Review: Deck=Another Hot KA Alpha Male!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 4, 2014
"You think you lost beauty, Jacob, but you didn't...just turn the dial."Jacob "Deck" Decker and Emmanuelle Holmes used to be friends. She was the best friend of his ex, Elsbeth. But once it ended, they lost contact as well. Nine years later, they cross paths again.Emme has changed significantly on the outside. But Deck is betting on the fact that she has not changed much on the inside. This is important especially since he is not part of a task force trying to investigate her current boyfriend for robberies and she is on their radar as well.Deck is protective, determined, bossy, sweet, and sexy. He knows what he wants and does not take "no" for an answer. He knows right away he is going to keep Emme safe and wants her for his own. He knows who she is deep down and has great fondness for her from the past, in addition to being attracted to the updated version of Emme. He realizes how shallow he was when younger that he did not see everything she was in the past.(Quote)She gave him that kaleidoscope and told him to turn the dial, find more beauty...And he'd been so f***ed up by Elsbeth, the promise of her, the beauty he thought he'd lost by not doing what she wanted and losing her, that he didn't see it. He didn't see he had something even more beautiful right in front of him. Until nine years later.Emme is feisty, independent, but a bit insecure due to her inexperience. She is reserved and remote at times. But she also has a strong fondness for Deck and has always felt his loss. Now she has to get used to life with an alpha and all that entails...including trying to give him all of her self, but also maintain her independence. And also be willing to try to open up fully despite her fears. She likes to take cares of things on her own including fixing up her money pit of a house and does not always make the best decisions. She has something in her past that she has not fully faced and unknowingly holds her back at times."I'm going to figure out why. Fix what is broke in you. Then turn my attention to givin' you the best life I can for the rest of the time you're on this earth breathin'."This book is about making a reconnection and it morphing into a deep relationship with fiery chemistry, intense need, but also friendship and compatibility. But it was also a journey of self discovery for Emme to figure out what is holding her back and for Jacob to get in enough to guide her. It was a quieter read than the others in this series. There was drama, but it was not that jaw dropping or exciting. It was kind of funny to read when  KA briefly summarized the other couples stories and they all involved kidnapping and then shootings, stabbings, and even being buried alive. This one was not that intense. I actually thought it was building towards a more suspenseful climax, but it fizzled. There were a few times that things got suspenseful, but were resolved. I understand why she did it--It was too expected since that is part of the formula for her older stories. And the bad guys in this one just were not as bad as in the other installments. So this one was not built so much on external action as it was on Emme's internal struggles and Deck taking care of all that needed to be taken care of. But there was some drama with the investigation, miscommunication, misunderstandings, families, and merging their lives.I did really like Deck. And I liked Emme too although at times I struggled with her disconnect. I enjoyed visiting with some of the characters from the series especially  Deck's best friend Chace and Faye (Breathe) and tough talking Krystal. But we got a little with the other guys, the girl posse and even a bit of Lee Nightingale. I always love the crossovers with KA books. And I did enjoy their story. It was pleasant and sweet with just mild drama. It is full of KA-isms: that disjointed alpha speak, nicknames ("honey" in this one), and terms like whack, shit gets sorted, and screwed the pooch. But I still cannot say it holds a candle to my other faves from the Colorado Mountain series: Sweet Dreams(Tate) and Lady Luck(Ty). Maybe it is because they were so new to me then and I have read a lot of alpha books since. But Tate and Ty are ones that I can pick up and re-read and they do not get old for me.  But I will still think of Deck fondly and I am glad I read his story.Thank you, Forever (Grand Central Publishing) & NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC of Kaleidoscope in exchange for my honest opinion. Quotes are from arc copy and subject to change.