Review: Walk Through Fire (Chaos #4) by Kristen Ashley + Excerpt and Q&A

I am thrilled to be able to share my review with you today. I loved this book so much! Kristen Ashley really knows how to pull you in and make you lose yourself completely to a story. Make sure to check out the entire post for a Q&A from the author and an excerpt from Walk Through Fire.


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Walk Through Fire (Chaos #4) by Kristen Ashley


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The flame never dies . . . 

Millie Cross knows what it's like to burn for someone. She was young and wild and he was fierce and even wilder-a Chaos biker who made her heart pound. They fell in love at first sight and life was good, until she learned she couldn't be the woman he needed and made it so he had no choice but to walk away. Twenty years later, Millie's chance run-in with her old flame sparks a desire she just can't ignore. And this time, she won't let him ride off . . . 

Bad boy Logan "High" Judd has seen his share of troubles with the law. Yet it was a beautiful woman who broke him. After ending a loveless marriage, High is shocked when his true love walks back into his life. Millie is still gorgeous, but she's just a ghost of her former self. High's intrigued at the change, but her betrayal cut him deep-and he doesn't want to get burned again. As High sinks into meting out vengeance for Millie's betrayal, he'll break all over again when he realizes just how Millie walked through fire for her man . . .


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5 out of 5 stars

Oh. My. Goodness. Sometimes when I read a KA book I think she's trying to break me. All the emotion that is there, the intensity, the love. It's all so much and I can feel it in my bones. On my skin. It makes me catch my breath and brings tears to my eyes because I am just so wrapped up in it. I loved this. Millie and High’s story was so wonderful. I felt it all!

There was a great introduction to the story and I had a million questions from the beginning. Excellent writing with lots of layers, it really pulling me in. There is a ton of history between Millie and High (Logan) and it was an intense ride learning all of it. It was raw, gritty, and passionate. I absolutely fell in love with High. He could be gruff and I wanted to smack him on occasion but he had me melting too. As things moved forward and I learned more details, I melted even more. Millie was wonderful! My heart broke for her. I felt crushed in some parts. But she was just this beautiful soul. You can't help but love her. They had remarkable chemistry throughout, it was powerful and passionate.

Kristen Ashley has created this fabulous MC world with these rich characters who love deep. I can feel that loyalty the brothers, the old ladies, and all the connected friends have for one another. I love all the women and their strength. When they get together for whatever reason, it’s always awesome. I really liked that we got some history on a few of the characters. I’m excited to see where it could all go next. I’d love for Snapper and Hound to get their own stories eventually (a girl can dream, I can never get enough Chaos!).

I loved how the writing was set up in the first half with this past-present build. Seeing who they were, are, and where they were going was great. Loved the second half as different dramas emerged and were dealt with. I also liked that there was progression with the story line that is being covered over the entire series. 

Walk Through Fire made me feel deep and catch my breath and made me cry. It made my world melt away and any book that can do that and make me hold my breath is a five star read for me! I swear every time I read a Chaos novel  I have a new favorite biker. Tack, Shy, Hop, Joker, and and now High… I love them all!

Complimentary copy received for honest review.



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I beeped the locks and had a hand to the handle when I heard, “Lookin’ for me?”

When that deep, coarse voice came at me through the dark, my body became paralyzed, my eyes glued to my hand on the handle.

Then it kept coming at me.

“B*tch, followed you the last forty-​five minutes. Reb got in touch. Told me you hit Scruff’s.” On the next, the voice was nearer. “You’re lookin’ for me. So tell me what the f*ck you want so you can quit lookin’ and I can quit lookin’ at you.” Slowly, I turned, my head going back automatically because I felt him close and I knew what close to Logan meant.

I was five-seven.

He was six-​one.

He towered over me, or at least that’s what it always felt like because he wasn’t only tall, he was also a big guy with a big presence.

And right then, it felt like that, especially since his big presence was an angry one.

His face was in shadows, I could barely see it.

But I could feel him.

And I could smell him.

God, I could smell him.

He didn’t wear cologne or aftershave. His scent was all his. And I remembered lying in our bed holding his pillow to me, my face shoved into the sheets, taking him in after I’d made him walk away.

His scent hadn’t changed. Not even a nuance.

Smelling it without warning felt like walking unsuspecting into the street and having a truck slam into you. And that feeling was so strong it was a wonder my body didn’t go careening through the trucks and bikes, slamming into them, shattering every bone.

He moved forward so he was in my space, the smell strengthened and my body tightened to guard against it.

“Woman, after all this time, whatever sh*t you gotta hand me, f*ckin’ do it,” he ordered irately. “You got two seconds to spit it the f*ck out. You don’t, you won’t get another chance, and you know I’ll make it that way. So this is your only shot. Take it or get in your f*ckin’ car and get your ass outta my world.”

