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Erotic Literature. Fiction. Romance. Suspense. HTML:There's nothing like the first time . . . In Carnal, Colorado, Faye Goodknight is the town's quiet, shy librarian. She may also be Carnal's last remaining virgin. For years, Faye has had a crush on Chace Keaton, but the gorgeous cop has always been unattainable. She's resigned to live contentedly with only her books for company-until Faye suddenly meets Chace alone in the woods . . . Chace doesn't think he's the good guy everyone believes him to be. He's made a lot of choices he regrets, including denying his feelings for Faye. Through his choices, he's come to believe the pretty librarian is too good for him, but after their time in the woods, Chace realizes that she may be his last chance for redemption. Soon, their long simmering desires grow to a burning passion. Yet always casting a shadow over their happiness is Chace's dark past . . .… (more)
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SPOILER:
Hands down best break-up/make-up scene I have ever read. ("Christ, here we go. Backbone.") Having gotten to it at 1 a.m. with my 4yo asleep in my arms, I almost gave myself a hernia trying to keep my laughter inside so as not to wake him up when I came to the Star Wars part. And, oh my goodness, some of those lines... "For a long time, a long fuckin' time, Faye, nearly six years, I thought it was certain I'd never have anything as beautiful as the last three minutes." And Miah's speech--Aslan! Oh, for heaven's sake. I totally lost it.
END SPOILER
Although I own it in paperback, I also just requested it via ebook from the library just so I could read it again on an upcoming train trip. And I will probably go ahead and buy that version, too, just to have it alongside all my other KA books on the Kindle.
The only downside as far as I'm concerned is that this book should come with a warning: do not read if you want to get anything else done over the course of a day. Dangerous territory in that regard.
Faye Goodknight is the shy beautiful red headed librarian who loves furturistic movies, geeks and
Chase calls himself dark and has done things he has trouble living with and feels Faye is light, pure and too good for him. Things change all of this and the two find they rub along together rather well. Chase is a teddy bear in her gentle hands and she helps him see things from a different perspective. A homeless boy becomes a big part of their lives in trying to both help him and to solve the mystery of who he is and where he comes from.
Many parts of this story are very touching and either very emotional or very passionate. The ending, when you finally get to parts of it is beautifully written and brought a tear or two. My problem with the book was two fold. First I had a great deal of difficulty believing Faye had a master degree in anything at all. High school diploma yes, more no. Next most of the story was written in the local dialect and street banter. I found it very difficult to understand at times. The characters were first class, the angst just right and the good parts very very good.
It started out good, I liked Faye, and felt for Chace's suffering. But then Chace decided to stop fighting what he felt for Faye, and it got real
I loved seeing Ally (from the Rock Chick series) pop up, but I don't quite see how she fit. I know we didn't get a ton of Ally in the RC series, but I can't recall ANY indication she was a computer person or a sci fi geek. Now I'm going to want to skim back through that series to see how many times she mentioned Nathan Fillion. So where did that come from? Left field. Hopefully that gets explained in her book, which I really think should have come before this one.
Some of the sentences were so convoluted I gave up trying to understand exactly, and hoped I just got the gist of it.
The sci fi parts didn't bother me, and Faye being such a reader, I really identified with her. Like, a lot. Living in a fantasy world doesn't mean you're totally out of the real world. I actually liked most of her sci fi rants, in particular, about Trane's father being worse than Darth Vader, cause at least he gave Luke a choice on the dark side. He asked. I was laughing so hard during that part.
I hated that Miah and Becky had to leave, and would have liked to have seen them grow. I get the feeling Miah, at least, is more sequel bait. We'll see more of him. I also want to see Darius get a story, think that'll happen?
I find it kinda ridiculous that one member of the city council doesn't like some of the books in their town's library (Twilight and Harry Potter? WTF?), so instead of trying to boot or at least shut up the one council member, they are instead planning to shut the library down and blame it on budget cuts.
Props to D. Stom on Ammy for pointing out something that's always bugged me. KA's disgust with all things related to ass play. Now I don't need or expect anal play in all my books, but the way everyone was so disgusted, sickened, by what Chace's dad was doing in those tapes? From what I gathered, it was just a little bit pegging. Be disgusted that he was cheating on his wife with a couple of whores? Fine, I get that, but ass play is not this big evil thing, even if the guy is the one taking it up the ass from a chick.
