review – Life of a Literary Nerd

The former Clifton Forge, Montana motorcycle club has everyone in town convinced they’ve locked their clubhouse doors and ripped off their patches. But new t town, Bryce Ryan is convinced there’s more happening at the club’s garage than muscle car restorations and Harley rebuilds. The Clifton Forge series follows the former club members as they navigate life outside and recon with any enemies haunting them from the past.

Steel King

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 Stars)
Release Date: October 29, 2019

Maybe I love romantic suspense? But this was a joy to read from start to finish. I loved the small town setting mixed with the seedy and crime ridden past of Dash and the club, and how it slowly started creeping in while Bryce is reporting on the murder investigation involving Dash’s dad. The club politic, the fearless characters, and the tension were all wonderful and made me fly through this book. My only complaints are the former club had an unfortunate name and I really wish it was changed, there was no answers to questions set up in this book, but It did make me more excited to continue with the series so I can’t complain too much.

Riven Knight

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Release Date: January 21, 2020

While I still really liked this – and i love that we got a lot of answers to questions from book 1, I feel like the character connection was missing a bit for me. Isaiah and Genevieve are a good match – they’re both dealing with with devastating family losses and don’t really like opening up to other people. But they grow closer through the story and they both become a part of the found family at the garage.

Stone Princess

Rating: ★★★★☆
Release Date: May 5, 2020

A win to end the year! I loved the continuation of this series. Presley has intrigued me from the first book and I’m really glad we got to know more about her past. And Shaw has all the spark and charisma of a movie star, with the brooding backstory of a romance hero (though I would have really liked to see more of his family). I liked their push and pull – and even appreciated their third act conflict which was toward the beginning of act 3, not the end, and was resolved fairly quickly.

I do feel like I was missing out on some of the other garage characters, but I’m invested in them (and the world) already, so it’s really just bonus.

Fallen Jester

Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 Stars)
Release Date: May 18, 2021

I don’t think this was bad at all, and it’s probably on par with the rest of the series, it just happens to be my least favorite so far. While I’m not usually the biggest fan of an accidental pregnancy storyline, I don’t actively avoid it, and I think it was done well here. I like that we get to see Leo and Cass being parents, the story doesn’t end with the birth, which is where I see an issue most of the time. But the pacing and relationship development was weak to me. There’s a lot of mini time jumps (a few weeks or months at a time) and I always hate these in stories because we miss so much interaction in there. And I did get the chemistry between Leo and Cass, but I didn’t feel the spark so it was a little lackluster. But the mystery/dark element was both carried over well and unique within the story, so I had fun overall.

Tin Queen

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Release Date: August 31, 2021

I thought I was going to enjoy this more than I did, unfortunately. While I get how hidden identity came be a big problem for some people, it’s not on a hard no list for me. But the lack of development between the two characters is what killed the story for me. There’s so many small time jumps, and they keep so much hidden from each other that I guess I wasn’t invested enough in their relationship. But it was probably the right balance for the story so actions were still forgivable. I also really missed seeing other club members as side characters. I feel like Emmett and Nova were in a bubble and it made the story feel smaller – more of an emotional finale than an action-driven one like previously.