t want to be better than the men—she wants to be treated equally to them. She’s smart, eager to learn, and willing to grind for respect instead of expecting it to be handed to her.
Shakespeare Carter
Shakespeare, VP of Hells Redemption, quietly steals the series spotlight here. He’s ruthless where he needs to be—both in club business and in how hard he pushes Artist to be the best prospect she can be—but he never stops being her anchor. He’s an alpha without being a total steamroller; he supports his woman instead of flattening her.
He still has those “alpha-hole” tendencies MC readers tend to love, but he gets past them faster than most. The way he believes in Artist’s strength, even when she doubts herself, gives their romance a solid emotional core underneath all the grit and gunfire.
About the Author
Juli Valenti is a contemporary romance author who plays across subgenres—from sweet to intense emotional reads—and her Redemption Reigns MC series blends gritty club life with diverse, strong female leads at the center of the action.
With Poet and now Artist, she’s carving out a niche in MC romance that keeps the stakes high in both love and club business, while still delivering heroines who actually have agency in their own stories.
My Thoughts About the Book
Artist feels like the kind of biker book you reach for when you’re in an MC mood but don’t necessarily want to be wrecked for a week afterward. There’s plenty of action and danger, but the emotional tone lands more on “satisfyingly intense” than “utterly devastating.”
I loved how the story keeps the focus on strong biker women without turning the men into background props. Artist wants in—not as a mascot, but as a full member who’s earned her place. Watching her get ground down by prospect life, then stand back up, made her easy to root for. She has trauma in her past, but the book doesn’t wallow in it. It informs her choices without becoming the only thing that defines her.
Shakespeare is a standout hero. If Titan grabbed you in book one, there’s a good chance Shakespeare will edge him out here (at least for me, he did). He’s hard, sometimes harsh, and absolutely committed—to the club, to the job, and eventually to Artist. The way he trains her, pushes her, and still has her back feels very “old-school MC alpha” but with more emotional payoff.
One of the big perks of this installment:
- The relationship drama is relatively low.
- The external drama—hits on the club, danger, missing people, and bodies stacking up—does the heavy lifting.
That balance keeps the story moving fast. There’s lots of page time with Artist and Shakespeare together, more romance on-page than in Poet, and enough club suspense to keep you turning pages long past when you meant to stop. And for readers who loved Poet, the additional scenes with Poet and Titan are a nice bonus—this world is starting to feel lived-in, not just staged for one couple at a time.
Almost Perfect… Except
A few things kept this from being a full 5-star, thunder-in-your-ribs read for me:
- Artist’s toughness becomes a little overdone.
I love a strong heroine, especially in an MC world, but it can get tiring that Artist is constantly trying to prove how tough she is because she’s a woman. The insistence on always being the hardest, strongest, most unshakable version of herself sometimes feels more performative than organic. There were moments where I wanted her to be allowed to be vulnerable without it feeling like a failure. - Some of the action strains believability.
This is common in MC romance, so it won’t be a dealbreaker for most fans, but it’s worth noting. With the number of missing people, dead bodies, and hospital trips (including gunshot wounds), the almost total lack of real-world fallout—police, investigations, etc.—stands out. You just have to accept that this world runs on MC logic rather than strict realism. - Minor editing/typo issues.
There are a handful of editing blips and typos. They’re noticeable but not frequent enough to ruin the experience.
Overall, I still slightly prefer Poet as a book, but Shakespeare absolutely holds his own against Titan, and Artist delivers more on-page romance and couple time, which many readers will love.
Favorite Quote
“Christ. You were made for me, Artist. Your body, your mind…everything I never thought a criminal like me would get.”
This line sums up everything I love about Artist and Shakespeare—he’s a hardened criminal who never expected real love, yet with her, he finally believes he’s worthy of something soft, real, and completely his.
Final Thoughts
Artist is a strong second entry in the Redemption Reigns MC world—a gritty, action-heavy biker romance anchored by a determined heroine and a hero who’s as capable in the bedroom as he is in a firefight.
If you’re:
- In the mood for badass biker women who actually earn their patches
- Into alpha-but-not-utterly-unbearable heroes
- Looking for high heat, solid emotion, and low relationship angst
…then this is an MC book (and series) you’ll want on your list. You can read Artist without having read Poet, but you’ll get more emotional payoff if you start with Poet and then watch Artist and Shakespeare step into their own story.
If you haven’t met Titan and Poet yet, you’ll want to start at the beginning—read Poet – Redemption Reigns MC Book Review
Some romances leave a mark—and those are the only ones worth reading.
~Kay~
