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Low Sided
When Mace was at his worst, low-sided by some punks in a bar, Raven was there. She was there for him while he healed and it was only natural that Mace should find himself in his feelings over her. What wasn’t there to like? She was sweet, kind, sexy, and cool with her burner chick aesthetic, sharp wit, and generous soul. Raven so did not want to get involved with the Sacred Hearts MC. It so wasn’t the way to stay off of local law enforcement’s radar. She just seemed to keep finding herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and the flirty biker was hurt. Like, really hurt, and it went against every fiber of Raven’s being to not give aid to those in need. Raven’s sure that getting involved with Mace is going to be the worst mistake of her life, but then again… she’s been wrong before.
- GenresRomance
316 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 15, 2021
34 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Downey
93 books1,137 followersA.J. Downey is a Pacific Northwest girl living in an East Tennessee world who finds inspiration from her surroundings, through the people she meets, and likely as a byproduct of way too much caffeine. She specializes in real and relatable romance stories featuring that real-life kind of love that everyone craves.
You can find her on Facebook at facebook.com/authorajdowney
You can find her on Facebook at facebook.com/authorajdowney
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 13, 2021
Good
This was a good book. Good characters and plot. There was a small amount of action in book, but this was more of a typical romance story and not much of a typical MC book. But, overall it was enjoyable.
This was a good book. Good characters and plot. There was a small amount of action in book, but this was more of a typical romance story and not much of a typical MC book. But, overall it was enjoyable.
August 31, 2022
This fourth book in the series of the Sacred Hearts MC Pacific Northwest Chapter is better than the first three, I believe. It appears to be better edited and proofread, and for that I am heartily grateful. I like the title of this book a lot. Low siding is crashing your motorcycle on a curve. It fits the book nicely as Mace is low sided by Raven. A perfect metaphor, I think.
Mace is a member of the Sacred Hearts MC PNW chapter. He is in a bar, drowning his jealousy over three of his brothers finding good women to love. He’s just released from prison, on parole, and feeling sorry for himself. He is set upon by some “frat-lookin’ MFs” and is beaten severely. Enter Raven, the bartender with a heart of gold. She takes him home with him and apparently, she’s attended Burning Man festivals (what we called Zozobra, “old man gloom,” in Santa Fe) and received some medical training there. She patches him up and walks to the MC clubhouse a few blocks from her apartment. She’s scared, but asks for Fenris or Maverick, as Mace requested. The rest is the story of Mace and Raven.
Ms. Downey has a habit (at least within this series’ books) of having her characters shake their heads ‘yes.’ It’s a little off-putting. For instance, Mace is talking with Raven and she nods her head in agreement. Then he asks if she’s hungry and warm enough and she “shook her head again.” What does that even mean? She nodded the first time, hasn’t shaken her head previously, yet “shook her head again.” So…was she saying ‘yes,’ again or was she saying ‘no?’ I’ve no idea.
There is also a continual problem with misplaced commas. For instance, “…the expression on her round, face curious and calculating.” The comma is in the wrong place. That sentence should read, “…the expression on her round face, curious and calculating.” If the writer wants to use a comma, it should appear after the noun, ‘face,’ not between the descriptor (‘round’) and its noun (‘face’).
Another habitual problem is with verb tense. In a paragraph, the tense will sometimes change, generally between past and present. For example, “I watched his handsome face, his strong features smooth out in bliss and I felt something I don’t think I’ve ever felt before….” This sentence has an interesting mixture of tenses. Mace is describing something that happened in the past, based on the opening phrase, “I watched his handsome face….” Then she switches to present tense as “…his strong features smooth out…,” then switches back to past tense with “I felt something” and then on to present perfect tense with “I’ve…felt.” These tenses can, under specific conditions, be mixed, but here it reads like a mish mash, halting a reader from moving forward. An editor or proofreader would certainly have better ideas, but perhaps something like this, to correct the tenses and still maintain the writer’s intent: “I watched his handsome face, as his strong features smoothed out in bliss, and I felt something I don’t think I’d ever felt before….”
Here’s another example of a change in tense mid-sentence: “I would probably blow my shot all to hell and gone and kissed you right now because I wish so hard to find someone like you.” There are so many ways to correct this, I do not know which way to go. The writer really needs an editor, or proofreader, to offer suggestions. There are at least three ways to make this sentence easier to read; each depends on what the writer wants us to know.
