Book Review – Rock Chick Revenge (Rock Chick #5) by Kristen Ashley

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5 stars

“I’m not lettin’ you go. I’m not lettin’ you push me away and I’m not giving up. I’m gonna keep working until I piece together what [they] stole from you. I’m gonna keep at you until you let me in. I’m not gonna stop until you tell me you’re mine, until it comes straight from your mouth, preferably when I’m deep inside you and you’re lookin’ at me like you look at me when I’m close to makin’ you come.”

*squeeeee* I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! This is tied with book 1 for fav in the series so far! What a winner! It had me laughing out loud, squeeing (out loud), tearing up, grinning for pages on end and fanning myself from the hotness (seriously, KA sure knows how to write make up sex!)

Ava has known Luke since they were kids. But he went off to become a professional Badass fairly early on, and so they never actually got together. Unfortunately, her experience in life has led her to believe that all men are pretty much scum. But when her best friend’s lying cheating scumbag of a husband finally pulls one stunt too many, she decides to find Luke, now a professional investigator/Badass and enlist his help to get some dirt on said scumbag. He of course is more than happy to help but Ava is nervous and wary about dealing with him due to some of her personal insecurities. But it soon becomes very clear that that was only the tip of the problem iceberg and when things blow up, and he realized she isn’t going to share, he hand cuffs them together and takes them home to figure things out and the “Badass Motherfucker Courtship” begins 😀

“I’ll put money down that she’s livin’ with him in 4 days.”…
“3 days.”…
“A week, she’s got spirit.”…
I shook my head, I needed to focus…and go, go, go. 
I opened the door.
Before it closed behind me, I heard Luke say strangely, “Tonight.”
Then everyone laughed.”

I’ll say this first. I. LOVED. LUKE. Seriously. WOW! What a character <3

“I’ve known you since you were eight… I’ve liked you since you were eight,” he said.

I fell in love with him since we first saw him several books ago in the series but he really just shines in this book.  God I love a man who is not only insanely HOT, brutally honest, defends his woman to the ends of the earth and takes no shit from anyone about anything, but at the same time has a deeply soft side that with which he deals with Ava. He just was seriously functional, and a totally swoony over-protective Alpha Badass (yes, with a capital B) who was really creative with his handcuffs and had no problem literally ripping the clothes off his girl *waggles eyebrows*.

I just loved how tolerant, understanding and patient he was with Ava. He really truly understood how how deep her hurt goes and how much it has made her wary and untrusting and he’s just so willing to show her through determination and rock steady efforts that he’s not like the other men who have hurt her before and that he’s absolutely, 100% seriously into her.

“Ava, you missed it when it happened so I’ll clue you in. last night, around the time you fell asleep against me, you became mine. “

Lol, but it was hilarious to finally see Luke deal with a woman of his own. We have been waiting for so long and seeing him handle it was hot-as-hell, hilarious and heart-melting.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered to the ceiling. “All those times I sat in the office and laughed my ass off at stories of Lee, Eddie, Hank and Vance. They should have fuckin’ medals.”

And Ava! Gah she just about broke my heart with her cuteness at times while other times I just wanted to throttle her. But she was a totally awesome addition to the Rock Chick group. In the beginning she does do some things that are a bit annoying but, given some of her life experiences, her general wariness and mistrust of men is understandable.

“He isn’t my man.”
“Girl, it dont matter you don’t think he is, he thinks he is. Therefore in Badass Motherfucker Land, that means he is.”

And what makes it okay is that Luke sees riiiight through her so her behaviour doesn’t actually ever come between them.

“You wanna taste me?” he murmered.
Yes, I wanted to taste him. I would pay every penny of Aunt Ella’s inheritance to taste him.
“No,” I lied.
He did a full grin  this time, a full satisfied grin. It was hot, so hot my knees totally buckles and he took all my weight into his body.
“Liar,” he whispered, knowing he had me. 

