Book of the Week { 05 }

Sorry I'm late. I had 3 birthdays this past week: a family member's, the hubby's, AND our baby boy's. Then I found out some bad news just yesterday. Just a crazy, crazy weekend.

I didn't get much reading done as I wanted to because of that (do I ever?) But I got some great reads in. I knew right away, with this particular new release, that it was going to be my Book of the Week pick no matter what. Why? Because she is simply awesome and anything she writes is liquid gold (or crack... whatever your preference.)

This week's pick for Book of the Week is:

Breathe by Kristen Ashley
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Colorado Mountain { 04 }

In order to protect a father he does not respect, in Lady Luck, we learned that good cop Chace Keaton went bad, sacrificing his career and his future. But when the local police department's secrets are revealed and the wife he's forced to marry is murdered, Chace finds himself the town of Carnal's hero. Knowing how deep in the mud he was forced to sink, Chace feels he'll never get clean. The quiet, content future he envisioned of the love a good woman with whom he could build a family was now beyond his reach. The only thing he can do is find his wife's murderer.

But he isn't the only one looking.

While searching for new leads, he runs into Faye Goodknight, the town's quiet, shy, pretty librarian. Chace has long since had his eye on what could possibly be the town's last remaining virgin but he has also long since given up hope he could make her his. Faye is pure and clean and Chace refuses to dirty her with his sordid past.

Pure and clean Faye may be, but when the shy librarian is forced to go head to head with the man who she's had a crush on since he hit her hometown, Chace finds Faye is full of surprises. And he doesn't know what to do with her.

Yes, a novel by Kristen Ashley who is one of my favorite authors. Her stuff is amazing and if you haven't read anything by her yet - get off my blog and do so now! She's an indie author with an amazing fan base. Her works are so addicting. If you love contemporary romance, her shiz is the ideal stuff for you to get hooked on. Any of her stuff. It's all great. Every. One. Of. Them. Of course, some are better. My personal favorite is the Rock Chick series, but you know, pick whichever one up. I recommend them all.

{ Characters } The characters are one of the best, if not, the best, things about Kristen Ashley's writing. Her alpha men... holy hell. No words to explain them. There's a group dedicated to her works because those woman are in love with her alpha men. Need I say more? It's not just that. The women characters, the supporting characters... all of them are just as great. You just fall in love with them. She writes them as if they really exist... in the real world, I mean. You want a chance to be any of them, love all them, become their best friends, become a part of their crazy lives, etc. It's so frakin addicting. You can't get enough of them.

Every book is based off of one set of characters and their mate & HEA. It's so delicious this way because every time she introduces a new characters, all of us (members of her fan base) scream for an encore and that new character's own story.

What I love about this book's characters is that some are from the same series, but past books or from different series altogether. K.A. finds a way to overlap her series so you always get a taste of old and new characters that you love. Also, Chace and Faye are so damn cute together. K.A.'s characters always have some quality that sucks you in. The alpha men ...well.. just their alphaness sucks you in. Chace being his bad boy self... AND a cop on top of that. I love how Faye is a nerdy librarian & her word usage of: Frak.

{ Plot } You got the cop who's seen, done, and participated in dirty activities (undercover to report to Internal Affairs) so he feels he has no redeeming qualities as a human being after mucking through that filth. Then you got the geeky librarian (who us female book lovers can relate to!) who the cop holds in high esteem falling in love with said cop and... helping him see himself as she sees him: a hero. You got shiz going down left and right, relationship problems, love scenes, comedy, other drama, etc. I mean, it's a typical K.A. novel so... it just... rocks.

{ Overall } K.A.'s books always manages to be in my favorite shelf on GR. Always. I don't know how to explain it. I love her writing style; it just speaks to me. I love her epigrammatic usage. Her books are always 4 stars or more for me. I mean, there's not much to say about this book because I'm trying to highlight all of K.A.'s books rather than just this one. Do try out any of her series: the Rock Chick, Colorado Mountain, Dream Man, The 'Burg... all of those are great!

Let me know if you've read any of her works, plan to, or whatever else!

Other books I've read & rated during the week: July 22 - July 28 2012.
Darkhouse by Karina Halle - 3/5
Crash by Nicole Williams - 3/5
Seducing Cinderella by Gina L. Maxwell - 3.5/5
After Ever by Jillian Eaton - 2.5/5
Wrong Bed, Right Guy by Katee Robert - 3/5
Mothership by Martin Leicht - 3/5
Sticky Fingers by Nicky Burnham - 2.5/5
Lies Beneath by Anne Greenwood Brown - 3.5/5
Twenty Weeks by Melisa M. Hamling - 2.5/5
Significance by Shelly Crane - 3/5

Until next week :0) Since I started this post a bit late, I've already read a bit for next week's pick. Let me tell you, next week is going to be tough because Pushing the Limits and Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone were both absolutely fantastic.