Breathe by Kirsten Ashley

Why I read it:  I bought this one a while back and I decided to finish the series (so far) as a little reading treat.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  In order to protect a father he does not respect, in Lady Luck, we learned that good cop Chace Keaton went bad, sacrificing his career and his future. But when the local police department's secrets are revealed and the wife he's forced to marry is murdered, Chace finds himself the town of Carnal's hero. Knowing how deep in the mud he was forced to sink, Chace feels he'll never get clean. The quiet, content future he envisioned of the love a good woman with whom he could build a family was now beyond his reach. The only thing he can do is find his wife's murderer.

But he isn't the only one looking.

While searching for new leads, he runs into Faye Goodknight, the town's quiet, shy, pretty librarian. Chace has long since had his eye on what could possibly be the town's last remaining virgin but he has also long since given up hope he could make her his. Faye is pure and clean and Chace refuses to dirty her with his sordid past.

Pure and clean Faye may be, but when the shy librarian is forced to go head to head with the man who she's had a crush on since he hit her hometown, Chace finds Faye is full of surprises. And he doesn't know what to do with her.

What worked for me (and what didn't):  To be honest it took me a little while to get into this one.  I felt my reading mojo was missing initially and I was getting too distracted by Twitter.  But, by about 1/3 in, I felt I had hit my straps and things were looking up. By the end, I had mixed feelings. I enjoyed the romance but the subplot involving the Elite was too opaque for me and the parts involving the children mixed with so much cheese as to render me lactose intolerant.

Vegemite: It's a Matter of Taste

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vegemiteontoast_large.jpg

I like Vegemite^.  A sparing amount  over freshly made and hot buttered toast, can be just the thing for breakfast if I'm in a toast kind of mood.  Other than that I grew up eating it and I like the flavour of umami reasonably well (or, possibly, just saying "umami"), I really can't explain it though.  I don't expect you to understand.  It is almost black and thick and kind of ... greasy. It is a by-product of the beer brewing process. (And it LOOKS like a petroleum by-product.) But I like it.  It is okay for me to like it.  It is also okay for you not to like it.

If you'd like, I will try and explain why I like Vegemite but if you don't "get it", it doesn't mean I have failed you. I'm  not obliged to keep trying to come up with new ways to justify to you why I like Vegemite. I am not a Vegemite-Evangelist. I'm a Vegemite-Live-and-Let-Live-r.  Vegemite, like many things, is something that ultimately, you either "get" or do not. And LOADS of people DON'T.  LOADS.

Fire Inside by Kristen Ashley

Why I read it:  I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley. Of course, I had to read it immediately.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  Lanie Heron isn’t looking for love—no surprise, considering her last serious relationship nearly got her killed. So when Lanie propositions Hop Kincaid, all she wants is one wild night with the hot-as-hell biker who patrols with the Chaos Motorcycle Club...

For Hop, Lanie has always been untouchable. She’s too polished and too classy for his tastes. But when she gives Hop the once-over with her bedroom eyes and offers him a night in paradise, he can’t say no. And he doesn’t regret it when he finds that Lanie is the best thing that’s ever happened to him—in or out of bed. Now the trick will be to convince her of that.

What worked for me (and what didn't): Hop. Hop worked for me. Big time.

“Yeah, I liked skank,” he bit off. “Liked the taste. Wild, free, and easy. Went back for more. Repeatedly. But that was before I had my mouth between the legs of a lady. You get that, you don’t go back.”

Tack is still my favourite but Hop is next in line from the Dream Man/Chaos series so far.  He was most sighworthy.  As much as I enjoyed Shy and Tabby in Own The Wind, I preferred this book.  I guess in part, this was because Lanie's backstory was caught up in Motorcycle Man (Tack!).  But the rest, kind of surprised me.  I hadn't seen Hop that way before.  In fact, in Motorcycle Man, he is a bit of a cheating cheatypants.  In this book, there is an explanation which is much better than Ross Geller's even if there was something a little reminiscent of it.

“Fuck me, babe, seriously?” he ground out then threw a hand toward the bed. “You knocked yourself out to make me wild. You told me your fuckin’ self. Why, Lanie? Why the fuck would you pull out all the fuckin’ stops to make a man already drunk on you drunker?”

I like that Ashley mainly writes older heroes and heroines, even though I didn't have any trouble relating to Tabby and Shy and I don't feel like I enjoyed Own The Wind less because they were younger.  Still, I can't deny that I do enjoy the older protagonists here - it is still quite rare in romance I think to have a hero who's 40 and a heroine who's 39.