In chapter 20, Raven is intensely upset with Mace “who’d gone rifling through [her] past that [she] had tried so valiantly to leave behind….” Raven had apparently forgotten – or else the writer had– that she, Raven, had already told Mace about her past. He wasn’t rifling through anything he didn’t already know…and understand. Raven decided, then, to distrust Mace after he picked up some of her possessions and failed to return them to her. The writer doesn’t give us any clues to his reasoning. Did he forget? Was he waiting for the right time? It’s an unknown loose end. Nevertheless, Raven way, way overreacted to his oversight. She knew him pretty well at this point and dramatized her annoyance. I get that the writer needed a conflict for the two protagonists to struggle against, but the conflict should have been more worthwhile.
Ms. Downey does have a unique way of putting things. When her characters are speaking, I generally overlook the grammatical errors and odd sentence structures because it just might be the way the characters speak. However, there is a funny typo here: “…to do this renno on my apartment first….” The word is ‘reno,’ a shortened form of renovation. A word processor’s spellchecker would have caught this.
The book takes overly long to display all the thoughts going through the two main protagonists’ minds. Mace is patient, but totally unsure of how to handle Raven. Raven is wound up in self-doubt, uncertainty, fear, indecision, and so on. This goes on and on for most of the book and then the ending, in chapter 34, is quick and leaves a lot of loose ends lying about. A chapter titled “Epilogue” is labeled “Two years later,” but has nothing to do with the story. An epilogue is supposed to tie up loose ends and lead the story to a satisfactory conclusion. No such luck here. This “epilogue” is an advert for the next book in the series which, as has been true for the previous books, seems pretty interesting.
This book, as was true for the previous three, includes a dysfunctional “Search” feature in Kindle and the X-Ray capability is turned off. I miss them. A lot.
I rated the book 3-stars. I do like Ms. Downey’s writing style. I do not know if her unusual wording is deliberate or not, but I enjoy it. Generally, it makes me laugh. And Ms. Downey does make her characters seem real, even when I don’t like them overly much. They generally have enough quirks and idiosyncrasies to come alive on the pages. I will undoubtedly read the next book in the series. The writer excels at whetting a reader’s interest in the next book in a series!
Mace is a member of the Sacred Hearts MC PNW chapter. He is in a bar, drowning his jealousy over three of his brothers finding good women to love. He’s just released from prison, on parole, and feeling sorry for himself. He is set upon by some “frat-lookin’ MFs” and is beaten severely. Enter Raven, the bartender with a heart of gold. She takes him home with him and apparently, she’s attended Burning Man festivals (what we called Zozobra, “old man gloom,” in Santa Fe) and received some medical training there. She patches him up and walks to the MC clubhouse a few blocks from her apartment. She’s scared, but asks for Fenris or Maverick, as Mace requested. The rest is the story of Mace and Raven.
Ms. Downey has a habit (at least within this series’ books) of having her characters shake their heads ‘yes.’ It’s a little off-putting. For instance, Mace is talking with Raven and she nods her head in agreement. Then he asks if she’s hungry and warm enough and she “shook her head again.” What does that even mean? She nodded the first time, hasn’t shaken her head previously, yet “shook her head again.” So…was she saying ‘yes,’ again or was she saying ‘no?’ I’ve no idea.
There is also a continual problem with misplaced commas. For instance, “…the expression on her round, face curious and calculating.” The comma is in the wrong place. That sentence should read, “…the expression on her round face, curious and calculating.” If the writer wants to use a comma, it should appear after the noun, ‘face,’ not between the descriptor (‘round’) and its noun (‘face’).
Another habitual problem is with verb tense. In a paragraph, the tense will sometimes change, generally between past and present. For example, “I watched his handsome face, his strong features smooth out in bliss and I felt something I don’t think I’ve ever felt before….” This sentence has an interesting mixture of tenses. Mace is describing something that happened in the past, based on the opening phrase, “I watched his handsome face….” Then she switches to present tense as “…his strong features smooth out…,” then switches back to past tense with “I felt something” and then on to present perfect tense with “I’ve…felt.” These tenses can, under specific conditions, be mixed, but here it reads like a mish mash, halting a reader from moving forward. An editor or proofreader would certainly have better ideas, but perhaps something like this, to correct the tenses and still maintain the writer’s intent: “I watched his handsome face, as his strong features smoothed out in bliss, and I felt something I don’t think I’d ever felt before….”
