Tag: Kristen Ashley

This Chick Read: Finding the One (River Rain #7) by Kristen Ashley

American/English aristocrat, Blake Sharp, and Scottish playboy Alasdair Wallace were thrust together all through their childhoods. Alasdair thought Blake was a spoiled rich princess, and Blake though Dair was a big bully. When they meet again as adults, Dair sees that the spoiled princess grew into someone who thought first of others before taking care of herself, and Blake sees that Dair may be outrageous, but he’s not a bully. They are smitten with each other and start to explore their future, but they’ve both been betrayed by past lovers. Is what they built together strong enough to hold true? Or will their personal demons tear them apart?

The seventh book in a series that the author writes with the help of her fandom, with requests for suggestions on certain characters or plot lines. It’s a lot of fun and Kristen Ashley is a pro at building a relationship with her readers. In Finding the One, she continues in this vein and you know what? This book turned out tremendously. In fact, behind Chloe and Judge’s novel, this is probably my second favorite in the series. Why? The characters were developed well and I really loved their journey to trusting each other.

Dair is an ex-professional Rugby player, which means he’s very physical in nature, but he’s also Scottish and the author creates his Scottish persona with a few nods to his heritage in the manner in which he speaks. This could’ve been overdone, but she handled it well, choosing one or two mannerisms and not going overboard with the Scottish burr. Similarly, Blake was a strong character as well. She was brought up to be the ice queen but because her ex was a cheater, she had a lightbulb moment and changed her ways. Not to say she wasn’t a tough cookie, she was, but her shell was built to protect her inner gooey layer and with Dair she allowed that gooiness to come out.

There are many reasons to read a Kristen Ashley novel, you love her character building, you may love the way she writes her romantic scenes, you like an alpha hero, or love a sassy heroine. For me, it’s a combination of all of the above. Her books aren’t perfect all the time but they are always enjoyable. For me, Finding the One, was a KA book that was well written, made me laugh, and touched my heart. It hit all my buttons.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

Click this link to purchase this book!* Finding the One

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Night’s Fall ( The Four Realms #1) by Kristen Ashley

Prince Aleksei of Nightfall is the True Heir. The next king, the fiercest warrior, and the mightiest beast in all the realm. Laura Makepeace is a talented costume designer who is recovering from a vicious attack where she lost something vital. Out for a night with the girl’s Laura is determined to put on a pretty frock and celebrate the evening with her friends. What she doesn’t expect is to be brought over to the Prince’s table in the VIP section of the club. Suddenly, Laura finds herself being courted by a prince and thrown into the limelight and politics of the realm, and royal family dysfunction. The Fall only brings forth a True Heir during times of war, and Aleksei is worried what this means for his family, Laura, and the kingdom of Nightfall.

Surprise! A new Kristen Ashley novel was just released. She’s a much beloved, prolific writer, but this one took me by surprise because she doesn’t often start a new fantasy series. Set in the future where shifters mingle with humans, this love story between a prince and his true mate starts fast and never stops until the last page is turned. I don’t always love KA’s fantasies, but this one was appealing. Why? I loved the futuristic world of flying cars mixing with a ruling class of flying dragons. A dichotomy of beastly and mechanical, love and passion, and peace with war. There was a lot about this world to learn, but the plot is fast moving, and the characters easy to like and love.

At first Aleksei came off as kind of elitist, but get him out of the public eye and he was tender, moody, and shocking for a KA novel, a bit of a dragonic alpha. Laura was old-fashioned, but clever, creative, lovely (of course!), and had a backbone. This heroine was no simpering miss. She was ready for battle if needed. The two of them together had tons of chemistry, but even more importantly, they really seemed to “like” each other. I enjoyed their chapters where they got to know each other and felt that build up to love with each reveal about themselves.

I’m a fan of this author’s and read every book she releases. I don’t always love them, but this story was easy to like, fun to read, and left me with an I can’t wait for the next in the series to come out. Addictive reading at it’s finest.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Night’s Fall

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Tenderfoot (Avenging Angels #3) by Kristen Ashley

Harlow O’Neill has been waiting for Javier Montoya to make his move. She’s interested in him, he’s interested in her, but he just isn’t taking that first step. She’s read all the Rock Chick books and knows how these Alpha males claim their woman. He’s just not claiming her. One evening Harlow’s undercover on a mission for the Angel’s and Javi blows her cover and Harlow is not happy about it. That evening he says hurtful things to Harlow and she retreats, determined to just be polite and move on from her crush. Javi on the other hand goes all in, knowing he messed up. The Angels investigation turns dangerous and Javi moves Harlow in with him for “her protection”. He starts to open up about his past and Harlow learns some things in his history that explains his behavior and she starts to fall in love.