As is usual for me with a Kristen Ashley book, I went mad with the highlighter, there are so many excellent lines in there. Believe it or not, the quotes in this review aren't even all of them.

Hop is much more than expected.  He's a good dad, he sings (dude, he's a rock star!) and he's hot, hot, hot.  His moral code is strong and he sticks to it.  There are things in his life he's not proud of but he's proud he helped Chaos get out of "bad shit" it was into before Tack took over the club.

“Every step, every breath, every second I lived on this earth, I’m thankful for, no matter how fucked up or whacked or hard or good, ’cause all that shit led me to you.”

Lanie is still suffering from tremendous guilt over the events at the end of Motorcycle Man.  Even though it is clear that neither Tack nor Tyra hold her responsible, she does.   I liked that it is not just the power of lurrrve which heals her and it is not Hop's MIGHTY wang of lovin' either.  That certainly helps (why wouldn't it?) but it is not a cure and Lanie has things to do to move on and Hop and Tyra both help Lanie with that.

“That’s the point I’m tryin’ to make. If you don’t know shit, you don’t feel shit. You breathe easy if you take a chance on me. What I do, I do. What the Club does, it does. You’ll learn to trust me, the brothers, Tack. I don’t use you as a shield. I am the goddamn shield, and I’m not talkin’ about bullets because shit like that does not touch old ladies. Ever. I’m talkin’ about assholes with monster trucks. I’m talkin’ about Club business, life, every second you live, every breath you take. You take a chance on me, your biggest worry is your 7Up fizzing over.”

Lanie also has been treated badly by the men in her life in general and so, when Hopper comes along, she can tell he's special.

Hop was good-looking, smart, confident, and charismatic. What he wasn’t was a man who hid that he liked what he saw.

He could act the player. He could pretend he could take it or leave it. He could hide his attraction to me in order to gain the upper hand. He could even begin to lay the groundwork of tearing me down, making me feel less than I was, trying to make me feel lucky I had in my bed all that was him and, in doing that, embarking on a campaign that was usually scary successful not to mention swift, to make me feel like I was nothing.

He didn’t.

Tack, once again, has a pivotal scene where he again proves (to me) that he is the hero to aspire to in this series, even as much as I came to adore Hop.  And, really, why wouldn't I adore Hop?

I took two steps into the room, stopped and said quietly but firmly, “I don’t have the energy to spar with you tonight. I’ve been working for five hours and although not physically taxing, it’s been mentally draining. I just want a quiet night.” I shook my head and amended, “No, I need a quiet night.”

“Then it’s good we’re just gonna watch TV. And when I fuck you later, you’re golden. I’ll do all the work.”

See? He's ALL CLASS. Plus, I do love a man who knows how to apologise.

“I fucked up, jumped to conclusions, said somethin’ stupid and you were right to get pissed,”...

 And, for extra bonus points, he's careful of his lady.

“Do we have to go upstairs to fuck?”

He dipped his face closer and answered, “In the mood to dominate, babe, and not big on givin’ my old lady carpet burns.”

Like I said. CLASS.

I felt that this book was sexier than the others I've read (no complaints about that by the way).

...he groaned before his tongue slid into my mouth, his thumb executing a maneuver that should be patented. My second orgasm seared through me so deep, it had to have left an internal scar and I whimpered down his throat.

Hop is confident in his abilities (and, according to Lanie, rightly so).

Something else hit me and I felt my brows shoot together. “Was that a test?”

...

“No. Don’t play games,” he announced. “Don’t wanna know what kind of men you’ve had in your bed before me outside of the one I do know so, since I know about him, you gotta know, I get it. No offense to the dead but unless he had Superman under all that geek, babe, I know whatever you got from him you liked but it wasn’t what you get from me.”

In terms of criticism, it is much the same as my (mild) complaint of Own The Wind.  The book takes place over basically the same time period.  There is more backstory about Benito the drug dealer and the problem Chaos has with him, but the grand finale is not found here.  So, in terms of the suspense-y side of the story, that was a little flat for me.  That said, I found that the focus of the book wasn't really on the Benito thing so I was able to put that niggle aside very easily.

I do think that the next book in the series will have some extra excitement involving the culmination of these events and I'm looking forward to what happens there.

Even though the book takes place at the same time as much of Tabby and Shy's story, there isn't a lot of cross over so I didn't feel at all like I was getting the same story.  And, what there was felt like extra and a different perspective so it worked really well for me.  Even so, I would have liked a little more about how Hop and Shy patched things up.

Hop and Lanie are compelling and sexy and so good together.  They fight and they work things out - (sometimes it takes some time).  Lanie is known for her drama and Hop isn't fussed at all about this - he's happy for her to be her, drama and all.

“This ends this morning,” I declared to which, immediately, he threw his handsome, stubble-jawed head back and burst out laughing so hard it shook me and the bed.

“Do you find something amusing?” I asked irately through his laughter.

Also through his laughter he focused on me and spoke. “Yeah, honey. The clue is me laughing.”

What else?  I predict sales of Bob Seger songs will spike around release day. Definitely You Tube will be getting a workout.

“And you aren’t gonna feel better for a while, Lanie,” he told me flat out. “You go into battle, it fucks you up. Then you come out a winner, you’re just that, a winner.”

“Okay, that’s nice and all but, I have to admit, now I really don’t feel better. I’m not big on being fucked up,” I told him and he grinned.

Then he asked, “Where am I?”

I didn’t understand the question so I asked back, “What?”

“Where am I?” he repeated and when I still looked confused, he went on, “Right now, Lanie, where am I standing?”

It sifted through me what he meant and left warmth in its wake.

“At my back,” I answered softly.

“At your back, baby, now and always,” he replied, kissed my shoulder again, gave me a squeeze and another sexy grin. Then he let me go and walked away.

I looked at myself in the mirror.

And I felt better.

Grade: B+

BUY IT

AMAZON

Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley

Why I read it:  I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.  Also: Kristen Ashley.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  Too hot to handle...

Tabitha Allen grew up in the thick of Chaos--the Chaos Motorcycle Club, that is. Her father is Chaos' leader, and the club has always had her back. But one rider was different from the start. When Tabby was running wild, Shy Cage was there. When tragedy tore her life apart, he helped her piece it back together. And now, Tabby's thinking about much more than friendship...

Tabby is everything Shy's ever wanted, but everything he thinks he can't have. She's beautiful, smart, and as his friend's daughter, untouchable. Shy never expected more than friendship, so when Tabby indicates she wants more--much more--he feels like the luckiest man alive. But even lucky men can crash and burn...

What worked for me (and what didn't): This is the first book by Ashley published through Grand Central with Amy Pierpont editing. It is a much tighter book than those I've read previously and there is less of the run on sentences (which I kind of missed actually). All of the sentences made sense and the copy editing was very clean.  The book fell down for me a little at the end but that was about plot rather than anything else - it kind of fizzled for me rather than ending with a grand finale.  I did love Shy and Tabby together and their interactions were the best parts of the book.

April Round Up

on Paper/eBook

Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley - B/B+  I have recently discovered the reading crack* that is Kristen Ashley.  Her writing is not for everyone.  There are very long run-on sentences (some of which don’t make sense), some abuse of tenses and apostrophes… but.  But.  The stories are strong and if you like the alpha protector type who likes dirty talk and laugh out loud funny heroines (and heroes for that matter), an authentic girl posse who drinks cosmopolitans and eat cookie dough and other fattening things, this might be for you.

Mystery Man is the first book in the Dream Man series (but I started with book 4, Motorcycle Man because I’d heard that is the “gateway drug” – I’d heard right by the way). 

  

Gwendolyn Kidd has been having the strangest relationship – 18 months earlier she met a hot sexy guy in a bar and with very (and I mean very) few words, found herself having the best sex of her life with him. They don’t exchange names or conversation.  And he keeps turning up, every few days for more hot sex, in the middle of the night, then he says “Later, babe” and leaves.  Matters come to a head when Gwen’s sister Ginger gets in a lot of trouble with a lot of bad people.  Her Mystery Man, Cabe “Hawk” Delgado is a commando type and rides to the rescue.  

Lady Luck by Kristen Ashley

Why I read it: It was the next one in the series. :)

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  Ty Walker was wrongly imprisoned and for the five years he was inside, he honed his plan so when he gets out, he has nothing but vengeance on his mind.

But then he walks straight to stylish, leggy, beautiful, goofy Lexie Berry and he suddenly has something else to think about. He knows within seconds he wants her and within days he can love her but with the filth that was flung at him clinging; he also knows he can’t have her.

Since birth, Lexie Berry has been Lady Luck’s favorite toy and because of that, Lexie is cautious. But within a day, she senses Ty is something special. With her luck, however, she can’t trust it. Then she finds out what was done to Ty and she’s willing to do anything to make it right.

Even what Ty will never forgive her for doing.

