Reviewer: Holly Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley
Series: Chaos MC #1
Also in this series: Own the Wind (Chaos, #1), Ride Steady, Ride Steady, Walk Through Fire, Walk Through Fire, Walk Through Fire, Free, Own the Wind , Fire Inside, Ride Steady, Walk Through Fire, Wild Like the Wind
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: April 28th 2015
Genres: Fiction, Suspense
Pages: 448
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating:
Too hot to handle . . .
Tabitha Allen grew up in the thick of Chaos-the Chaos Motorcycle Club, that is. Her father is Chaos' leader, and the club has always had her back. But one rider was different from the start. When Tabby was running wild, Shy Cage was there. When tragedy tore her life apart, he helped her piece it back together. And now, Tabby's thinking about much more than friendship . . .
Tabby is everything Shy's ever wanted, but everything he thinks he can't have. She's beautiful, smart, and as his friend's daughter, untouchable. Shy never expected more than friendship, so when Tabby indicates she wants more-much more-he feels like the luckiest man alive. But even lucky men can crash and burn . . .
Holly‘s review of Own the Wind: A Chaos Novel (Chaos, Book 1) by Kristen Ashley
For years, Tabitha Allen had a crush on Shy Cage, one of the members of her father’s motorcycle club. He never looked at her, though. Partly because she was the daughter of his friend, but mostly because she was too young. When she was 16, Tabby started dating the wrong guy and Shy was there to see the fallout. Ever since, he’s had a bad opinion of her. When she’s 19 he rescues her from a house party (not that she needs rescuing, but he doesn’t know that) and he makes even more assumptions about her. He decides he needs to teach her a lesson so she’ll get on the right path. Unfortunately for both of them, he goes too far and she ends up avoiding him for the next four years.
When tragedy strikes, Shy is surprisingly the one Tab turns to. He helps her pick up the pieces and they form a tight bond. All along Shy wants more, but Tabby isn’t in a place to go there. When she finally is, what they have is beautiful and right. But nothing is ever easy, and Shy hooking up with his leader’s daughter is a big deal to more than just her dad…
I really enjoyed this book. I was concerned Tabby and Shy were too young to have a book. She’s first introduced in Motorcycle Man, the fourth book in Ashley’s Dream Man series. She was 16 in that book. This one picks up a few years later, and the story spans several years. She’s in her 20’s by the time we get to the meat of the story. Ashley did a great job showing growth and maturity from both Shy and Tabby.
Shy had hidden depths. His family was murdered when he was younger and he lost all the love and stability he prized as a child. Now his only blood family is his younger brother. Chaos has become his family, and that includes Tabby. He screwed up by treating her harshly when she was younger and now she avoids him at all costs, but he can’t deny he cares about her and craves more from her than a cold shoulder. When he gets his chance to befriend her, he jumps on it. I think this was one of the things that made Shy so easy to relate to. Yes, he was a badass biker dude. But he was also kind and compassionate, and not afraid to stand strong for Tab when she needed him to.
Tab was kind of mess for the first 1/2 of the book, which was understandable given the tragedy she suffered. I liked that she matured over the course of the novel. The pace of the romance is slow – they don’t immediately jump into a relationship – and I thought that worked well with Tab’s past. That she was willing to battle for her relationship with Shy showed her in a really good light. My favorite scene of the book is where Tabby confronts her stepmother, Tyra (the heroine of Motorcycle Man).
“How dare you?” I asked.
“Pardon?” she asked back, but quietly.
“How dare you think you deserve to know who I’m sleeping with when I want to keep that private, between him and me, be happy for a little while, just get used to him, the relationship we’re building, the life we’re going to share? How dare you think that is not my choice to make but it’s yours or Dad’s or anybody’s? How dare you not take my calls like you’re putting me in the naughty corner when Dad’s pissed, on a rampage, and something this important is on the line? And how dare you sit there and act like I owe you pieces of me that are not yours to own unless I deem them something I wish to share, like who’s in my bed?”
She ended up being fierce and independent, but also sweet and fun to read about. I liked that the main conflict came from the way the club reacted to her relationship with Shy. I also liked that their relationship developed slowly, with them being friends first and more later.
There is a bit of excess here. The parts with Natalie, Tab’s girl, were rather silly. I also thought the bit at the end could have been skipped. But overall I found it to be an emotionally compelling read. I was wrapped up in it from page one. Ashley is easy to become addicted to.
4.25 out of 5
This book is available from Forever. You can buy it here or here in e-format. The e-book is available now. The print version will be available in June.
This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.
Leave a Reply