| Title | : | Down & Dirty: Zak (Dirty Angels MC, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 246 |
| Publication | : | First published September 10, 2017 |
After spending the last ten years in prison, Zak, former DAMC president, has a few priorities: to reconnect with his “brothers,” to get drunk, and to get laid. Not necessarily in that order. When he spots a stunning woman in the clubhouse and mistakes her for one of the club’s strippers, those priorities get a bit skewed.
Sophie has no idea what happened to her life. One minute she’s totally focused on building her bakery business, and the next? She’s delivering a cake to the Dirty Angels motorcycle club’s “homecoming” celebration for a member who just got out of prison. Little does she know baking that cake will change the rest of her life, not to mention, make her a target for a rival MC. Normally, Sophie wouldn’t be caught dead with a man like Zak, a tattooed, ex-con, badassed biker.
When a decades old territory war threatens to rip them apart, Zak will do anything to keep Sophie, his club, and the town safe. But being from two different worlds, the threat they’re under may not be worth the risk.
Down & Dirty: Zak (Dirty Angels MC, #1) Reviews
-
I fell in love with this author reading some of her other series. But got involved with the Dirty Angels starting with the third book about Hawk and the fourth book on his brother Diesel early in 2018. Now as 2018 is finished and she's sent the 10th DAMC book to her editor already, I went back and bought book one and two on Zak and his cousin Jag, grandsons of Bear Jamison, one of the two Vietnam war vets that started the club. The story starts with Zak getting his first deep breath of freedom after 10 years in prison and being picked up by his MC brother Diesel. Of course, he knew his true father, brother, mother, and sister would not be there for him; they had not visited or written to him the whole 10 years he was away. Ever since his grand father was murdered and his Uncle Rocky, Jag's father, and Doc Dougherty, the other founder, were sent up for life convicted of revenge killing, Zak's father had dropped out of the MC, becoming a police officer, and rearing his family outside the club. Zak's father Mitch, disowned him when Zak joined the club at 18 years old. When Zak was set up on false charges, Mitch believed he was guilty and did nothing to defend him. But a wonderful serendipity is about to overcome Zak tonight at the celebration the MC is having to welcome him home. He mistakes the owner of a new bakery delivering a cake the club ordered, for one of Dawg's dancers brought for him to enjoy after 10 dry years. He falls in love with Sophie and this book tells the story of how they come to understand each other. Hot chemistry, jealousy when Zak finds his true brother is a regular customer of Sophie's, and lots of trouble caused by Shadow Warriors. A great read has you wanting to explain club lingo to Sophie and pulling for Zak when the cops come to take him away. Part of the heartache you will feel all through the series is division in Zak's family! I highly recommend this series.
-
5/5 STARS
This was the first book I have read by this author and it will not be my last! I really enjoyed this MC romance. Zak and Sophie had great chemistry and I liked the dialogue between the two of them. It was a great start to the Dirty Angels MC series. Can't wait for the next book -
I’ve been struggling for weeks now. I just couldn’t seem to settle on a new book. So I’ve spent my time re-reading old favourites.
The fact that I managed to not only finish this but fully intend to read the next one is major.
Now it’s not without its faults but it is a nice easy read. There’s tons of sex which I admit I did start skimming. The story itself kept me reading but...I expected it to end in a conclusion. Apparently this is not the case it runs into the next book which I’m starting now. -
Totally unexpected read. Someone was recommending this in a Facebook group and after hearing how this couple met, I was intrigued. Even being intrigued, I wasn’t expecting to love it. I’m so picky about MC books. I don’t like cheating or the club girls that are always in these books. This one steered clear”mostly” from all that. There is a few scenes with club girls but neither had anything to do with our couple.
First, I loved how they met, which is why I picked this up. Hero gets out of jail and mistakes the heroine, who baked his cake for the club party, as a girl the guys got for him. Her reaction is more of what made that part pretty hot. I loved that she just says screw it and enjoys herself.
