ARC Review + Giveaway: Hold On by Kristen Ashley

I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
 
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” The book was a great solid read yet the majority of the book did not deliver the emotional response to which I have become accustomed.”
~ Under the Covers

As a huge fan of all of Kristen Ashley’s work I was overjoyed at the chance to review Hold On the last entry to The Burg Series. Kristen Ashley is one of my top 3 favorite authors; I own all of her e-books and almost all of her works which have been released in print format as well. Looking at all those pretty books brings a smile to my face thinking of all of the enjoyment I have received from reading them.

Kristen Ashley exceeds at writing amazing Alpha male characters. These men may be over the top sometimes making you question your own sanity, yet you fall in love with each and every one, her formula works in a HUGE way. Merry aka Garrett Merrick’s character could be no less than all yummy alpha greatness, tragic events from his past have made Merry his own worst enemy as he sabotages  his own chances for happiness out of fear. Cher Rivers is a single mom who has been knocked around by life quite a few times to the point that she has created a shell around her emotions and heart in an effort to protect herself. Together Merry and Cher will have to work together to beat back and defeat the demons that traumatic life events have littered them with, as well as other dangers they will encounter. Together they will fight to Hold on to the good they have found together.

As eager as I was to read Hold on it failed to meet my expectations of all I expect from a Kristen Ashley read. The book was a great solid read yet the majority of the book did not deliver the emotional response to which I have become accustomed. Usually I will lock myself away with one of her new releases and not come up for air until I have devoured every last scrumptious word, this book took much longer to get through.  This being said I must bow down to Kristen Ashley as the Epilogue to end this series was EVERYTHING!  The epilogue delivered on every level and then some, it was enchanting, full of wonder, love, loads of awesomeness and at times poignancy.  This epilogue gave me all the feels, all the couples and characters we have met and become invested in throughout the series are revisited within the epilogue bringing yet another outstanding Kristen Ashley series to its end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great romance. For The Burg Series followers It is a must read. I strongly recommend Kristen Ashley’s work as a whole to everyone. If you are new to her series please visit and review her suggested reading order, following the suggested order will enhance your enjoyment of her work. http://www.kristenashley.net/titles/reading-order/

I will be impatiently waiting for my next KA fix Walk Through Fire on Oct 27, 2015.

Book Tags:

Book 1	Book 2	Book 3
Book 4	Book 5	Book 6

EXCERPT

Through this, my leg hit an end table and I adjusted. We cleared the couch, I shifted again too soon, both my calves hit the coffee table, and my ass went down on it.

I looked up. Cell flat to the table, I braced my hands to push up, but Merry was there, chin in his throat, eyes on me, and when he spoke again, his mind was clearly on my location.

“Tried to get your mouth on me more than once when we tore at each other up last Friday, but I was in the mood to use mine. Lookin’ forward to learnin’ what you can do with yours, but like I said, baby, right now, don’t got the time.”

My only response that he couldn’t twist was to glare at him, which was what I did.

“But got time before I go for a kiss,” Merry informed me.

“Only kiss I’ll give you is tellin’ you to kiss off,” I informed him.

“Who knew warm brown eyes like the ones you got could spark that kind of fire,” he muttered as if he wasn’t even talking to me.

“Step back,” I demanded.

“No,” he denied.

I continued to glare up at him, then I realized I was not the kind of woman who sat on her ass, glaring up at a man towering over her and pinning her in. So I stood, which put me smack in Merry’s space, my breasts brushing against his abs and up his chest on my way.

They kept brushing when he didn’t move back, but I didn’t attempt escape, even to get away from the shafts of electricity this all caused at my nipples, shafts that headed south.

I glared at him from closer.

He stared into my eyes, his gaze moving down to my mouth then back up as one side of his lips curved.

He was getting off on this.

I didn’t get that and I didn’t want to get that.

I wanted this done.

“In the mood to play, Officer?” I whispered.

“Told you, sweetheart, don’t got the time.”

I shook my head but held his gaze. “Not what I mean. Single mom, all alone. Switch out her storms. Offer info to help her out of a jam. Been a while since I was in the know about these things, so tell me, what’s the price for all that? You mentioned a blowjob. You got stamina, but I got talent. Balance that out, I’m thinkin’ it’ll take more than the usual ten, fifteen minutes. We’ll give it twenty. So I can manage my time, is there more?”

I wasn’t even done talking before I learned his eyes could spark fire too.

I also learned he was in the mood to play, that being, playing me at my own game.

And doing it better.