And he just keeps relentlessly working at their relationship, never giving up on her, and yet never giving in to her insecurities, until she feels safe enough to let her walls down and  truly give her heart over to him.

“Daisy said to me that I was trying to find ways to protect my heart but I was doing it wrong. She told me the best way to protect my heart was to trust it to someone who will protect it for me”.
More silence but his body went completely still.
“That’s you. It’s always been you.”

Their chemistry was intense! You totally felt it! They had a bit of a rough start – lots of interruptions (buzzers, phone calls etc lol), but once they finally came together… *fans self*

“Oh my God, you totally need to fuck him or you’re going to spontaneously combust.”

And they worked through the bulk of their issues by about the 70% mark so we got to see them completely and acceptingly together as a couple for a good chunk of the book. Seeing them deal with some very painful and serious events that happen totally made my heart clench. It was heart-meltingly beautiful, at times very emotional and utterly squee-worthy.

KA is just absolutely BRILLIANT at writing families and conveying deep connections between characters. She is very subtle and direct in her writing style but you FEEL their emotions so strongly. It just feels so real. Her writing style is like no other. It hide nothing, implies nothing, its just in-your-face, straight up awesome story telling that sucks you right in.

This book was a bit emotionally deeper than the last few. It had my throat choked up and my eyes all misty more than a few times. Ava was reeeally hurt in her past and the tone come through in the story despite its overall typical ‘Rock Chick’ lightness. Something about it just really had my heart reaching out for both her and Luke.

The humour and the banter was just off the charts. Very few other writers have every made me laugh or squee as much as KA has. Everything from the vibrator burial scene to the betting pools over how it would take Luke to give Ava the business to Smithie getting treed by rabid rottweilers… so much fun! And of course, lets not forget the healthy dose of typical KA kidnappings, hostage situations, rescue missions, etc.

I love how, as the series progresses, we see more and more of the characters. What a HUGE core group – there must be at least like 25 of them and just the dynamic of all of them together makes for some absolutely BRILLIANT scenes.

Some pretty serious stuff goes down later in the book involving one of Ava’s psycho ex’s and when it does, seeing, literally e.v.e.r.y.o.n.e come together and mobilize to be there for her (and Luke) was so beyond heart warming. *mega shivers* it led to pages and pages of utterly squee-worthy scenes!! Including the first (INTENSE) Alpha showdown between two of the “good guys” and also what has to be THE most EPIC car chase scene in book history! I was grinning like an idiot when I was reading it.

“Swear to God, these boys should be locked up. It isn’t safe, men with that much testosterone coursing through their blood free to roam.”

I just love how all the Hot Bunch men in this series are the total macho Alpha badass do-not-mess-with-me men on the outside but are all heart-meltingly soft and sweet on the inside. SERIOUS SWOON MATERIAL!! … have I used the word ‘brilliant’ yet? lol BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!!!

“I figured the Nightengale Investigations job application form had the question “Are you hot? Yes. No. If you answered no, please exit the building.”

oooo and there is a wedding at the end of this book – I won’t spoil it with telling whose it is but it actually took me a little by surprise even though I’ve read all the books in order. So beautiful!

Can’t wait for the next book! When this series is over, I’m gonna be seriously sad.

• Buy ROCK CHICK REVENGE (Kindle)

** SERIES READING ORDER **

Book #1 — ROCK CHICK (Lee & Indy)
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Book #2 — ROCK CHICK RESCUE (Eddie & Jet)
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Book #3 — ROCK CHICK REDEMPTION (Hank & Roxie)
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback | Read my Review

Book #4 — ROCK CHICK RENEGADE (Vance & Jules)
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Book #5 — ROCK CHICK REVENGE (Luke & Ava)
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Book #6 — ROCK CHICK RECKONING (Mace & Stella)
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Book #7 — ROCK CHICK REGRET (Hector & Sadie)
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Book #8 — ROCK CHICK REVOLUTION (Ally & Ren)
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