Book Review of Games of the Heart (The 'Burg #4) by Kristen Ashley
Games of the Heart is the fourth book in the series The 'Burg.
Mike Haines can see the Holliday farm from his back balcony. While he dated the elder Holliday daughter back in high school, it's the younger one he had the special bond with—Dusty. She went off the rails in high school after he'd already gone off to college, and she left town when she graduated. He never saw her again.
Then tragedy strikes the Holliday family, and Dusty comes home. But Mike sees her approach to the situation as disingenuous and a cop-out, so he confronts her.
And finds out he was wrong. Very wrong.
Their old chemistry snaps back into place, but instead of an older teen boy who thinks his girlfriend's younger sister is a cool kid and likes playing games with her, Dusty is a beautiful adult woman, free with her sensuality. He discovers new feelings for her while she supports her family, and he learns about her life in Texas, living on a ranch while she makes very expensive pottery.
Mike is a cop, and he likes to protect the people he loves, but sometimes that's not the right thing to do. And with Dusty... She likes to stand on her own two feet. So, Mike the badass cop screws it all up trying to make it better.
This was another great book in what's shaping up to be my very favorite Kristen Ashley series. It is my fourth series of hers, and I'm excited to keep reading. Two more books!
The books in this series seem to have much more complicated plots than other books of hers I've read. There are a lot of moving parts, a lot of things happening, and everything slowly pulls together and focuses into usually two to three different sources, and often one is unrelated to the plot and easily solved. But they have to figure that out, and it gives them a new focus as they investigate. I love that the stories do this, and I aspire to write such complex plots one day!
As a main character, Mike was everything he was presented to be in At Peace when he briefly dated Violet before Cal pulled his head out of his ass. Learning about the difficulties of his life for the last several years, including his divorce and dealing with his ex, trying to co-parent with a nightmarish woman, making a play for Violet that failed, and just not being happy while trying to make sure everyone else was, I just wanted to hug Mike and say, "You can come first sometimes, dude. That's allowed and doesn't make you a bad father."
Dusty looked bad—really bad—right out of the gate, and her older sister, who was Mike's ex-girlfriend, confided in him that things had never been right with Dusty. It turned out to all be a lie, and Mike discovered when he went to confront Dusty who was really the monster of the situation. Dusty's life far from Brownsburg, Indiana, was full and vibrant. She owned property, animals, and a business, but she seemed to me to flow freely throughout life, doing what felt right unashamedly but with forethought. She's the kind of person I aspire to be, and I loved her.
There were several antagonists in the novel that flowed in and out at different times, and I didn't know what to expect from any of them. But when the climax hit, it blindsided me. I was too shocked to cry as life hung in the balance.
At this point, Brownsburg is pretty thickly populated. Characters from previous books pop in and out—main characters and side characters—and they visit familiar locations with familiar people. It's wonderful to see who's having kids, and whose kids are growing up and getting married.
This was another solid Kristen Ashley book in an excellent series.
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