FIGHTING THE PULL
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: River Rain #5
Author: Kristen Ashley
Release Date: September 12, 2023

From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley comes the new book in her River Rain Series, Fighting the Pull.

Hale Wheeler inherited billions from his father. He’s decided to take those resources and change the world for the better. He’s married to his mission, so he doesn’t have time for love.

There’s more lurking behind this decision. He hasn’t faced the tragic loss of his father, or the bitterness of his parents’ divorce. He doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps, breaking a woman’s heart in a way it will never mend. So he vows he’ll never marry.

But Hale is intrigued when he meets Elsa Cohen, the ambitious celebrity news journalist who has been reporting on his famous family. He warns her off, but she makes him a deal. She’ll pull back in exchange for an exclusive interview.

Elsa Cohen is married to her career, but she wants love, marriage, children. She also wants the impossibly handsome, fiercely loyal, tenderhearted Hale Wheeler.

They go head-to-head, both denying why there are fireworks every time they meet. But once they understand their undeniable attraction, Elsa can’t help but fall for the dynamic do-gooder.

As for Hale, he knows he needs to fight the pull of the beautiful, bold, loving Elsa Cohen, because breaking her would crush him.

AMAZON | iBOOKS | NOOK | KOBO | GOOGLE PLAY

I think you missed the part where I don’t want the interview anymore, Mr. Wheeler.”
“Call me Mr. Wheeler one more time, baby.”
I went perfectly still.

It’s been a hot minute since I read a KA book and I’m not even sure why. She’s pure comfort read for me. Sassy heroines, protective and possessive uber alphas, family dynamics and drama, and all the steam. And this book definitely packed all of that in.

Now admittedly, in my usual way of doing things back a$$wards, I read this book first before reading the rest of the series. And while I’ll definitely be going back to rectify that, you can certainly enjoy this as a standalone. However, I can’t help but feel I did myself a disservice by not reading at least After the Climb first. It did take a me a minute to wrap my mind around all the mixed family dynamics, but Ashley does a fantastic job summarizing the main details so I never felt lost.

I really loved Hale and Elsa. Hale is your typical KA alpha. He’s a touch tortured, a splash broken, dirty talking, possessive and protective. His first impression of Elsa is not great but boy do sparks fly between them when they come face to face. Hale quickly comes to see that Elsa is not quite the vapid gossip news that he assumed she was. This is a woman with passion, drive, and clear morals.

Elsa was such a wonderful heroine. She is a driven career woman herself and doesn’t take any $hit, even from Hale. Her family is one crazy ride and watching that crazy ride out was certainly entertain and frustrating at the same time.

The romance was satisfying as always, but I do wish we got to see Hale’s dominant side a bit more. There was more alluding to it and this dirty bird just wished for more. It was still deliciously spicy, but the promise was more than the reality in parts. We do get the third act breakup, which had me wanting to punch Hale in all the painful places. And while he sees the error of his ways quickly enough, I also can’t help but wish that Elsa made him grovel a bit more for her forgiveness.

There is a bit of suspense added in with a stalker that made it that much more entertaining and I enjoyed it so much! I will definitely now be reading the rest of the series!

DREAM CHASER
Series: Dream Team #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Kristen Ashley
Release Date: December 15, 2020

In this steamy, addictive contemporary romance spinning off the New York Times bestselling Dream Man and Rock Chick series, Ryn Jansen must put her trust in the one man she wants — and the one man she can’t let herself have.

Ryn Jansen has no interest in taking a risk on Boone Sadler. Thanks to a long list of men who’ve done nothing but let her down, Ryn vows to stay far away from the caring, protective commando. And when Boone confronts Ryn with evidence that her loved ones are conning her, Ryn is less than thrilled — with her family and Boone. But even as Boone proves he’s the kind of guy to meet her every need, she doesn’t trust him to stay when life gets hard . . .

Boone Sadler’s never been one to back down from a challenge. He’s determined to show the funny, sexy Ryn that the irresistible connection between them is worth exploring. But caring for Ryn’s heart and body becomes a matter of life and death when Ryn’s beloved niece and nephew are put in danger and dirty cops begin gunning for Ryn. Soon Boone realizes their romance is in danger of more than heartbreak — and to have any future together, they’ll have to put their trust in each other.

 AMAZON 

Baby, I want you,” he whispered back. “And if the happy birthday cookie doesn’t win you, I’ll find something that does. So tear down the walls, Ryn, I want in, I’m getting in and we’re gonna see where this goes.”

When I read Dream Maker, I fell instantly and hard for this new band of badass commandos and sassy women (that also happen to be strippers. rawwr!). It gave me those vintage KA vibes that I’ve been craving for years. And I’m happy to report that I enjoyed this book just as much as the first and so hooked on this series. I’m already chomping at the bit to get my hands on the next one. But I won’t get ahead of myself here. Let’s talk about Dream Chaser.

Kathryn, or Ryn to her friends is trying to make ends meet as a stripper while dreaming of getting her property flipping business off the ground. In usual KA fashion, she’s perfect. Perfectly sweet, perfectly giving, and perfectly there for her family. She gives her every last spare dime to support her alcoholic brother’s ex and their adorable children while barely scraping by herself. She’s also a sub with a rocky history with men, starting with her deadbeat father.