The other reason I ended up loving this is how gone Zak was for Sophie right from the start. He pushed himself right into her life from the start. Even better…while Sophie couldn’t keep her hands off Zak, she wanted nothing to do with a bikers life and she was very vocal about it. I love that she didn’t fall at his feet and resisted a life she knew nothing about. It felt more realistic and it showed how Zak had to win her over to the club life.
This is a total double standard but…I also loved that Sophia wasn’t afraid to show appreciation for other men. Even better, Zak didn’t do that with other women and he had humor towards her doing it. Like I said, a double standard but I don’t care. -
2-2.5 Stars
OK, so I may be in the minority here BUT this for me was a so-so read..... First off, I felt it had so much potential but the way some of the characters were portrayed and how things got played out were very flat and underwhelming and actually annoyed by the h.
Zak, LOVED him.....truly loved the guy BUT Sophie, ughhhhh, I couldn't stand her. She started off ok and I thought ok well this is looking good but then her character took a nosedive for me shortly after. She was a snooty, bitch...her inner thoughts on Zak and his "club" etc...I mean who in the hell did she think she was. She was judgmental, she was whiny and annoying, she was a bitch in every single way well except it was ok for him to give her good sex but right after she had terrible bitchy thoughts that I as the reader had to listen to. Zak deserved SO MUCH MORE in his female lead and if this is how the author is going to portray all her female leads (sadly I am thinking it may be the case) then I am out!
Sad part is, I want to read about the other guys but honestly not sure about the next book because if Ivy is similar..thinks she is a "strong" woman but really just a bitch...no thank you!
Sorry for the rant but Sophie ruined the story for me:( Even the ending of their story.....so not cool! There is no way in hell I am wanting my h to sort of/semi "propose"...ughhhhhhhh wth was the author thinking with this woman!!!!!!
Ya, so again I would like to continue BUT not sure I will be able to stomach the female leads! -
First time author for me. This was a different type of MC romance book than I've read before and I've read a lot of them. Zak is a hot, alpha male who storms Sophie's walls and pretty much bull dozes her into being his woman. But it's all done in such a sweet way. I loved the sweet side Zak gives her and I also loved Sophie's stubborness in fighting Zak. I was sad at the way Zak's family has shut him out. You get a lot of hot sex, a lot of hot alpha males that you'll like, a sometimes funny and sweet romance and characters that I want to read more about. I hope to see more of Zak and Sophie in the next book in the series.
If you've read all of the MC romances out there, try this one if you want something just a little different. -
Just ok
I had high expectations for this book because of all the great reviews. But I guess I didn't like it as much as everyone else. The storyline was just ok. Others has mentioned that the writing was witty, but I didn't see that. -
Sweet, cute and relatively short story. Zak is ex president of MC who just gotten out from prison. He mistaken Sophie, the baker, as one of the stripper. And the comedy ensues.
While the down and dirty scene rolling right away, its still have fun cute moment. The author leaves traches of whats more to come in the next book. I think more of that MC business.
Due to the shortness of the book, not much character development happening. However there is more of thay steamy sex scenes happening. I think the author have fun with this book.
3 stars -
3 Zak and Sophie Stars
I did enjoy aspects of this book - by aspects I mean Zak - but I really struggled with Sophie's character.
Zak is the former President of the Dirty Angels MC (DAMC) but he has been in prison for ten years for a crime he didn't commit. He's released and the Club throw a 'Welcome Home' party. He mistakes Sophie for a club girl / stripper when in fact she is the baker delivering his party cake.
Theirs is a very 'insta' connection. Sophie and Zak have sex that night but she is hesitant about any further relationship with him. Zak on the other hand is smitten.
Zak is a really likeable character. He is loyal and protective. He doesn't mess about with anyone else and he was quite sweet. I felt at times like Sophie was not good enough for him. She is so judgemental and actually pretty snooty. Her inner monologue annoyed me and she frequently goes on (in her head) about how hot other guys are. She was quite spiteful with some of her comments about Zak and his MC family.
She didn’t need the complications of a man with not only a caveman mentality, but one who might scare away customers from her fledgling business.
