1st read - 10 July to 12 July 2015 (4.5 Stars)
2nd read - 15 July to 19 July 2016 (5 stars)

__________________________

"As the sun rose in the Denver sky, both of us got it at the same time, together on the back of Joker's bike.

We were free."

"She was golden. Nothing beat her. She smiled through pain and made you believe it."

Ladies and gents I have a new favourite KA alpha and his name in Carson 'Joker' Steele and he may well be in the running to overtake Tack and Tate. Thems fighting words I know but let me 'splain.

So he has all the usual alpha awesome, such as:

Tortured soul? Check
Badass? Check
Uber hotness? Check
Loyal? Check

But Joker has some added awesomeness. He is the very opposite of an alphahole. He can admit when he has done wrong (this is probably the most shocking thing of all) he has a mouth like a sailor but he actually listens to Carissa and tries not to curse in front of Travis (actually this is also shocking) he cooks and helps look after Travis and doesn't make some ultra misogynistic remark about how both those things are a women's job and he will do manly things like putting up shelves and bursting heads together and the like. Joker is reasonable and when Carissa gets a wild hair (which is also shockingly rare) he doesn't go off and one and fuck it up.

Carissa is also a rarity as in she was not too stupid to live. And barring one situation, which was actually not her fault and more the fault of some past too stupid to live heroines, she listens to Joker and takes his wishes on board. She was up front and took total responsibility for any mistakes she made and while she could be sassy and give Joker whats for (because he deserved it) she didn't hold a grudge and moved on.

I LOVED these two together. They were adorable.

Now I cried a fair amount throughout this but I am blaming sinus medication as I'm sure it couldn't possibly be that sad. There are some epic feelz though and very little action. My only complaint is actually the lack of action. This is a KA without a kidnapping or a shooting or a stabbing of a main character. A bit disappointing as I like the over the top, this is ridiculous action in her books. But it was seriously sweet and as I mentioned feelzy.

"Who would have thought my Carson Steele would catch butterflies."

I would also strongly encourage you to read the dedication before you start reading this book. She does something that was very sweet and a lovely gift. I also blame this for a lot of my sniffling like a loon throughout reading it.

I can't wait for the next Chaos, between this series and the Magdalene series I'm really excited about Kristen Ashley books again. If the next 'Burg one is as good as this I will be ecstatic.

Another awesome romance that takes place in this is the bromance between the brothers. I love Chaos and of course I adore Tack. He seems to have mellowed has Tack and it's not a bad thing. He is a great leader and he takes care of his own. I admit to falling a little bit more in love with him in this.

"They will not take her boy, and the time to fuck with Carissa Teodoro is now over."

Joker's voice was a quiet growl when he stated, "You know you got my love, brother."

"I do," Tack returned. "And it's a privilege, Carson."

What was actually very tiresome was the attempt to mention EVERY past Denver based character. I mean even Knight got a mention. It was kind of overkill to be honest and there was no need for that many to appear. But all in all I loved it and I feel the KA of old is back!! ROCK ON!!!

Prepare for one lazy ass review...

Randy?

Mitch and Sam?

Ethan?

Ethan and Randy together?

Ethan and Randy and Mitch and Sam together?

I may need to read this bit instead of listening as I don't really know what happened.

Iggy Toma narrating the shit out of this and all other Heidi Cullinan audio books that I've had the pleasure of listening to?

Vegas baby!!!!

Poker?

Overall I enjoyed this one way more than I thought I would. Didn't love Randy in Special Delivery but he stole the show in Hooch and Cake and Short Stay. He is awesome!!!

Now I'm a bit scared of Tough Love. I don't mind a bit of BDSM but lately I find myself actively avoiding anything too heavy and that one seems a bit on the more hardcore side but you see this also has a fierce drag queen and I LOVE ME A FIERCE DRAG QUEEN. I'm so conflicted!!!

Maybe I'll just wait for the audio. Iggy can make anything sound fabulous so I should be well able for whatever Tough Love has for me if he is reading it.

Have I mentioned my love for Iggy Toma?

You get 5 stars, you get 5 stars, you get five stars!

My name is Jennifer and I have a problem…. Here’s my story

My best friend, her other half, her daughter, my other half and I are enjoying an amazing vacation in a cabin off of a lake. This particular morning started almost like every other. Being the mother of a super active toddler, I’ve grown accustomed to waking up at the ass crack of dawn. Even without my daughter, I found myself up early.

No joke, I was up at 6:30, then 7:30 and finally at 8:00. At this point, the sun was blinding me. So I crept through the cabin, grab my phone and started my regular morning routine of laughing at people on facebook and just generally seeing if the sky is falling. As the morning progressed and still nobody was awake, I was growing restless. I had brought my kindle and a few books with me to keep myself entertained on the car ride up and to maybe read a few chapters before bed.

