Aestas Book Blog

Book Review – Law Man (Dream Man #3) by Kristen Ashley

May 25, 2012 by Aestas · 6 Comments

“Mara, I’m keepin’ you safe. I’m keepin’ those kids safe and you don’t have a choice in that, sweetheart. Thats just the way it’s gonna be… I was made to protect you and you were made in the way that it would always be worth it.”

Buy LAW MAN (Kindle)

Oh *swoon*, Mitch has stolen my heart!! Seriously hot, family oriented, loving, swoony, drool-worthy badass Alpha cop 🙂

Mara and Mitch live in the same apartment complex. They have each been crushing on each other secretly for the past 4 years but for various reasons have never acted on them. When, one day, Mara suddenly gets a desperate call from her dead beat cousin’s two little children, Billie (girl) and Billy (boy), saying that they ran away from their home, she runs off to rescue them and Mitch comes with her. Mara suddenly ends up with custody of them and Mitch is willing to do everything in his power to help her and the kids. Serious drama ensues involving the Russian mob, druggie trailer trash, custody battles, family issues, as well as a swoon-worthy romance, a whole lot of healing, and the heart-warming building of a beautiful, if unconventional, family unit held together by whole lotta love and earned trust.

“I’ll go gentle, baby,” he whispered against my lips. “I promise. You’ll always be safe with me.
Oh. My.
“Mitch,” I breathed.
His soulful eyes held mine captive as he repeated firmly, “Always.”

I’ll be honest, the first 70% of the book was a 4 star read for me because of Mara. Although I loved her, and she was very sweet and caring, she got on my nerves a little with her insistence on always finding reasons why things shouldn’t work out with Mitch and for her serious self-esteem issues. But Mitch made up for it with his unwavering awesomeness. And once Mara came around, things took a drastic turn up and I would easily give the last 30% of the book 5-6 stars (meaning I LOVED and ADORED it)!

I absolutely ADORED seeing how whole heartedly Mitch adopted the kids into his life. His commitment and love for them and Mara gave me chills and shivers and the conviction with which he went about convincing Mara that he wanted this was beautiful and totally adorable!!

“That’s another thing that doesn’t turn me off, sweetheart, knowin’ that you come with those kids and you need to know that. You also need to know I want kids of my own, two of them. But I don’t care, if this works out between me and you, that the kids we have will have an older brother and sister that don’t have my blood, just my heart.”

And I loved the effort he went to to help heal the kids of the scars of their previous home and to comfort them with the concrete knowledge that with him and Mara, they were loved, cared for and wanted.

“The man who gets Mara gets you and Billie. I’m that man. What you gotta get is, while fallin’ in love with Mara, I fell in love with you and your sister. Straight up, Bud, no lie. The feelings I feel for Mara are hers, the feelings I feel for Billie are hers and the feelings I feel for you are yours. You all have my love, not collectively, individually. Do you understand me?”

And as with the previous books of the series, we get to see all the characters we have come to adore from this world working together and honestly, it was Totally. Badass. Swoon. Overload that left me clutching at my heart!!!! Hawk and Gwen had a seriously hot and swoony cameo, and we get to see Brock and Tess as well. And when the big drama goes down at the end, Tack and his badass biker boys step in and boy did his scenes make me just dying to read his book!!!!

And WOW!! That epilogue!!!!!! I had the hugest grin on my face for the whole of it and then at the very last line of the book, the happy tears just started rolling!

Rating: 4.5 stars

READING ORDER FOR ALL KRISTEN ASHLEY SERIES

** Dream Man Series Reading Order **

Each book is a standalone about a different couple but
it is recommended to read the series in order.

Book #1 — MYSTERY MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2 — WILD MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #3 — LAW MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #4 — MOTORCYCLE MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

SALES, NEW RELEASES, PRE-ORDERS, & RECOMMENDATIONS

May 23, 2012 by Aestas · 3 Comments

Here’s a round up of some of the latest releases and sales, along with some of my recommendations. There are lots of awesome books to choose from here!! Happy reading, everyone 🙂

*backdated

❤ HUGE SALE ALERT!!! ❤

DARK HUNTER SALE BUNDLE — 23 books for $19.99!!!!