Here’s another example of a change in tense mid-sentence: “I would probably blow my shot all to hell and gone and kissed you right now because I wish so hard to find someone like you.” There are so many ways to correct this, I do not know which way to go. The writer really needs an editor, or proofreader, to offer suggestions. There are at least three ways to make this sentence easier to read; each depends on what the writer wants us to know.
In chapter 20, Raven is intensely upset with Mace “who’d gone rifling through [her] past that [she] had tried so valiantly to leave behind….” Raven had apparently forgotten – or else the writer had– that she, Raven, had already told Mace about her past. He wasn’t rifling through anything he didn’t already know…and understand. Raven decided, then, to distrust Mace after he picked up some of her possessions and failed to return them to her. The writer doesn’t give us any clues to his reasoning. Did he forget? Was he waiting for the right time? It’s an unknown loose end. Nevertheless, Raven way, way overreacted to his oversight. She knew him pretty well at this point and dramatized her annoyance. I get that the writer needed a conflict for the two protagonists to struggle against, but the conflict should have been more worthwhile.
Ms. Downey does have a unique way of putting things. When her characters are speaking, I generally overlook the grammatical errors and odd sentence structures because it just might be the way the characters speak. However, there is a funny typo here: “…to do this renno on my apartment first….” The word is ‘reno,’ a shortened form of renovation. A word processor’s spellchecker would have caught this.
The book takes overly long to display all the thoughts going through the two main protagonists’ minds. Mace is patient, but totally unsure of how to handle Raven. Raven is wound up in self-doubt, uncertainty, fear, indecision, and so on. This goes on and on for most of the book and then the ending, in chapter 34, is quick and leaves a lot of loose ends lying about. A chapter titled “Epilogue” is labeled “Two years later,” but has nothing to do with the story. An epilogue is supposed to tie up loose ends and lead the story to a satisfactory conclusion. No such luck here. This “epilogue” is an advert for the next book in the series which, as has been true for the previous books, seems pretty interesting.
This book, as was true for the previous three, includes a dysfunctional “Search” feature in Kindle and the X-Ray capability is turned off. I miss them. A lot.
I rated the book 3-stars. I do like Ms. Downey’s writing style. I do not know if her unusual wording is deliberate or not, but I enjoy it. Generally, it makes me laugh. And Ms. Downey does make her characters seem real, even when I don’t like them overly much. They generally have enough quirks and idiosyncrasies to come alive on the pages. I will undoubtedly read the next book in the series. The writer excels at whetting a reader’s interest in the next book in a series!
October 31, 2022
Low Sided by A.J. Downey is book four in the Sacred Hearts MC Pacific Northwest series. The story focuses on Mace and Raven. Mace has done time in prison and feels like he is missing out on love since the brothers in his MC all seem to have found their one. That is until he is jumped outside a bar one night and Raven becomes his saviour. Whilst Raven looks after Mace, he comes to realise that she has been through her own trauma and wants to help her shine, but first he has to help her slay her own demons as well as his own.
Both Raven and Mace were great characters, they definitely suit each other as they’re both a little different and happy to live off the grid and minimally. Mace was very sweet with Raven as she tries to overcome her trauma and the story is certainly a slow burn with a lot of feeling put into it. I liked that Mace was Raven’s saviour and that he was willing to do things he wouldn’t normally do, even if it cost him a little part of himself. The dynamic of the MC is great in this book and there is a lot of emotion and build-up in each character’s stories. I also liked that we saw characters from previous books, and they added to both Raven and Mace’s relationship. Overall, a really good book in the series!
More of my reviews can be found on my blog: http://thehotmesslibrary.blogspot.com
Both Raven and Mace were great characters, they definitely suit each other as they’re both a little different and happy to live off the grid and minimally. Mace was very sweet with Raven as she tries to overcome her trauma and the story is certainly a slow burn with a lot of feeling put into it. I liked that Mace was Raven’s saviour and that he was willing to do things he wouldn’t normally do, even if it cost him a little part of himself. The dynamic of the MC is great in this book and there is a lot of emotion and build-up in each character’s stories. I also liked that we saw characters from previous books, and they added to both Raven and Mace’s relationship. Overall, a really good book in the series!
More of my reviews can be found on my blog: http://thehotmesslibrary.blogspot.com
April 24, 2021
I'm loving the series
Mace is out of prison and looking around at his brothers, many having found love. He's jealous and wants nothing more than to settle down. He ends up in a seedy bar where the bartender is a hot chick. They talk some but then four college type guys come in and start hassling him and the bartender. The next thing he knows they jump him and start beating him badly. The bartender Raven shoots off her pistol and chases them away but Mace is seriously hurt. She gets him back to her apartment and uses her medical skills to tend to him. He's too hurt to be moved and she volunteers to look after him. It's the start of a new beginning for both of them. Raven is hiding from a horrible past and has major trust issues. Can Mace help her overcome them? Awesome story.
