Review of Golden Trail (The 'Burg #3) by Kristen Ashley
Golden Trail is the third book in the series The 'Burg.
Taylor Layne and Raquel Merrick fell in love young, and they fell in love hard and deep. Until Rocky left Layne one day, suddenly, no explanation, no turning back.
Layne made mistakes, two kids, got married and divorced, and left town for years. Then his ex hooked up with the town asshole so Layne came back to make sure his two sons would be raised right.
He avoids Rocky until he gets drilled with three bullets investigating a dirty cop and Rocky decides she's not avoiding him anymore. She also decides she's going to help in the investigation.
Layne works hard to uncover the dirty cop with the help of Rocky, his teenage sons, his ex-CIA mentor, Rocky's detective brother, the town's unpredictable informant, and occasionally his cop friends. As he gets deeper into the mystery, he discovers just how deep and dark the rabbit hole goes.
Trigger warning: discussion only (not depiction) of parental death, gun violence, kidnapping, sexual abuse, child prostitution, and rape.
This book was incredible. It is hands down my favorite Kristen Ashley book, my favorite romantic suspense book, and probably my number two favorite romance novel (number one is Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr).
The way Kristen Ashley wrote this book is unusual for the genre. It is entirely from Layne's perspective, not Rocky's. In a MM romance novel, there is always a male narrator, and in straight romance there are often multiple narrators, one being male and another female. But this was a straight romance solely from the man's perspective. And I really enjoyed it.
Layne was relatable, and I liked that he wasn't perfect, that he made mistakes and was willing to do the "wrong" thing in order to make the right thing happen. He did what he had to do to protect people, especially those he loved, and I really, really loved that his sons had inherited the trait. They were just as eager to do the right thing and protect people, and I loved that so much.
Rocky was a troubled soul with trauma in her past, and even she didn't realize how badly it affected her. I could see how much she and Layne loved each other, and how hard they had to work to overcome what happened when Rocky left him. She was a strong, powerful woman with a huge heart in a bad situation, and I admired her so much.
All the side characters from Layne's sons to his cop friends that included Colt from the first book, Joe from the second book, Layne's mentor, the insane informant, Layne's mother, Rocky's father and brother, Rocky's estranged husband, Layne's ex-wife and her boyfriend... All of them were vivid and full with personalities and drive. They all affected the story and pulled Layne in a variety of ways, either to help or hinder him, and they filled out the book to make it more three-dimensional. They were all fantastic.
The plot itself was incredible. I loved the way Layne's life just went absolutely insane, and he was pulled in what seemed like fifty directions and had to take care of tons of things, and many of those things turned out to funnel into one big problem that he dealt with in the climax. Though there were several unrelated issues he had to deal with regarding his kids and ex-wife and Rocky's estranged husband. The way Kristen Ashley layered the plot and had everything weave in and out like a complicated basket was absolutely masterful.
I cannot praise this author, this series, and this book enough. I've read two complete series by Kristen Ashley, her Dream Man and Colorado Mountain series, but so far, this series is far better than either of them. I am loving this series so much. Kristen Ashley is one of my absolute favorite authors.
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