WOW!!! This is a HUGE sale bundle!! You can get all 23 available books in the Dark Hunter series in a bundle for only $19.99. They’re worth $160.00 if bought separately!!!! This is my #1 favorite paranormal romance series. Each is a standalone (tortured ALPHA heroes, strong heroines, gorgeous HEAs) but they should be read in order. They’re AMAZING!!! (See full reading order)

❤ LATEST TOP RECOMMENDATIONS ❤

CHANGING COURSE & STOLEN COURSE by Aly Martinez

SQUEEE!!!! I just finished both of these and LOVED them!! Once I started them, I couldn’t put them down!!! They were each unique but both had a wonderful balance of heart wrenching angst, smoking hot swoon-filled romance, and humor… and I totally fell for the heroes, Brett and Caleb. I just love the protective, tortured heroes (and these ones are both cops!)… *dreamy sigh* …. They make my heart melt!!! These books are both standalones but the stories are strongly interconnected and the heroes are best friends so it’s best to read them in order!! Here’s my review of the first one and I just posted the second review 🙂 * YOU GUYS HAVE TO READ THESE!!! *

CARNAGE by Lesley Jones (Read my review)

“I was eleven years old, but I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was staring into the eyes of the boy I was going to love forever.”

This book gave me a 5-day book hangover and it’s definitely one of my favorites of the year now! It was a passionate, gut-wrenching love story. A non-stop, messy, emotional, beautiful, devastating roller coaster ride from start to finish and honestly, I LOVED it!!!!! It made me FEEL every emotion. It took over my life and heart. But please note that this is not your typical romance story. It completely shattered all my book rules and is just not the kind of book that I usually read so please go into it with a very, very open mind.

LOVING MR. DANIELS by Brittainy C. Cherry

I absolutely loved this book!!! A beautiful story that took me by surprise in the best of ways. It was so much MORE than just a forbidden student-teacher romance. It was a love story and it was a life story. All kinds of love, all kinds of life. I laughed, I cried and I totally loved it!! It’s a standalone and you can read my review here. I highly recommend checking it out, especially if you were a fan of Slammed!!

❤ SALES & NEW RELEASES ❤

FLAT-OUT CELESTE by Jessica Park — New Release

Woohoo!! This new release is getting fantastic ratings!!! It’s a standalone spin-off of one of my favorite books, Flat Out Love (read my review), and it follows Celeste as she heads to college and falls in love!! I am so excited to read this!!! *happy dance* (PS: You can either read this on it’s own, or after Flat Out Love. It’s up to you!)

BY A THREAD by RL Griffin — $0.99 Series Sale (Today only!)

This whole highly-rated series is on sale!! They’ve been recommended to me by many readers and they sound really unique so I’m looking forward to reading them now that the series is complete!! They’re all on sale for $0.99 each (TODAY ONLY) so don’t miss out: #1 By A Thread, #2 Tension, #3 Seamless, #3.5 Mending, #4 Heart In Wire.

READY FOR YOU by JL Berg — $0.99 New Release

This second-chance romance was just released!! It’s a STANDALONE that is part of the highly-rated “Ready” series and it’s on a special $0.99 introductory price!! I love the sound of it from the blurb!! Here are all the books in the series: When You’re Ready, Never Been Ready, Ready For You (each one is a complete standalone).

MOTORCYCLE MAN by Kristen Ashley — Price Drop ($2.99 sale, reg. $3.99)

Biker fans!!! If you like the sound of badass Alpha male heroes and smart, sassy heroines, then you have to check this book out!! Technically it’s the fourth (and final) book in the Dream Man series. It *can* be read as a standalone but I highly recommend reading the series in order: #1 Mystery Man, #2 Wild Man, #3 Law Man, #4 Motorcycle Man

ROCK CHICK SERIES by Kristen Ashley — Series Price Drop (My Reviews)

Wow!! 6 of the books in this amazing badass Alpha male romance series are on sale for $3.99 instead of $4.99. They’re each standalones but they should be read in order. THEY. ARE. AWESOME!!! #1 Rock Chick (SALE), #2 Rock Chick Rescue, #3 Rock Chick Redemption (SALE), #4 Rock Chick Renegade, #5 Rock Chick Revenge (SALE), #6 Rock Chick Reckoning (SALE), #7 Rock Chick Regret (SALE), #8 Rock Chick Revolution (SALE)

