ARC Review + Tour: Wild and Free by Kristen Ashley

“This story will take you on a rollercoaster of adventure and emotion as much is sacrificed to save the human race from enslavement…. “Wild and Free” is filled with sexy times and all the goodness that a Kristen Ashley book entails.” ~ Under the Covers

I should start off by telling you off the bat that Kristen Ashley is if not my favorite, definitely within my favorite 3 authors of all time. Her books are auto buys for me and have never let me down. When I crack open one of her books I know I am in for an emotionally charged and extremely fulfilling experience. I have reread several of my favorites 5, 6, 7 times over. Every time is like the first time and when I reach the last word in one of her stories my heart and mind are in their happy place. Due to these facts writing this review was a bit of a double edged sword. I was ecstatic at the opportunity to read and review an arc of the last installment in the Three Series. With the joy came the realization that when I came to the end the series would be finished and it would be a bittersweet farewell. Most of all was the pressure (I put on myself) to provide a review that would do justice to what was an exhilarating, heart wrenching, all emotionally charged finale to this series. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I fell in love as I do every time with her characters. For those of you who have not read Kristen Ashley’s work ( you don’t know what you are missing) I will tell you that in my opinion this is not a standalone work and books 1 and 2 in the series should be consumed before reading “Wild and Free”. In addition as I know from experience that once you crack the cover on the first book you will be entranced, then I suggest you visit her personal website and review the suggested reading order for all her series as often characters and storylines intertwine at some point within several books. http://www.kristenashley.net/titles/reading-order/

It may be difficult to express how great a read this was for me as I can reveal very little without spoiling the book for all of you. In “Wild and Free” we meet Abel and Delilah the last pair of mates who along with the mates we meet in “Until the sun falls from the sky” and “With everything I am” are known as The Three. The Three are burdened with saving the world for a variety of immortals (all those who do not fall in line with those waging war) and mankind as a whole. This release contains an additional HEA which I was ecstatic to discover. I will not reveal the hero in this pairing, but baby it was so worth the wait. Abel is a werewolf/vampire hybrid who is an ALPHA who displays an endearing vulnerability; he has lived his life believing that he is a monster. Abel is 200+ years old and has been raised and lived amongst multiple generations of the same mortal family, and when the story begins he has never met another immortal. Abel has lived many many years yearning for his mate to make him complete. His life has been filled with question marks as all of his abilities/skills are a learn as you go work in progress. Abel does not know all that being the immortal he is entails. Delilah is a “biker babe” who has lived her life feeling as if there is something missing, an ache which makes her feel physical pain. When Abel and Delilah meet they finally feel whole, finding within each other what/who they had long been seeking. Their relationship is filled with adrenaline, passion (hottttt), and eventually love. When Abel meets the other 2 couples who form the three: Lucien and Leah and Callum and Sonia, he will be enlightened with a load of information so he can truly embrace all that he is. This story will take you on a rollercoaster of adventure and emotion as much is sacrificed to save the human race from enslavement. Mortals and Immortals alike embrace each other’s uniqueness’ and unite to fight for the greater good.  “Wild and Free” is filled with sexy times and all the goodness that a Kristen Ashley book entails. Now go on click away, you can thank me later……

While I do enjoy some crude and raunchy narrative, (I have been known to read some very spicy erotica’s) I am not a huge fan of the c*** word etc. It was used quite often and I felt that it was diminishing to the intimate scenes, at times making them feel less genuine and meaningful.

AN AWESOME READ; now it’s on to wait for her next release quite impatiently… If all else fails I can always reread one of my favorite Kristen Ashley books as they are a sure thingJ.

*ARC provided by author

 

Exclusive Blog Tour Excerpt from Wild and Free by Kristen Ashley

“I’m a monster, Lilah.”

“What?” I whispered.

“I’m a werewolf vampire. I exist on human blood. I can tear a man’s head off and I have. I’m a monster.”

“You—”

“I am,” he stated flatly. “And the first chance I’ve had in all my years to understand why I am as I am is to go to that fuckin’ hotel.”

I stared at him, then straightened my body so I was fully facing him. This caused his jaw to get hard again, but I ignored that and stated, “Okay, let’s break this down.”

“Nothin’ to break down.”

“Humor me,” I snapped, his head jerked, and his lips curved up.

“Carry on,” he muttered.

“Thanks,” I bit out. “First, how many men’s heads have you torn off?”

“Four, and two wolves.”

“That’s it?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“These being the night we met,” I stated.

“Yeah,” he repeated.

“The night some of them were trying to kill me and the others were trying to kill you.”

To that he said nothing.

I kept going, “So you haven’t torn off unsuspecting citizens’ heads willy-nilly, for the fuck of it, or on a psychotic rampage?”

He pressed his lips together and I knew it was to hide his humor because his eyes lit with it before he unpressed them to say, “No.”

“Right,” I said sharply. “Have you ever had a psychotic rampage?”

He shook his head.

“So let’s get to the human blood part,” I suggested. “When you were,” I paused, “drawing from one of your ex-bitches, did you ever kill one of them?”

“Fuck no.”

“Take too much and make them sick?”

“No.”

“Do it against anyone’s will?”

His eyes went guarded, but he said, “No.”

I threw up a hand. “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

He blinked, straightening in his chair, but again said nothing.

“I mean, seriously,” I went on, “I’ve seen lots of vampire movies and TV shows and even the good vamps screw up and overindulge. Hell, Jessica killed three fairies in a ravenous attack. She might have had her issues as a young vampire, but by that time, she was full-on good.”

His brows shot together. “Fairies?”

“Fairies.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

I threw up both hands and cried in exasperation, “True Blood!”

“Jesus, Lilah,” he muttered.

“No, seriously, Jessica is very sweet.”

“For fuck’s sake,” he growled, sounding like he was losing patience, which I didn’t figure was a good thing.

“Okay, back on track,” I began. “Tell me. Tell me one instance in your life where you actually behaved like a monster.”

“I wanna fuck you,” he snarled.

I stared.

“Yeah,” he ground out. “I wanna fuck you, Delilah. Consumed with the need and I have no idea why, but I can guess, seein’ as it’s like you’re a bitch in heat, I’m a dog that catches the scent and his mind is wiped…wiped of anything…but the need to mount you and”—he leaned forward—“rut.”

“Holy fuck,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” he said again. “That make you feel safe?”

“Abel—”

“I can smell your fear.”

I swallowed.

“It turns me on,” he kept going. “Makes me wanna tear into your throat and fuck you and feed from you. Now, does that make you feel safe?”

“No,” I whispered, because it really fucking didn’t.

“Right. No,” he bit off. “So I’m not a monster?”

 

[about-author author=”Kristen Ashley”]

 

 

 

What did you think of our review?
Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below!

❤ ♡ Don’t want to miss any of our posts?
Follow Under the Covers: Facebook | Twitter | Tsu | GoodReads | Email ♡ ❤