Tenderfoot is the third book in the Avenging Angels series. The Angels are a part time investigation team a la Charlie’s Angels, where they’re backed by an unknown who calls themselves Arthur. They’ve got the cars, gadgets and a cool crib to hang in while doing their investigative work. The Angels are complete amateurs but have actually solved a couple of crimes which has given them confidence which may or may not be a good thing. Harlow is the positive, girly-girl of the group- the cheerleader. She always sees the bright side of things and truly, her commentary during these investigations add a nice bit of humor to those dialogs.

This series is not War and Peace by any means, but it’s entertaining and Kristen Ashley has given it that retro KA vibe- harkening back to her roots by spinning off from the Rock Chick series, which was the series I first read of hers and made me fall in love with her writing. Admittedly, this novel, mainly due to Harlow’s positivity and Javi’s he-man alpha-ness felt a little over the top but the book was entertaining and gave me that escape from reality that I needed. If I have anything slightly critical to say it would be that although Harlow’s dialogue was sweet and sunny, there was an excessive use of exclamation points. It did build her character as the “cheerleader”, but I thought it was a little overdone. Besides, that this was an enjoyable book and I can’t wait for the next installment. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Tenderfoot

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase a book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The Woman Left Behind (Misted Pines #4) by Kristen Ashley

Sheriff Harry Moran has a stack of files on his desk of cases that the inept sheriff before him may have messed up. When a gun in a double homicide gets traced back to one of those files, Harry makes the decision to head to the woman left behind. When Lillian Rainier opens the door, Harry is jolted by feelings he hasn’t felt since his wife died. As far as Lillian’s feelings, she’s had a crush on Harry for years but with this cold case mystery pending they take the time to not only investigate the murder but also to investigates they both are starting to feel for each other. When a witness turns up, they realize the killer is cleaning up his past mistakes.

Kristen Ashley’s Misted Pines series are good old fashioned romantic suspense novels and I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of these characters. A few of these characters make an appearance in The Woman Left Behind, a couple of whom help Harry with some out of town investigating. Otherwise, this story really centers on two characters who have not really been in any of the previous novels. Harry on the periphery, but only just. I enjoyed the lack of distraction as it read like a stand alone more than a part of a series.

The mystery in this story was quite good. It was a cold case regarding the disappearance of Lill’s parents when she was 18 years old. I liked the use of this case as a back story for the difficulties Lill had faced in her life and the obstacles she’s had to overcome. As Harry was the Sheriff and privvy to these details it allowed them to jump forward emotionally a little more quickly than would in real life, but then all of this author’s novels have a bent of a jump in time element speeding the romance along. Their emotional connection didn’t suffer from any insta-love backlash for the reader, but more of a whiplash reaction to all the emotions Lill was going through because of the appearance of that weapon being tied to her missing family.

Was this the best novel in this series? No. I still enjoyed the first book the best but I did think this was a solid romantic suspense novel and enjoyed getting to know these characters and their stories. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Woman Left Behind

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Back in the Saddle (Avenging Angels #2) By Kristen Ashley

Jessie Wylde has a secret. Her brother is missing. She hasn’t told any of her friends because it’s a family matter but she’s made friends with the homeless hoping that they can give her information that will help her investigate his disappearance. Her friends may not know what she’s up to, but Eric Turner, a member of Nightingale Investigations, understands how dangerous her situation is and he’s going to step in and give her a hand. Whether she wants it or not. There is more going on in Phoenix than Jessie is aware. People have gone missing and it will be up to Jessie and Eric to uncover the truth.

I’m loving the old school feel to this Avenging Angels series. It’s an offshoot of Kristen Ashley’s original Rock Chick series and Jessie and her girl gang may not be as crazy as those Rock Chicks but they have their own brand of fire to bring to these pages but even more importantly they have what this author writes best, friendships. As we found out in the first series, Jessie and her friends make up a group called the Angels, financed by an unknown source, kind of like the tv show Charlie’s Angels. They provide them with the funds, cars, and stun guns to clean up a few problems on the street. In this novel it’s tied to homeless people going missing, and ultimately, Jessie’s lost brother.