THE GAMBLE by Kristen Ashley — Price Drop: $2.99 sale, reg. $3.79 (My Review)

Eeep!! Squee!!! I loved this book!!!! It was a 5-star read for me and it’s a standalone romance but also the first in the Colorado Mountain series. This one is about a heroine who needs a break from her life and her engagement so she rents a cabin in snowy Colorado but when she gets there, she finds a gorgeous man already there who is quite surprised when she turns up! “But when Nina becomes ill, Max spends days nursing her back to health. A private man with a broken heart, Max finds himself drawn to the strong-willed woman. Soon it becomes impossible for Nina and Max to deny their growing attraction to one another. Yet even as these two wounded lovebirds think about taking a chance on a relationship, a dangerous secret from Max’s past emerges-and threatens to end their love for good.” — Definitely get this book, guys!!!

WAKING UP IN VEGAS by Stevie Kisner — New Release

This sounds HILARIOUS!! The blurb alone has me laughing!!! ➜ “I’m Tack Morgan, and I’m the host of the most listened-to morning drive-time show… I’m also in therapy for sexual harassment… To be clear, I don’t have sexual harassment issues. I have sexual frustration issues… I haven’t gotten laid in… too long. Honestly, I haven’t been keeping track. Actually, yes, I have. It’s been two months. Coincidentally, that’s exactly how long Jensen MacKenzie has been my co-host. I don’t think my balls can get any bluer.” 😀

ADDICTED TO YOU by K & B Ritchie — $0.99 Recommendation (My review)

This is the first book of one of my MOST favorite on-going series. I love love love love LOVE it!!! Don’t worry, there are no cliffhangers where the story is at so it’s totally safe to start. Really, you have to meet Lily & Lo!! They way they LOVE each other just makes my heart squeeze!! ♥ Oh, and the series just got new covers too! Be sure to read these books in order: Addicted To You ($0.99), Ricochet ($0.99), Addicted For Now, Kiss The Sky, Hothouse Flower.

AROUSE by Nina Lane — $0.99 Recommendation (My Review)

We’ve all read stories of first love and second-chances… but few stories are actually about a marriage and this story is about an already-married couple. It begins after the “happily-ever-after” where most romances end and is truly one of the most beautifully written and intensely passionate love stories I’ve ever read. Dean & Liv’s romance is breathtaking!!! Don’t miss this sale!!! #1 Arouse ($0.99), #2 Allure, #3 Awaken.

TRANSCENDENCE by Shay Savage — Price Drop

This standalone has been recommended to me by sooooo many readers and the hero is a CAVEMAN!!! Like an actual, real caveman!!! And it takes place in PREHISTORIC times!! OMG!! (PS: it’s on sale for this weekend only. Reg price: $4.99)

IN THE STILLNESS by Andrea Randall — $1.99 Recommendation (My review)

This is of my most favorite standalones, and also one of the most emotionally charged second chance romances I’ve ever read ➜ “I love you so much, Natalie, and when I get home I’m going to keep loving you until you tell me to stop. But don’t, please. Don’t tell me to stop.” (Also, 25% of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to charity.)

RECLAIMING THE SAND by A.M. Walters — $0.99 Recommendation (My review)

This beautifully written love story dealt with a tough subject matter (the hero is Autistic and the heroine bullied him in school many years ago) in a heartfelt and respectful way. I really loved it!! ➜ “You will hate me. You will love him. I love him. He has changed my world.”

DRIVEN by K. Bromberg — $1.99 Sale + Recommendation

The first book of the DRIVEN trilogy is on a rare sale!!! Colton Donavan is a sexy, tortured bad boy race car driver and one of my fav book boyfriends!!! If you haven’t met him yet, now’s the time!! (PS: This is a complete trilogy — #1 Driven (review), #2 Fueled (review), #3 Crashed (review) )

DEEPER by Robin York — $0.99 Sale

This book from my TBR is still on sale for only $0.99 (reg. $7.99). It’s the first of a 2-part romance series called Caroline & West about a college student who is attacked online when her ex posts their sex pictures. She tries to make the pictures disappear… then a guy she barely knows rises to her defence… #1 Deeper, #2 Harder

CONFESSIONS OF A LITIGATION GOD by Sawyer Bennett — Release Week Sale

This standalone erotic novel follows the story of Matt & McKayla from the Legal Affairs series!! You do NOT have to read the other series first. And it comes with a warning from Matt: “if you assume the risk and read my tale in public, then I recommend you carry a spare set of panties with you. You will need them and you have been warned.”