I think a more fitting title for this book would have been "Holding Out For A Hero". For one, it would have set it apart from all the other "Breathe/Breathing" titles out there. For another, that's what Faye has been doing for 13 years- Holding out for a Hero. She sang the song, she cried to it, they danced to it at their wedding. I just think it fit better.
I don't think the Elite stuff was well explained at ALL. Just a plot point to add more drama to the story, that's been going on through several books and still doesn't feel resolved.
The epilogue was all over the place. I don't mind seeing a snippet what happens a few years down the road. The whole last 10% of this book was the epilogue though! A year and a half later, then a year and five months earlier, wtf? It took me a bit to figure out it skipped from the day before the wedding to what was I'm guessing a week or so after Faye was buried in the backyard. (and seriously? Could you EVER sit on your back porch and look out over the yard you were BURIED ALIVE in??) Then skipping all over the place between a week after burial to the wedding day. Then to Miah's graduation day. TOO much jumping around.
In order to protect a father he does not respect, in
But he isn't the only one looking.
While searching for new leads, he runs into Faye Goodknight, the town's quiet, shy, pretty librarian. Chace has long since had his eye on what could possibly be the town's last remaining virgin but he has also long since given up hope he could make her his. Faye is pure and clean and Chace refuses to dirty her with his sordid past.
Pure and clean Faye may be, but when the shy librarian is forced to go head to head with the man who she's had a crush on since he hit her hometown, Chace finds Faye is full of surprises. And he doesn't know what to do with her
Chace OMG , Swoon Right from the farking start .... He had me right from the damn start , he was sooo Sweet, loving, understanding... God al mighty Hot with every ounce of being . I New he was good from the last book , but this one made him totally down right AMAZING and BEAUTIFUL ..... He took the total care needed he worked wonders with Faye and her Virginity .... Amazing, Beautiful , and everything in between that is what Chace is ......Even when he shed tears, I shed them with him ......
"Faye, darlin', I want you to hear this and get it, what you just gave me was the most beautiful thing I've ever been given in...my...life. What you'll give me later I know from what I've already had, not just now but since I've known you, will be even more beautiful. With me, anytime, anywhere, you're safe. But of the anytime and anyplace you're with me, the place you're safest is right here, in my bed. You never have to be embarrassed. You can ask questions. You can react how you want. You can be who you are. If I'm doin' something you don't like, you can stop me. Nothin' will ever happen in this bed that you'll be uncomfortable with. I swear to you, baby. You're safe here and you always will be."”
Faye, the town librarian, shy, quiet, beautiful and has been in love with Chace since she was 16 was not only perfect for him but is one of my favorite heroines. Another reason I love Faye, she CLEARLY has amazing taste. She was amazing with helping Miah , doing what needed to be done for him to have better .
That night, it wasn’t Dobie Gray,” I whispered. “It was this song. It was Ella Mae singing this to me when I thought you weren’t all I knew you to be, which is all the words to this song. Twenty-nine years, I held out for this. Then, half an hour later, you proved every one of these words true and every moment since then, you kept doing it. I’ll take you thinking I’m your angel but you need to know you’re my hero. Twenty-nine, honey, I held out for this. Twenty-nine years, I held out for you.”
Miah his valedictorian Speech , I Balled My Eyes out like a baby ... enough said there ....
Lauren and her talk with Faye in the beginning was AMAZING in so many ways , I also shed tears through that one ....
Ally Popping up as her online friend was wayyy AMAZING !!!!!
This book was way more then 5 stars to me ... It has it all and then some . If you have not read this one or the previous ones in this series DO IT NOW ... YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT !!!!!!!
This book was my introduction to Kristen Ashley the author, AND YES, I deliberately chose a book in the middle of a series (this is the fourth). I've come to realize that proof of an author's ability to write isn't necessarily
I downloaded the audio version of the story, also done deliberately, as I find it's a better way (for me) to try out new authors, new genres, etc. Since I must stop a lot when print reading (to ponder? to look for my glass of water?), by listening to the story, I find I'll hang in there longer on books I'm unsure of whether to finish or not. HOWEVER... when I downloaded the audio version, I did not pay attention to the LENGTH of this book... it's ALMOST 22 hours! To give you something to compare this with: ALL 7 Harry Potter books in unabridged format total 117 hrs (an average of 16.7 hrs/book).