Had Sophie been less judgemental then I probably would have given a higher rating. I did like getting to know the other characters in the MC and I will try the next book. Lots of swearing, sex , alpha males , a bit of violence but the potential for a lot more to come from this series.
HEA? More HFN
Cheating? No and no OW / OM drama.
Book finished at 88% on my Kindle and you can read the first part of the next book , Jag. -
MC romance. Grumble. Grumble. Somehow I can't feel the love. The sex will smack you in the face and then hit you over the head like a lead pipe, but the feels are all a put on.
On the hunt for a book with a skull on the cover for a Halloween reading challenge, I determined the easiest way to sort through the potentials was to do a search for "MC Romance" and look at the tattoos adorning the Bad Boy book covers. In short order I had six candidates. The samples of the first five had each "hero" having sex in the opening pages, and in only one case was the sex with the book's love interest. So there was that. And then the writing. Ugh. Wooden. Cliched. Predictable. Just bad. Then I opened Zak's story and the writing wasn't awful and the sex - although still in the opening pages - was at least with the romantic foil. Plus Zak had been in prison so the manwhore factor was....less.
The moments of sweet were overwhelmed by the moments of caveman, but no cheating and the declarations of dedication were nice. Unfortunately, the number of pages devoted to sex made it impossible for me to feel the dedication unfold emotionally. It was grunted out loud, so it must be true.
This book is billed as a standalone, but there is no resolution whatsoever to the mild mysteries of why Zak is being targeted by a rival MC club and who framed him for his ten year prison stint. The ending was rushed and not saved by the predictable epilogue. The book started well and steadily declined, but still it was the lone MC romance out of six sampled that I read past 10% and finished. Well, sorta finished since the conclusion was nonexistent.
So I will continue to grumble about rumble romances.
Book source: Kindle Unlimited. -
DNF 84%
How is it possible to yawn and be frustrated at the same time?
I tried to soldier through this one, I really did.
When it still hadn't redeemed itself that far in, I had to cut my losses.
I won't mention ALL the problems I had with this book, there were too many...
The main thing I found fault with was that the female lead had no backstory at all, NONE.
She was from Philadelphia, new in town, and just bought a bakery.
That's it. No depth.
Que sera sera... At least it was free. -
Story: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trope: instalove
Angst: 😱😱
Smext: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
This book is one of my favorite retreads when I want a quick read. Quick, but doesn't scrimp on storyline, character development, and super hot smexy with over the top alphas. Read this series before I knew the importance of reviews, so I'm going to go through Ms. St James back list and do it right :). Really just a great series with the best characters!
⛔️ My bookshelves can sometimes contain spoilers -
🎁 FREE on Amazon today (7/17/2019)! 🎁
-
First book of the series. This is Zak's and Sophie's story. Z has just been released from prison and is at his welcome home party. After he has had a few drinks in him and none of the women there were his type for his first time in 10 years he heads inside for his bottle of whiskey. Its lust at first sight.
Sophie owns the local bakery and was hired to bake a cake for some jerk getting out of prison. When she walks in to deliver it Z thinks she is a strpper and pulls her upstairs or should I say carried. Don't worry he doesn't rape her but they get to know each other..lol
What Sophie thinks is a one night stand is different from what Z wants. What is he going to want After another club tries to abduct her.
Adult content -
Review to come...I need to think on this. Did I like it? Yes! Will I continue with the series? Yes! Then what could be the problem? Her...the heroine. Sophie ruins the book but before I go on a tangent I want to think it over because I loved Zak, I loved all the side characters, want more of the MC, so that alone may have me overlook how stupid and frustrating the heroine was.
-
By far my favorite Jeanne St. James book. I love the way she is able to build a world, a community and a family you can't help but just fall in love with. The slang and dialogue helped to transport me right there and made the characters believable. The instant attraction between Sophie and Zak was hot and so was the sex. JSJ managed to sneak in enough tidbits here and there about other characters that now I have to see this series through to find out what happens to Jag, Ivy, Bella, Axel, Hawk and of course Diesel and that sweet ass of his. I'm also very curious to see what happens with the Shadow Warriors and Zak's family. A great first book to set up a whole lotta shit that's going to go down in quiet little Shadow Valley. You need to one-click this book NOW!