THE DARK LIGHT OF DAY by TM Frazier — $0.99 Recommendation (My review)

This is not your typical romance, but I loved it!! It was dark, gritty, and even brutal, but also beautiful, sexy & heartwarming. It’s a standalone about a girl who’s been through hell and has survived a brutal childhood… And she’s now homeless, sleeping in a junkyard, and on the run when she meets Jake, a tattooed blue-eyed biker with secrets that rival her own…

PENANCE: A LOVE STORY by Sarah Buhl — New Release

I’m told that the hero of this standalone romance is shy but strong, tattooed, and “one of the sweetest assholes you’ll ever meet” oh AND he’s a virgin (!!) while the heroine is a more of a daring free spirit but lives a life where she feels plagued by guilt for a mistake in her past… and this is their love story.

THE WILL by Kristen Ashley — Recommendation

Woohoo!!!! This is now available in paperback too!! It’s one of my most favorite standalones – an absolutely gorgeous, heartwarming romance!!! I seriously love Jake Spear ➜ “Every inch of you, outside and any way you can get inside, baby, physically or emotionally, is mine.” **SWOOOOOON**

THE SWEET GUM TREE by Katherine Allred — $1.49 Recommendation

This is another of my favorite standalone romances. It’s honestly one of the most beautifully written, intense, and emotional second chance love stories I’ve ever read. It’s both heart wrenching and heart warming and I remember when I first read it that it kept me up all night glued to the page. It was absolutely a 5 STAR read for me!

LAWYERS IN LOVE #1 & BOOK #2 by N.M. Sibler — $0.99 Sales

The first two LAWYERS IN LOVE series books are on sale!! Many readers have recommended these to me as sexy and hilarious romantic comedies!! Both of these books tell a complete story about the same couple.

CLIPPED WINGS SERIES by Helena Hunting — on my TBR!

This trilogy is also now complete and I can’t wait to start reading it!!! The blurb calls it an emotional love story between two young people who desperately want to love and be loved but are afraid to completely let go of their pasts!! <— Love that!!

SAVIOUR & RESOLUTION by Lesley Jones — on my TBR!

After finishing Carnage and loving it, I went looking for books by this author. This is a 2-book contemporary romance series (HEA) and the blurb says: “Join Lauren and Gabriel on their emotional, funny, sexy and traumatic journey as they try to conquer the demons from their past and try to build a future together. Their story will make you laugh and it will make you cry and sometimes do both at the same time! This isn’t a hearts and flowers romance, it follows the story of two broken people, trying to find a way forward together after being let down in the worst possible ways.”

TAKE CARE, SARA by Lindy Zart — $1.99 Sale

This emotional standalone romance that I read last year is on sale!! It’s about a woman devastated after the loss of her beloved husband. How do you continue living when the person you love most in the world is forever torn out of your life? And it’s the story of both her pain and also of someone who slowly helps her heal and find happiness again.

ROOM FOR YOU & ROOM FOR MORE by Beth Ehemann (My review)

If anyone is ever looking for a SWOONY romance that’ll have your heart melting, I highly recommend this 2-book series!! I read these last month and fell in LOVE with Brody!! The heroine is a single mom with little twin girls, and the hero is a famous hockey player and when a storm strands him at the Inn she runs, he has to stay a few days…. oh, and he calls her little girls his Twinkies!!!

❤ RECENT REVIEWS ❤

Changing Course by Aly Martinez – standalone Adult romance
Stolen Course by Aly Martinez – standalone Adult romance
Carnage by Lesley Jones – atypical/unconventional rock star romance
Loving Mr. Daniels by Brittainy C. Cherry – standalone forbidden romance
The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen – college romance
Nowhere But Here by Renee Carlino – standalone romance
Push by Claire Wallis – suspenseful romance
The Resurrection of Aubrey Miller – emotional/uplifting romance

