Review of Jagged (Colorado Mountain #5) by Kristen Ashley
Jagged is the fifth book in the Colorado Mountain series.
Zara Cinders knows Ham Reece is the one, but he's not ready to settle down. She ends their on-again-off-again relationship to get married. Three years later, she's divorced, lost her house, lost her business, and is living in a tiny studio in a bad area of Gnaw Bone, Colorado, while she works in retail at the home store.
After an ax murderer tries to kill him, Graham "Ham" Reece goes back to Gnaw Bone and finds Zara in her dangerous apartment. He wants to be the one to care for her, so he takes her to his apartment and installs her as his roommate and gives her a job at the bar he's managing so she'll make more money than she does working retail.
Zara feels railroaded, and her feelings for Ham come forward more than ever, but she can't have him again. It's only a matter of time before Ham moves on, and if they're involved again, it would destroy her.
Ham has re-evaluated his life and knows what he wants now. He just has to convince Zara that his wandering ways are over.
It surprised me that this book was not romantic suspense like the other books in the series. It also didn't tie up as neatly as the others. But I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.
Both the main characters were layered and interesting. Zara's background combined with her feelings for Ham made for a great basis for a character. It was the same for Ham, especially when he revealed more about his past and why he wandered without settling down for so many years. His reveal of his intentions for Zara was surprising and sweet, and because it wasn't him telling Zara yet, I became eager to see when he would and what she would say.
The back and forth and the tension between them made for great reading, and their chemistry was palpable. It wasn't as intense as other books in the series, and the sex wasn't as graphic, but I still enjoyed it.
It was nice to return to Gnaw Bone where the first book took place because the last three books took place in nearby Carnal. I hoped we would return to Gnaw Bone and see Max and Nina again. Since Zara was close friends with Nina, we saw a lot of them. Max and Nina live outside Gnaw Bone, and we saw little of it in The Gamble, so it was nice to get a bigger picture of the small town. I enjoyed the further exploration, but would have liked a little more to get a better idea of the structure of the town.
The dialog was believable and added to the conflict within the story, and there were plenty of funny moments where the dialog took it from an entertaining moment to hilarious. I've never had an issue with Kristen Ashley's writing, and this book was another splendid example.
I've thoroughly enjoyed this series and would highly recommend it to any fans of romance.
Comments
Post a Comment