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talia_redhotink 's review for:
Mystery Man
by Kristen Ashley
Mystery Man was my third book by Kristen Ashley and though I midly enjoyed Rock Chick, I have to admit I still don't understand what the fuss is about this author.
I'm not even talking about the poor editing, I'm talking about the plot, the characters, the surreality of it all. It reads like some kind of fantasy where all hot male characters are attracted to the MC's golden-vajaja. And I could understand it if she was, say, incredibly smart, witty, funny, unbearably gorgeous (we have the only physical reference about her at page 200-something of 225. And it's that she has blond hair. Well, thank you for tipping me in after two hundred pages of me imagining her as a brunette). Unfortunately, Gwen's default mood was whiny and confused and "lost in her head." So the fact that three hot men (plus one) all hang from her lips was out-of-this-world.
The reason I even picked up this book in the first place was because of the unconventional blurb. A mysterious man infiltrates into your house at night... mmh, thrilling. What it didn't say was that this mystery man, or The Great MM as she calls him, has been doing so for one year and a half. No kidding. For a whole year and a half they didn't even talk. They just went at it like rabbits.
But suddenly something changes, andsluttierholier than thou Gwen gets pulled in the mud by her reckless sister. So The Great MM steps up and... what do you know, he's not a gentlemen, but a true asshole. Still, she puts up with him because, duh, he's handsome and sexy. Please let's take a minute to commemorate Gwen's brain's cells death.
And this is how the rest of the book proceeds. Hawk being a complete jerk, bossing her around, controlling her, treating her like a possession et caetera and Gwen whining, being scared and flying from one man to the next of the holy triad (the cop, the commando and the motorcycle man).
There was a slightly better part, when they actually got together, that didn't have me banging my head against the wall. But of course, Mr. Asshole had to ruin it. And I don't care whether the author thought his reasons were honorable. He was being a jerk. Period. Especially when, somehow, the situation gets flipped and what do you know, it's suddenly Gwen's fault..
One last thing, the Kristen Ashley Show. I would like you to read an extract that got me nauseated.
Here it goes: "Lee Nightingale owned a private investigation service whose action had caught the attention of the media. I knew all about him and his friends, including Luke, Hank and Eddie. Luke worked with Lee. Hank was his brother and a cop. Eddie was his friend and also a cop. The newspapers had broken the stories of their adventures, and their love lives, some time ago. This was followed by a bunch of books, a series entitled Rock Chick, that were released sharing intimate detail of these hair-raising yet romantic adventures. Books, incidentally, I owned, read repeatedly and wished I’d edited. They were all famous in Denver."
Seriously Ashley? Seriously? Because you just couldn't refrain from making a little publicity out of it, now, could you? I'm always a little annoyed when authors publicize even other writers' works, but I bear with it because sometimes it can point you toward similar books. In this case, it irked me so much I stared at the page, unbelieving, before closing the book and not re-opening it for the whole afternoon.
So no, I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone. The only saving grace were side characters and funny interactions. Ashley can write good, realistic dialogues in the pragmatic sense of the word, but the contents are everything but realistic. Hawk is a chauvinistic asshole who has no idea where the line between "hot alfa" and "all-around-bossy-jerk" stands. Gwen is an annoying little brat, stringing along so many men and flinging from one to the other at such speed she gave me whiplash.
I can safely state Mystery Man to have been my last read when it comes to this author.
I'm not even talking about the poor editing, I'm talking about the plot, the characters, the surreality of it all. It reads like some kind of fantasy where all hot male characters are attracted to the MC's golden-vajaja. And I could understand it if she was, say, incredibly smart, witty, funny, unbearably gorgeous (we have the only physical reference about her at page 200-something of 225. And it's that she has blond hair. Well, thank you for tipping me in after two hundred pages of me imagining her as a brunette). Unfortunately, Gwen's default mood was whiny and confused and "lost in her head." So the fact that three hot men (plus one) all hang from her lips was out-of-this-world.
The reason I even picked up this book in the first place was because of the unconventional blurb. A mysterious man infiltrates into your house at night... mmh, thrilling. What it didn't say was that this mystery man, or The Great MM as she calls him, has been doing so for one year and a half. No kidding. For a whole year and a half they didn't even talk. They just went at it like rabbits.
But suddenly something changes, and
And this is how the rest of the book proceeds. Hawk being a complete jerk, bossing her around, controlling her, treating her like a possession et caetera and Gwen whining, being scared and flying from one man to the next of the holy triad (the cop, the commando and the motorcycle man).
There was a slightly better part, when they actually got together, that didn't have me banging my head against the wall. But of course, Mr. Asshole had to ruin it. And I don't care whether the author thought his reasons were honorable. He was being a jerk. Period. Especially when, somehow, the situation gets flipped and what do you know, it's suddenly Gwen's fault.
Spoiler
He dumps her, they have a discussion and yup, just like this, she's the bad, insensitive guy in the dyad.One last thing, the Kristen Ashley Show. I would like you to read an extract that got me nauseated.
Here it goes: "Lee Nightingale owned a private investigation service whose action had caught the attention of the media. I knew all about him and his friends, including Luke, Hank and Eddie. Luke worked with Lee. Hank was his brother and a cop. Eddie was his friend and also a cop. The newspapers had broken the stories of their adventures, and their love lives, some time ago. This was followed by a bunch of books, a series entitled Rock Chick, that were released sharing intimate detail of these hair-raising yet romantic adventures. Books, incidentally, I owned, read repeatedly and wished I’d edited. They were all famous in Denver."
Seriously Ashley? Seriously? Because you just couldn't refrain from making a little publicity out of it, now, could you? I'm always a little annoyed when authors publicize even other writers' works, but I bear with it because sometimes it can point you toward similar books. In this case, it irked me so much I stared at the page, unbelieving, before closing the book and not re-opening it for the whole afternoon.
So no, I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone. The only saving grace were side characters and funny interactions. Ashley can write good, realistic dialogues in the pragmatic sense of the word, but the contents are everything but realistic. Hawk is a chauvinistic asshole who has no idea where the line between "hot alfa" and "all-around-bossy-jerk" stands. Gwen is an annoying little brat, stringing along so many men and flinging from one to the other at such speed she gave me whiplash.
I can safely state Mystery Man to have been my last read when it comes to this author.