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Review
Loved it! What an absolute swoon-fest!!!
As much as I love all of Kristen Ashley’s Alphas, I think she has managed to create the perfect man in Grayson Cody who, apart from being gorgeous, loving, sensitive, sweet and protective, has “the best wild west rancher cowboy name in history”. Apparently he also looks amazing in a pair of chaps (nice!). I absolutely loved him. He was such a gentleman, was never over the top with his Alpha-ness, never behaved like a jerk; he was honest and open, and he loved Ivey with everything that he had. SWOON!!!
Ivey is a great heroine – intelligent, intuitive, and desperate for a settled life after being dragged from town to town by her dirt bag brother as a hustler and living a life that she hates. When she claps eyes on Gray she is instantly smitten and, having finally found something that she wants, she is prepared to stand up and fight for it, and I loved that about her.
These two were obviously into each other from the very start and after some very swoony protective manoeuvres from Gray, with Ivey taking care of him in return, Gray makes his move. The beginning of their romance was beautiful to read (including one hot-as-hell first kiss – phew!) and they both fell hard and fast. Obviously perfect for each other, they were honest, functional and crazy in love.
“You still fallin’ in love with me? … ‘Cause you should know, baby, I’m already gone for you”
(I need to admit right here that when I saw this quote on GR, it’s what made me pick this book up as quickly as I did. Swoon!)
Revelling in all of the swoony love, I couldn’t comprehend what would tear them apart, but thanks to the most evil of evil bad guys, they were betrayed, and it was brutal. But it was also believable, and their actions and all of the resulting fall out was completely understandable! Thankfully the book skims over the years of separation pretty quickly because it’s so awful to read about their heartbreak.
Years later, the chemistry is definitely still there, and when they see each other again and realise that they were betrayed, there was no game playing, they both confessed that they were still in love with each other and they jumped right back in. SQUEEEEEE!!! The resulting reunion was beautifully written and absolutely magic.
“Never before, never since have I felt for any woman, fuck anyone the way I felt about you. I want that back. I want my girl back.”
*sniff sniff*
“Say it.”
“Say what?”
“Order me to tell you I love you.”
The instant the words came out of my mouth, his eyes closed, a shadow of pain crossed his face and he dropped his head to the side of mine.
He remembered.
He missed that too.
*flat out sobbing*
Happily, the book continues on after this and it was awesome watching them stand together to deal with the crap that got thrown their way – especially as Ivey had developed quite the kickass attitude!
KA always does a great job of creating a circle of family and friends for her characters, and she does it again brilliantly here. I particularly loved Lash, Ivey’s uber protective best friend. Their relationship was absolutely gorgeous, and I loved the way that they were there for each other. I also really liked the introduction of a character later in the book (being deliberately vague here to avoid spoilers). Their inclusion into Gray and Ivey’s world was lovely to read.
This was an amazing, beautifully written book. There is lots of emotion, lots of squee moments, lots of steam, a gorgeous HEA and a ridiculously swoony Epilogue. KA at her absolute best! I can’t wait for the series to continue with Whit’s story.