FIRE INSIDE (Chaos #2) by KRISTEN ASHLEY

It’s no secret that Kristen Ashley is one of my all-time favourite Authors. In my eyes she can do no wrong. I love her heroes and her heroines and I love her writing and her stories.  I inhale and devour her books the minute they land on my kindle and get completely lost in her world.

Do I love all her books? Yes, without a doubt. However, I do love some more than others and for different reasons.  But I always take something pretty special away with me when I’ve finished one of her books.

“Keep hold of happy. You deserve it. It’s found you.  Don’t let go..” – Elvira

When you mention Kristen Ashley to someone who’s read her stories, we all know what we’re going to get, she has a very unique voice and formula. Is this formula always the same? In my opinion yes it pretty much is but with a varying slant to it from one book to the next.

Many would argue that this formula is made up of her hot alpha males, drama, suspense, action and intense passion. Yet I would suggest that while that is definitely a big part of it, in my opinion, the underlying themes are what make this formula.

Kristen is all about family, love and respect. Doing the right thing. Fighting for what you believe in and making your inner strength count.  Seeing the beauty in yourself not the flaws and celebrating our differences. Finding that special someone who loves you to the moon and back.

One of my favourite quotes is by her and I think it not only applies to books but life as well:

“That’s the beauty of books. We get to take what we want out of them and it can be different for everyone.” ~ Kristen Ashley.

So, Fire Inside…how did I feel when I turned that last page over? Well, I thought it was a beautiful and emotional story. It was centred fully on Lanie and Hop. This book was theirs no doubt about it and everything else faded into the background.

“If you had nothing, you couldn’t feel more pain because you had nothing left to lose.”

Their story was Kristen’s signature theme of family and love brought to the forefront, focusing on this rather than the thrilling drama, action and bad arse bikers. That well known and much loved crazy wasn’t there. However, that did not make this less of a loved story for me. It was just different and I got it.

“Are you real?” I asked…”Baby, you’re standing in my arms” He answered. “Please be real,” I whispered. “Feel this.” He gave me a squeeze. “I’m real, Lanie.”

Saying that though, I did miss some elements of the biker world drama and in my opinion, and I’m not sure whether this is because she’s now with a publisher, Kristen’s stories have lost some of that special KA spark – the raw and the gritty is missing. It’s as if her stories have become too polished, if that makes any sense?

Lanie and Hop’s journey begins with a proposition. She wants one night of no strings attached carnal pleasure with absolutely no romance, hearts and flowers to speak of. She wants this one night to be with the biker she’s been watching for years. The sexy bad arse wild man Hopper Kincaid. Obviously the best ‘laid’ plans don’t always go how we expect them to and this is definitely the case here.

“Okay, Lady….we got tonight.”- Hop

“We had tonight. Tonight. Just tonight. I could do that. I could give myself tonight. One more night of not being alone. One more night of not being lonely. One more night of the drug that was Hop.” – Lanie

Their second chance journey is full of secrets, family drama and hurt. As a reader it was a very emotional ride being with them as they worked their relationship out as one thing after another was thrown at them from the past, from outsiders yet also by themselves too.

“He liked her smell. He liked her feel. He liked her uncertainty. He liked how hard she made him come. And he liked how hard she came for him…” – Hop

I loved both Lanie and Hop, don’t get me wrong they challenged that love on and off, but they both completely won me over. Their story was intense. It was all about them coming to terms with their past and building that much deserved happy future.  A future set in Chaos.

“I didn’t want to be alone. I didn’t want to be so damned lonely. I didn’t want to live like I was living – the nightmares, the fear, something no one would understand, something I had to hide so people I cared about didn’t get worried.” – Lanie