❤ UPCOMING PRE-ORDERS ❤

JUNE 2014

Jun 3 ~ Mended by Kim Karr
Jun 3 ~ Hold On Tight (Sea Breeze #8) by Abbi Glines
Jun 3 ~ Fall From India Place by Samantha Young
Jun 3 ~ Devil’s Game (Reapers MC) by Joanna Wylde
Jun 3 ~ There’s Wild Then There’s You (Wild Ones) by M. Leighton
Jun 3 ~ Twisted Together (Monsters In The Dark #3) by Pepper Winters
Jun 17 ~ Better When He’s Bad by Jay Crownover
Jun 24 ~ Rusty Nailed (Cocktail #1) by Alice Clayton
Jun 24 ~ Five Ways To Fall (Ten Tiny Breaths) by KA Tucker
Jun 24 ~ Lily Love by Maggi Myers
Jun 27 ~ Sins & Secrets by Jessica Sorensen

JULY 2014

July 1 ~ Beautiful Oblivion (Maddox Brothers #1) by Jamie McGuire
July 1 ~ Come To Me Softly (Closer To Me #2) by AL Jackson
July 1 ~ Taming The Storm by Samantha Towle
July 1 ~ Shame on Him (Fool Me Once) by Tara Sivec
July 8 ~ Hudson (Fixed) by Laurelin Paige
July 8 ~ The Promise (The Burg #5) by Kristen Ashley
July 15 ~ Tamed (Tangled #3) by Emma Chase
July 29 ~ Lead (Stage Dive #3) by Kylie Scott

AUGUST 2014

Aug 5 ~ Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Aug 5 ~ Lead Me Not by A. Meredith Walters
Aug 5 ~ One Night Promised by Jodi Ellen Malas
Aug 19 ~ Seducing Lauren (Love Under The Big Sky #2) by Kristen Proby
Aug 26 ~ Rival (Fall Away #3) by Penelope Douglas
Aug 31 ~ Come And Get Me (Keatyn Chronicles #6) by Jillian Dodd

Book Review – Take this Regret by A.L. Jackson

May 23, 2012 by Aestas · 11 Comments

**NOTE: This was one of the first reviews I ever wrote. I wrote it way before starting the blog and so it’s not nearly as long, in depth or detailed as my usual ones so I just wanted to take a moment and tell you that this is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOKS!!!!!! Seriously, few books have EVER reached in to my heart as deeply as this one did. I highly, highly recommend it! 🙂

Buy TAKE THIS REGRET (Kindle)

“She was mine, had always been, and I’d always been hers. Despite what I’d done, the wounds I’d inflicted, she had always been mine…. our hearts had been tied, our bond one that neither of us could ever escape.“

WOW!! This is an achingly beautiful, heart wrenching book about a second chance at love and with an wonderfully sweet HEA that tugged at ALL my heart strings!!

The level of emotion it pulled out of me right from the beginning was so strong and intense! I read most of it either with a huge lump in my throat or in tears (most often happy tears since the point of this book is about healing).

Just the way it is written makes you feel everything that they are going through in a very realistic way. Puts you right there with the characters.

Five years ago, when Elizabeth told Christian that she was pregnant with his child, he made her choose between him or the baby. He had a plan for his life, and that plan does not have room for a child. But in the face of his betrayal and despite being cut from his life, Elizabeth struggles to provide the best life she can for their daughter. And for this whole time, Christian lives on regretting his decision. In the present day, he finds himself in a supermarket, staring into the eyes of a little girl that he just knows is his daughter and every bit of regret that he spent the last five years trying to push away come crashing to the surface and he realizes that he will do everything in his power to win his family back. He finds himself drawn to his little black-haired, blue eyed daughter, to the love he feels for her mother, his achingly deep regret at how he treated and abandoned her when she needed him most and he knows, with every fiber of his being, that he will do everything in his power to make things right.

The story is told in alternating perspectives between Christian and Elizabeth, which is vital to this story, because otherwise Christian would just come off as a really big jerk. But being able to see into his mind allows the reader to understand the damage done to him in his past that made him make the mistakes he did and show how he comes to the realization that he needs to make things right. It also shows us the healing process that Elizabeth goes through learning again to trust the man who, though she still loves him, betrayed and abandoned her and broke her heart.

I loved seeing all the effort Christian into fixing his relationship with the love of his life and with his daughter – it brought me to tears so many times!! I loved how grateful and respectful he was for every inch Elizabeth gave him. How much he treasured every moment spent with his daughter. How patiently he waited for Elizabeth to learn to trust him again. And how he did everything in his power to win back her heart, earn back her trust, and put his family back together.

