Loose Ends by Kristen Ashley gets a full 5 stars from me! It's everything we have come to expect from her. It's funny, entertaining, heart wrenching at times & absolutely panty meltingly sexy! Not only does she make you fall in love with the new characters but she also takes you back to visit those who you have already fallen head over heels for. Even if you haven't read all of KAs books this one is still worth the read. Who knows? It could introduce you to some new loves you have yet to find. Well done KA well done!
To see my full review scroll down. But beware their are spoilers!
I debated on weather to start with this book as my first review on my new site or to start with a binge of Meghan Marchs Sin Trilogy since this book & the conclusion of MMs Sin Trilogy both were released on the same day. I ultimately decided that by starting with Loose Ends it would give you guys a better idea of my wide variety of tastes since as an anthology Loose Ends includes characters from several different KA series, everything from erotica to fantasy. But no worries. The Sin Trilogy is up next so stay tuned. Now on with my review.
Introduction
I was thrilled to read that she loved the concept of doing these anthologies & that she is excited to do more if her readers are up for it. I of course am because I always tend to fall for the supporting characters & want to see them find their HEA. It also made me happy for her that she got to go back & spend time with Tod & Stevie after her good friend passed away. For those of you who don't know Tod & Stevie were based off of her friend & she misses him terribly but writing about Tod again made her feel close to her friend. But my #1 favorite part of the intro was her warning about her novella More Than Everything. An erotica ménage story based on a trio who was introduced in her Honey Series. She explained that she knows erotica isn't for everyone & then she used the quote that I 100% agree with that the trio uses in her books "you do you" & then the fun began!
I was thrilled to read that she loved the concept of doing these anthologies & that she is excited to do more if her readers are up for it. I of course am because I always tend to fall for the supporting characters & want to see them find their HEA. It also made me happy for her that she got to go back & spend time with Tod & Stevie after her good friend passed away. For those of you who don't know Tod & Stevie were based off of her friend & she misses him terribly but writing about Tod again made her feel close to her friend. But my #1 favorite part of the intro was her warning about her novella More Than Everything. An erotica ménage story based on a trio who was introduced in her Honey Series. She explained that she knows erotica isn't for everyone & then she used the quote that I 100% agree with that the trio uses in her books "you do you" & then the fun began!
No Clue
First up was a visit back to The Burg to check up on Joe, Vi & their crew not to mention a crazy visit with the only & only Ryker! It's a short visit but in it we get a whole lot of love & laughter. From Joe wrangling his 2 crazy sons & loving on his baby girl to him still lusting for Vi after all these years. (Can someone say swoon?!) Not to mention getting a name drop of one of my favorite KA kids Jasper who married Kiera, Vi's 2nd daughter from her first marriage who Joe considers his own. Then in comes Ryker & you know with Ryker it's going to be a train wreck. Well he did not disappoint. Ryker turned matchmaker talking about kidnapping some poor girl so his buddy can save her & win her heart?! Yeah.....no. The ending was my favorite though because we get to see how much Joe has healed from his horrible past & Vi, his 2 step daughters & his 3 children with her are the ones who healed him. All in all it was a great visit back to The Burg & I hope she lets us go back again soon.
My Favorite Quotes:
(While talking about their 2 boys) "We should have named them Michael and Gabriel."
I figure we got better than if we'd named them Diablo & Beelzebub."
"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Vi suggested, and Cal shifter his eyes to the sky.
That was his woman. Ryker suggests a fake kidnapping, she asks him to dinner.
First up was a visit back to The Burg to check up on Joe, Vi & their crew not to mention a crazy visit with the only & only Ryker! It's a short visit but in it we get a whole lot of love & laughter. From Joe wrangling his 2 crazy sons & loving on his baby girl to him still lusting for Vi after all these years. (Can someone say swoon?!) Not to mention getting a name drop of one of my favorite KA kids Jasper who married Kiera, Vi's 2nd daughter from her first marriage who Joe considers his own. Then in comes Ryker & you know with Ryker it's going to be a train wreck. Well he did not disappoint. Ryker turned matchmaker talking about kidnapping some poor girl so his buddy can save her & win her heart?! Yeah.....no. The ending was my favorite though because we get to see how much Joe has healed from his horrible past & Vi, his 2 step daughters & his 3 children with her are the ones who healed him. All in all it was a great visit back to The Burg & I hope she lets us go back again soon.
My Favorite Quotes:
(While talking about their 2 boys) "We should have named them Michael and Gabriel."
I figure we got better than if we'd named them Diablo & Beelzebub."
"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Vi suggested, and Cal shifter his eyes to the sky.
That was his woman. Ryker suggests a fake kidnapping, she asks him to dinner.
