Laura’s Review of Ride Steady (Chaos, #3) by Kristen Ashley

Synopsis

The ride of her life . . . 

Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage, motherhood: everything came easy---until she woke up to the ugly truth about her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire, Carissa's pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her rescue on a ton of horsepower.

Climb on and hold tight . . . 

In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he's the hard-bodied biker known only as Joker, and from the way Carissa's acting, it's clear she's falling fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker's secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must decide whether to ride steady with Carissa---or ride away forever . . . 

What I Loved

          

           Once again Kristen Ashley has created a heartfelt gritty love story that steals your heart immediately and doesn’t let go.  The prologue sucks you in to Joker’s story and makes it impossible not fall in love with him immediately.  Carissa as well grabs your heart and you instantly became her number one fan.  Kristen Ashley has such a magical way of writing characters, making them seem so real and down to earth.  It allows the reader to get sucked in to each and every story and it stays with you for a long time afterwards.  I can definitely add Ride Steady to that long list of Kristen Ashley books that will stay with me for quite some time.

      We first meet Joker/Carson and Carissa in high school, both having a hard life but for very differ reason and then we meet them again years later trying to settle into their lives.  I loved that this story kind of broke away from the typical Kristen Ashley mold; boy meets girl and girl being in denial of a new relationship.  I love that Carissa met Joker and realized quite quickly how amazing this man was and that she was going to become someone important in his life.  Joker might’ve put up some walls at first but Carissa liked the challenge and went at him full throttle. 

          There is nothing not to love about Joker, growing up hard but finally finding support and a family in Chaos.  He is such an amazing character and there wasn’t a chapter that would go by that he wouldn’t amaze me.  I loved watching these two people fall in love with each other and build a happy life together.  

Not So Much

          

My only complaint about this story is that there were many times I felt like the plot kind of stalled and there was too much rambling going on.  I know it’s the way Kristen Ashley writes and I totally understand that so I’m not trying to knock it.  But there were a couple times to me that I felt like the plot got kind of boring and I wish the characters would just get to the point.

To Sum It All Up!

         

Another awesome Kristen Ashley story! I especially love the overall arc to this series, it adds to the anticipation of the climax and it is very different from other Kristen Ashley series.  We aren’t quite there yet but I have a feeling it’s coming soon and I’m not going to lie, ’m freaking scared when it finally does (but only in the best of ways)!  I love that not only did we get to see more of the Chaos family, we also got some Rock Chick action as well as a little Knight Sebring and of course Hawk.  It makes me miss these guys so much and at the same time adding to the plot and to the emotions of the reader.

          This was such an amazing story built around truly awesome characters.  The foundation was laid out immediately in such amazing detail and I loved the character development.  Kristen Ashley books have always been my measuring stick of details in other books because she writes them in so exquisitely and thoroughly.  Ride Steady gripped my heart; Joker and Carissa’s love for each other poured off every single page and these two will stay with me for a long time.