-
Tons of unanswered questions. Didn’t believe the love between H and h.
-
I feel a little disappointed finishing Zak and Sophie's story. So many small details that I just didn't like.
¬ The epilogue was in the best case scenario mediocre, actually I hated it.
¬ Another issue I had is the fact that the synopsis describes the 70% of the book... a huge NO for me.
¬ Zak was a likable character even if being in jail for 10 years while being innocent was a stretch.
¬ Zak is kissing Ivy in front of Sophie, even if there is nothing going on between them, I didn't like it.
¬ Sophie is checking out every single member of the Dirty Aces MC...
¬ Zak is one year younger than Sophie, I like small age-gaps but I prefer it when it's the other way around.
¬ There is no closure, we don't get any answers regarding who framed Zak, why Sophie was attacked etc...
Overall, you can read it for the steamy moments. -
Nothing really new here. Same Ol' dance when it comes to the biker plight and the women who swear they don't want them, but wind up with their thighs behind their ears anyway...🤷♀️
And how quickly Zak fell as hard as he did for Sophie (basically after their 1st night of meeting) I just was not feeling that. Way too forced and way too soon.
Still the characters and secondary characters were interesting enough. And I was actually more intrigued by the family dynamics between Zak/His Father/Younger Brother, & why they are estranged. The reasons why Zak chose the Grandfather's legacy and not his Dad's.. So I may stick around for a bit.
Jury still out on how long that stay may be though. -
I'm going to round this out to 4. There were some 5 star parts and some 3 star parts, but overall I enjoyed the story.
Zak has been in prison for a crime he didn't commit and here is one of the 3 star parts for me. In most books I would have read this character would be looking for revenge, but we really don't get anything on it. Sophie is starting to make a life for herself in a new town with her new business. My 3 star part for her is her constant lustful looking at the other guys - really?!?
But my 5 star part was how Zak opened himself up to Sophie and let her lead even though it must have gone against everything he believed in. Also enjoyed Sophie and Bella's friendship.
I will probably read more of this series -
I absolutely loved this MC romance. I like a biker that knows what he wants and goes for it. The romance was great, the sex was steamy, and the dialogue was good too. Most of the characters are likable, (MOST). I will be reading more from this series.
-
3.7 stars. It was cute, sweet and engaging. I just wanted more.
-
This started off a little rough for me in that it was over the top, almost dubious consent that turned into the heroine screaming for it…all within minutes of seeing each other. But as the story progressed I actually got pulled into the characters and all their quirky, overbearing, fun and sexy ways. The heroine was somewhat annoying in her back and forth/push and pull and judgy ways regarding the club. Zak was freaking amazing! Loved his alpha goodness, totally jealous, possessive and protective. He checked all my boxes.
This has a good bit of club life and drama, including a woman coming on to the hero and him not saying anything about the heroine, and plenty of grunting alpha biker talk. Although this was a happy for now, the ending was rushed and felt incomplete which I guess will be continued in the next books.
I ended up actually enjoying it but was disappointed by the lack of a completed ending. This would've been a 4 star read had it not been for that and the heroine. I may continue on just for more of the alpha talk/attitude.
Read via Kindle Unlimited
Dual POV
Safe
Triggers -
Boring
This book had kind of an exciting start and then became so boring so fast. The plot was too all over the place between trying to understand the Club’s history, why Zak ended up in jail, why he wants Sophie as his old lady, and trying to figure out what they’re going to do about the attacks on Sophie because of Zak.
The author had so many opportunities to set the plot up for the series even with the other books being about different characters. And it just failed. The smut was mediocre at best and not as hot as others say it is. And I’m left with way too many questions. I’m walking away from this book without a sense of who the characters are and why the events that happen in the book are happening. Sophie goes back and forth between wanting to be with Zak and not wanting to be with him. And it gets annoying real fast especially when she does such a bad job of asserting why. -
I loved Zak, the heroine not so much. She was okay screwing him, but couldn’t get over herself to be with him because of the club. He never lied about who and what he was, but she kept trying to make him feel bad for it. That ruined their relationship for me. I’m giving the book four stars because of Zak. Caveman, bass biker, sex god, dirty talker Zak. Yummm! It was a good MC book, but Zak alone makes it worth reading.
