RIDE STEADY by Kristen Ashley (June 30, 2015; Forever Mass Market; Chaos #3)
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 . . .
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 . . .
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Review
Kristen Ashley is a rockstar in the reading community. She has the ability to so vividly, almost effortlessly, painting a picture right before your eyes. You can see it all so clearly in your head. Wether it be a fiesty leading lady who talks to much, or an alpha to the max that lays down the law (but with loving care and always for the good of his woman), or the bonds of friendship, and love. KA is one like no other and Ride Steady was no exception to that.
This is the story Of Joker aka Carson Steele and Carrissa Teodoro and their very unique second chance at love. Carson was born into a home that was less than good. An abusive, drunken father who didn't care if he had food or clothes. Carson lived his life as a loner. He didn't fit in anywhere until one day he ran far away and found refuge in the Choas Motorcycle Club. They took him in, accepted him, and gave him a place to belong.
Carrissa's life took a turn for something she never expected. Broken down by a man she thought loved her, tossed to the side like yesterdays trash. Forced to work herself to the bone just to make ends meet for her and her child. Carrissa is an exceptional mother but she's lost herself in work, baggy clothes, and trying to be a great mom.
One chance encounter brings Carrissa face to face with Carson. Their lives soon become one as lines get blurred and lies of omission get brought to light. Can these two move on from their past to make a future for themselves?
One reason I adore KA is the family aspect of her books. They show such loyalty, such love, and the friendships are ones we yearn for. To live in a KA book would absolutely be a dream come true. She makes fiction, a reality and it literally gets no better than that. Thank you for this story that gives me hope that people like this really do exist.
5 STARS!!!!
Excerpt
“Yo!” I heard Snapper call and I looked to him to
see he was looking beyond me. I turned around and saw Tabby was heading toward
me and Snapper. “I’m takin’ Carissa out on my bike. You wanna look after her
purse or put it in Shy’s room or somethin’?”
At his request, Tabby’s gaze immediately cut to the
pool tables. When she took them in, for some reason, her face got hard before
she softened it and looked back toward us.
“Not a problem,” she said, stopping at us. “Go.
Ride.”
“Never been on a bike,” I told her and her face
split in a big smile.
“Then go. Ride.” She leaned in to me. “Beware, wind in your hair, moon on your skin,
you’ll fall in love.”
I wasn’t sure that was a good thing. I’d fallen in
love with something I couldn’t have, and if I fell in love with the wind in my
hair and the moon on my skin, without someone to give that to me, I couldn’t
have that either.
But to heck with it.
Maybe this would be the only bike ride I’d I’d have in my life.
And
maybe the kiss Joker gave me was the only fabulous kiss I’d ever get.
And
maybe my dream of having a family or the other dream of getting behind the
steel guarding Joker’s eyes was lost to me.
But
I was still breathing.
So
I’d take what I could get.
Tabby
put her hand on my purse, which was lying on the bar. “Got this. Have fun.”
“Thanks,” I whispered.
She winked at me.
I
looked to Snapper. “Let’s go.”
“Meet
you at the end of the bar, babe.”
“Right!”
I chirped, jumped off my stool, threw Tabby a smile, nabbed my jacket that I
was sitting on and bounced to the end of the bar.
When
I got there, Snapper had pulled on his leather jacket. He grabbed my hand and
guided me out the door and to his bike. Then he got on his bike before
instructing me on how to do the same.
The
bike roared, he backed out on an angle, and we glided over the tarmac of Ride.
He
pulled out onto Broadway and I got it.
The
wind in my hair.
The
moon on my skin.
The
leather of his jacket in my nostrils.
The
solidness of him under my hands at his waist.
We
got close to the onramp of I‑25 and he shouted,
“Hold on!”
“Sorry?” I shouted back.
“Hold on!” he yelled, taking one hand off the grip
and using it to pull my hand from his waist and around to his stomach.
He put his hand back on the grip and we turned up
the ramp, going faster, faster, faster, the wind whipping my hair and biting into my skin. I curved my other
arm around him, put my chin to his shoulder, drew in air and leather, and I got
it.
Instantly.
That it being why this was the life for a biker.
No encumbrances. You wanted to smoke pot, you smoked
it. You wanted to wear a tube top, you wore it. You wanted to drink shots,
you drank them. You wanted to make out hot and heavy on a couch in a room filled with people, you did it.
You
wanted to live, you lived.
You
wanted to be free, you got on your bike and rode in the moonlight.
You
did not drink martinis you didn’t like. You did not take a job your mother‑in‑law
thought you should have. You did not take guff from your ex, not ever.
You
did what you wanted.
You
were free.
In
all that was happening to me, all that I was feeling, all the disappointment of
that night and the bizarre devastation I felt that the first time this
happened, me on the back of a bike, I would have preferred it be with Joker . .
. right then, for that moment, I let it all go.
I
let it go, held on to Snapper and I let myself feel it.
Feel
something rare and beautiful and overwhelming.
Feel
something I knew for certain I hadn’t felt in my whole life.
Free.
About the author:
Kristen Ashley grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana, and 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 multigenerational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland, and Kristen grew up listening to the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon, and Whitesnake. Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music and love was a good way to grow up. And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
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