For You by Kristen Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4 stars for Kristen Ashley‘s “For You” – the first installment of “The ‘Burg” series. For those faint of heart OR easily spooked this is NOT the book for you. I’m not ashamed to admit that two nights in a row I found myself huddled in a ball afraid of a hatchet-weilding maniac to come bursting from my closet.
Meet our female protagonist:
February Ownes is a blonde, curvaceous woman with a penchant for Harley Davidson tanks who’s saddled with a broken heart and plenty of emotional baggage. She’s caring, feisty when necessary and staunchly loyal to her family and friends. Plus- let’s all give Kristen Ashley 3 cheers for writing a sexy, confident love interest who just-so-happens to be 42 years old. Yep, not what society would necessarily coin as “young” but she’s still rocking with confidence and I LOVE that!
Now ladies- I’ll understand if you drool while I describe our next male protagonist. Lieutenant Alexander Colton AKA “Colt” is the stuff dreams are made of. He’s tall and fit, quick and athletic, handsome and strong. Oh, and he’s also chalk full of integrity and has dedicated his life to giving back to the community as a police detective. What did I say??? SUPER FOXING HOT. Oh, and he’s also 44 and still turning heads. Yum.
To avoid spoilers I’ll mention but won’t go into details about the vengeful menace that haunted my dreams. Let’s just say the serial killer uses a hatchet to hack into his victims in the most heinous way possible. Then to further abuse them post mortem he poses them in humiliating ways. This individual is one sick SOB.
My only complaints were:
-The sheer number of murders. Truly, how many people can one individual of normal stature and strength hack to death? Certainly at least one of his victims would have been able to escape or overpower them? Not to mention the lack of witnesses???
-Romance angst – Seeing as how this is a romance novel I’m not giving away any spoilers with this next complaint. In the beginning February and Colt do their best to fight their attraction to each other. Needless to say when they eventually succumb to their desires they have to confirm it approximately one-fu%&*ing million times. AND- get this! Each time they act surprised at their commitment and love from each other. What the fu#$ chuck?!? Haven’t we already established that you are soul mates who were made for each other? For two intelligent individuals in sync with each other these declarations annoyed me. Plus her dad gets super pushy and insists they tell him how “solid” their relationship is. REALLY?!? What normal 40 year olds need to explain themselves to their parents? *ends rant*