This book was basically all about the healing process that Christian, Elizabeth, and their daughter Lizzie go through… And about a “love as intense as the one we shared, one that had not dimmed through years of betrayal but had only grown…”

The story is fully relationship and family-centric. There is no bad guy, no evil ex’s, no external drama or anything to deter from the characters’ journey.

I cried, I laughed, this book touched my heart and I will never forget this story <3

It was an absolutely beautiful read that is definitely going on my favorites shelf!

5+ stars!!

Buy TAKE THIS REGRET (Kindle)

** SERIES READING ORDER **

Note: Take This Regret can be read as a standalone.

#1 TAKE THIS REGRET
Kindle | Paperback| My Review

#0.5 LOST TO YOU
Kindle | Paperback | My Review

#2 IF FOREVER COMES
Kindle | My Review

Book Review – Wild Man (Dream Man #2) by Kristen Ashley

May 20, 2012 by Aestas · 1 Comment

“I can’t make any promises about where this is gonna go but what I can do is give you me, keep you safe while you walk on the wild side and work my ass off to do what I can so this never goes bad for you.”

Buy WILD MAN (Kindle)

Oooo Kristen Ashley does it again! I loved Brock and Tess’ story! I loved how FUNCTIONAL they were as a couple!! Its always SO refreshing to find book couples like that. Ones who talk through their issues, don’t let stupid things come between them and are open and honest with each other.

“No games, no lies, no bullshit.”

It was different than book 1, less action-packed, more focused on relationship development, and family drama. But as usual, it was filled with yummy, hot, swoon/drool-worthy alpha men, strong heroines, and an engaging plotline.

Brock Lucas is a DEA agent that we originally met in book 1, Mystery Man. In the beginning of the story, his job is to get close to Tess O’Hara to discover any possible connection to her ex-husband’s dirty business deals. But he soon falls for her and realizes she’s completely not involved and they begin a 4 month relationship but with her only knowing him under his work alias. When she is brought in for questioning in relation to her ex-husband’s case, he (listening in on the interview) discovers that she was raped by her ex and looses it. But she sees him at the station, realizes that he was part of the case the whole time and doesn’t want to see him again. Three months later, after giving her space to heal, Brock shows up and in his typical, no-bullshit, we-will-deal-with-this-properly attitude, demands she listen to him and hear his side of the story. The combination of her being reasonable and him not playing games and being completely honest about things leads them into a beautiful relationship.

“Brock Lucas is wild and he’s rough and he’s driven but he’s loving and affectionate and so fucking loyal it isn’t funny. He takes care of me. He make’s me feel safe…”

I loved how instantly and whole-heartedly Tess accepted Brock’s two sons into her life. Between her monster of an ex-husband and his crazy ex-wife, they have a lot of family drama to deal with but they never let anything come between them, and if anything, everything just makes them come together closer as a family unit.

I loved how caring, protective and understanding Brock was about Tess’ past. She was raped by her ex-husband and was obviously quite scarred by the experience. But he helps her learn to trust again, and deal with her emotions, and heal by creating a relationship she can feel absolutely safe in.

“Babe, he took your power. Tonight, you took it back. And it…” his arm gave me a squeeze, “was,” his hand gave me a squeeze, “fuckin’,” his forehead dropped to rest on mine, ” beautiful.”
I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath.
Then I opened them and said, “You had my back.”
“I always have your back.”

I loved seeing all the factions of characters from Kristen Ashley’s world working together. Lee Nightingale’s boys (from the Rock Chick series), Hawk’s commandos, and Brock and Mitch’s cops and Tack‘s biker boys make for delicious additions to the story.

And I loved how in the end, when the shit hit the fan, Tess was no damsel in distress and you could really see the healing that she went through in action.

Rating: 4.5 stars

READING ORDER FOR ALL KRISTEN ASHLEY SERIES

** Dream Man Series Reading Order **

Each book is a standalone about a different couple but
it is recommended to read the series in order.

Book #1 — MYSTERY MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #2 — WILD MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #3 — LAW MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #4 — MOTORCYCLE MAN
Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book Review – Thoughtless (Thoughtless #1) by S.C. Stephens

May 19, 2012 by Aestas · 7 Comments

6 stars!!!! This is one of my FAV series!!

