DREAM MAN WEEK: WILD MAN (DREAM MAN #2) by KRISTEN ASHLEY

I fell in love with Kristen Ashley's writing with the Rock Chick series. Since then, I've decide to devote a week/month to each of her series. August was Rock Chick. September was Colorado Mountain. October is Dream Man.


 

Series: Dream Man #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: SP 10/4/11, now w/Forever 12/11/12
Format: Kindle
Pages: 528
Source: Purchase
Rating: 5 stars

She's about to walk on the wild side . . . While filling the display case in her bakery, the bell over the door sounds and Tessa O'Hara looks up to see the man of her dreams. Within thirty seconds he asks her out for a beer. But after four months of dating, she discovers he's an undercover DEA agent-and he's investigating her possible role in her ex-husband's drug business. For Tess, this means their relationship is over.

Brock disagrees. He's committed to his anti-drug mission, but he's fallen in love with the beautiful woman who's as sweet as her cupcakes-and he'll do anything to win her back. Standing between Tess and Brock are their own exes, one of them a drug lord who's determined to get what he wants. Now as danger threatens, can Brock break the rules he's lived by and let loose his wild side to protect the woman he loves?

 
Okay. So Wild Man is the FIFTEENTH Kristen Ashley book I've read since late-June, and my love for her style is not diminishing in the slightest. Honestly, I can't even begin to comprehend how one mind can continue to create so many engaging and dynamic characters. Such fun, sexy, realistic and suspenseful stories filled with heart-stopping moments of beauty, with each story having a unique feel. My mind is boggled, but KA does it, so there you have it.

I am always grateful for a good story that takes me away from reality, but I've been especially grateful right now, because I read Wild Man during the first week of the government shutdown. (Side note:  It's been a very stressful time, considering my husband works for the federal government, and has no idea when he will again be paid for his work.)  I'm not telling this for any other reason than to say, you know you have something special when you can be consumed by a story even when you are stressed to the max. Also, I am pleased to say that I have no read so many KA books that I can now go off an a tangent that would make any of her heroines - particularly Nina Maxwell - proud. I now find myself talking like these chicks and that had me pretty freaking pleased. Bonus: My Guy thinks it's cute.

So back to Wild Man. I obviously loved it, even more than Mystery Man! Brock and Tessa got off to a troubled start, but once they get going, their relationship was terrific. These two were such a... healthy (?) couple. Maybe it's that they were a bit older than a lot of KA's other couples, or perhaps it was just them as characters, but whatever it was, I liked it. Once they got their initial issues sorted, their struggles were mostly external, dealing with exes, families, friends. Brock and Tessa reminded me a lot of Tate and Laurie (from Sweet Dreams). Considering that Tate and Laurie are one of my very favorite couples (along with Luke and Ava), then you know why this is a compliment.

Something I'm really enjoying about Dream Man series is how each story, despite being a companion, is connected to the others. I loved seeing Hawk and Gwen again. I like the tidbits with Mitch, who gets the next book, and Tack. Not only do you get that, but also...this series continues to tie into the Rock Chick world in the best of ways! I almost had a heart attack when the boys from Nightingale Investigation show up, along with Hank and Eddie. And...SHIRLEEN AND DAISY. (If you know Shirleen and Daisy then you recognize my CAP SMASH is warranted.)  I have officially died and gone to KA Heaven.

Every time I try to write a review for a Kristen Ashley book, I feel like I'm going to lock up. I just don't see how I can adequately describe them to the uninitiated. My best friend has asked me about them, and all I can do is gush, blush, bounce, then throw my hands up in the air and shrug. These are books better left to experience.

I can't wait to experience book three, Law Man.



Favorite Quotes:


  Being with Jake was like the ride I once took on a mechanical bull. You could not even begin to guess which way that thing would buck. All you could do was hold on as tight as you could and enjoy the ride for as long as you had it.  


  “There's a wild that's fucked and there's a wild that's just, plain wild. You just hooked yourself to a different kind of wild, Tess, and I swear, baby, swear," his arms squeezed before he finished, "I'll show you that's a good, safe place to be.”  


  “He thinks I'm beautiful and told me so. He thinks I'm funny because I make him laugh all the time. He's fantastic in bed and when I say that not once, not even once have we been together where he's not taken care of me and it's not unheard of he takes care of me twice in one go.”
 

  “I don't get my tees at a mall, Tess. No decent tee can be bought at a fuckin' mall. A good tee is bought during an experience.”


  "Babe, he took your power. Tonight...you took it back. And it..." His arm gave me a squeeze, "was," his hand gave me a squeeze, "fuckin'," his forehead dropped to rest on mine, "beautiful." I closed my eyes and pulled in a deep breath. Then I opened them and said, "You had my back." "I always have your back."

 

 

 

 

The Dream Man Series

   

Purchase Wild Man

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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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