Law man by Kristen Ashley (Dream Man #3)

4 stars

Super Short Summary:
Detective Mitchell James Lawson (love that name) lives across the hall from Marabele Jolene Hanover. Mitch has had his eye on Mara and takes his shot with her when her faucet is leaking and she needs some manly help to fix it. Mara is pathologically shy and has also had her eye on Mitch for years (for four years to be exact!) and has watched women come and go from his apartment the whole time. The problem is that she believes she is a 2.5. Mara has a point system for everyone, it is firstly based on looks then personality, etc once she knows someone, and Mitch is a solid 10.5. So in Mara World, Mitch would never be interested in Mara. The drama keeps coming as Mara's cousin's kids call her from a convenient store because they are hungry and Mara's deadbeat cousin has no food, no money, no phone and is strung out of his gourd. Thus ensues the battle to get the kids out of that situation, and get Mara and Mitch on the same page. The Trailer Trash Twins (aka Mara's mom and aunt) make many appearances and while I must say some of KA's descriptions get a little long and I don't care, the descriptions for the Trailer Trash Twins was perfect! I could absolutely picture those two nasties in my head!

Cons:
KA's books tend to be a bit lengthy and towards the end I started skimming sections just looking for when they were talking. There is a lot of descriptions for peoples clothes, apartments, and tons of examining of feelings that sometimes feels redundant. I never ever skim books, but I did towards the end of this one.

Mara wasn't my favorite KA heroine, but she wasn't my least favorite either. Mitch is a lot like Hank Nightingale, but I liked Hank better. I didn't feel like I got to know Mitch quite as well as some of the other KA hero's.

The real drama with Tack and the Russian mob doesn't happen until the very end and I always wish that part lasted a little longer.

All's well that ends well and KA's books always end well! I loved, loved, loved the epilogue. In fact, I think this was my favorite epilogue that KA has written. Bud and the Rockies! And the way Mitch acted with grown up Billie and her shorts was right on!

Since I read this long winded book in ~3 days, I would say overall, I loved it!

Favorite Quote (this one makes me chuckle everytime I read it):

"But now I wondered if he'd think he'd walked into a Two Point Five setting the mood for an illegal maneuver on a Ten Point Five."  --Mara

Knight by Kristen Ashley (Unfinished Heroes #1)

4 stars

This book is a little different than a lot of other KA books. She does have a disclaimer on it saying that it is a bit more intense sexually than her other books although it is not erotica (per her disclaimer, I don't know what qualifies a book as such).  It is definitely saucier than her other books.  Buyer beware. 

Most of KA's books have a heroine in distress at some point who finds herself in deep enough that she requires saving. This book doesn't have that and in fact, doesn't have much action at all. Anya is the heroine and she is essentially without family. She has been taking care of herself for a long time and is working hard to open her own spa. One of her friends convinces her to go to a party. Enter Knight. He is a night club owner and has decided he wants Anya. He has a few rules that Anya must agree to and if she does, he will (essentially) give her anything. I could tell that there was something we still didn't know about Knight as we moved through the book (and KA does not hide this as Knight is described as very private and tells Anya he will tell her about himself when he is ready). I actually guessed at what the secret was, and while Anya was ok with it, I am not sure that I would be. However, I am not Anya and don't have to be so for a story, I enjoyed it. I would relate Knight to Marcus (from Rock Chicks) the most. And KA does describe Knight as the anti-hero and he certainly is.

I did enjoy reading this (as evidenced by the fact that it took me only 2 days to read it), but it is not in my top list of KA books. I would have liked it better if there was a little more action, but I can understand that the author was trying something different.

Favorite Quote (a little dramatic but I liked it):

"A man would work himself into the ground for it, go down to his knees to beg to keep it, endure torture to protect it, take a bullet for it," his eyes came to mine, "poison his brother to possess a face like this." 

Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley (Colerado Mountain Man #2)

4 Stars

This is one of my top KA books, but since there are a gazillion of them, it just means that Sweet Dreams is in the top 10-ish. I did really like Tate and Lauren both and Jonas is my favorite kid from any of the KA books so far. He was hilarious and precious!

Summary: This will be very brief because this book is mammoth with so much back story that it is hard to make a summary that will do it justice (but I will try) without spending hours recapping.

Lauren: Just spent 4.5 month on the road looking for a nowheresville town and when she drives into Carnal, CO to a biker bar named Bubba's, she thinks she's found it. She gets a job at Bubba's as a waitress.

