I thought I'd do a post focused on one of my new fave authors, Kristen Ashley, or KA as some of us fans refer her as, just because even I find it interesting that I didn't start out to be a fan when I first started reading her books, but here I am now, a huge fan to boot ...
Once upon a time, when I first started on Goodreads, one author kept popping up on my Goodreads recommendation. The next thing I knew, I also started seeing it on the pages of a handful of people on my Goodreads friends list. So I started paying attention and I noticed all these high ratings and raving reviews. And before I knew it, I picked up Mystery Man, the first one in her Dream Man series.
Well, let me tell you, I wasn't impressed with it, if I want to be completely frank. The first thing that that stood out for me was the writing. I wouldn't post my review, but all I want to say is that I recall repeating a paragraph to my sister on the phone and asking her if it made sense to her because it sure as heck did not make sense to me. And I also recall telling her that all the conjunctions are missing. What was up with that! I'm not even touching the run-on sentences... I got really confused. I started wondering where all those high ratings are coming from...
BUT, there was something in that story that, whether I admit it or not, made me want to finish the rest of the series. And in time, true enough, I did.
1. Mystery Man (2 napkins)
2. Wild Man (3 napkins)
3. Law Man (4 napkins)
4. Motorcycle Man (5 napkins, HUGE fave!)
Motorcycle Man, the last one in the series, is what sealed the deal for me. I finally got her style. I finally got why I kept reading, despite the "rocky start". As I said in one of my reviews, as I read more KA books, every new KA read shows me why I didn't give up on her stories. First I thought it was just her alpha men who just says and does the right things by their women in the most swoonalicious way. Then there're her heroines as well who she manages to give a quirkiness unique to each woman and a latent strong personality under all that quirkiness. Although I must add, maybe it's just me, but I don't always get how her heroines sometimes manage to have 2 or 3 other alpha men vying for her attention. Anyhoot...
Now, I want to say that there is definitely a certain charm to KA's writing, despite the run-on sentences, repetitive words and overly detailed descriptions. Because in addition to her awesome main characters (MC), I slowly started to appreciate the other stuff. One being the supporting characters like the MC's friends, to a point that I now enjoy what I call the Justice of League-style gathering, esp of the alpha men, in times of crisis, whether OTT ala Dream Man series style, or in the case of her other books, regular family drama. Then a couple of other things as well, like the family dynamics she weaves into the story and some of the most adorable children characters I've ever read.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
I've since read the Unfinished Hero series,
1. Knight (4 napkins)
2. Creed (5 napkins)
3. Raid (4 napkins)
4. Deacon (5 napkins, fave!)
3 of the The Burg series,
1. For You (5 napkins)
2. At Peace (5 napkins, fave!)
3. Golden Trail
4. Games of the Heart
4. The Promise (4 napkins)
and the first book in the Magdalene series,
The Will (5 napkins)
Luckily for me, there are still so many of her series that I haven't gotten to yet, so as far as my KA fix, I guess I'll be good for a while. Whew!
~Leftie
(Follow my blog with Bloglovin)
No comments:
Post a Comment