Review: More Kristen Ashley crack please
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 5, 2013
This was very different from your typical KA novel.The story revolves around a character from one of KA's earlier Berg books For You which (gasp) I've never read! I realize that many people have been waiting for Ham to get his own story and have preconceived ideas of his personality and his background but I had nothing to go by. Saying that, I found Ham to be one of the better written male characters in a KA book.Ham is a traveling man who has an on-again off-again relationship with Zara from Carnal Colorado. Zara, despite loving Ham, sees their relationship going no where and decides to marry someone else. They're not in a committed relationship so it's assumed that they both see other people. Ham, against everything I've ever known about a KA alpha male, accepts this and wishes her well.When I first read this, I have to admit, it bugged me, a LOT. I'm so used to KA's alpha male/caveman characteristics and know that she would never write a man who would let a woman go. Yet, here I am reading about Ham leaving Zara having his last lunch date with her. When I mulled it over I had to give KA a pat on the back. She should be broadening her horizons and writing characters that are so uniquely different from her typical hot-bunch. I don't read KA books to see the same characters with different names and different towns. I read KA books to get lost in a great story.I won't repost the plot line but will say that what brought the story down from a perfect 5 stars to 4 stars is Zara. Her personality was less than stellar and too 'whoa is me' for my tastes. Her insecurities were grating and I found myself reluctant to route for her at all. The reader was too much in Zara's head and too little in Ham's. I'm used to KA books having little to zero insight in the male characters but this could have used a bit more illumination into Ham's motivations and emotions.If I ever get KA burn out I'll return to this book. It's unique in it's characters but still delivered on brilliant storytelling.An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.