She’s instantly attracted to Boone when she first meets him, but his Dom presence intimidates her and forces her to push him away. And when Boone first gives up on his pursuit, he comes back all the more determined to get her and she doesn’t know what to do with it. Now if you’re like me, the D/s element made you salivate when you got a taste for it in book one. But if you’re also like me and a loyal reader of the BDSM genre, lower your expectations here. What you’re getting is the KA version of BDSM here. As in, BDSM-light, if you will. As in a dominant man that likes to meet out a spanking and tie his girl up every now and then. But was he a true Dom? Meh. Enough to hit the spot, but not enough to truly sell it for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved him. But the kinky beoch in me was expecting a little more. What? Stop judging me! THere’s a difference between kink and BDSM, and I didn’t quite get the distinction here.

That small quibble aside, I really did love this story. I loved when Boone finally got his head out of his @ss and went after Ryn and gave her no room to push him away again. I loved how fiercely protective he was and how he still had his very deep rooted insecurities from his past. I loved Ryn’s sweet nature and the way she grew a spine and stood up to her family.

Of course would it really even be a KA book without some crazy shenanigans and a bad guy that’s not truly a bad guy and has a sweet spot for the women? NOTHING. So of course I loved the suspense element of this story as much as the romance. And that’s partly because we get a cameo from some of my favorite KA couples that I will never get enough of. I’m obsessed with this series. And the set up for book three? DELICIOUS.

DREAM MAKER
Series: Dream Team #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Kristen Ashley
Release Date: May 26, 2020

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Dream Man and Rock Chick series comes a brand new story about love, friendship, and the bonds of sisterhood.

Evie is a bonafide nerd and a hyper-intelligent chick who has worked her whole life to get what she wants. Growing up, she had no support from her family and has only ever been able to rely on herself. So when Evie decides she wants to earn her engineering degree, she realizes she needs to take an alternative path to get there. She takes a job dancing at Smithie’s club thinking this would be a quick side gig, where she can make the money she needs. But with her lack of dancing skills and an alpha bad boy who becomes overly protective, Evie realizes this might not be as easy as she thought.

Daniel “Mag” Magnusson knows a thing or two about pain, but the mask he wears is excellent. No one can tell that this good-looking, quick-witted, and roguish guy has deep-seated issues. Mag puts on a funny-guy routine so he can hide his broken heart and PTSD. But when Evie dances her way into Mag’s life, he realizes that he needs to come face-to-face with the demons of his past if he wants a future with her.

AMAZON

All my life, you know?”
“All your life what, baby?”
“Until you.”
He curved both arms around me and his voice was growly when he asked, “Until me, what?”
“The people I loved made loving them hard. Until you.”

*giddy wiggle*

Hey! Pssst! You there! You listening to this? Because this cynic just read a KA book and loved it! No but seriously. Guys. I seriously got my KA mojo back with this book and I’m so thrilled because now I’m also seriously hooked on this series!

So here’s the tea. It had the following:

1. A heroine that’s dorky, somewhat a klutz, but beautiful with hair up to THERE and curves in the right places.
2. A hero that can probably hold a conversation using only “yeah”, “babe”, and grunts
3. A heroine that’s down on her luck but has a vagina spun from gold because everyone and I mean EVERYONE falls for her. Even the bad guys.
4. A lot of action
5. Plenty of secondary characters hilarious antics, including a cross over with Rock Chicks and Dream Man.
6. A ‘comando’ hero
7. Hot shmexy loving
8. A new cast of characters in the form of gorgeous but down on their luck women who turn to stripping but the strip club owner is THE BEST
9. Male characters that will never pronounce a hard consonant at the end of their words.
10. Girlfriends that get into crazy situations but stay tight through all of it.

And this girl is giddy with excitement!!! Why? Because this is the vintage KA I love and missed.

Now look, if you’ve read ANY KA book in the past, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It may sound crazy to any who haven’t read her, but for me, this tried and true formula of hers just does it for me. And if the chemistry is there for the MCs, then I’m putty in your hands.

Evie and Danny were so good together. Their chemistry was undeniable. And what I really loved was that the action kept going well beyond the 50% mark of the book. In the last few KA books, I’ve admittedly grown bored by the halfway mark and felt like the rest was filler, but not here. There was a lot of book here, and all of it was GOOD.

It’s not everyday you meet a cast of strippers that you just absolutely fall in love with and are dying to read their stories. And can we just talk about the set up for the second book? Because GAH! But let me not get ahead of myself here and focus on this one.

Evie was fantastic. Of course everyone, their mother, and their uncle Harry loved her. But she’s impossible not to love. Except, unfortunately for some deadbeat members of her family that get her in life threatening danger.

Danny is a guy she gets set up on a date with by her friend and coworker, and they have instant sparks. And of course when he finds out she’s in danger, he immediately moves her in with him and will move heaven and earth to protect her. And this girl gobbled it right up.

Yes, it’s a tried and true formula but with a cast of new faces, and it just worked, you guy. It worked so well. This was like a combination of Rock Chicks and Dream Man and it was delicious! I was immediately hooked and I’m already desperate for more!