Anyone that has been following my reviews for a decent amount of times know that I have a bit of an unhealthy relationship with Kristen Ashley.  She's like that boyfriend that you know is bad for you but you just keep giving him one more chance.  I have no self control. 

That being said, Hold On was a welcome throw back to a day when her books made me actually feel something more than frustration over reading the exact same story over and over again. The 'Burg series is my least favorite of all of KA's series (with the exception of At Peace because JOE) but Hold On definitely served to cap this series off on a high note.

The best part of this book was above and beyond Cher.  She was a good mother, bent over backwards to make sure everyone she loved knew it and she knew what she wanted and had no problems fighting to keep him.  KA has a habit of having female characters who wanted someone but they fight tooth and nail to keep them at a distance.  It's no surprise that my favorite female characters are the one who have no qualms "holding on" to who they want.  Cher, of course, goes in understandably wary given their respective histories but she never once plays the I don't actually want you games.

Merry, though...Well, I just wasn't really a fan.  He was another in a line of KA alpha's that just don't live up to the characters who made me love KA once upon a time.  I finished this last night and I'm sitting here trying to nail down specific characteristics but I just don't have any.  He was boring.  Boring.  

And on to the worst.  The main reason why The Burg is my least favorite series is just that the crime storylines of this series are weak.  All of them.  Even the serial killer storyline is weak.  I mean, Dennis Lowe hacked people to death with an axe and it was still boring.  And the extension of his storyline is this book was downright laughable, not to mention the smaller storyline that was mixed in. However, I knew going into this that I needed to just skim the attempts at a crime story so it wouldn't bog down the book for me.  

Anyhoo.  I know tons o' people still obsessively love KA books, even I've read and reread some of her older books an embarrassing amount of times.  Hold On doesn't hold a candle to those (and KA fans will know which ones I'm talking about) but it's still better than most of what she has put out in the last year or two.  If you have already read the Burg series, it is worth reading at least the epilogue of this book. If you haven't read the Burg series, just stick with At Peace and thank me later.  

Hold On by Kristen Ashley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This series has been a rollercoaster for me. Mostly good, some ok and a really bad moment. This book ranks right at the top of the experience. I don’t always have the best luck with KA books…the guys piss me off, the chicks never have enough backbone and on some occasions, it’s just an all around bad story. But this book…was amazing from page 1. I freely admit that I had very little interest in this book. I had no interest in Cher and I especially didn’t want her for Merry.

However, from page one, I was drawn into Cher and Merry’s story. I couldn’t help but love Cher when you saw how strong she was, how tough. She didn’t roll over and submit to Merry like many other KA heroines do. I don’t mind some of that, but it always seemed like when a heroine in a KA book would try to stand up for herself, and the hero said something opposite, she gave in asap. And I hate seeing that. Ok fine, you’re going to give in, but make a valiant effort to assert your position first and make yourself heard. Cher was good about standing up for herself and her son. She made her position known, and at times she may have freaked out a little much, but she didn’t bow down and just let Merry take over.

I loved how their relationship progressed, how it wasn’t love at first sight and they took time building a relationship, not only between Cher and Merry but Merry and Ethan. Merry didn’t hold himself back from the insta-family either. He was all for it and embraced it. My one issue was with Merry’s “issues”. I just had a hard time believing that flowers would set him off and wondered how he hasn’t interacted with flowers in 20+ years. But I was glad that Merry listened to Alec and stuck it out with Cher. I also loved that Cher didn’t let him wallow in it and confronted him to set things right.

Overall, this was a great book. I hate to see the series end because overall, I did enjoy the series. But seeing as this is the end, I enjoyed the epilogue and seeing where everyone from the series ends up in the future.

I love Kristen Ashley books.  I really do.  Sometimes I just don't know why I love them anymore.  There is such a stark difference in my opinions of her books from when I first started reading them to now that it is kind of depressing.  Everything is just starting to bleed together, I guess.  But at the same time, when she does attempt change things up I wax poetic about somebody I used to know and not knowing what I've got until it's gone.  So, who knows.  

I'm assuming based on the above rambling, you can kind of see where my brain is at with The Promise.  It was typical KA.  Excessive descriptions, man-whore turned one woman man when he finally finds "the one" that he was meant to have, and woman who fights that love tooth and nail before she finally realizes the error of her ways and 180's and since this is the 'burg series, a dash of crime drama tossed in.  Does that meant that I didn't like it? No, because I'm a sucker for all of that crap.  I love it, even if I have to skim good chunks of it.  The formula she uses works. It especially works when you learn really early on to skip all of the outfit and room descriptions.  

On the plus side of all of this (and it's a really big plus for me), we had all kinds of side story with Joe (and Vi), otherwise known as Erika's number one KA dude ever with no hopes of that title being given to someone else. I could have skipped the rest of the book in it's entirety and just read about Joe and Vi's wedding/children's birth and would have been content with life.   And writing this review now, I honestly can't think of any thing in Frankie and Benny's book that I deem as important as Joe's bit parts other than the chapter that also included Luke Stark (my numero dos KA guy) in it.  

I think that has been the biggest issue with KA's books for me.  There has only been one other book in all of her new to me releases that can compete with being as good as her earlier stuff.  I keep reading and keep trying though.  

Violet Winters once had it all but lost it when her husband was murdered by a criminal madman. During a cold winter night Violet has to leave her warm bed to tell her neighbor to turn the music down. And that’s when she meets sinister, scarred, scarily attractive security specialist, Joe Callahan.

She wants to deny it, but Violet can’t beat back the hunger she feels for Joe so she gives in again and again. Feeling it himself, Joe feeds Vi’s hunger, breaking his own rules to keep her in his bed.

Even though Violet had only one man in her life, she’s sure Joe is giving her the signals and Vi decides she’s ready to take a second chance at life and, maybe, love. But Violet doesn’t know the dark secrets in Joe’s past, secrets so soul-wrenching, they’ve drained him dry. With nothing left to give, Joe’s determined to live his life alone and he breaks Violet’s heart.

Crushed by Joe’s betrayal, Violet comes to terms with the fact that, no matter what signals he gave, Joe was not theirs to win. But Violet’s husband’s murderer is obsessed with her and heartbreak again haunts the door of the Winters home. When it does Joe is forced to face the knowledge that he can’t fight Violet’s pull, she’s under his skin and filled him full to bursting.

Joe needs to win her back and put his life on the line to keep Violet safe. But, having had it all once, can Violet endure losing Joe?

 

Okay, second book into Kristen Ashley's The 'Burg Series and Im liking it. Im in to it. Im feeling it.They sound like great characters, am liking it more than the first and by the end I still do but....... WHY-OH-WHY KA  Would you make up  ridiculous nicknames for characters honestly! Are you crazy lady?! "Buddy" really?! Way to turn me OFF is calling his lover BUDDY.

Okay thats my rant. 2.5-3. 4ish if the name Buddy was never ever mentioned in this book. Typical Ka book enjoyable, already know what's gonna happen. Vi seem's to piss me off at times with the Joe - Mike thing, but I got over it as she had only been with her husband since high school. Loved her girls, loved the way  Joe took care of those girls. & loved the extra characters too. they're the bomb.