REVIEW- 5 STARS!
Joker can be my steady ride any
damn day! What makes this book truly brilliant though? I am not a fan of MC
books. IN the past I’ve been very disappointed. But, Kristen Ashley has made me
a believer! There is so much to love about this book, I’m sure I could spend
pages and pages listing them all. However, neither of us has that kind of time,
and I imagine it would give away a lot of spoilers…
Carson
“Joker” Steele has had it rough, and I mean ROUGH. That poor kid had nothing growing
up, except two loving neighbors and a crush, to help him survive. Finally, one
day he’d had enough and he left that life behind. He went into the world and
made something of himself, someone completely new. Now, he’s come back to the
town he grew up in to settle down, to become a brother in the Chaos Motorcycle
Club. As a teen he watched them, often longing to be a part of them, after so
long, he is one of them and he finally has a family. Still, it’s not enough, he
isn’t content, but what he really longs for, he doesn’t feel worthy of. The
girl of him dreams, wife, kids, picket fence (though he’d never admit to it, I’m
sure).
Carissa
had the life in high school…sort of. She was popular, a cheerleader, dating the
handsome football player, and loved by her family. However, she wasn’t what you
saw on the outside. Carissa lost her baby sister when she was a child, she
doesn’t really want to be with her boyfriend, but settles because she can’t get
the guy she really wants to notice her. She doesn’t care for her friends, but they
are who she is supposed to be friends with, and she is too kind to tell them to
stop being judgmental twats.
Life
doesn’t get a whole lot better when she loses her mom shortly after. She stays
with her high school sweetheart because when he loves on her, he is prince
charming. And, she forgives him all (and I do mean all) his transgressions. All
she ever wanted was to be a wife and a mother. Then one day, she is replaced,
kicked out for a younger woman, pregnant, and alone. To make matters worse, her
ex appears to delight in making her miserable and destroying what little life
she has left.
Until
Chaos. Stranded on the side of the road, a scruffy biker is the only one to
pull off the road and help a stranded woman with a baby. From there, the story
slowly moves from tragedy to one of love and family. Joker finally realizes
that he is worthy of Carissa, the girl he has always wanted, and goes after her
with determination, not willing to take no for an answer.
There
is a whole kaleidoscope of feelings building this story. There is sweetness and
love, romance and steamy, steamy sex. There is the raw side of family, and the best
side of family, even if it means they are pushy and up in your business. It’s
because you’re loved that they want to be a part of your life. Carissa and Joker
are both learning this lesson together, with each other, as well as the people
in their life who refuse to be anything but brothers and sisters.
Joker’s
personality is steady, and yet he is a contradiction sometimes. It’s always a
hoot to see and gruff, scary man turn into a cuddly teddy bear around a kid, or
become romantic with his girl. Of course, this is the case with many of the men
of Chaos and it’s adorable to watch. Carissa is really cute, with her aversion
to swearing and cutesy outfits. However, she’s been truly crushed and Joker has
to pick up the pieces, but what I liked about her the most was her honesty. It
was just fantastic to read a story that wasn’t filled with constant angst because
one or both of the couple aren’t saying what needs to be said. It was
refreshing and I truly loved that component of the story.
The
secondary characters are some of my favorites and I am headed straight to
Amazon to buy the first two books in the series! Elvira is the bomb. That chick
is hilarious.
Like
I said, I could go on and on, so I’ll just stop here and say, READ IT! If all
MC books were this awesome, I’d read every single one of them. As it is now
though, this book, and I’m sure the whole series, are definitely on my reread
list and that means 5 roaring stars!
*Review by Elle Christensen
SYNOPSIS
The ride of her life . . .
Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage,
motherhood: everything came easy---until she woke up to the ugly truth about
her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire,
Carissa's pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her
rescue on a ton of horsepower.
Climb on and hold tight . . .
In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal
where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he's the hard-bodied biker known
only as Joker, and from the way Carissa's acting, it's clear she's falling
fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a
different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the
Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker's
secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must
decide whether to ride steady with Carissa---or ride away forever . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kristen Ashley was born in Gary,
Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the
world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already
attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!).
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and
the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and
family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is
good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They
lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst
the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake
(and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a
good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better
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