Rowena’s review of Jagged (Colorado Mountain #5) by Kristen Ashley.
An old flame rekindled . . .
Zara Cinders always knew Ham Reece was the one, but he wasn’t interested in settling down. When she found someone who was, Ham walked out of her life. Three years later, Zara’s lost her business, her marriage, and she’s barely getting by in a tiny apartment on the wrong side of the tracks. As soon as Ham hears about Zara’s plight, he’s on her doorstep offering her a lifeline. Now, it will take every ounce of will power she possesses to resist all that he offers.
Ham was always a traveling man, never one to settle down in one town, with one woman, for more time than absolutely necessary. But Ham’s faced his own demons, and he’s learned a lot. About himself, and about the life he knows he’s meant to live. So when he hears that Zara’s having a rough time, he wants to be the one to help. In fact, he wants to do more than that for Zara. A lot more. But first, he must prove to Zara that he’s a changed man.
Both Holly and Ames are crazy about Kristen Ashley books and while I have liked every single book that I’ve read by her, I’m not obsessed with her the way that they are. In this series, I’ve only read The Gamble. Max was delicious but for some reason, his book didn’t move me to continue the series but when I came across Jagged, I thought, “Why not?”
This book had its moments of goodness but it’s not my favorite of Ashley’s books.
One of the things that stood out for me in this book was Graham’s nickname. Ham. I’m sorry but when I’m reading about two people getting it on and one of their names is Ham, I’m not thinking of a sexy man but of Christmas dinner. And his nickname for Zara? He calls her cookie. WTF? Now, I’m thinking about Oreos.
Aside from their names, this book had a solid story. Graham and Zara used to have a thing but Ham wasn’t the settling down type so they went their separate ways and now Zara is back in town, down on her luck and Ham wants to help her out. That seems to happen a lot in Kristen Ashley books. The heroine is down on her luck, having been dealt a shit hand and then the hero comes along and alpha’s his way into her life and with his help (because of course, they’re strong and capable of taking care of themselves), her life turns around. It must be all of the hot sexy times they have. I do like that KA heroines are not the simpering damsels in distress that romance novel heroines are assumed to be. They’re the kind of women that deal with shit. They keep right on trucking along, trying to fix their lives instead of dwelling on things that they shouldn’t be dwelling on.
This book was good, the romance was steamy but for some reason, I’m not even sure why, it didn’t hold up for me as much as the other books that I’ve read by this author. Something was missing and well, that sucked. I’m sure that fans of the author will like this book and I still want to continue the series so that’s something. It just wasn’t my favorite.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5
This book is available from Forever. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
but for some reason, I’m not even sure why, it didn’t hold up for me as much as the other books that I’ve read by this author
Maybe because 1) the heroine was an immature psycho who refused to accept help when offered and acted the fool the entire book 2) the hero was an ass who said really horrible shit and 3) the plot was stupid?
Just putting it out there..feel free to kick it back.
LOL, yeah to all of that. But I didn’t end up hating the book like I did Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer…I just didn’t love it.