Read Our Lips! Book Review Blog: 4.5 Kiss ARC Review: Iron & Bone (Lock & Key #3) by Cat Porter

A knife that cut too deep,
a slash that still burns,
failures piled high and flammable.
I held my losses at bay with knives, with guns, my hands,
my bike, my brothers,
my iron will.
But not my heart.
No, my heart was the flame
that would light the match,
ignite the blaze.

I am the enforcer
The killer when called upon,
the ruthless hound on demand,
the one who cleans the mess left behind.
The protector.
I can make you bleed,
Smash you to pieces.
But she smashed all my excuses,
and I shattered hers.
For a split second she was mine,
but I will always be hers.
Some things,
really beautiful things,
you can’t hold onto forever.

My Review:

Iron & Bone is the third installment of this series, and though it's stated it can be read as a stand-alone book, there are several parts of the book (though they were thoroughly explained) that give such a depth of backstory, that it almost feels like you're missing a whole lot - but in a good sense. You see, it almost made me want to read the other past books. Almost.

In the past memories, there's a lot of heartache (and kidnappings! jeez) and for that, I'm glad I started the series here - where I get a super sappy lovesick story full of romance and happily ever afters not too commonly found in the Motorcycle Club genre.

I totally loved it!

Jill has had a torrid and painful past. She was kidnapped at 16 and sexually abused by her captor who was a drug crazed sicko. Her path crossed with Dig, her captor's dealer, when Dig came by to supply his client and found out what he was up to. Dig frees Jill, and along with his brother in the MC he belongs to, Boner, they both quickly make Jill’s captor disappear.

Time goes by and though Jill is forever grateful, retaliation is made against Dig and he gets killed. Boner wants nothing to do with Jill, but keeps a close tab on her, knowing it's what his best friend, Dig, would have wanted.

Jill grows up and falls in love with Catch, another member of a rival MC. She has a baby with him, but things don't work out. She ends up leaving him and moves in with his estranged family (since she's got no family of her own) who just happen to live within Boner's territory.

All of this happens in flashbacks - and it's at this point the story begins. You see? LOTS of background, but full of heartbreak :(

Jill is now 32, with a baby in tow, and Boner is 13 years older than her. Jill has always had a crazy attraction to Boner, the MC’s bad boy, but though he always takes care of her, she knows he won't ever see her as anything but someone to look out for.

As a favor to Dig's wife (who can no longer have children) Jill agrees to be her surrogate as a way to repay Dig for saving her life. Her days are spent taking care of her ill mother-in-law and fantasizing about Boner.

Boner. likewise, has had a tumultuous childhood. His mother died at an early age and he was sent to live with uncle and his daughter who was 2 years younger than him, Ines. The two cousins quickly develop a close bond. When his uncle does the unthinkable, Boner takes action and this leads him down the path his life will now take.

Boner becomes a hitman for the local cartel and he does whatever it takes to keep him and Ines afloat. But as time passes, Ines sets her eyes on something else and she betrays him. Her betrayal cuts him deeply (literally) and Boner hardens his heart so he'll never be hurt again. That is - until he meets up with Jill.

Twists and turns abound and the more and more Boner and Jill spend time together, the more apparent their attraction for one another is. But can they move forward from the ghosts of the past that haunt them? Or is their fate already sealed? And what about the gang war with the rival MCs that hovers over all of them? Will they all learn to work together, or will it turn into a bloodbath?

Iron & Bone features: