Breathe
4.5 Stars

In the aftermath of the Carnal PD scandal, Detective Chace Keaton is living with regrets. He views himself as unworthy of his hero status and of the one woman he has always wanted - sweet, shy, town librarian, Faye Goodknight. But a chance encounter in the woods brings Faye back into his life and this time he isn't letting her go no matter the cost…

Even though this installment contains some darker themes, it actually feels lighter mainly due to the really sweet and relatively angst free romance.

Faye and Chace are wonderful as a couple. She is open, honest and very relatable as someone who also always has her nose buried in a book (and her sci-fi addiction is adorable). Chace initial attempts to drive Faye away, ostensibly for her own good, are understandable, but it is clear that he needs her goodness in order to feel clean again and begin to heal.

The two minor suspense plots take a back seat to the romance although both are engaging in their own ways. The story of Malachi is heart-wrenching while the situation with Chace and his father's associates make the blood boil. Both are resolved satisfactorily although the tension at the end is not as acute as in other Ashley books.

In sum, a charming romance with appealing characters and a story with a striking message of the redemptive powers of love and acceptance.
( )

This one was kind of slow. I think making Chace part of the crew of baddies in the first 3 books made it hard to see him as the hero of this one. Even though his involvement was explained and the guilt he felt overblown ... still. He was a bad guy and now he isn't.

Anyway, book 4 of the series takes place in Carnal as well with heavy involvement with the people from books 2 and 3. Max and Nina from book 1 also make appearances, but they don't really seem part of the crew like Tate/Laurie, Ty/Lexie and all the others. But it's still good to see them from time to time.

Again, like with book 3, we heard more from Chace so we were able to see them fall in love with each other and see what they both were feeling along the way. I like that. And there were actually some heart pounding moments of action and intrigue. But the general shape/format of the story is starting to get predictable. Boy meets girl. Boy is interested in the girl but is rude/mean/disgusting and pushes her away. Boy then determines he can't and won't live without the girl and takes her whether she wants him or not. It just so happens the girl really wants him too. Boy and girl have sex. Fight. Have more sex. And still more sex. Fight some more. Break up, or very nearly break up. Have more sex. Girl gets kidnapped. Then rescued. Throw in a random kid somewhere along the line. And they live happily every after.

However predictable, the drama is too juicy and dramatic to leave behind. I get sucked into this world despite my better judgement and I couldn't be happier! ( )

3.5 Stars

Needed to be reduced by about 200 pages.
I loved both Chace and Faye.
The steamy scenes were good and adult, but on the mild side. Sweet and romantic. But, a bit tame.
The suspense was lacking throughout most of the story. Picked up around 75 or 80%. Then flew into high gear.
I loved returning to this world and all the characters from previous books in this series and seeing characters from other series interacting.
This was pretty much all about Faye and Chace's characters and their romance. I liked it but, especially considering the page length, it really needed a lot more action in the suspense area. ( )

Another nice story from KA. It was nice to see a heroine who was a bit different for this author. Instead of being all feisty, she was a shy virgin. The story hung together pretty well. The tension and climax in this one was not between the hero and heroine but was external to their relationship which made the story less riveting for me. Still good though. ( )

4.4 stars

Sweet holy hell. This is a long book. There were parts that I think could have been cut out but it was still a traditional KA book. Chase wasn't as over the top Alpha as some of her other characters but he was still a good one. I enjoyed Faye too. However, my favorite part of the story was Miah. That ending with him... Yeah. Made me teary. ( )