hippieed perceptions

Anyone that has been following my reviews for a decent amount of times know that I have a bit of an unhealthy relationship with Kristen Ashley.  She's like that boyfriend that you know is bad for you but you just keep giving him one more chance.  I have no self control. 

That being said, Hold On was a welcome throw back to a day when her books made me actually feel something more than frustration over reading the exact same story over and over again. The 'Burg series is my least favorite of all of KA's series (with the exception of At Peace because JOE) but Hold On definitely served to cap this series off on a high note.

The best part of this book was above and beyond Cher.  She was a good mother, bent over backwards to make sure everyone she loved knew it and she knew what she wanted and had no problems fighting to keep him.  KA has a habit of having female characters who wanted someone but they fight tooth and nail to keep them at a distance.  It's no surprise that my favorite female characters are the one who have no qualms "holding on" to who they want.  Cher, of course, goes in understandably wary given their respective histories but she never once plays the I don't actually want you games.

Merry, though...Well, I just wasn't really a fan.  He was another in a line of KA alpha's that just don't live up to the characters who made me love KA once upon a time.  I finished this last night and I'm sitting here trying to nail down specific characteristics but I just don't have any.  He was boring.  Boring.  

And on to the worst.  The main reason why The Burg is my least favorite series is just that the crime storylines of this series are weak.  All of them.  Even the serial killer storyline is weak.  I mean, Dennis Lowe hacked people to death with an axe and it was still boring.  And the extension of his storyline is this book was downright laughable, not to mention the smaller storyline that was mixed in. However, I knew going into this that I needed to just skim the attempts at a crime story so it wouldn't bog down the book for me.  

Anyhoo.  I know tons o' people still obsessively love KA books, even I've read and reread some of her older books an embarrassing amount of times.  Hold On doesn't hold a candle to those (and KA fans will know which ones I'm talking about) but it's still better than most of what she has put out in the last year or two.  If you have already read the Burg series, it is worth reading at least the epilogue of this book. If you haven't read the Burg series, just stick with At Peace and thank me later.