It’s one of those stories that sucks you in, makes your heart race, puts a smile on your face and doesn’t let you stop turning the pages even for a second.

If you are a fan of love triangles, you will looooooove Thoughtless. Basically, Keira is moving cities with her boyfriend of 2 years Denny, and they end up becoming roommates with an old friend of Denny’s, Kellan Kyle, who is a local rock star. He and Keira just have this instant connection but are respectful of the fact that she is in a relationship. But when Denny takes a job overseas for several months without really consulting Keira and stops calling etc, Kellan ends up comforting her and their denied passion/love is given room to grow…. there is SO much romantic tension in this book, its enough to drive you insane – but totally in a good way!

This book will make you want to throw your book at the wall, it’ll make you laugh out loud, it’ll make you swoon and grin for pages on end, it’ll make you feel like your heart is ripped out, and you’ll love every minute of it!

Kellan is one of THOSE guys – you know the ones that make you swoony and drooly and make you wish he was real?? yeah, one of those *sigh* I’m really not kidding here, if you haven’t read Thoughtless, RUN out and grab your self a copy!

Its weird that I would like it given how there is a theme of cheating in in it (though none in book 2 once Keira & Kellan are officially together) because Keira cheats on Denny to be with Kellan. But I think the reason it never bothered me was because I always just KNEW that Keira and Denny weren’t right for each other, just as strongly as I KNEW that Kellan was perfect for her in every way and that he was her HEA. So them being together, no matter what the circumstances, just always felt right.

“What if I don’t choose you, Kellan? What will you do?”
He looked away, a tear rolling down his cheek. “I’ll leave, Kiera. I’ll leave, and you and Denny can have your happily ever after.” He looked back at me. “You wouldn’t even need to tell him about me. Eventually, the two of you…” his voice broke and another tear fell on his cheek, “the two of you would get married, and have children, and have a great life.”
I fought back a sob. “And you? What happens to you in that scenario?”
“I…get by. And I miss you, every day,” he whispered.”

Book #1 THOUGHTLESS – My Review | Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback

Book #2 EFFORTLESS – My Review | Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback

Book #3 RECKLESS – My Review | Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback

Book Review – Effortless (Thoughtless #2) by S.C. Stephens

May 19, 2012 by Aestas · 3 Comments

6 stars!!

“…you finally get it.”…
… “get what?”…
“That I’m yours… that you can take me… anywhere, anytime, anyway. That you own every piece of me.”

Oh god – this book just wrenched my heart out in an AMAZING way! In fact, I’m sure it even stopped entirely a few times!! I liked it even more than book 1 and thats saying a lot cuz I looooved Thoughtless.

“Loving you, Kellan, is so easy, it’s effortless.” His smile matched mine, then I frowned and sighed “Trusting you…that’s the hard part.”

This book is all about trust. Keira and Kellan are finally and officially a couple, but they have a lot to deal with. Kellan’s rock band is getting some national recognition and he ends up having to go on tour for several months but Keira can’t come because of school. So its all about her learning to trust him (since he has quite the man-whoring past and he’s an insanely hot rock star who is on every girl’s f*ck-me list lol), while he has to learn to trust her in his absence because even though in book 1 she was cheating on Denny to be with him – the love of her life, she still showed herself to be the kind of girl who could cheat. Both issues are valid and its up to the both of them to prove to each other that their love for each other is strong enough to overcome any barrier that is thrown in their way and that they are each worthy of each other’s trust.

And the notes (!!!!!!) *dies* I don’t want to spoil too much but basically when he goes, he leaves all these notes everywhere for her to find and they just melted my heart!!

“… if for some reason we’re not closer, if something has gotten between us, please, I’m begging you…don’t give up on me. Stay. Stay with me. Work it out with me. Just don’t leave me…please.” ~Kellan

This book make me cry several times – usually happy tears or just very emotional tears… its just a really really beautiful story!!

Also, its important to note that even though there IS a third book coming out (*squeeeeeee*), this book ends with a very happy, completely satisfying ending. In fact, for a long time, I thought this was the end of the series, and if it was, I would have been 100% happy with how things ended. Definitely HEA feel. But I CANNOT WAIT for book 3!!!!!