Side by side with the girl gang are the hot men from Phoenix’s branch of Nightingale Investigations. These men are alphas and just like in the original series, they know their woman when they find them and it seems each of these ladies will be paired off with each of these men by the time this series reaches its conclusion. Jessie and Eric’s story is pretty straightforward and as with all the others is quick paced, fun, has some great girly dialog, and a hint of dangerous activity. This book was a fun ride and I’m already eagerly anticipating the next one! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Back in the Saddle

Copyright 2025 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads1 Comment

This Chick Read: The Woman By the Lake (Misted Pines #3) by Kristen Ashley

Nadia Williams needed to escape to a peaceful setting to recover from the trauma of the death of her mother. She rents a small one room cabin on a beautiful lake with only one other home close to hers. Doc Riggs cherishes is peaceful lake and when his new neighbor makes demands on his privacy his instinct is to stay far away, despite her good looks. When the local sheriff, and his best friend, shares her traumatic story, he decides to befriend her in order to make sure she receives any help she might need. He doesn’t expect the protectiveness he feels when she and the cabin she’s living in is targeted by activities that are both spooky and dangerous.

The Misted Pines series is a bit of a departure from this author’s normal novels. These books fall into more of a romantic suspense category and the eerie lake setting and the mysterious noises in The Woman By the Lake provide a creepy scene perfect for a hero to come to the damsel’s rescue. Nadia Williams has plenty of spunk and fire, but she’s more of a girly girl and seems to appreciate leaning on her handsome neighbor. That lean quickly evolves into a romantic relationship that turns Riggs into the alpha hero we come to expect from a Kristen Ashley novel.

I think I preferred the previous novels more than this one but I still enjoyed Nadia and Riggs’ story. The mystery was well developed and captured my interest but I never felt the spiked tension that the first two novels gave that the serial killer mysteries provided. Despite that the romance between Nadia and Riggs was fun and I loved all of the detailed moments that the author provided to set the scene. I wish I had a place to escape to like Nadia’s place, it sounded like the perfect girlie cabin in the woods. All in all this was a fun story and perfect for a weekend of reading. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* The Woman By The Lake

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Fighting the Pull (River Rain #5) by Kristen Ashley

Hale Wheeler inherited billions from his wealthy father. His mission is to spend that money helping rebuild the world’s resources. He doesn’t have time for love but when he meets celebrity journalist Elsa Cohen he is tempted by their chemistry. Elsa, too, is on a mission to build her career reporting the celebrity news and knows that an interview with the elusive Hale Wheeler will make her career. The two of them want very different things from love but can they forge a path together?

The fifth installment in the River Rain series, this novel tells the story of Hale and Elsa but also gives us glimpses into the lives of other couples who’s stories we’ve followed. That’s what I love about Kristen Ashley’s series, the characters are so integrated into each others lives that their stories aren’t just one and done. You get these little extensions into their lives while enjoying a fresh story. Hale and Elsa have been side characters and their story arc began a few books back so the author has been building their tension in the background. All of these connections are like one of those little biosphere’s incapsulated in glass. The oxygen is feeding the organisms who keep growing, moving, and staying interconnected. I love it when one of her series works well together and The River Rain series is a good example of that.

Hale has a tragic life story. Raised by his mentally unstable mother full time, then spending part time with his father Cory who loved him but had trouble showing it physically, Hale has trouble facing his own feelings which makes his pursuit of Elsa both interesting and hard to read. Elsa is loving and open a contrast to his more closed off emotions. Of course watching them make that connection and figure out how to be a couple is what makes a good romance great and Fighting the Pull had moments that were both touching and emotionally fraught. This made for a really good story and an un-put-downable book.

If you love romances with great characters, lots of heat, quirky and loving side characters, and a bit of danger, then this book will fit the bill. Unfortunately, to get the real benefit of all the quirkiness in those side characters, please read the series in it’s entirety. If you don’t have the time, I think you’ll still enjoy this book but you’ll miss a few nuances, and back stories from other books in the series but you’ll still enjoy the read.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Fighting the Pull

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Avenging Angel by Kristen Ashley

Raye Armstrong has a need to right the worlds wrongs. As she’s tracking down an alleged kidnapper she runs across private investigator Julien “Cap” Jackson who was trained by the Nightingale Investigations team in Denver. Cap is immediately drawn to Raye and inserts himself into her life meeting her friends, family, and neighbors. Raye take just a touch longer to realize Cap is the man for her but once she does she lets him into her life and never looks back, but she still continues her Avenging Angel efforts.

