The Gamble by Kristen Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 Please stop saying you’re sorry before I hit you stars

“You lose anyone, there’s no replacing them. What you need to get is that’s precious. You get to keep that. You don’t want to replace it. That doesn’t mean you can’t find something else just as good.”

Welcome to Gnaw Bone, Colorado.

I’m not sure why I spent my time searching through pictures to find my perfect Max and Nina, where really, I could have just gone with

(Did I just age myself?)

I love, and I mean LOVE Kristen Ashley books. I have no idea how I managed to read every book in the Colorado Man series BUT this one. Really. I’m still trying to figure that out. Obviously I’ve been a bad bad girl, and Max need to punish me…thoroughly…

But I digress. After reading a few of KA’s recent books, my first thought when I started reading The Gamble? THIS! This is KA at her finest. Damn but I missed her. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed her recent books, but it always felt a little off. So it was so great to get my KA fix with Max and Nina. What did I love the most about The Gamble?

Max

The man was perfect! No seriously friggin perfect! He said things like this

Learned some things in my life, Duchess, one of the most important, you find a good woman, you take care of her.”
“Please.”
“This happens between us, Duchess, I’d take care of you.”
“Don’t.”
“Die doin’ it,” he vowed.

He was growly and possessive and I just wanted to lick him! What? It’s this thing I get with growly and possessive heroes. You don’t? Huh. But then there was Nina

Now I know I tend to have a short fuse when it comes to irritating heroines…but FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S HOLY she worked my last damn nerve. Here we have a 36 year old woman, a professional lawyer, and most of the time she acts like a teenager. Yes she was sassy when it came to standing up for herself and I liked that. But when it came to Max? GAH!

I mean here we have a situation that can easily be resolved by talking it through. Max is willing to talk it out with her. Max even pretty much begs to talk things out with her. Yet every single time instead of talking it out, she just jumps to her own stupid conclusions. The other times she stews on it, gets mad and takes it out on Max, or just runs.

Here you have this amazing, sexy, growling man that for some god unknown reason wants your crazy ass. Yet all you do is give him shit, more shit, and then dish up shit some more. I ask you

Though to be fair, I would have been fine with all that. If I could give Nina just one handy dandy little thing.

Please, for the sake of my sanity, Nina, look up the word “sorry”. I’m sure there will be something in there. It felt like most of her vocabularly when it came to Max consisted of: “I’m sorry”, “Um”, and “Uh”. GAH!

The story itself was fantastic. I loved the mystery, suspense, and full out drama. All the side characters and their stories were great too. I love how KA can include a few side character plots without it getting muddy or confusing. The who-done-it ending caught me by complete and utter surprise. I did not see it coming at all.

Then there was the epilogue. *GUSHING* No one and I mean NO ONE can write an epilogue quite like KA. And this one was no exception. Nina was definitely not a favorite heroine of mine, but luckily the book was still THAT good that I was able to more or less tolerate her. So that is all the heroine bashing you will be getting from me. And I thank you

Though now I’m feeling the sudden urge to re-read this entire amazing series. *dreamy sigh*

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Rock Chick Revolution by Kristen Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Rock Chick Stars












“You’ve got your way, the way you are and the way you are with the ones you care about. And that tells me, a man gets in there, you give that to him, the children you give him, that man will be all kinds of lucky. And I’ve decided we’re gonna see if that man is me.”

Well, Ava & Luke and Sadie & Hector still hold first place for my favorite Rock Chick couple, but I have to admit that Ally and Ren definitely came in at a very close second.

I can’t say that this was my favorite book in the series, but I will tell you that it was a fantastic conclusion to the series.

So what was my favorite part of Rock Chick Revolution, you ask? I have a one word answer for that: REN.

The man made my happy place tingle the entire book. He was equal parts bad-ass alpha and sweet, without being obnoxiously overbearing or possessive. Now if I’m being honest here, the urge to lick a fictional character is really nothing new for me. (What? That’s perfectly normal, OK!) Ren took it to a whole different level for me, and I found myself developing a very close and personal relationship with my Kindle while reading.

(What? That’s perfectly normal, too! God! Stop judging me!)
But I digress.

My biggest issue with some of the Rock Chick heroines were their constant and consistent TSTL tendencies. So I am very happy to report that Ally didn’t irritate me at all in this book. She was incredibly endearing. I loved how tough and tenacious she was, yet still had that emotional and soft-hearted center beneath the tough-girl shell.

I was a Rock Chick. I had a lot of friends. I had a lot of good times. The concept of “anything goes” was pretty literal for me. I didn’t have issues speaking my mind. And I didn’t have issues creating a drama if the situation deserved it. I also didn’t give a shit if someonedisagreed with the situation deserving it.
I was… me.
I wasn’t girlie.
I wasn’t romantic.
I didn’t have fantasies (except those that came while wielding a vibrator). Let’s just say the knight in shining armor concept did nothing for me.

Well Ally, a knight in shining armor may not do anything for you, but a hot-headed Italian sure did.

The first 20% of the book we get flashbacks to the relationship (or lack thereof) between Ren and Ally for the past year. Ally fell for Ren pretty quick, but had her hopes of a future with him shattered when Ren unknowingly did something that wounded her deeply. Unable to deny the chemistry between them, Ally insists that they stay on a casual hook-up basis. Which, c’mon Ally, we’re talking about Ren here? Just casual hookups? Like friends with benefits? Really?

Of course Ren is having none-of that, and he definitely doesn’t hold back his thoughts about the matter.

You invited me in, Ally.”
Around the time you came when my mouth was between your legs on my stairs. Then again when you came when my cock was driving into you in my bed. Then again when you wrapped your mouth around my cock, also in my bed. And a-fuckin’-gain when you found it while riding my cock, also in my bed. And last, when you wrapped your sweet, hot, naked body around me and passed out in my bed.”

Ally is not exactly thrilled with Ren. She’s had enough testosterone alpha-speak from her brothers and The Hot Bunch.

Okay, I’d had a variety of Rock Chick chinwags where the girls let it all hang out about their guys and how they communicated in Asshole, but I’d never experienced it personally. And Ren had just demonstrated he was fluent in Asshole. It must be said, I didn’t like it much.

Well Ally, you might not like it, but it certainly made my happy place tingle. So you’ll be getting no complaints from this girl.

Ren was just delicious, and when it came to getting his way with Ally…well let’s just say he had a FANTASTIC way of going about it.

Don’t get me wrong, while Ren was a hot-headed, dirty-talkin, panty-melting hot; he also had an incredible sweet side to him. I loved the way he fought for Ally and to prove that they should be more than just casual. Nothing better than a man that can admit when he’s caught.

You gave me a run for my money, and once I stopped finding it a pain in my ass and started enjoying it, I did nothing but. I enjoyed every fuckin’ second, Ally. And every fuckin’ second I’ve never doubted how I was feeling. And just to be clear, how I was feeling, every day through this game we’ve been playing, was that I was falling deeper in love with you.”

There’s a whole lot of action, and we get to check back with all the Rock Chicks and Hot Bunch. I can’t say that I was so enthralled with this book that I couldn’t put it down. It did take me much longer to finish than my usual reading speed, and I did find myself skimming through certain chapters. But I still really enjoyed it.

P.S.
The best part about KA books, are her epilogues, and this one definitely didn’t disappoint.

P.P.S
Dear Ren,

So that’d be all the ramblings from me for now.
And I thank you!

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