-
Down & Dirty: Zak was a great introduction to a new MC series. I loved the connection between Zak and Sophie. She was a spitfire and gave as good as she got. The initial meet/misunderstanding between them was fantastic. I loved how they started out and how connected Zak felt about her right away.
Meeting all the other characters was great and I look forward to reading their stories. I am so intrigued by Jag and Izzy and Axle and Bella and can't wait to jump into their books. 4 stars! ~Ratula -
Other than the heroine it was a pretty good read. I felt it was put together well and wasn't bored/enjoyed it.
I have no idea what Zak saw in Sophie but whatever. Apparently most authors don't really care if their heroine's likeable. It sucks cause I really want to root for them you know? Ah well. -
I recently read the MM book
Rip Cord: The Complete Trilogy by this author and I hated it. But I saw she had a MF MC romance that had some good reviews so I thought I'd give her one last try because MC romances are my drug of choice. And I'm glad I did because I couldn't put this down.
Firstly, it was hot. These two get together because of a case of mistaken identity but they have chemistry for days. At first Sophie is conflicted about having an unexpected one night stand with a convicted felon/biker but she holds her own and gets three orgasms to boot. Zak initially thinks she's a party favour for him to break the 10 year prison drought but is pleasantly surprised when she stands up to him again, again, and again. Then she disappears. And he goes and finds her.
I really enjoyed these two together. Sophie doesn't want to want Zak and pushes him away at every turn. But Zak's persistent. And unexpectedly sweet, amid all the biker lingo and the casual misogyny. Every time she turned him away I was rooting for him.
And yes, this is a quick Insta-love/lust kind of deal. But it's fun. And the background story is pretty solid. And the secondary characters are interesting.
My only disappointment...while these two get a HFN there's no resolving of the threat against Sophie and the club. Obviously this is dealt with over the course of the series but it left the ending very abrupt. -
I Give this Book a 2.5-3/5 Star Rating, Listing as 3 just due to the content of the MC Lifestyle.
I needed something to listen to, so I could find something that I could really focus on. And once I started listening to this I just kept listening, but I honestly wanted to stop listening cause it was boring but I just couldn’t, I wanted to listen to it to the end.
This is a very short ‘time wise’ story, no actual development between them, just more heat than plot. Good
Sorry but to me neither character fit each other, Zak deserved better (this IS Zak’s book, hence the name on the cover) and Sophie just felt like a filler character and was exceptionally boring.
Sophie seemed to me a more important character over Zak, which just didn’t work for me.
Formats Read: Audiobook, Audiobook Review at Bottom.
HEA(?): Stamped HEA.
Relationship Type: MF
Heat: 3/5
Romance: 2-2.5/5, there’s barely any development, just heat mainly. It comes across as more of a…one-sided Insta-Romance if anything.
Pacing: Fast.
Suspense: 2/5
Drama: 2.5-3/5
Audiobook Review:
Narrators: Ava Lucas & Sean Crisden
Overall: 3/5
Story: 2.5-3/5
Performance: 3-3.5/5
The narrators did well for this story, but the storyline just didn’t do them (the narrators) justice. -
Down and Dirty Zak is the first book in the Dirty Angels MC series and what an awesome introduction it was. This was Zak and Sophie's story, and a case of mistaken identity leads to Sophie ending up in Zak's bed and right smack in the middle of the DAMC world.
The story will hold your interest from start to finish. Zak's apha male tendencies, Sophie's sassiness, the humour, the intense chemistry, the hott steamy scenes, the escalating trouble with the rival MC and so much more, made this a story you will not be able to put down.
The audible version of this novel which was narrated by Ava Lucas and Sean Crisden. These two did a fabulous job with the characters and they really brought the story to life. I loved listening to them narrate the story
This novel was bold, addictive and riveting. I loved it and would highly recommend it to all lovers of MC romance.