Finally a spin-off of KA’s first series, the Rock Chicks. Cap was a teen in those books, and at the time, better known as Sniff. A scrawny, pimply faced young kid who was surviving on the streets of Denver before being adopted and raised essentially in Nightingale Investigations. His new nickname came about in the military because of his likeness to Captain America. Scrawny boy becomes big muscled and attractive man a la Chris Evans. It was fun to catch-up with his character but Raye was truly the star of this story. Just as with the Rock Chick series, she was a woman with a mission and hers was to defend the weak and put the dangerous and despicable behind bars. Also like the Rock Chicks, she has her girl posse that she partners with while on these dangerous missions.

The romance story arc between Cap and Raye was instantaneous and while it was fun, it was really Raye’s personal story arc that captured my interest. Cap was certainly there to support her, but it was her group of friends at home and her girl gang that gave this novel that Rock Chick feel. Slightly nutty, but a group of people with big hearts that were there for Raye when she needed them and/or just created a fun scene. This novel set the stage for a series of new stories centering around this group of friends and I can’t wait to delve in and read where their lives take us. The next book in this series is out in December! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Avenging Angel

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Making the Match (River Rain #4) by Kristen Ashley

Tom and Mika met long ago when Tom was a rising tennis star and Mika was the “It” girl. Tom was already in love and despite wanting to be friends, Mika knew it would be too hard and they went their separate ways. Years later after Mika goes through a personal loss they meet again but Tom’s transgression against his now ex-wife was too big for Mika to take the chance and she shut the door on any kind of relationship. Present day, Mika receives a packet in the mail the provides details that would affect a large sports company and picks up the phone to call Tom to ask for his help. Together they decide to investigate that mystery as well as start a new friendship with each other.

I’ll admit, I had zero interest in reading this novel. That’s a rarity for me because I read practically all of Kristen Ashley’s novels (I skipped the erotica) and have read the first three in this series and enjoyed them tremendously. Why, if I enjoyed the others was I going to skip this novel? It deals with a cheating spouse and I didn’t think I could look past that transgression to root for this couple. BUT I picked it up anyway because I wanted to read the most recent novel that just came out and knew this couple would be a part of it, if only as side characters. Surprisingly, I liked it. Not as much as the other novels in the book but I did enjoy more than I thought I would.

I’m not sure what makes an “It” person other than KA telling us that this character had it all that made her so fascinating to society, but as a person, I like Mika. She was interesting and had a view on life that was different and made me want to keep reading. I LOVED her daughter and hope she gets her own book in the future. She was FAB. Tom has been in the previous novels because they all revolve around his own family. His ex-wife’s love story as well as his daughter ‘s gave us a peek into his own emotional trauma and other than the cheating he seemed like an interesting character. What the author did with these two together was give the reader a reunion love story but also gave us this side plot “mystery” to focus on. For me that side plot was integral to pulling me into their story and ultimately had me liking the novel and these two characters.

Surprise! I really liked the two main characters by the end of the book. It helps that this author excels at giving her main characters interesting family members and friendships. They round out a story and provide comic relief or a glimpse into the future of another novel. This series is full of those moments and luckily enough I have purchased the newest novel already and can get down to reading it! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Making the Match

Copyright 2024 The Reading Chick All Rights reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads1 Comment

This Chick Read: Perfect Together by Kristen Ashley

Wyn and Remy Gastineau had a wonderful marriage until they didn’t and Remy walked out on Wyn without an explanation. Three years later and Wyn has come to the realization that their marriage is actually over- she is ready to move on. Remy has decided he made the biggest mistake of his life and wants Wyn back.

Second chance romances are not my usual, but I do read almost all of Kristen Ashley’s books (sorry, I didn’t read her foray into erotica) and this one seemed to be a stand alone so I wanted to give it a read. I am so glad I did! It took awhile before the reason for Remy walking out was given but I loved the leading up scenes and Wyn’s confusion about what the heck was going on. I also really liked the emotional depth that Kristen Ashley gave to Remy’s reason and how both he and Wyn worked through these issues. It was dramatic, sometimes overly so, but it also felt real. Something I’m not used to in a KA novel. Her books are sometimes pretty outlandishly portrayed. There were elements of the overly dramatic but for the most part the reactions felt real which gave me a more powerful reaction to the story.

I loved Wyn and Remy’s kids, Sabre, Manon, and Yves. Sabre, the oldest is very like his father, an alpha male but has a bit of a mushy center. Manon, is sweet but has a strong core, and Yves is kind of a combination of the two. Their inclusion in the plot added so much to the story. I don’t know that the book would have been as effective without their opinions, reactions, and everything. Sometimes kids take away from the core duos story, but in this case their children were fully integrated and it made sense. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase this book!* Perfect Together

Copyright 2023 The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

*Amazon Associate- if you purchase this book through the above link I’ll receive a small stipend.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads