BOOK REVIEW - GOLDEN TRAIL by KRISTEN ASHLEY - THE 'BURG # 3 - CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

By: Kristen Ashley

Published By: Kristen Ashley

Released: Available Now

Details: Kindle purchase, 664 Pages

RATING: 4.25 LAYNE STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

Tanner Layne and Raquel Merrick fell in love young, hard and fast and both of them knew a beautiful life they thought would be forever.

Until Rocky left Layne, no explanation, no going back.

Layne escapes The ‘Burg only to come back years later because his ex-wife has hooked herself to the town jerk and Layne needs to make sure his sons get raised right. Layne manages to avoid Rocky but when Layne gets three bullets drilled into him while investigating a dirty cop, he can’t do that because Rocky stops avoiding Layne. They make a deal to work together to expose the dirty cop but they have no idea the strength of their enduring attraction or the sheer evil at work in The ‘Burg.

As Tanner Layne and Raquel Merrick play their game and dance around the pull that draws them together, Layne has to discover the dark secrets buried so deep in Rocky’s heart she doesn’t even know they’re there at the same time untangle a sinister web of crime so abhorrent it has to be stopped... at all costs.

And to do it, Layne has to enlist everyone, including his ex-CIA mentor, Rocky’s detective brother, the town’s unpredictable informant and Layne’s two teenage sons all the while stopping Rocky from doing something crazy and keeping their game secret so Layne won't get himself dead.



BOOK REVIEW:

“Wounds to the flesh hurt but they heal fast. Wounds to the soul never go away. It’s how we cope with a pain that never dies that makes us the people we are. Daily, people demonstrate acts of courage just so they can get through the night.”



So without rehashing the story, in true KA style we have the alpha male lead, Tanner Layne—but he hates the name Tanner—and we have Rocky who left him eighteen years earlier, and they reunite.

Let the sexiness, alpha-erm-ness and more sexiness begin.

Layne has two sons: Jasper and Tripp. He has a relationship with them to rebuild and I really liked watching this happen. Jasper was a bit harder to break through to, but he came around.

Jasper and Tripp will truly be something when they get older. I feel a bit cougarish and a bit wrong thinking about them at their age now. Let these lads mature like a fine KA alpha.

Rocky is a great female lead. She is a really cool teacher, but she has some cobwebs in her closet that forced her to leave her true love—Layne.

There is of course the villain and a creepy sidekick. Throw in Ryker who sounds kinda scary, but he loves his woman and her daughter, so he goes all out to insert himself into Layne’s life and assist with the shit that is going down at the local church youth group.

Another great KA installment, although sometimes I feel these books could be many pages shorter due to a little repetitive dialogue.

Ty, Luke and Tack still have my heart, but I am still looking to add to this line-up of my #faveKAmen .

BOOK REVIEW - AT PEACE by KRISTEN ASHLEY - THE BURG # 2 - ADULT CONTEMPORARY SUSPENSE ROMANCE

By: Kristen Ashley
Published By: Kristen Ashley
Released : Available Now
Details : Kindle, 660 Pages

RATING: 5 JOE PURRRRR STARS!

Blurb: Goodreads

Violet Winters once had it all but lost it when her husband was murdered by a criminal madman. During a cold winter night Violet has to leave her warm bed to tell her neighbor to turn the music down. And that’s when she meets sinister, scarred, scarily attractive security specialist, Joe Callahan.

She wants to deny it, but Violet can’t beat back the hunger she feels for Joe so she gives in again and again. Feeling it himself, Joe feeds Vi’s hunger, breaking his own rules to keep her in his bed.

Even though Violet had only one man in her life, she’s sure Joe is giving her the signals and Vi decides she’s ready to take a second chance at life and, maybe, love. But Violet doesn’t know the dark secrets in Joe’s past, secrets so soul-wrenching, they’ve drained him dry. With nothing left to give, Joe’s determined to live his life alone and he breaks Violet’s heart.

Crushed by Joe’s betrayal, Violet comes to terms with the fact that, no matter what signals he gave, Joe was not theirs to win. But Violet’s husband’s murderer is obsessed with her and heartbreak again haunts the door of the Winters home. When it does Joe is forced to face the knowledge that he can’t fight Violet’s pull, she’s under his skin and filled him full to bursting.

Joe needs to win her back and put his life on the line to keep Violet safe. But, having had it all once, can Violet endure losing Joe?



BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

Oh Joe Callahan, you made me purr, you also made me ball my fists and throw my Kindle, but you sorted yourself out in the end.



Standing behind me was a man, a big man, big in every way. He was tall, taller even than Tim and Tim had been six foot two. He was also broad. His shoulders in his black leather jacket were wide and unmistakably powerful.