The Stars Aligned
Next up we get to go back & visit a couple from one of my favorite KA books Heaven & Hell. I'll start this out by saying that while I am not a huge fan of this couple I did enjoy this story very much. It also gave me a chance to go back & check in with Sam, Kia & Memphis who I absolutely adore! We also got a few scenes with Henry Gagnon from The WIll the first book in her Magdalene Series & we get a name drop of Jake & Josie. Not to mention a possible future start of a story for Henry to get his own HEA. Now just to explain the only reason I am not a fan of this couple is because I am not big on having more than one love of you life & for Luci she has 2. Her husband who died serving his country & now Hap his brother in arms. The story was beautiful however frustrating at times. Frustrating because like I said I don't believe in having 2 loves of you life & at the beginning neither did Hap & he didn't think he was good enough so he was constantly pushing Luci away. He also had an issue with the fact that Luci is rich as sin & he is just your average joe. But when he let his guard down boy oh boy!! Sweet, sexy, passionate & hide under the covers with your ereader hot!! I love how Luci knows who & what she wants & isn't willing to compromise or settle for less. I love that her Italian temper gives Hap a run for his money. On the flip side of that though she can also be extremely level headed & wise. I love Haps reference to the Tim McGraw song "Just To See You Smile" even though at the time he is saying he would let her go if a better man came along. But what I love the most is their passion. They both love with all their hearts & souls. It's intense in & out of the bedroom. But man in the bedroom, holy sheets on fire! All in all the story was beautiful & in the end the characters won me over just by how intense & beautiful their love is.
My Favorite Quote:
"She liked them no-nonsense. Even rough. Frank to the point of blunt. Honest. Also assertive, almost aggressive.
Alpha.
And if they could talk about a good beer like other men talked about a good wine, wore baseball hats - forward or backward, she didn't care - and loved their trucks more than anything (outside their women), all the better."
Next up we get to go back & visit a couple from one of my favorite KA books Heaven & Hell. I'll start this out by saying that while I am not a huge fan of this couple I did enjoy this story very much. It also gave me a chance to go back & check in with Sam, Kia & Memphis who I absolutely adore! We also got a few scenes with Henry Gagnon from The WIll the first book in her Magdalene Series & we get a name drop of Jake & Josie. Not to mention a possible future start of a story for Henry to get his own HEA. Now just to explain the only reason I am not a fan of this couple is because I am not big on having more than one love of you life & for Luci she has 2. Her husband who died serving his country & now Hap his brother in arms. The story was beautiful however frustrating at times. Frustrating because like I said I don't believe in having 2 loves of you life & at the beginning neither did Hap & he didn't think he was good enough so he was constantly pushing Luci away. He also had an issue with the fact that Luci is rich as sin & he is just your average joe. But when he let his guard down boy oh boy!! Sweet, sexy, passionate & hide under the covers with your ereader hot!! I love how Luci knows who & what she wants & isn't willing to compromise or settle for less. I love that her Italian temper gives Hap a run for his money. On the flip side of that though she can also be extremely level headed & wise. I love Haps reference to the Tim McGraw song "Just To See You Smile" even though at the time he is saying he would let her go if a better man came along. But what I love the most is their passion. They both love with all their hearts & souls. It's intense in & out of the bedroom. But man in the bedroom, holy sheets on fire! All in all the story was beautiful & in the end the characters won me over just by how intense & beautiful their love is.
My Favorite Quote:
"She liked them no-nonsense. Even rough. Frank to the point of blunt. Honest. Also assertive, almost aggressive.
Alpha.
And if they could talk about a good beer like other men talked about a good wine, wore baseball hats - forward or backward, she didn't care - and loved their trucks more than anything (outside their women), all the better."
The Favor
In the third little short story we get in this anthology we get to go back to Glacier Lily Cottages to visit with Deacon & Cassidy from the Unfinished Heroes Series book Deacon. We are introduced to their two little girls & get to say hi to Milagros. We get a couple name drops. Raid from another Unfinished Heroes book Raid. Also a semi name drop in the form of Cassidy wearing a Maxwell construction tee. Maxwell construction being where Deacon works. Owned by Max Maxwell from The Gamble, the first book in KAs Colorado Mountains series. This story may be short but it is filled with sweetness & a whole lot of laughter. We start with Cassidy leaving Deacon a piece of paper saying simple 11. This being "his cabin" which turned into "their cabin". We then get to Cassidy's "favor". Turns out it isn't a favor at all & she didn't even have to ask. Deacon loves her so much there is nothing he wouldn't give her. Then we get to where I was busting a gut laughing. From fighting over giving each other kidneys which neither of them actually need. To Cassidy comparing them to Rebecca & Jack from This Is Us & saying they need to throw away the crockpot! I was laughing so hard I was crying. But all in all the sweetness gave me goosebumps. These two obviously love each other even more than when we last saw them & I'm sure their love will only grow.
My Favorite Quotes:
"You're it. You're my life. You're the reason I breathe. You're my wife. You're my savior. My life had no meaning until you entered it."
"You're it, Deacon. You're the reason I breathe. You're my husband. I was put on this earth for you. I can't exist on this earth without you."
