Kristen Ashley is a self-published author who writes massively long romance novels featuring asshole alpha males. Her novels are such guilty pleasures. They're affordable (the e-editions, anyways), fast, easy-to-read, and highly addicting. However, they often can be found to be very lacking in the editing department, have rambling structures, and have male leads who can easily cross the line from "asshole hero" to "full-on asshole." Nonetheless, I got totally hooked.
The Best:
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| Motorcycle Man [Dream Man #4] - Kristen Ashley |
It starts with heroine Tyra acting out of character by having a lust-fueled encounter with a sexy biker, falling down with a sudden case of insta-love, and then unceremoniously getting the heave-ho. Only thing is, she maybe kinda forgot to tell the biker that she's his new secretary so Monday morning proves awkward and confrontational. He has a no-sleeping-with-employees policy and she's pissed and too stubborn to back down. Tyra's a very independent person who is used to taking the safe path and is not looking to make waves or get involved in a messy situation. Tack's an aggressive man who thrives on a challenge. An awesome romance full of passion and fighting and acrobatic sexytimes ensues.
Tack is not just a biker. He's the leader of a full-on biker gang. The misogyny rampant in biker culture was probably my biggest issue with the book but it didn't end up overshadowing my enjoyment of the rest of the novel. I think that's probably because Tyra was good at not letting Tack run roughshod over her and didn't back down when he'd overstepped or crossed a boundary.
Did I previously mention how damn sexy Tack is? He's a scary biker gang leader and a dominant, controlling, aggressive man. He is also, in his own completely unconventional way, one incredibly sexy and romantic bastard. A couple of choice Tack quotes:
"We’re seein’ where this goes because we both want that. And we want that because what we got is hot and parts of it are sweet and parts of it are wild and parts of it are frustrating as all fuckin’ hell but all of it is alive."
“No, baby, I’m not scaring you. You’re just scared. You give me a little more, you’ll see I’ll protect it. More, I’ll protect that too. More, I got that too. When you give it all to me, if it works with us in a way that lasts, you’ll never be scared. You’ll feel safe enough to have your eyes open, your arms up and you’ll enjoy the fuck outta the ride. I’ll see to that, Red, and that’s a promise.”The day after I finished this book, I felt so bereft that I went back and reread all of my favorite bits (which pretty much means every single glorious knock-down drag-out fight between Tyra and Tack). Of the four Kristen Ashley books I've read, this is easily still my favorite one.
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| Creed [Unfinished Heroes #2] - Kristen Ashley |
This one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand, the structure of this book is just one big mess. There is no overarching conflict holding the whole thing together. All of the minor conflicts either resolve themselves quickly, fizzle out, or hit a complete dead end and are never resolved. After about the 30% mark, it just felt like I was reading a series of vignettes and not a cohesive novel. Also the story is very flashback heavy and, unfortunately, I thought the flashbacks were done with a really heavy hand and found most of them to be really extraneous and distracting.
On the other hand, Sylvie and Creed, were awesome. Like, all capital letters AWESOME. Sylvie comes waltzing in on page one with her badass PI/hired gun swagger and I was hooked. Then Creed shows up with his own badass swagger tightly reined in but ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice and I was hooked even deeper. Both were were fascinating, complex, and deeply sympathetic characters. There's a seriously strong romance here buried under a big ole mess.
Here's a sexy Creed quote, for your reading pleasure:
“Baby, get this, woke up without you for sixteen years. Got you back for good yesterday. Don’t wanna do that shit again. You get up, you wake me. Even if it’s just to kiss me and tell me you’re leavin’ our bed. You with me?”
The Rest:
Sweet Dreams [Colorado Mountain # 2] by Kristen Ashley: Another biker hero! Tate's a bounty hunter/bar owner/badass biker. Laurie's a woman looking for a place to start over after her incredibly stale and unsatisfying marriage ended. She decides to plant roots in a small Colorado mountain town and take a job as a biker bar waitress. Tate and Laurie have really good chemistry and really compliment each other. I love how he deals with her insomnia (take one guess, I dare you). Tate could be a little overbearing at times but he's a gruff bounty hunter and his town's got a serial killer running around so I was fine with cutting him a little slack now and then. This was a fun read.
Lady Luck [Colorado Mountain #3] by Kristen Ashley: Oh boy, this one. It started out really good with an outside-the-prison-gates introduction, a marriage of convenience plot, and some fun times in Vegas. Then the two leads got to Colorado and got themselves domesticated and I quickly tired of the perfect heroine being perfect, the douche-y hero acting like a douche, and way too many scenes of people shopping. The hero sported a number of douche-y characteristics but the worst one, for me, was his tendency to constantly refer to women collectively as either "bitches" or "pussy." Yeah, he was a peach alright. I kept reading for the resolution to the "racist bastards framed me for murder and got me put in jail for five years" plot line, not for the two leads.
Next Up For Kristen Ashley Reading: I've taken a bit of a breather but I've got the fourth Colorado Mountain book on the e-reader ready to go. Then, I think I'm going to try out the Rock Chick series as I just picked up the first one at half price.
Next Up For This Blog: More catching up to do! Lots and lots of books not written by Kristen Ashley! Sexy pirates! Dystopian erotica! Lady golfers! (Uh, why yes, one of those things is not like the others.)
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