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Dirty Angels MC #1

Down & Dirty: Zak

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Welcome to Shadow Valley where the Dirty Angels MC rule. Get ready to get Down & Dirty because this is Zak’s story…

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.

248 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 2017

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4079 people want to read

About the author

Jeanne St. James

129 books2,419 followers
JEANNE ST. JAMES is a USA Today and international bestselling romance author who loves an alpha male (or two). She writes steamy contemporary M/F and M/M romance, as well as M/M/F ménages, and has published over 60 books (so far). She also writes M/M paranormal romance under the name: J.J. Masters. Some of her books have been translated into French, German, Italian and Portuguese.

Want to read a sample of her work? Download a sampler book here: BookHip.com/MTQQKK

To keep up with her busy release schedule check her website at www.jeannestjames.com or sign up for her newsletter: http://www.jeannestjames.com/newslett...

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5 stars
3,837 (37%)
4 stars
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3 stars
2,187 (21%)
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198 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 800 reviews
Profile Image for Erth.
4,618 reviews
May 10, 2019
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.
Profile Image for Missy's Book Obsession.
183 reviews125 followers
September 21, 2017
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
Profile Image for Mindy Lou's Book Review.
3,010 reviews798 followers
September 8, 2021
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.
Profile Image for Deborah.
3,845 reviews499 followers
January 15, 2019
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.
Profile Image for Jos.
1,833 reviews141 followers
August 16, 2018
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!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Morgann Book.
326 reviews2,725 followers
April 3, 2023
I am not on a hot streak for books these days...

Once again, I picked this up because I am absolutely obsessed with The Night Agent right now - So I've been craving a good protective, slow-burn romance *preferably with some FBI/police action*. This one missed the mark. This was so painful to read and honestly had an overdose of bad smut...

I was hooked for the first chapter or so because who can resist a classic mistaken identity smut scene?? Not me. Anyways, after that, it went downhill so much and I hated every part of it. The characters were annoying as hell and the only reason I still managed to finish it was that I hate dnf-ing books.
Profile Image for Intel Chicky Reads Romance (Kara Merideth).
2,263 reviews1,530 followers
May 24, 2022
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
Profile Image for Judy.
1,064 reviews
September 13, 2017
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.
Profile Image for Syndi.
3,718 reviews1,043 followers
June 21, 2019
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
Profile Image for Raine.
2,463 reviews53 followers
October 13, 2020
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.
Profile Image for Heroesinbooks.
1,163 reviews347 followers
October 28, 2020
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.
Profile Image for Celestine.
952 reviews132 followers
October 30, 2017
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.
Profile Image for Melanie.
41 reviews24 followers
Read
January 25, 2021
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.
Profile Image for Nanci **Warning**IWasASailor⚓️MyMouthisDirty.
521 reviews163 followers
September 26, 2017
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.
Profile Image for Whit.
3,656 reviews51 followers
April 29, 2023
A Super, Spicy and Captivating Page Turner!

I usually complain about the myriad profanity and the down and dirty sex scenes, and then I realize it's a Motorcycle Club book and those things come with the territory!

But since it's my first one - OKAY....my 20th!!!!! Totally not my fault. I blame Doris, my awesome Goodreads friend, who writes such tempting biker reviews and the next thing I know, I'm in the middle of the Bad Boy! lol!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, Zak and Sophie come from totally different worlds and meet when she delivers his Getting Out of Prison-Welcome Home Cake! He mistakes her for a stripper and it's on!!! Their journey is mind-blowing!!!!
Profile Image for Samantha Lynn.
779 reviews46 followers
September 11, 2021
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.
Profile Image for Chris.
1,316 reviews38 followers
December 10, 2021
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.
Profile Image for Shirl.
1,024 reviews45 followers
September 3, 2020
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
Profile Image for Carvanz.
2,383 reviews897 followers
April 19, 2019
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.

description

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
Profile Image for Vicki Arellano .
133 reviews12 followers
December 7, 2019
Tons of unanswered questions. Didn’t believe the love between H and h.
Profile Image for Sue Miz .
708 reviews924 followers
March 10, 2024
Why is this quick-paced indie MC romance book better than the latest traditionally published books I've read?
There is nothing more satisfying than reading a book that hits every mark for you
and this did it
the Only negative is I wanted it to be longer