More Than Everything
Now we get to the novella I have been waiting for forever to read. Not only because I fell in love with Diesel, Maddox & Molly in the last book of the Honey Series, The Greatest Risk (Sixx & Stellan's story). But also because I am a HUGE fan of KAs Chaos series & in this book we are introduced to Rush's girl Rebel. Who just so happens to be Diesel's little sister. We get a few scenes with Sixx & Stellan. A semi name drop of Sylvie Creed & her husband from the Unfinished Heroes book Creed. A few name drops of Rush & we even get a scene with him & Rebel engaged at the wedding. Which says good things for when January rolls around & we FINALLY get the final book of the Chaos series. Rush's book. This novella picks up just a few weeks after the infamous scene at The Bolt that the trio shared with Mistress Sixx in The Greatest Risk. Diesel is dealing with how that scene changed things between them & he is all messed up in the head over it. Maddox & Molly are trying to figure out how they can get him out of this funk & help him to open up to them without pushing him away. Eventually he starts to open up. Maddox & Molly think that things may just be taking a turn for the better until they realize they aren't. But after a whole lot of love & a swift kick in the ass from Maddox & Molly. Diesel is able to let go, move on & give his whole heart to the two loves of his life. Now a few personal comments. First of all the love between these three is so incredibly beautiful it made my heart hurt. But the love that Maddox & Molly's families have for Diesel is what really got me. Especially since his family are such complete assholes. Minus Rebel of course. She is freaking amazing & I already love her for Rush. But also their inclusion of Rebel in that love since she too has to deal with her disgusting family. Second Molly is seriously 100% me with her sunflowers & tin tubs of beer for their wedding which made me laugh. Lastly this book was everything I hoped it would be & then some. Definitely did not let me down & this is something I will read multiple times because it is just that good. 5 stars is not enough.
My Favorite Quotes:
"They were not a couple, but came in three. And that was how it always would be."
"You love all of a person and if you don't, you don't love them at all."
"But listen to me," she said fiercely. "Please, God, Diesel, listen to me. When you find that one, that one who's the one, it means everything. Everything, Diesel. But you didn't find the one. You found the ones. That means you're in the unique position to have more than everything. More. Than. Everything. There isn't more than everything. But you...Diesel, you have that. Don't let that go, big brother. It's so precious, it's unspeakably precious. It's so rare, it's non-existent, except for lucky people. People who deserve it. People like you. So, please, God, do not let them go."
Tell Me What You Want
This little ditty wasn't a look back at anything but just a super cute short story. A match making fairy pairs up an unlikely couple at a Spice Girls reunion show of all places. It's sweet & all about finding love where you least expect it. With someone you least expect. It wasn't my favorite & wouldn't make a good series but it was definitely sweet to read.
My Favorite Quote:
"Her perception of the world changed tonight. Her perception of herself changed tonight. He did that. I did that. But mostly, she let herself take the risk, believed in herself, agreed to a drink and took his hand. So she did that."
Rock Chick Renewal
Let me start with that dedication. She shared that this story was for her friend who passed away. Who Tod is based on. Who she misses "extravagantly". Seriously already had tears in my eyes. Then we get to the title Mr. & Mr. & already I know this means Tod & Stevie are finally getting their HEA. Yay! Now just a heads up. Instead of doing all my favorite quotes at the end I'm just going to throw some of them in because there are too many. This is because I freaking love the Rock Chicks & Hot Bunch SO much! We start out with Tod being summoned by all the Rock Chicks. So you already know something big is going down. Then in comes Lee & we get Tod's ratings on the Hot Bunch which I totally do not agree with by the way but to each his own. The only one I do agree with is that Lee is definitely top dog! On to Tod being ushered out to the curb by various Hot Bunch guys & Rock Chicks. Where sitting in a horse drawn carriage is non other then Stevie! He proposes & of course Tod says yes. In comes the sweetness. "Tod looked up at his partner, his lover, his best friend, his everything-and-had-been-since-time-began-because-they'd-been-destined-for-each-other-since-the-earth-started-rotating-around-the-sun." Then comes the funny. All the Rock Chicks throw tangerine & chocolate confetti at them. The infamous horrible colors Tod wanted to use for Lee & Indy's wedding! After that they all start yelling out color combinations including my favorite coming from Daisy. "Sparkle!" Daisy shrieked. Don't matter what colors, just as long as there's lotsa sparkle!" We get a "Righteous!" from Ally a "Jesus Jones!" from Tex then my favorite quote of all. "Stevie raised his glass. "Toast. To Mr. and Mr." Tod Raised his own glass. "To Mr. and Mr. Forever and for always. So freaking sweet!
So all in all like I said this book is definitely worth a read even if you haven't read any of KAs books before. 5 stars all the way!
Get It Here: Loose Ends On Amazon
Get It Here: Loose Ends On Amazon
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