In my state of boredom I reached for Cinder. I tried to pick it up when I first bought it, but I was in an EPIC book slump and was just not at all interested in it.

I can’t say what happened, I don’t know how it happened. I broke my own reading record with Cinder. In less than 8 hours, I was finished. FINISHED I TELL YOU!

But that wasn’t good enough, was it? NO, because what happened next is just fucking ridiculous. I went on Amazon and ordered book 2. Here I am thinking that “Well, book 2 should last me until we leave, then I can just grab my copy of book 3 and read it at home”

Except by the time the third morning of vacation rolled around I was done with book 2!!!

Here I am jonesing for book 3 like a crack addict. Let me remind you that I already have a copy of book 3, at home….3 1/2 hours away. Don’t worry though, I didn’t deprive myself….What kind of human being would I be if I denied myself? LOL

By the time we woke up on day 4, packed up all of our belongings and started our journey home, I was 20 pages from being done with Cress. Here’s the thing, to you reading this, it almost sounds like I didn’t leave the cabin. I did leave the cabin, I went swimming, got sunburned, went canoeing and boating. I cooked breakfasts, and dinners. Played games with everyone. I didn’t spend my entire vacation hiding in a corner cracking out to Marissa Meyer.

Now here I am, awaiting Winter to come out… I still have to read the Queen’s book but I’m trying my hardest to wait. It’s not easy.

Once again, my name is Jennifer….

    Yup. That's precisely how I feel. Why did I do this to myself? I got Burn for Me the day it released, because I mean it's Ilona Andrews, what other reason would one possibly need?! And you know what I did when I received said book back in November....I shelved it. I think I subconsciously knew that I would love this book so much that I would immediately want the sequel in hand. So I managed to make it this far and like a well meaning addict, I broke down and got my fix. And it was GLORIOUS! I loved this story, the characters, the humor, the magic, just EVERYTHING! I loved it so much that I am now so bummed to have to wait until October for my next fix of Nevada, Mad Rogan and the wonderful world of magic :( I know this is far from a coherent, well written review, but I blame the Andrews duo for reducing me to this blabbering puddle of need. Now I just need to try and figure out what I could possibly read next that will partially fill this Ilona Andrews shaped void inside of me lol

    Wow. Well it's safe to say that this book really surprised me. I have to give credit to this author, the way in which she told this story was so incredibly smart, for so many different reasons. Seriously. The jumping around from past to present was FLAWLESSLY done. The two worked together in perfect harmony to deliver a whole package that was quite fantastic. This book wouldn't have worked even half as well any other way. Bit by brutal bit we got to see how so much of TifAni's past shaped who she was in the future. While, admittedly, the past flashbacks were probably the most interesting parts, I also enjoyed the present more because of them after awhile.

   One thing I've noticed that seems to be a new trend in some contemporary books in the past few years, which I kind of love, are stories where the main character, or voice of the story, isn't exactly the greatest of people. Sometimes they're downright unlikeable. When this is done correctly, it can be brilliant. I think Knoll did an amazing balancing act with TifAni, she wasn't someone I can really say that really liked, on the other hand, she also wasn't someone I hated. The plot was just so well done that I think it was darn close to impossible not to be invested in the story, even if you weren't necessarily that invested in the main character. I know that once the flashbacks started I was glued to the pages. I couldn't wait to get all the answers of what exactly happened back then, and better understand why Ani was the way she was now.

   Say what you will about Ani's sometimes nerve grating strive for her version of perfection, I have to admit that there were times when I thought some of her brutally honest thoughts pretty spot on!

Don't get me wrong, Ani certainly had an overabundance of delusions, but I'm just sayin', at times, she had an uncanny way of reading people and situations.

   Funny enough, Ani vaguly reminded me of a Blair Waldrof type. She was the girl who seemed to easily have it all on the surface, but in reality she worried and worked her tail feathers off to get everything to appear that way to other people. I got the feeling that Ani solidly knew what she wanted, but had very little clue as to what she actually needed. Getting peeks into her childhood was enlightening as well. While I think that the whole striving to fit in with the in crowd thing is something that most teenagers deal with at one point or another.

   It was kind of sad to see that Ani never really progressed from that stage, even in to adulthood. It was also heartbreaking to see how that same desire for acceptance affected the huge decisions that Ani made in her younger years, that ultimately still haunted her in the present. 

   I think that, at least for me, the fact that almost all of the big events and struggles in this book were so close to things that happen in real life, that this story tugged on my heartstrings even more because of that. And enough to make me sweat considering I have my own young teenage daughter to worry over! All in all this was a thought provoking, rollercoaster ride of a story and I highly recommend it!

I received an ARC of this book from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review