He dipped his face close, his voice low. “Storms get me the blowjob, brown eyes. I get the intel you need, that buys me sinkin’ deep in wet pussy.”

I felt my nipples get harder at the same time something else happened to me that, if he was of a mind to take his payoff right then, he’d get what he wanted.

I hid this reaction and asked, “You want this all in one go, or you wanna spread payback out for a while?”

“Keep plenty of time open, Cher. I intend to earn a fuckuva lot more and draw it out collecting.”

I nodded, still keeping a lock on his eyes. “I get it. Girl like me, only payback expected for me to be able to give.”

That didn’t get me fire.

That got me ice.

“I hear you talk down about yourself one more time, Cher, shit will get extreme.”

That made me ice over.

“Do not hand me that crap, Merry. You come into my home and got no problem talkin’ about wet pussy right to my face tells me the woman you know me to be.”

He dipped his face even closer, to the point it felt like if I blinked, my lashes would sweep his in a butterfly kiss.

“Do not hand me your shit, Cher,” he growled. “That hang-up is yours, not mine. And how I know that is I made you come just finger fuckin’ you and talkin’ dirty in your ear, and it was the talk and not what my fingers were doin’ that took you there. I like that, a woman who can let go and let me give her that without gettin’ uptight and closin’ down on me. You liked it too, a fuckuva lot more than me. So don’t stand there handin’ me your shit when I know you’re wet for me now and I haven’t fuckin’ touched you.”

I refused to reply to that because he was right and I had no intention of confirming that information.

But it was then he hit me with a verbal blow, the intensity of which, not in my whole shitty-ass life I’d ever received.

“Christ, if I didn’t know you were worth it, I’d walk out the door and this would be done—all we got, over.”

I could stand.

I could stare.

But I couldn’t breathe.

Merry could.

He could also speak.

“Hope like fuck no one takes off with those storms while I’m gone. You think they will, move ’em into garage and leave the key under the mat. I’m switchin’ ’em out, Cher. I come back tonight and they’re done, I’ll find you, and I won’t be collectin’. I’ll be dishin’ it out, but you won’t get it until you beg for it and do that shit for a really long time.”

His words were lost on me.

I continued to stand.

I continued to stare.

But my lungs had started burning.

If I didn’t know you were worth it…

“When’s Ethan’s next sleepover?” Merry bit out.

“Friday,” I whispered. “But his friend’s comin’ here.”

“Fuck,” Merry clipped. “Find a time, babe. You don’t, payback’ll stack up and I’ll have to take personal days and hole up in a hotel with you for a week. And there’s not a doubt that stick-up-her-ass church lady your ex tied his shit to won’t appreciate you bein’ gone from your kid for a weeklong fuckathon.”

That was kind of funny as well as hot.

I still said nothing.

Merry fell silent and stared at me.

Then he dealt the second biggest verbal blow I’d ever received in my life.

“Christ, you’re pretty, even standin’ there plotting my murder.”

After that, he lifted a hand, grabbed me gentle but firm at my neck, yanked me up so my mouth hit his hard but brief, then he let me go.

“Later, babe,” he said, strolling to my door. He stopped in it, turned to me, and bid his farewell by saying, “You touch those storms only to put them in the garage.”

He closed the door on that.

I stood where he left me.

If I didn’t know you were worth it…

What was I worth?

What was I worth to Merry?

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Pilar

Guest Reviewer at Under the Covers Book Blog

I am an “X” year old hotel executive lover of all things romance (It was instilled in me that after age 20 a lady should never reveal her age, lol). My love of romance began with Spanish telenovelas at a young age. I spent great spans of time with my grandparents who did not speak English and became engrossed in the world of telenovelas as they were always playing on the TV in their home. In my teens some of my first ventures into romance were Forever by Judy Blume, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. With the passage of time when I went to college I read anything that was available in the limited market, and romance section at the local B&N. My first favorites were by Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, Johanna Lindsey, Linda Lael Miller, Amanda Quick aka Jayne Ann Krentz, and Sandra Brown.

I go through genre phases at times but will read just about anything romance with the exception of NA/YA which I tend to stay away from. I have read some romances with MM roles however it is not what I prefer unless there is a Menage MMF relationship. The vast availability of talented work by so many authors and all at the click of a button make it feel like it’s Christmas every day and my wallet feels it as well, though sometimes some books I buy feel like lumps of coal in my stocking. I am trying to get on track with using Goodreads so I can keep it all straight. I live for the moments when I can lay in the sun on a beautiful island destination with my family, a tropical drink nearby, and my trusty paperwhite in hand, or just spending quality time with great friends, family or a book on my nook or kindle!

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