I stared into the shadows of his face, wishing with everything that I could see it.

Apparently, I did this for two seconds because Logan bit out, “Right. See nothin’s changed. Weak.

Now get your ass . . .” he dipped his face to mine, “gone.”

And when he did, I got up on my toes and kissed him.

It was totally crazy.

But I also totally couldn’t help it.

He smelled so f*cking good.

And he was Logan.

Close. Right there. His face in mine.

He jerked away, muttering a disgusted, “What the f*ck?”

But the words or their tone didn’t penetrate.

I smelled him and I’d had a taste.

I was gone.

I lifted both hands to either side of his head, yanked him down to me, and went back in, going for it, giving it my all. Even when his fingers clenched painfully into my hips pushing them back to set me away, I held on tighter and shoved my tongue between his lips.

It touched his, just that, just a touch, and then I cried out into his mouth when I found my back slammed into my SUV.

But it wasn’t his way to get me to let him go.

No.

His head slanted and he forced my tongue out of his mouth when his invaded mine.

And that was when I was gone.

I was already gone but right then there was nothing to me.

Nothing at all.

Except my hands on Logan’s head, his body pressing mine into my car, his smell all around us, his tongue plundering my mouth, all this exploding fire everywhere.

He drove a hand into my hair, twisting it, the pain bristling over my scalp and I cried out into his mouth again even as I arched deeper, pressed closer, willing, like it had always been, to give it all because he was Logan, he got it all.

But also because I knew I’d get it back a hundredfold.

He swayed us forward so his other arm could lock across my back and he kept at my mouth as I rolled way up on my toes, pushing deep, wrapping my arms around his neck, consumed by the kiss and not giving that first f*ck.

I was ready to ride it out.

No, I needed to ride it out.

No matter where it went.

He broke away and that was when my hand went into his hair, fisting tight in protest.

“That what you want?” he growled, his voice lower, the abrasion physical, and I shivered with delight.

I wasn’t entirely certain of the question but I answered a breathy, “Yes.”

“That’s what you want,” he repeated, a statement this time, seeking confirmation.

“Yes, Logan.”

He let me go but took my hand, his skin rough against my fingers. The feel of it back after all these years washed through me and I fancied I remembered every time, in quick succession, from the first night we met to the night before I broke it off when he’d taken my hand and guided me somewhere.

Lost in it like I’d always been lost in it, I followed blindly.

Attached to Logan, I’d go anywhere.

Even if we were walking through fire.


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1. There’s a line in the book: “There are only a few words in the Vocabulary of Badass but each one had a number of meanings.” What is your favorite word/meaning from the Vocabulary of Badass.

“Babe.” A badass can make “babe” say anything with just a change of inflection. “Babe” can be “shut up.” “Babe” can be “you crack me up.” “Babe” can mean “I cannot believe you just did that.” “Babe” is an all-powerful word that badasses have an innate ability to use and they use it frequently.


2. What do you hope readers can learn from WALK THROUGH FIRE?

That there’s strength in sacrifice. We are the most important people in our lives. We have to look out for ourselves. But sometimes doing that, we need to do something that will cause us extraordinary pain but the reasons we accept that are the right reasons. I believe (and hope) readers will debate if Millie made the right or wrong decision for her and Logan (High) when they were young. There were other ways to go about that and other paths they could have taken to get what they both wanted. But in the end, there was Cleo and Zadie. And it’s unthinkable that they wouldn’t exist. So the debate is moot. What needed to be was…because, losing what she loved most in order to do it, Millie made that happen. There’s extreme beauty in her sacrifice that, in the end, was totally worth the pain.


3. Finish this sentence: My heroine will never…

Make herself a higher priority than maintaining and strengthening her relationships, any relationships, be it friend, family or lover.


4. What’s next for you?

I actually haven’t quite decided. We’re getting my independently published books in print. There’s a lot of work involved around that and I’ve been traveling quite a bit this summer but home for a good stretch and nesting. It’s been a week since I finished SEBRING, the last in the Unfinished Heroes series (this book coming out in January). And now that week is done and I’m done with nesting! I’m itching to write another book.

I’m really feeling the pull of the mountains so I suspect it’ll be Deke, the next in the Colorado Mountain series. His heroine has hit me strong in the heart. So I’ll be wanting to deal with that!

 
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Kristen Ashley_thumb

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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Purchase your copy of Walk Through Fire
Connect with Kristen Ashley
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other-books-in-the-series_thumb2
 Own-the-Wind52[2]Fire-Inside42[2]Ride-Steady42[2]
Own The Wind (#1)Amazon US | Amazon UK | My Review
Fire Inside (#2)Amazon US | Amazon UK | My Review
Ride Steady (#3)Amazon US | Amazon UK | My Review

  

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