I've listened to audiobooks for years and have almost 700 documented here on LT. Looking through my online list, these are some of the "intro" books to new authors I listened to: Stephen King's 11/22/63 (30 hrs), Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl (19 hrs), Shana Abé's The Last Mermaid (20 hrs), and Jackie Collins' Thrill ! (17 hrs). Only a few authors whom I listen to regularly, come anywhere close (based on my loose estimation): Karin Slaughter (15-16 hrs), Nora Roberts' stand-a-lones (15-16 hrs), Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooter series (14-17 hrs), Susan Elizabeth Phillips (15-16 hrs), Lisa Jackson (15-16 hrs)... etc. etc. My point here? The above list of author's are (arguably) some of the industry's most talented or at least, best read authors out there. This story is TOO long. ON THIS, I rate it 2-1/2 stars. NEXT...
But first a caveat or two... I don't consider myself particularly prudish regarding sex scenes between two CONSENTING adults (not too wild about ménage à trois, though). Sex on first dates and booty calls are just fine, as generally they are part of the plot/storyline... AND I've been told many times over the years that I have a potty mouth, swear like a sailor, and/or say "F" too much.
Having made those statements... 1) the overuse of the "F" bomb can not be overstated! We're talking hundreds of times. Hundreds, folks! I wanted to use Amazon.com's "word search" feature to see how many occurrences there really were. However, only the Kindle "Look Inside" feature is activated for this book. Too bad; it would have really backed up my statement... 2) the number of times the characters had sex wasn't bothersome, BUT the number of times it was explained in detail was... boring! (I can't believe I said that, but it was!). ON THESE points, I rate it 1-1/2 stars.
In the end, if this book was parried down by (at least) a fourth, the author's plot and story would shine through all the remaining "F" scenes and "F" bombs dropped, and still result in a sex-filled, street-talking, 'real-world' experience for the adult romance reader looking for both story and sex in their leisure reading. Mashed Result: 2-1/2 stars.
4.5 Stars
In the aftermath of the Carnal PD scandal, Detective Chace Keaton is living with regrets. He views himself as unworthy of his hero status and of the one woman he has always wanted - sweet, shy, town librarian, Faye Goodknight. But a chance encounter in the woods brings Faye back
Even though this installment contains some darker themes, it actually feels lighter mainly due to the really sweet and relatively angst free romance.
Faye and Chace are wonderful as a couple. She is open, honest and very relatable as someone who also always has her nose buried in a book (and her sci-fi addiction is adorable). Chace initial attempts to drive Faye away, ostensibly for her own good, are understandable, but it is clear that he needs her goodness in order to feel clean again and begin to heal.
The two minor suspense plots take a back seat to the romance although both are engaging in their own ways. The story of Malachi is heart-wrenching while the situation with Chace and his father's associates make the blood boil. Both are resolved satisfactorily although the tension at the end is not as acute as in other Ashley books.
In sum, a charming romance with appealing characters and a story with a striking message of the redemptive powers of love and acceptance.
I do like 'Serenity' appearing here and I'm hoping that means that a certain book is on the horizon.
This story is filled with sweet and sexy. The whole abused kid part really made me feel things. I liked both leads a lot. Great read!
4.5 Stars
In the aftermath of the Carnal PD scandal, Detective Chace Keaton is living with regrets. He views himself as unworthy of his hero status and of the one woman he has always wanted - sweet, shy, town librarian, Faye Goodknight. But a chance encounter in the woods brings Faye back
Even though this installment contains some darker themes, it actually feels lighter mainly due to the really sweet and relatively angst free romance.
Faye and Chace are wonderful as a couple. She is open, honest and very relatable as someone who also always has her nose buried in a book (and her sci-fi addiction is adorable). Chace initial attempts to drive Faye away, ostensibly for her own good, are understandable, but it is clear that he needs her goodness in order to feel clean again and begin to heal.
The two minor suspense plots take a back seat to the romance although both are engaging in their own ways. The story of Malachi is heart-wrenching while the situation with Chace and his father's associates make the blood boil. Both are resolved satisfactorily although the tension at the end is not as acute as in other Ashley books.
In sum, a charming romance with appealing characters and a story with a striking message of the redemptive powers of love and acceptance.