And he’d been beautiful, once. It was plain to see, under what he was now, that his features had once been perfect, high cheekbones, an appealingly sharp slant to his square jaw, a strong brow. Now there were lines coming in arrays from his eyes and more around the sides of his frowning, full lips.

And there were also scars down his left cheek, two from about a quarter of an inch under his eye that curved over his high cheekbone coming closer together and ending where, if he had a dimple, his dimple would be. These scars were not puckered or disfiguring outside of the actual marks. They just marred the faultless male beauty that had once been his face, making it, with the addition of the lines, rugged and interesting and more than a little scary.



And that my friend is a KA man.

Throw in all the sexual, and you might just be needing a fan. I will admit I am such a hussy the way I keep swapping about my KA book boyfriends.

What’s a girl to do?

Without going over story line, ‘Burg # 2 had all the usual KA shenanigans with crazy murderous stalkers, biatches causing biatch issues with KA men. Sub characters popping up like Alec Colton and February and baby Jack, from ‘Burg # 1.

I mean dudes having Colt as your neighbour and Cal as your other neighbour...again what’s a girl to do. I know the neighbourhood would be action packed and maybe creeper photo worthy.

Violet and Joe have chemistry and woo...eee is it off the charts, but they also have Cal, being Cal...and other unmentionable women shaking their tail feathers in his face for a tickle.

*crosses arms, raises one eyebrow*

Yeah, I’m looking at you, Cal!

A KA book doesn’t not have a HEA, so fear not! This couple just needs to iron out a few things along the way.

It’s a bumpy ride, but oh what a ride.

Keira and Kate add a lot to this story. I loved watching Joe with them, when he was being Joe and not Cal, because Cal was kinda living in the past with some demons of his.

Throw in some Mafia relatives and BAM this book was rockin'.

Seriously, start with Rock Chick series, if you are still lacking in a KA read under your belt, and then go from there. I do see the benefit of reading in her KA reading order as there are crossovers and little spoilers if you simply pick up books willy nilly.

I am swinging back around to Jagged, Colorado Mountain # 5 next. I do space out my KA reads as they can be rather large books, but once I am snuggled inside one, I simply don’t want it to end.

Go forth!

BOOK REVIEW - FOR YOU by KRISTEN ASHLEY - THE 'BURG # 1 - ADULT SUSPENSE ROMANCE

By: Kristen Ashley
Published By: Kristen Ashley
Released : Available Now
Details: Kindle purchase, 583 Pages

RATING: 4.5 ALEC STARS!

Lieutenant Alexander Colton and February Owens were high school sweethearts. Everyone in their small town knew from the moment they met they were meant for each other. But something happened and Feb broke Colt’s heart then she turned wild and tragedy struck. Colt meted out revenge against the man who brought Feb low but even though Colt risked it all for her, Feb turned her back on him and left town.

Fifteen years later, Feb comes back to help run the family bar. But there’s so much water under the bridge separating her and Colt everyone knows they’ll never get back together.

Until someone starts hacking up people in Feb’s life. Colt is still Colt and Feb is still Feb so the town watches as Colt goes all out to find the murderer while trying to keep Feb safe.

As the bodies pile up, The Feds move in and a twisting, turning story unravels exposing a very sick man who has claimed numerous victims along the way, Feb and Colt battle their enduring attraction and the beautiful but lost history that weaves them together.



BOOK REVIEW by Michelle:

“Life lands blows you don’t expect,” she whispered against his cheek.  “They wind you and there’s some you never get your breath back.”

I totally hear ya!


Colt and his Feb are two people brought back together by death and mayhem.

Twenty years since their break up.

Two years since she’s been back in town.

February has come home to help Morrie her brother run J & J’s, their parent’s bar unfortunately there’s a murderer in town and bodies are piling up.

Colt and Sully are on the case and none of Feb’s family are taking these deaths lightly because they are beginning to look a lot like they are linked in some way to Feb.

Colt is an alpha male and he will protect those that need protecting. Feb needs protecting and she needs to let him do his job.

But what happens when that job bleeds over into something else?

We get a whole pile of sexy alpha and a woman who has lost too many good years without Colt.



“I hope you didn’t have anything in there that was precious.”

Colt looked at her and said, “The only things precious in life breathe.”

Feb and Colt have a lot of things to talk about, things that could have saved them years of heartache.

A Kristen Ashley book seems to come with a villain hell bent on getting the woman the hero wants and that is no different for Colt and Feb’s story.

Colt ain’t having none of that.



“Colt smiled. “Damn, baby, look at me. I’m a forty-four year old man who’s got a life of breakfast delights waiting for him.”

She smiled back. It wasn’t bright but it was something. “Don’t think you don’t have to earn them.”


I really enjoyed this suspense filled read and look forward to At Peace with Joe and Vi.

Michelle