Tate: has been hooked to Neeta since he can remember and has a kid with her (Jonas). Neeta is a hot mess and I mean that in the worst sense of the word. Tate decides he is done with her and the next day walks into his bar (Bubba's) to see Lauren there. He, for some reason, doesn't want her working there and says to the other owner, "Krys, maybe you wanna talk to me before you hire some sorry-butt, old, fat, suburban b-word." (insert the proper expletives). He defends this behavior by saying that when he gets mad he says things he doesn't mean, which he continues to do through the rest of the book. I had the hardest time getting over that sentence. He didn't even say it to me and it hurt my feelings! Then, of course, he takes a liking to our Lauren.

During this time, the May-December Serial Killer is on the loose and appears to be escalating. One of the waitresses ends up dead (and in a bad way!). Tate (who is also a bounty hunter) goes after the guy but comes up with nothing. The whole town is on edge. Lauren continues to make friends and another of those friends is attacked (but gets away).

The book was a little long and I felt like there could have been a lot that was trimmed out. I have started skimming sections with descriptions of clothes and feelings.

I totally didn't even guess who the killer was. I knew it was going to be a guy we had met, but he wasn't even someone I was considering. Manly because he had such a small part and was completely absent from 95% of the book. I would have liked a few more clues into who the bad guy was.

I can't even get into all the characters that I liked, because I liked so many and the ones who you were supposed to like (Neeta, her posse, Brad, Hayley, etc) I really didn't like.

Favorite Quote (I will admit this is a strange favorite  quote, but it makes me chuckle so you will just have to deal):

"Take you hand off me," I hissed.

"Shut your trap," he clipped back, opened the door and pulled me in.  Then he shut the door and maneuvered me so my back was to it and he was close to my front. 

Master of Crows by Grace Draven

3 Stars

I want to preface my review by saying that I suspect I might be in a reading funk and a lot of books are not capturing my attention like usual. However, saying that, I still consider 3 stars to be a good book, but not a great book (4 stars) and not a knock-my-socks-off book (5 stars).

Characters:
Martise of Asher is a slave whose master (Cumbria of Asher, a member of Conclave) has her spirit stone (a spirit stone contains part of a person's spirit so they are bound to however owns the stone). She is sent to Neith under the guise of being an apprentice of Conclave to aid Silhara in translations (she is really there as a spy for Conclave to find a reason to have Silhara killed). Silhara is also supposed to help Martise unlock her power (which no one else has been able to do).

Silhara of Neith (aka Master of Crows) is hated by Conclave and feared by everyone else. He is a very powerful mage who has refused to pledge allegience to conclave. He is brusque and slightly scary at times. The god, Corruption, has set his eyes on Silhara to be his way into the world. This is bad and Silhara is trying to resist while also trying to find a way to kill Corruption, but in the meanwhile, Corruption is taking his toll on Silhara's body and mind.

Cons:
-I didn't like how the author made Martise so "plain". It was said at least a dozen times how unattractive he is. This is a personal preference that I don't like my heroines to be ugly. They don't have to beautiful, just not so unattractive that that is the first thing anyone says or thinks about her.

-***Spoiler-ish***: Silhara, in his quest to rid himself of his desire for Martise ordered himself a prostitute. I didn't mind that, but he went way way too far with the prostitute for it to be endearing that he didn't end up having sex with the prostitute. And the only reason he didn't was because (oh how to put this genlty)...his equipment wouldn't work because this beautiful prostitue was not Martise. I found nothing in that situation to endear Silhara to me.

Overall, I would say this was an enjoyable book. I read the first 40% fairly quickly, then I had trouble getting into it until ~75% then I sucked it down quickly again.

For You by Kristen Ashley (The 'Burg Series #1)

In many ways this book was a typical, awesome KA book. But as The Burg series is listed under the subject of "Crime" on KA's website, I think it is understood that one can expect more...um, crime. Having said that, the bad guy in this book is a psychopath and has been on this path of destruction for 22 years. Not that he has necessarily been killing people for 22 years, but destroying lives nonetheless. What the means for the hero and heroine is that they missed 22 years together that should have been some of the best years of their lives. That, more than the killing spree, was hard to read about (not that I am ok with killing spree's!).

