Iron Hearts (RBMC: St. Augustine 1) by AJ Downey-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 27, 2025

You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone…

Rarity Jane Mitchell had it all. A loving mother, a doting father, and an all-around pretty charmed life; but the old saying ‘life comes at you fast’ certainly hit home when death came calling unexpectedly. Of course, so did more life via an unexpected pregnancy and triplet brothers. Now, it’s everything Rarity and her mother can do to hold things together as the bills keep mounting and the world keeps spinning without her dad in it.

Zachary “Striker” Carlin has lived too many lives to count. Son, soldier, veteran, and now brother within the Royal Bastards MC. He’s found a home and a found family within his chapter in St. Augustine, FL and has no desire to change things up until he comes across the pretty young barmaid at the biker bar in Ormond Beach. She helps him out in a big way, and he finds that he is more than willing and wants to return the favor…

You have to have an iron heart to love a Royal Bastard, and Rarity thought hers was ironclad. Will Striker live up to his name and find her soft spot so she’ll give him a chance?

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REVIEW: IRON HEARTS is the first instalment in AJ Downey’s contemporary, adult RBMC: St. Augustine Chapter erotic, MC romance series, a part of the multi-authored RBMC series. This is forty-two year old, former US soldier/ logistics coordinator/ road captain Zachary ‘Striker’ Carlin, and twenty-four year old bar tender Rarity Jane Mitchell’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for mores sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Striker and Rarity) IRON HEARTS follow the building romance and relationship between our story line couple. Rarity Mitchell works at Ormond Beach bar the Iron Horse but when the Bloody Scorpions MC take aim, help comes from an unlikely source-the RBMC. St. Augustine, and the man with whom Rarity will fall in love. A battle ensues, and Striker is determined to protect Rarity Mitchell but it is Rarity who will protect our story line hero. As the relationship quickly turns into something more, Rarity must comes to terms with her life going forward, and the life she will leave behind in Ormond Beach.

The world building focuses on the Mitchell family dynamics: Rarity’s over protective, helicopter mothers, and her strict and imposing grandmother Barbra, as well as Rarity’s three rambunctious younger brothers. As Striker begins to pull Rarity into his life, our heroine finds herself living a life she knew nothing about.

The relationship between Rarity and Striker begins in the heat of battle when the Scorpions take aim at the Iron Horse Bar. Striker is desperate to protect the woman with whom he will fall in love but as the fight becomes more dangerous and deadly, Rarity becomes protector of our story line hero. The $ex scenes are provocative, erotic and intense including scenes of spanking and ‘daddy kink’.

We are introduced to Striker’s MC brothers including the MC president Renegade, VP Shadow, Butcher Brothers Skull and Bones; Rarity’s mother, brothers, and her Grandmother Barbra who is a bully when it comes to her family.

IRON HEARTS is a story of power and control, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The fast paced premise is engaging and captivating; the romance is intoxicating; the characters are determined and charismatic.

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Reviewed by Sandy