⚜Genre: MC romance
⚜Theme: light-dark romance
⚜Targeted audience: Adult
⚜Characters: Zak, Sophie, MC brothers
⚜Representation: Non
⚜TW: violence- explicit content
⚜ tropes: He falls first and hard - mistaken identity
⚜ POV: Double first person
⚜ spice 🌶🌶 🌶🌶🌶🌶 with kinks
⚜ rating: 4.5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
⚜standalone: yes, but you will be hooked and want to read the rest in the series
⚜Ending: HEA hopefully

Zak just got out of prison after 10 years
Sophie is a baker delivering a cake to the MC club
Zak thinks Sophie a stripper and starts to get down and dirty with her
Sophie objects at first but then thinks "What the hell! I'll just have some fun"
and the rest is history

What I absolutely loved about this:
1- Sophie was not this 18 or 20-something woman we normally see in these types of books. she is 33 years old with a thriving business. In fact, she is older than Zak by one year :)
2- She was not the "I'll sacrifice anything for him". She put up at first and was very adamant that her business was not to be messed with
3- Zak was not an arrogant SOB who thinks he is God's gift to women. He wanted Sophie and proved to her that she was it for him.

I read this a long time ago and now listened to the audio and IT. WAS. HOT. AS . FCK
Profile Image for Whitley Cox.
Author 168 books982 followers
August 19, 2017
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!
Profile Image for Sonia.
1,306 reviews2,091 followers
August 13, 2020
So good, I already got the next books in the series! Intense 🔥great characters/storyline and hot🔥

Why is this my first Jeanne St. James book!? Where have I been???

First off, I love the writing style. It kind of reminds me of KA (Kristen Ashley)- one of my all time favorite books of hers is Motorcycle Man.

Zak gets out of jail after being in there for 10 years. On the night of his release, he meets Sophie, the person that baked his welcome-home cake. He thinks she’s a stripper that’s there to rock his world, but she’s not. However, he doesn’t really give her the chance to explain herself, and he’s hot so she just goes with the flow (and I’m soooo glad she did 😉). The connection between them is pretty instant. I love how she fights his alpha-ness and has a backbone, which means she’s not a doormat and stands up for herself. As the story progresses, their feelings for each other intensifies, but she is still in denial, seeing that they met such a short time before. A rival MC puts a damper on their future and they need to decide what they need to do to keep everything legit and clean while staying alive. Sophie doesn’t wanna give up, but she also loves her bakery and her independence, but sometimes decisions aren’t as easy to make.

I love the connection between Zak and Sophie. I mean, he’s tough when he needs to be and damn is he very sweet as well! I actually got teary eyed a couple of times! (And one of them was when Zak is with his dad- ugh, got me!). He explains what needs explaining while still being respectful of Sophie and their relationship. I enjoyed the fact that he seemed to be enamored with her before she admitted her feelings (love that he chases her and she tries to stop things from moving forward but just can’t help herself 👏🏻). The epilogue is cute! Loved it!

I can’t wait to read book 2 (and at least up to book 5- Axel and Bella’s story). Although this is my first book by JSJ, it’s definitely not my last.
Profile Image for  ~*~Princess Nya Vasiliev~*~.
1,176 reviews7 followers
June 4, 2022
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.
Profile Image for CeCe.
3,618 reviews109 followers
April 18, 2019
DNF.

The hero just got out of prison after ten years. The club throws a party for him. He thinks that the baker delivering the cake is one of the strippers hired to entertain him. First the heroine tries to explain to the hero that he made a mistake, but he thinks that the "boys" told the heroine to play hard to get, the way he likes it. After a few minutes, the heroine just gives in and has sex with the hero even though he thinks she is the hired entertainment.

You may love it. Reading is subjective. This was not for me. I did not think the heroine would just give in and have sex with the hero after only knowing him for 5 minutes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tashi.
283 reviews59 followers
March 26, 2020
Babe

Well god damn that was hot!! And just the relationship between the characters love at first site well for Z anyway he knew what he wanted
Profile Image for Kim  Brewing.
3,618 reviews36 followers
February 6, 2018
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
Profile Image for Jessica.
596 reviews11 followers
January 6, 2018
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.
Profile Image for Ziezie.
830 reviews27 followers
August 5, 2021
3.7 stars. It was cute, sweet and engaging. I just wanted more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 800 reviews

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