February Owens, known about town as Feb (what a great name) dated Alexander Colton (known about town as Colt). The author painted this relationship as epic. The whole town knew Feb and Colt would be together always. But of course they weren't. This is not a spoiler. (Now if I told you were they weren't together or who the psychopath was then that would be a juicy, juicy secret, but I'll never tell!). Now, I can completely dig this epic love between Colt and Feb, but there were numerous things that happened throughout those 22 years that didn't make it feel very epic to me. So this book, is the story of how Feb and Colt get back together and all the goings-on during that time (***spoilers***which include but are not limited to: aforementioned psychopath, family reunions, ex-wives, hidden cameras, and of course the typical KA heroine-moving-in-with-the-hero)

I haven't yet decided if I will read the next book in this series. I liked the story (as usual), but it was really long and could have used many pages being edited out (as usual). I found myself skimming long sections about descriptions (I never did this before KA and I hate that I do it, but I love the books so much I just can't walk away).

Favorite Quote:

"Since I was three, there's never been a day when I wasn't in love with you." --Feb

Rock Chick Regret by Kristen Ashley (Rock Chick #7)

This is Hector and Sadie's story. This is my favorite since Hank and Roxie. My favorites of the Rock Chick Series have been Liam and India, Hank and Roxie, and now Hector and Sadie.

Like usual, Sadie has found herself some trouble. Her father is some bad dude drug dealer and is put away for his misdeeds (by Hector!). Now, without the protection of her father, Sadie is the center-piece for a power struggle with the Balducci brothers. Sadie goes to Nightingale Investigations to ask for protection. While in his offices (which took guts to go to by the way as the last encounter Hector had with Sadie did not end well), the Rock Chicks tried to freeze her out and Lee refused her protection, while Hector sits next to Lee not saying anything.

It turns out Sadie does need the Hot Bunch protection (of course she does, this is a Rock Chick book), and now Hector will be her protector. The problem is that Sadie hasn't had any friends before, let alone a protector and she bumbles her way through this making a debacle out of it most of the time and assuming the worst of people (as she is wont to do based on how she was raised).

Sadie's life and loneliness was so tragic. I could feel her pain and humiliation as she worked through all her insecurities. This felt like the highest drama Rock Chick yet and I LOVED it!

I feel I should add...Sadie uses the term "aces" frequently. Now, it must be said that there is a very real possibility that it is me who is uncool by not using this term. However, it is weird for someone who is supposed to be as refined as Sadie using a term that should be left in the 70's.

My only complaint is that I could have done without the whole Natalie, half the women from the roadhouse drama. Hector was supposed to have been hung up on Sadie for a while and though that doesn't mean that he necessarily pined for her, I didn't like it that he was a love-them-and-leave-them guy the very moment that Sadie was having her drama! Yuck Hector Chavez...shame on you!

Favorite Quote:

"No really," I whispered, letting the sweet peaceful feeling steal over me.

"It only matters if there's someone to care if you don't wake up.  It's okay if I don't wake up because there's no one to care."

--Sadie Townsend

Laceybourne Manor by Kristen Ashley

This book is only $0.99!  What a deal.  Go get it post haste.  I loved Kristen Ashley books, but I hadn't planned on delving into her "Ghosts and Reincarnation" series. It didn't hold any appeal to me. But I am not one who can walk away from a sale. I am glad that I didn't. This book is in the reincarnation aspect of her "Ghosts and Reincarnation" series.

The legend goes that 500 years ago Royce Morgan and Beatrice Godwin had an epic love and there was a dark soul who wanted to destroy this love. And the dark soul did indeed destroy their love, but not before a witch was able to cast a spell that would bring back the souls of these two star crossed lovers. Enter Colin Morgan and Sybil Godwin. Their relationship does not start out well. Colin does not think much of women and immediately is suspicious of Sybil. There is yelling, and accusations, and general bossiness. Their second encounter is much better: Colin saves the day! At the third encounter (keep in mind Colin still does not like or trust women), Colin offers Sybil 50,000 pounds to sleep with her. Sybil has her reasons and accepts, but thus starts us down a road much different than the two reincarnated lovers should be on. Not to mention that the dark soul is still out there and once again wants to thwart true love and do despicable deeds.

I really enjoyed this book quite a bit. I liked Sybil a lot. She was generally wonderful and not annoying (as many strong heroines are wont to do). Colin was a little bit different for me. Not a typical KA hero in many regards, but still the typical alpha male that she has just dropped into another role. Because of this I had a harder time with him. Most of KA's heroes are good protectors of their lady folk, but Colin just seems to be capable of paying others to do the protecting (except at one point where he uses a cane to break a would-be assassin's arm). I just like the KA hero that is more hands on (more like Liam, Hank, Eddie, Hector, Mace, Vance, Cabe, Mitch, Brock and Tate!)

I will definitely read more in this series.

P.S. I thought I was going to have to be mad about Mallory, but luckily I am content with that aspect.