Ty clings to vengeance and Lexie goes all out to give him back the time he lost. But Ty is battling demons within and they’re up against dirty cops and criminals who will stop at nothing to sway Lady Luck against them. All Ty and Lexie have is hope Lady Luck will finally swing their way.

What worked for me (and what didn't): Of all the Kristen Ashley books I've read so far, this one is my least favourite.  It's not that I didn't like it; I did. But there were some things which bothered me and that detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

I did like the mixed race hero (he's half African American, half Caucasian) and race was an issue and theme throughout the story.  I did like that Lexie didn't blink an eye at being in a relationship with him.  She didn't see his colour as any kind of barrier.   I also liked that Ty's friends didn't either.  I liked that there was more racial diversity in this book.

Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley

Why I read it:  Continuing my glom. I bought the whole series and also the first 4 Rock Chick books.  KA addiction, I have you.  I started with this one because Kati D told me that Tate was a bit like Tack (ie yummy).  I still like Tack better but Tate was pretty special.

What it's about:  (from Goodreads)  Lauren Grahame has spent her whole life thinking something special was going to happen. She didn’t know what it was, she just knew it would one day be hers. But she learned the hard way that special wasn’t on offer.

So, after divorcing her cheating husband, Lauren searched for nothing special and she thought she found it when she landed a job as a waitress in a biker bar in Carnal. It was perfect: a nothing job in a nowhere bar in Nowheresville.

Then Tatum Jackson walked in. Part-owner of the bar, he took one look at high-class Lauren and wanted nothing to do with her. And he made this known, loudly.

Tate’s angry insults seared in her brain, Lauren decides the feeling is mutual and she doesn’t want anything to do with the gloriously handsome Tate Jackson. The clash of the bartender and barmaid begins but, even though Tate makes his change of mind clear (in biker-speak, a language Lauren is not fluent in), Lauren is intent on going her own way.

Until a serial killer hits Carnal and Lauren finds out Tate isn’t a bartender, he’s a bounty hunter. He stakes his claim for Lauren before he goes on the hunt for a killer but Laurie doesn’t speak biker nor does she understand bounty hunters and Tate comes back from the hunt to find his old lady has moved on.

Life throws curveball after curveball at Laurie and Tate. As secrets are revealed, women are brutally murdered, and Lauren tries to find her inner biker babe.

What worked for me (and what didn't): There are some unusual things about this book if you compare it to what's around the place generally in Romancelandia.  Firstly, both the hero and heroine are in their forties.  Next, Lauren, when she first arrives in Carnal, is a bit overweight and almost the first thing Tate (our hero don't forget) says about her (which she overhears) is that she's "fat, old and sorry-ass".  And she kind of is.  Lauren has been driving around for months, trying to find a place to settle after being betrayed by her husband and all of her friends (he was cheating, they all knew it and no-one said anything to her).  While Lauren is close to her sister and parents, she has been distant from them for the past few months while she's been trying to get her head together. She's looking for a place where she can just be but she's not expecting anything special in her life.  Tate's comment (which he later does apologise for, fully realising he was out of line - although he gets impatient that she doesn't forgive him immediately upon apology - something I had quite a bit of sympathy for by the way) spurs Lauren into taking a bit better care of herself.  She doesn't get a makeover to try and attract a man, but rather she realises that she's let herself go a bit and she decides, almost by osmosis, to start looking after herself.  She doesn't ever do it for anyone other than herself.  This is very good.  And, it has to be said, that even upon arrival, when she wasn't at her best, the townsfolk thought she'd be exactly Tate's type - I got the impression that Tate was happy enough with the way she looked all the time, notwithstanding his out of line early comment (which was actually not much to do with Lauren at all).

Wild Man by Kristen Ashley

Why I read it:  Continuing my glom...  (Really, the books are priced so as to make it very easy to go on a spree.)

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  While filling her display case in her bakery, the bell over the door sounds and Tessa O’Hara looks up and sees the man of her dreams. Within thirty seconds he asks her out for a beer. Thirty seconds later, she says yes. But after four months of falling in love, she discovers he’s an undercover DEA Agent investigating the possibility she’s involved in her ex-husband’s drug business.

Obviously Tess decides this means it’s over.

But DEA Agent Brock Lucas disagrees. A man on a mission who’s really committed to his job, he’s spent years in the underbelly of Denver with the dregs of society. And spending four months with Tess who’s as sweet as her cupcakes, he seriously enjoyed his job. But during Tess’s interrogation, Brock learns the devastating secret Tess is carrying and he’s determined to be the man who helps her heal as well as take her back as she walks on the wild side.

