She’s high heels, he’s hiking boots . . . and they’re perfect together.
Chasing Serenity, an all new steamy and emotional opposites attract stand-alone from New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley is available now!
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Ashley brings a new novel in her River Rain series…
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Ashley brings a new novel in her River Rain series…
From a very young age, Chloe Pierce was trained to look after the ones she loved.
And she was trained by the best.
But when the man who looked after her was no longer there, Chloe is cast adrift—just as the very foundation of her life crumbled to pieces.
Then she runs into tall, lanky, unpretentious Judge Oakley, her exact opposite. She shops. He hikes. She drinks pink ladies. He drinks beer. She’s a city girl. He’s a mountain guy.
Obviously, this means they have a blowout fight upon meeting. Their second encounter doesn’t go a lot better.
Judge is loving the challenge. Chloe is everything he doesn’t want in a woman, but he can’t stop finding ways to spend time with her. He knows she’s dealing with loss and change.
He just doesn’t know how deep that goes. Or how ingrained it is for Chloe to care for those who have a place in her heart, how hard it will be to trust anyone to look after her…
And how much harder it is when it’s his turn.
Fall in love today!
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MY REVIEW
“Life was not easy. You suffered for what you earned. Worked for it. Cheated for it. Stole for it. Whatever you had to do to get it.”
Chloe Pierce was trained by the best to look out for the ones she loves. But when that special someone passes, Chloe’s foundation breaks into pieces. If that wasn’t enough, she just has to bump into Judge Oakley. He’s her opposite in every way and drives her absolutely crazy. Each encounter with him ends up in disaster. Unfortunately for Chloe, Judge likes a challenge and isn’t going to back off anytime soon…
It’s no secret that I am a huge Kristen Ashley’s books, so when I heard about Chasing Serenity, I couldn’t get it in my hands fast enough.
Chasing Serenity follows the story of Chloe and Judge. Now, I’m going to be 100% honest, I did not love Chloe in the beginning. While I admired her independence, she was super rude, high maintained, and completely unlikeable. Judge certainly had his work cut out for him when it came to Chloe. But, Judge likes a good challenge and Chloe is unlike any woman he’s ever encountered. Together these two couldn’t be more opposite if they tried. Their relationship was slow to develop, but in the end had me rooting for their happily ever after.
While I did find Chasing Serenity to be an enjoyable read. I did have a few issues with this book. The first one being the pacing. The pacing in the beginning was extremely slow to the point that it was hard to stay focused. I found myself getting easily distracted and have no problem taking a break, which is not the norm for me when it comes to a KA read. That being said, the pacing does pick up after you reach the 50% mark. So, be aware that this book starts off on the slow side and the romance is very slow building. My other issue was the drama. Yes, I know that KA books tend to be a little over the top, but this book had way too much drama for this reader. To be quite honest, I feel like this book was missing the signature KA flare that I have come to know and love.
In the end, I think that Chasing Serenity is going to be one of those books that will be a hit for some, and a miss for others. And for this reader, it was just an ok read. Did I enjoy it? Once the pace picked up, I couldn’t put it down, but getting there just took forever for me. Did I like Chloe and Judge’s story? Yes, I found it entertaining and even though Chloe drove me absolutely nuts, in the end she won me over.
So, even though this book wasn’t a 100% hit for me, I’m still glad to have checked it out and look forward to the next adventure Kristen Ashley has lined up for us readers.
*I was provided an ARC copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review*
Excerpt
Considering the fact he’d brought in a coffee for his buddy, Rix, who managed the store, Judge was down on the floor where Rix’s office was, not on the top floor where his was, so he saw her when she walked into the shoe section.
He’d dated Meg.
And before Meg, there was Jess.
And before Jess, there was Kimberly.
They all had different color hair, Meg and Jess were tall, Kim was not.
But even so, Judge had a type.
He knew it.
And that woman who’d strolled up to the shoe displays?
She was his type.
Multiplied by a thousand.
Christ, she was beautiful.
And bad news.
He could tell that last by the outfit, including her ridiculous, high-heeled booties.
He’d worked at River Rain Outdoor stores for nine years—starting as a sales associate when he was still going to college and advancing to director of the Kids and Trails program.
In all that time, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a woman walk into any of their stores wearing shoes like hers.
And when he came down again a half an hour later to hit Rix’s office to make some copies because the copier in the corporate offices at the top level was busted, he noticed she was still there.
He also noticed he had further evidence she was bad news.
That evidence?
The sheer number of boxes of boots that she was trying on scattered around her.
She looked like she’d not set foot on a hiking trail in her life.
And she looked like she was there because she’d already trolled through all the boutiques around the square, but this hadn’t assuaged her shopping fix, because nothing really did.
Therefore, there was a possibility, after making a member of staff bring her fifteen pairs of shoes, she’d walk out not buying anything.
She’d do this not thinking a thing of it.
However, he noted some of the boots she was trying on were riding boots, and Judge could see that round ass of hers in the saddle on top of a horse.
Wearing a riding habit.
Even if she was trouble, and he had not the slightest interest (or he was telling himself that), he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
Because he was a moron.
That said, she caught his gaze every time.
So he was looking.
But so was she.
His instincts proved true when he came down for the third time with more to copy, and he again walked through the shoe section to get to the office in the back. Doing this close to where she was seated, still trying on boots, because, yes, in the fifteen minutes between then and now, he had not stopped being a moron.
And again, she caught his gaze.
He had no clue why, but as her gorgeous hickory brown eyes hit his, he muttered, “Nice booties.”
Her back shot straight, and she demanded, “What did you just say?”
About Kristen Ashley
Kristen Ashley is the New York Times bestselling author of over sixty romance novels including the Rock Chick, Colorado Mountain, Dream Man, Chaos, Unfinished Hero, The ’Burg, Magdalene, Fantasyland, The Three, Ghost and Reincarnation, Moonlight and Motor Oil and Honey series along with several standalone novels. She’s a hybrid author, publishing titles both independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in fourteen languages and she’s sold over three million books.
Kristen’s novel, Law Man, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Romantic Suspense. Her independently published title Hold On was nominated for RT Book Reviews best Independent Contemporary Romance and her traditionally published title Breathe was nominated for best Contemporary Romance. Kristen’s titles Motorcycle Man, The Will, Ride Steady (which won the Reader’s Choice award from Romance Reviews) and The Hookup all made the final rounds for Goodreads Choice Awards in the Romance category.
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