Review: 'Fire Inside' by Kristen Ashley
I love Kristen Ashley books, and her Chaos series, featuring alpha motorcycle club members and the women (or old ladies, I should say) they fall for, continues to delight me. Fire Inside is the second book in her Chaos series, and it features Hop, who has been in Chaos for a long time. He sports a mustache and wears lots of jewelry:
No man looked good in jewelry.
No man except a biker in a motorcycle club that had great chest hair, zero body fat, and flame tattoos up his arms could carry off that jewelry.
Lanie is best friends with the wife of another motorcycle club member, so she knows Hop and his friends. Awhile ago, Lanie's then-boyfriend got mixed up with some really bad people and she ended up being kidnapped and hurt. Nursing her wounds, she is finally at a spot in her life where she has more confidence. She owns a successful advertising agency and is happy in life. Except for the fact she wants Hop. Just for one night. When she propositions him, though, Hop is reluctant. It is not that he is not attracted to her, but he worries she will want a big relationship. It doesn't take much convincing, though, and when the next morning rolls around, Hop is the one who doesn't want to let her go. Lanie isn't sold on a serious relationship, but when Hop sees something he wants, he gets it.
If you are new to this series, these books can all be read as stand-alones, although I recommend reading Motorcycle Man and Own the Wind first. If you are already a fan of this author, you won't be disappointed in this book. I wasn't sure if I would like Hop based on his description in the previous book, Own the Wind, but I ended up adoring him. He has the typical motorcycle club attitude of being in control, very intense, with loyalty first and foremost to his fellow brothers and the woman he has chosen to love. He likes to call Lanie "lady," as he thinks of her as a woman with a lot of class and style.
"Lady, kiss me."
Lady.
I'd been around Hop and all the Chaos boys for some time. They called women a lot of things, some of them good, some of them not so good.
Not one of them, not one, called any woman, "Lady."
This was something else he gave me. Something gorgeous. Something I wouldn't let settle in my soul or I'd be lost, lost again.
He has a very hard edge, but as you uncover his pure devotion to Lanie, and the fact that he appreciates and respects the things that she does, his hard edge becomes sexy with a delicious soft layer hidden underneath. Lanie is scared of falling in love with another man who lives dangerously, as the last time this happened she ended up almost dying. And although Lanie tries hard to resist him in the beginning, she soon realizes the strength he gives her, and she gives it back in return.
Much of this book is focused on the blooming romance and personal issues that both Hop and Lanie face in their lives. There is a side suspense story developing with some local drug dealers that I'm interested to learn more about in future books. I think one thing Kristen Ashley does great in this book is to let the reader see every step of the romance as it unfolds. They have ups and downs, many happy times and a few bumps along the road. They butt heads but eventually come to understand where the other one is coming from. I truly loved their romance.
Mandi Schreiner started romance review blog Smexy Books in 2009. She is obsessed with reading romance novels and collecting fictional boyfriends.