As wild and sweet mix, they face challenge after challenge of family struggling with history and terminal illness. Not to mention, Tess’s ex-husband, the drug lord and Brock’s ex-wife, who has a very big playbook are scheming to tear them apart.

But Brock Lucas has wild in him and once in his past on the trail of vengeance he let that wild loose, making a mistake that he would have no idea years later will put his sweet Tess in the position to pay his penance.

What worked for me (and what didn't): This was my third Ashley book.  I've noticed quite a few similarities; the heroines are funny and a little bit screwball (in a good way, IMO), the heroes are uber-alpha protector types who like the dirty talk and have a bit of a rough edge, even though they are devoted to their ladies once they find them.  That might sound a bit like I have been reading the same book. But I have noticed some differences too.  It may be that they are too subtle for some people to enjoy however.  It's not a problem I'm having however.  Out of the three heroines I have read so far, Gwen (Mystery Man) is the funniest, Tyra is the gutsiest (Motorcycle Man) and Tess (Wild Man) is the sweetest.  Her version of screwball is a little toned down as compared to Tyra and Gwen.   In term of the narrative arc, Wild Man is, I think, much different to the two MMs.  Even though the title is "Wild" Man, the book has a long period in the middle of courtship and relationship development without a hail of bullets.  There are issues that the couple deal with - a lot of family drama involving Brock's father and Brock's ex-wife and two sons but, unlike the other two books, there is a large section of calm.  That's not to say boring.  Just, as compared to the rollercoaster that was the other two books.

Motorcyle Man by Kristen Ashley

Why I read it:  I had to check out what all the fuss was about.  Honestly, I expected to be underwhelmed.  Imagine my surprise when I found myself sucked into the Kristen Ashley vortex.  There is no going back.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  Stuck in a colorless world, Tyra Masters decides to chuck her old life and starts searching for something. She doesn’t know what it is until she meets her dream man. The goateed, tattooed, muscled, gravelly voiced motorcycle man who plies her with tequila and gives her the best sex of her life. But she knows it isn’t the tequila and sex talking. He’s it. He’s who she’s been daydreaming about since she could remember.

Until he makes it clear she isn’t who he’s looking for.

Tyra slinks away from his bed, humiliated. The problem is, he’s her new boss. She just may or may not have forgotten to tell him that part.

Kane “Tack” Allen has a rule. He doesn’t employ someone he’s slept with. And he lets Tyra know that in his motorcycle man way. Tyra fights for her job and wins it using sass and a technicality. Tack challenges her that if she hits his bed one more time, she loses her job.

Tyra is determined to keep her job and keep away from Tack. But she makes a big mistake. During their head-to-heads, she lets it all hang out and shows Tack she is who he’s looking for. And Tack has had a good woman slip through his fingers, he’s not about to let that happen again.

Although Tack colors Tyra’s world with a vibrancy that’s blinding, being with him means she has to live in his Motorcycle Club world. Full on, no holds barred. And since Tack’s world, not to mention Tack, is a little scary, Tyra isn’t so sure.
 
It's Tack's job to convince her.

What worked for me (and what didn't): Oh man! Where do I start? The enjoyment factor of this book for me was off the charts.  Sure, there were some problems with it.  Mostly, those problems were related to writing tics and some problematic editing.  But I now completely understand what other people have been talking about when they say that they wouldn't want to see her books too heavily edited because part of the crazysauce is what makes the story so much fun.  It's a wild ride from start to finish and I lapped it up.

Fantasy to the (Hyper) Extreme?

aka a kind of review and a rambling justification for why I like Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde.

As I start this post, I'm about halfway through the book but I wanted to start getting my thoughts down before they scattered.  Reaper's Property was recommended to me by DA's Jane.  She said it was "hardcore" and "intense and emotional" and she clearly loved it.  Her recommendation was not without caveats however - she noted:  "Anyway, warning warning warning. Know that you are getting an over the top sexist parade of MC full of violence and wrongdoing when you read this book".

There has been comparison with Kristen Ashley's Motorcycle Club (MC) books - I have 1 or 2 on my TBR but haven't read any yet - I keep hearing about engaging stories but also poor grammar and sloppy/no editing and I'm kind of torn about taking the plunge in actually reading them because the latter things mean a lot to me.   This book, a little shorter than a KA book and better edited, lured me because of the promise of engagement and curiosity did the rest.  So I bought it.

I don't usually like my heroes to be less than heroic.  Why then am I enjoying this book, where the hero is named "Horse" (yes, it's after the size of his dick) and is a violent criminal?  It is this question I'm trying to answer and so my rambles begin.