bounty, by kristen ashley

Rating

First and foremost—I met her!!! I met Kristen Ashley at the 2016 RT Convention in Las Vegas!!! She is one of my most favorite authors, as evidenced by the fact that I’ve read about 30 of her books. I was so tongue-tied that I was only able to marginally fan-girl over her. Squee!!! (This meeting in no way influences my review of her latest book.)

what went right…
Bounty is a clear evolution of Ashley’s writing. For as big a fan as I am, I have been less than happy with her last few books. Her plug and play alpha heroes with their Neanderthal speech patterns have left me wanting to throw my iPad at the wall. Not this time! Not only does Deke, the hero, speak in complete sentences, he stays true to who he is throughout the book. You don’t see him transform into some shell of the character he once was in the beginning of the book.

Similarly, Justice does the same. She’s a well-known musician and new in town. She’s looking to establish some roots at the same time Deke is meant to wander to open road. Together, their voyage and discovery of each other and their deepest desires proves for a really great read. While he’s transforming her fixer upper into a home and she’s finding her way out of the spotlight, their meeting from 7 years prior is seemingly forgotten, by some…

There was such engaging dialogue and character development that you almost forgot to expect a classic Ashley twist. But it was there and it didn’t disappoint. Initially, I thought it wasn’t needed, but in retrospect it would’ve been a rather anticlimactic book had there not been one.

the verdict…
This is the penultimate book in the Colorado Mountain series so sadly, we can only expect 1 more. Why?!?!? You see many characters of old–Tate (love me some Tate), Wood, Nina and Max–who started it all…

Yes, there are a few incoherent rambling diatribes, but not like the ones we’ve been subjected to in the past. You can clearly see Ashley has either listened to her readers, gotten a better editor, grown as a writer and fixed her own mistakes, or all of the above. Whatever the reasons, Bounty is a fun, heartfelt read and I’m looking forward to more from Ashley. (Did I mention I met her?!?!?)