A review by romancebookloverinseattle
Smoke and Steel by Kristen Ashley

3.0

This, like all books from Kristen Ashley, is very well written. I definitely enjoyed the story and sailed through it. But I also had some issues with it. Hellen is in her early 20s, but she and her friends behave and think more like women in their late 20s or early 30s. Core was great and I loved how he was with Hellen and how he card for her, but I felt like we often got misleading information between what he was thinking in is POV and what we saw in action. I would much prefer NOT to have his POV if it's going to be disconnected from his actions. There are two huge places with this, first early on when he thinks to himself that he is all in, but then clearly is not and then later when he thinks through having to really explain the past actions to Hellen and yet when faced with the situation just doesn't. These things really had an impact for me on my enjoyment for the story overall. I also am not a fan of the big angsty issues coming from a misunderstanding.