The Loves We Lost by S. Cole is live!

This is the most beautiful story! A passionate, intense and heartfelt second-chance-romance set within the MC world, this book sucked me in and didn’t let go. I fell in love with these characters and their journey, I felt everything along with them, and I loved every moment of their battle for their HEA. It’s a fantastic read and a fave for 2024.

 

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Blurb

Viola turned down my cut and engagement ring because she was scared of my world, only to turn our love story into a steamy bestseller, complete with the happily ever after she wouldn’t give us.

Worse, she’s using my last name as her pseudonym.

But that isn’t the only secret she’s been keeping from me.

And now our biggest rivals plan to use her and the little girl with blue eyes and dimples just like mine as collateral to control my club, the Iron Outlaws MC, leaving her no choice but to ask me for help.

She’s going to hate me for bringing violence to her door, but I’ll die trying to keep the two loves I lost alive.

 

 

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Review

5 huge stars!

This is the most beautiful story! A passionate, intense and heartfelt second-chance-romance set within the MC world, this book sucked me in and didn’t let go. I fell in love with these characters and their journey, I felt everything along with them, and I loved every moment of their battle for their HEA. It’s a fantastic read and a fave for 2024.

This is the 6th book in the Iron Outlaws MC series. Because so much has gone on with these characters, and with the club, I would definitely recommend reading these books in order, but you could read this one as a standalone, as long as you’re ok not knowing a lot of the dynamics, or finding out spoilers about earlier books.

Bates is an enforcer for the Iron Outlaws MC, and in the most sensational set-up, he learns that his ex-girlfriend and love of his life, Viola, is now a romance writer and writing MC romance based on their past together. If that isn’t shocking enough, she’s using his name as a pseudonym and writing about the very life she walked away from when he proposed and offered her a cut. She walked away and left him broken hearted, and in a desperate need to know why, he tracks her down.

“You wrote our story, only you gave two fucking imaginary people the ending you couldn’t give us. What the fuck kind of bullshit is that?”

Sparks fly when they see each other again, and when Vi fears she is in danger and seeks help at the Iron Outlaws compound, with her five-year-old daughter that looks just like Bates, things get even more interesting.

I can’t take my eyes off the two people in front of me. And while I am going to punish the shit out of Viola for whatever clusterfuck this is, I can’t deny an almost-primal beat within my chest that they are both mine.

This is such a tricky storyline to write, and a secret child is hit-or-miss situation with me, it has to be done in a way that makes sense and isn’t just for unnecessary drama, and Scarlett Cole does this one so well. I could understand Vi’s fears for her and her daughter’s safety, and how things played out the way it did. I could also absolutely understand Bates’ reaction to the news. There is a mess of emotion on both sides – anger, guilt and sadness, and I was right there with both of them as they work through the devastating betrayal. Balancing it out beautifully is Bates’ soul-deep love for Vi, and his instant love for his daughter, Avery, which is amazing to witness.

One minute I’m so fucking furious at the decision she made to keep Avery from me. Hell, to keep herself from me. The next, I want to hold her just like this. To step up, be the bigger man, and reassure her that we’ll get through all this somehow.

Vi is a strong character. She’s created a good life for her and Avery, and I could understand her decision to keep herself and her little girl away from such a dangerous life. But then the one thing she has always feared becomes reality – her connection with Bates has made her and Avery a target of the club’s enemies. She’ll have to rely on Bates and the very people she rejected so long ago to keep them both safe.

I don’t want to be here, but it’s where I’m safest. Miles is the only one who can help me, so I don’t really want to piss him off. But he’s also the man who didn’t choose me. He. Didn’t. Choose. Me. And I guess all along that’s what has hurt most. He rejected me when he put the club first. And he’ll do the same for Avery.

With his two girls in danger, Bates comes in all alpha protective, and everything changes. Though it’s initially forced proximity, with the love between them still burning so brightly, it quickly becomes anything but forced, and I loved seeing them together and all up in each other’s lives.

“Reminiscing with you is dangerous,” I say. “It makes me think about things that simply can’t happen.”
“Here’s the thing, Vi. When it comes to you and me, anything can happen.”

Of course it’s emotional, but’s it’s also playful and fun, and sexy as all hell. VI is a romance writer who has imagined all kinds of sexy scenarios, and Bates is all too happy to help her explore her curious side. He is kinky and a dirty talker, and the sex is seriously steamy – a reflection of their trust and acceptance, and the depth of their relationship.

You can see that there is so much love between these two, but their life circumstances made their situation difficult, and they weren’t able to make it work in the past. But neither of them can deny the connection between them, and with little Avery in the picture they are now tied together in a way that they’ll never be able to walk away from again. And I love how honest they are with each other as they lay it all out there.

“You tell me that you still want me in your bed at night, making you feel the magic we feel when we’re together. You tell me you want a sibling for Avery. You tell me that you want a man to take care of you after all this time being alone. Financially. Emotionally. Sexually. You tell me all that, and I’m staying so we can figure out the rest. Because that’s a really fucking solid foundation to build on.”

And with danger never far away in the MC world, when faced with the unimaginable, they are forced to confront their future and what they want their lives to be, and I loved watching them figure it all out.

“I feel like you’ve always been mine.”
… “I’m yours … Always have been.”

The rest of the Iron Outlaws and their old ladies are a big part of the story, of course, and I loved being back in this world. I loved how the whole crew had Bates’ back, and I loved seeing Vi and Avery come into the Iron Outlaws and be so unreservedly accepted. But the big bonus was seeing all of the big gruff bikers suddenly deal with a sweet little girl in their midst, and some of those scenes had my heart melting, while others made me laugh out loud.

“There you go, pumpkin.”
As if sensing my mood, she turns and plants her sweaty, dirty palms on my thighs and kisses my cheek. “You’re the best hair putter-upper, Daddy.” She skips off and takes my heart with her.
“Your kid’s full of shit,” Halo mutters. “That’s the weakest ponytail I’ve seen in a long time.”
“Fuck you,” I say, my heart so fucking full, I can’t breathe.

This is a gorgeous read that had me all swept up, and I read it in a day, unable to put it down. I loved every moment of this wild ride and finished the book feeling satisfied, with a massive smile on my face… until that epilogue which hints at the next book which now has me desperate for Halo’s story up next.

So much love for this one – 5 stars!

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author for an honest review.

 

Iron Outlaws MC

 

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Meet the Author

The tattoo across my right hip says it all really. A Life Less Ordinary. Inked by the amazingly talented Luke Wessman at the Wooster Street Social Club (a.k.a. New York Ink). Why is it important? Well, it sums up my view on life. That we should all aspire to live a life that is less boring, less predictable. Be bold, and do something amazing. I’ve made some crazy choices. I’ve been a car maker, a consultant, and even a senior executive at a large retailer running strategy. Born in England, spent time in the U.S. and Japan, before ending up in Canada where I met my own, personal hero – all six and a half feet of him. Both of us are scorpios! Yeah, I know! Should have checked the astrological signs earlier, but somehow it works for us. We have two amazing kids, who I either could never part with or could easily be convinced to sell on e-bay.

I’ve wanted to be a writer for a really long time. Check through my office cupboards or my computer and you’ll find half written stories and character descriptions everywhere. Now I’m getting the chance to follow that dream.

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For more information on S. Cole and her books visit: http://www.scarlettcole.com/