REVIEW: OWN THE WIND (CHAOS #1) by KRISTEN ASHLEY

As some may notice, I've dedicated a week (more or less) each month to a Kristen Ashley series. Up this month is the Chaos Series.

Series: Chaos #1
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Grand Central
Publication Date: 4/2/13
Format: Kindle
Pages: 448
Source: Purchase
Rating: 5 stars

Too hot to handle...

Tabitha Allen grew up in the thick of Chaos--the Chaos Motorcycle Club, that is. Her father is Chaos' leader, and the club has always had her back. But one rider was different from the start. When Tabby was running wild, Shy Cage was there. When tragedy tore her life apart, he helped her piece it back together. And now, Tabby's thinking about much more than friendship...

Tabby is everything Shy's ever wanted, but everything he thinks he can't have. She's beautiful, smart, and as his friend's daughter, untouchable. Shy never expected more than friendship, so when Tabby indicates she wants more--much more--he feels like the luckiest man alive. But even lucky men can crash and burn...

I know I begin every single Kristen Ashley review this way, but I loved this book. And when I say I loved this book, I mean that Own the Wind is without a doubt one of my very favorite KA books. Shy and Tabby are one of my very favorite couples ever. And this story - their story- stole my heart.

Own the Wind is so different from what I expected. Being a Chaos novel, I thought it would be heavy on the MC doings, with a love story in the midst. But what it was, in my opinion, was the opposite. This was a love story that happened to be set in the Chaos brotherhood.

If you've read Motorcycle Man, then you know what was coming in Own the Wind. All the signs were there. Tabby Allen, daughter of the President, Tack, has had a crush on the young Chaos member Parker "Shy"Cage for years. That of course, is trouble. But what is so special is the way Shy and Tabby's heart-wrenching story is told. The course of true love never runs smoothly in a Kristen Ashley book, but this went to a new level. Of course, love always prevails, thanks to the infinite care, patience and devotion of Shy Cage, and the huge heart of Tabby Allen. Though the details are different, it had the heart-break, then intensity, the slow-burning build-up that reminded me a bit of Hector and Sadie's story in Rock Chick Regret.

I could truly go on endlessly about Own the Wind. I love the story. I love the characters. I loved the way they argued, the authenticity with which they battled out anything from what kind of ice maker to get, to whether Shy was justified in teaching Tabby's jerk boss a lesson he'd never forget. I love the quiet moments, the profound moments. Like Tabby and Shy, I "dreamed a dream" once, and like mine, I'm so happy theirs came true.

Own the Wind obviously set the Chaos series off to a fabulous start. I can only hope the momentum, nicely set-up in the end, continues with Hop and Lanie's story in Fire Inside.


Favorite Quotes:

  She kept giving it so her took even more and Jesus, the taste of her, the feel of her pressed close, the world melted away. It was more intoxicating that any liquor, a high better than any fucking drug.
  Phenomenal.
  Better than he would have guessed. Better than years of wondering how good it could be.
  The best he ever had.  
  With just a fucking kiss.


  "Don't be fuckin' cute and honest to god, if you lick your lip, I'll lose my mind. Next time you lick your lip you do it when we are nowhere near a public place and I can let loose the reaction I've had half a million fuckin' times over four fuckin' years every time I've seen you do it, not here, in a bookstore where I can't."  


  "He's good to me. When I say he's good to me, Tyra, I mean he's good to me. He's good for me. He doesn't care if I ruin dinner. He doesn't care that I talk too much. He thinks I'm the shit, and you know why I know that?"  I leaned into her and didn't wait for an answer. "Because he tells me. All the fucking time. I'm precious to him and I know it because he shows me and he tells me. It's beautiful. It's real. It's right."

 
  "I'm puttin' my ring on her finger, I'm givin' her babies, and when she's laid to rest, that ring I give her will still be on her finger.... I was part of an us and I was happy. Some motherfucker killed my parents and took that from me, so life forced me to become nothin' but a me. Now I'm an us again, and that's what I'll be with my woman and the family we make until the day I fucking die."


  "I dreamed a dream and there I was, a ring on my finger, my man's mouth on mine, standing with my dream, feeling it come real.
   I was right about what I was feeling.
   I was feeling everything.
   And it was beautiful."

Chaos Series

 

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About Kristen Ashley
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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