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• BLURB •
Skylar…
When I was seventeen, I fell in love. It was incredible, earth shattering, but most of all, it was heartbreaking. He walked away without an explanation. Without saying goodbye.
He was simply gone.
But five years later, I walk into a room and he’s there. He had been only hours away from me all these years. I often imagined how a reunion between us would be. Would I run into his arms, kiss him and tell him I still love him?
No, I slugged him.
Jake…
I knew the day would come when I’d have to face Skylar. I made a decision years ago that I’ve always questioned. Always wondered if it was the right choice. I was torn between the woman lying in my bed and the best friend who was giving me the opportunity for a better life.
Skylar deserved better than me. I chose the Royal Bastards MC.
Now, she’s here, having been brought to the club for protection. Our reunion didn’t go as I imagined it would. There was no sweet embrace, no words even exchanged. She marched right up to me and punched me in the face.
I knew right then and there, I never stopped loving her. Thing is, the Royal Bastards have rules. I live and die by them. If I break them, I’m out. I’ll lose my patch and lose the family I have.
Is Skylar worth the risk?
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• MY REVIEW •
Oooo-wee! Drama. Drama. Drama.
And I loved. every. damn. minute. of. it! 🤤🤭
Skylar has this steamy one-nighter with her brother’s best friend Jake (who she’s had a crush on since she first met the guy), only for both her brother Hunter and Jake to leave, never to return. No note. No goodbyes. Just radio silence.
Fast forward five years later to the present, where Skylar is unexpectedly thrown into a world of bikers, life and death situations, and losing what little independence she had. All because of secrets and lies that have been kept from her all these years.
This story starts you right off with intrigue, and immediately wanting to get to the bottom of where, why, and how Hunter and Jake could (and did) leave Skylar. Relatively well-paced story-telling all throughout, and told from dual perspectives. Despite the never ending drama, it was a cushy, enjoyable read that left me wanting the next installment really, really badly..
*exhales…*
WHERE’S THE NEXT BOOK, DAMMIT!?!?!
*Calm, blue ocean… Calm, blue ocean…*
As much as I enjoyed reading this, there was also so many things I wanted more of, and questions I need answered. The ending left me feeling like a lost puppy. Like dude, really?! 🙈 All I can say without giving any spoilers away is…. there better be a book two in this Royal Bastards MC: Birmingham Chapter. Because… ugh. Answers, people!! 🥺
Like so many good MC romances I’ve read, this one has a nice balance of MC and romance. We have a club, club members — which are our secondary characters we want and need more of! I already have a few from this club I want to see have their own books. Hunter being numero uno! ☝
There’s a seriously complicated relationship going on between Hunter, Skylar and Jake, that had me really grasping at needing to see more. These guys have history. Hunter and Jake have been friends since they were teenagers… and Skylar being Hunter’s younger sister, was someone who always wanted to hang with them.
I know this story revolves around Skylar and Jake’s romance, but I couldn’t help it whilst I was reading this book, Hunter had my attention a smidge more. He has sacrificed so much of his life into protecting his family and has not once given up despite having one problem after another popping up. I think he deserves so much credit, definitely a lot more love, and to be honest… I think deserves a whole lot better, especially considering how this entire story unraveled. Now. I don’t agree with all his actions.. *cough* especially with a certain woman *cough* .. but that’s why I desperately need a sequel! 🙏
But moving on, moving on.
Let’s cut to the chase! Get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we?
The story line itself was engaging. There’s a lot of different things happening but it was easy enough to follow. It didn’t feel overly done with too many issues going on at once, so that’s good. Oh, and there was something that did catch me off-guard, something I didn’t see coming — so points for unpredictability!
And secondary characters were definitely in attendance. There’s a good amount of club brothers, all with individual personality traits, with some a little more charming than others.. 😉😉
Although Skylar was uprooted from her life to be watched over by her brother and a half dozen or so MC members, it’s always cool to see another woman in the scene and befriending Skylar. I love me a good bromance and brotherhood, but I never wanna see a chick left to fend for herself… especially when there needs to be girl talk, giggles, and eye-candy to be drooled over, right??
There’s lots of potential for more stories to be told and for the world-building to expand if and when the author wants to.
I love the obvious chemistry the author has excellently written between Skylar and Jake, despite not having seen each other in years. There’s hate and regret there, but a very obvious heat still lingering between them that they can’t deny either. Always nice to see protectiveness, alpha-ism in MC romances (it’s always entertaining) and this one had it in bucket loads!
There’s some unresolved family issues between Skylar and Hunter and an obvious strain in their relationship from being apart for so many years with no contact. But their family dynamics is one of the things I liked about this book. Skylar can be the stereotypical bratty younger sister who doesn’t want to be bossed around by her big brother, yet stills sees him as someone to look up to. Hunter is fairly closed-off and keeps his true feelings to himself, but he’s very much an overprotective brother. There’s so much mystery surrounding him that I couldn’t get enough of the guy.
And let’s not forget Hunter and Jake’s friendship. Never been a fan of a chick getting in between guys’ brotherhood/ friendship.. even if she is family. Not gonna lie, I have mixed feelings about the things that were said and done, but it didn’t interfere with my liking of it overall so that’s a relief. Plus my need for the next book is strong, so… *shrugs* 🤗
As I said earlier, it ended with such a gaping hole of unanswered questions. Even if Leslie, decides to continue with more books, I would still liked to have seen an epilogue included in this one. I know with the majority of the MC romance books I’ve come across, characters still make appearances in sequels and relatively give the reader an update of how life has been like since their book, but Worth The Risk seemed like Skylar and Jake’s story was far from being sorted out completely. I can accept a HFN (aka Happy For Now) ending but it didn’t quite feel that way with this book either. It felt a little more up in the air… like there’s still things to overcome first before they get their true HEA. You know what I mean?
Nevertheless, it’s a very convincing start to a potentially juicy MC series. There’s already a decent amount of world-building introduced with the Royal Bastards MC: Birmingham Chapter. An atmosphere between the brothers has been placed and intriguing enough to want to see develop further. There are possible future plot lines that I would look forward to see play out. As far as MC romances go, this one although contains violence, was a little less suspenseful than most, less graphic and in my opinion mild in the dark, gritty romance factor. It’ll be a good one to start off with for a first timer of MC books.
All in all, if you’re looking for your next MC romance, or like your alpha males tatted and with bikes, then you’ll find this one satisfying! Lots of feels. There’s a couple of moments you’ll find yourself giggling over, and times that make you genuinely sad for these characters, and then there’s times you wanna rip some heads off from frustration. But hey, all in a good book, am I right?! 😜
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you J.L. Leslie and the entire Royal Bastards MC team for the opportunity to read an advanced copy! 🧡
🔔 Interested in reading Worth The Risk? Grab your copy here: Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon IN
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MC romance lovers, make sure to add this one to your reading list!
Happy reading, guys! Catch you in my next one! Xo
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