Mace is out of prison and looking around at his brothers, many having found love. He's jealous and wants nothing more than to settle down. He ends up in a seedy bar where the bartender is a hot chick. They talk some but then four college type guys come in and start hassling him and the bartender. The next thing he knows they jump him and start beating him badly. The bartender Raven shoots off her pistol and chases them away but Mace is seriously hurt. She gets him back to her apartment and uses her medical skills to tend to him. He's too hurt to be moved and she volunteers to look after him. It's the start of a new beginning for both of them. Raven is hiding from a horrible past and has major trust issues. Can Mace help her overcome them? Awesome story.
April 17, 2021
Hell of a ride
Mace and Ravens story was phenomenal, very intense in some places heartbreaking in others. But all worked out in the end. I cannot wait for the next book! The worlds That AJ Downey writes about Always brings you in and makes you a part of it. Love this series, and love this author!
Mace and Ravens story was phenomenal, very intense in some places heartbreaking in others. But all worked out in the end. I cannot wait for the next book! The worlds That AJ Downey writes about Always brings you in and makes you a part of it. Love this series, and love this author!
April 19, 2021
Mace is a cutie!
Mace was a refreshing unknown! We hadn't really seen much at all about him in previous books (due to being incarcerated) so I had no expectations going into this. Each of these guys is so different with their women than they are in the club so it would have been hard to have an expectation anyway. He was incredibly sweet though.
Mace was a refreshing unknown! We hadn't really seen much at all about him in previous books (due to being incarcerated) so I had no expectations going into this. Each of these guys is so different with their women than they are in the club so it would have been hard to have an expectation anyway. He was incredibly sweet though.
April 20, 2021
Mace & Raven
There is so much happening in Mace and Raven's story I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I fell in love these two from the get go. I laughed, cried and cheered them on and I do happy both their dreams came true. I've been a far of this series from the very beginning and with each new book it only gets better.
There is so much happening in Mace and Raven's story I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I fell in love these two from the get go. I laughed, cried and cheered them on and I do happy both their dreams came true. I've been a far of this series from the very beginning and with each new book it only gets better.
April 21, 2021
Absolute fabulousness!!?
Great characters. Mace and raven are dynamic well disfunctional people moving on with their lives as anyone would do in their situations. I always love the unique personalities of Downey’s characters and the research done to make their professions and characteristics come alive. Great read
Great characters. Mace and raven are dynamic well disfunctional people moving on with their lives as anyone would do in their situations. I always love the unique personalities of Downey’s characters and the research done to make their professions and characteristics come alive. Great read
May 3, 2021
Mace and Raven
Mace is depressed and drinking and gets hurt. The bartender Raven saves him and patches him up. And Mace will do anything to help her but can she accept him and the club family in this newest book. Interesting set of characters in this club good to see them all.
Mace is depressed and drinking and gets hurt. The bartender Raven saves him and patches him up. And Mace will do anything to help her but can she accept him and the club family in this newest book. Interesting set of characters in this club good to see them all.
June 21, 2021
There’s a slightly slow warm up, but boy does Mace fall hard, such a sweetheart. I love how it’s all about Raven, her needs, her wants her life all comes first. Even his screwup comes from a place of love. It’s the kind of book that gives you sweet dreams and leaves you with a smile on your face.
April 17, 2021
Awesome
I love all of A.J.'s books. This one was beautiful. Made was wonderfully understanding and Raven was so genuinely good.
I love all of A.J.'s books. This one was beautiful. Made was wonderfully understanding and Raven was so genuinely good.
April 23, 2021
Loved the story
Love this series and wait excitedly for each new book. Like that he cared so much for her. She had a lot on her plate.
Love this series and wait excitedly for each new book. Like that he cared so much for her. She had a lot on her plate.
May 2, 2021
This one is quite romantic. I loved the way the "communicated" in the beginning. These two were so right for each other.
June 28, 2024
Mace’s turn
This series is getting better as it rolls along - I’m glad I’ve stuck with it so far. Book 2 was hard, but 3 and 4 make up for it.
This series is getting better as it rolls along - I’m glad I’ve stuck with it so far. Book 2 was hard, but 3 and 4 make up for it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews