really good mountain man romantic story, gruffly stuff with a melting core after a long way to HEA.
I enjoyed this story a lot, While I wish it was a bit hotter on the steam scale, I really liked the uniqueness of it and the characters were great together.
The hero was very grumpy and yet protective toward the heroine, At All Cost was my first read from this author and I was excited to try something new and I thought the blurb sounded interesting.
The book started off interesting, but I found that I couldn't really connect with the characters much.
I understood the reasoning for Alessia's running away from home, and I could see the appeal of Jax's solitary lifetsyle in the woods, but I didn't understand them together.
. . at all. I just didn't feel their chemistry or connection, It just wasn't there for me, In addition the writing style seemed somewhat immature and I felt like
the book could definitely benefit from some further proofreading and editing.
Overall, I think the story line could have been entertaining, but various parts of the execution sadly didn't really work for me.
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ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
In an attempt to escape an abusive home life that is getting worse and worse, Alessia Conners ran and is now camping out in the Oregon wilderness, trying to avoid her mum's creepy and dangerous boyfriend from finding her again and dragging her into what would be hell.
Unfortunately the spot she's chosen to camp on is on/by the land owned by grumpy and reclusive Jax Beranek and he wants her gone asap.
I was surprised at the lack of action in this but found myself engaged and wanting to learn more about the MCs.
Jax near the end had me smirking, the scene with him and
Potential Triggers:
Acquired via KU, STARS!
It hurt how much she wanted more from him,Yay! I'm happy to report that my year in books is starting off on a very positive note.
Newtome author Katerina Winters delivered a pageturner!
Plot in a nutshell: In an attempt to escape an abusive homelife, Alessia has been camping out in the Oregon wilderness.
Unfortunately the spot she's chosen is on a very reclusive man's land, . . and Jax wants her gone,
So I was a little iffy at the start of the story until I realized the potential plot holes were a reflection of the heroine's inexperience.
I came to really appreciated how both Alessia and Jax were products of their lives and that the author didn't sugarcoat their flaws in fairy dust.
They felt real.
Yes, he was rude and took enjoyment at her expense, but Jax was her savior right now.Jax was definitely a bit of an ass, but, . .
He offered her something that no one else would, safety,
His personality was harsh at times, but there was a kind of honorable layer underneath that ruled him.That he struggled so deeply with his 'code' and the promises he made to Alessia made the story for me.
. . well, that and the FABULOUS wrap up to the overall plot! Wow!
There was one scene I wasn'ton board with and there were a few editing problems, but overall, Ms.
Winters has a very nice sense of romance and I'll definitely read more by her in the future! This is my first read from this author and I kinda feel like I read a totally different book from everyone else.
I'm not really sure where to start but I can say I didn't love it, One thing that really bugged me is that the ages of the characters is never really clear, I get the impression that the h is young, which is ok with me, but how young are we talking here It's almost written as if there's some sort of taboo element but I never really could figure it out.
I don't know, it was just all over the place for me, There were several things I didn't enjoy that took away from the overall story, including the ending, It was a quick read and I think the book had potential, but there were just too many holes and not enough depth.
Kimberly Anne
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A Mountain Man Romance
Jax sees her and is intrigued then rather dismayed to find her settling in on his property.
He knows that will NOT do and has a plan to move her on her way, . . although the plan does NOT work out as he thought it would, Nope, Alessia tugs at him, . . at a part of him he thought was frozen or perhaps destroyed by the anger that has been with him for so long.
Alessia finds security when near Jax but also fears the brooding darkness that appears from time to time.
She fears what she is running from more than Jax, though,
What I liked:
Jax a bit of a mystery all the way to the end.
A good man who will do anything to keep those he cares for safe a rather dark man but one I grew to admire and like.
Alessia definitely younger than Jax but wise in her own way a survivor someone who sees Jax as more than who he appears to be on the surface.
The slow build
The steamy bits when they kicked in
The potential for the couple as they move forward together
What I did not like
The bad guy what an evil man he was
Alessias mother definitely unworthy of Alessia
Did I enjoy this book Yes
Would I read more by this author Yes
Thank you to the author who bequeathed me a copy of this ARC through NetGalley This is my honest review.
Stars Never got a chance to review this last night while I crashed as soon as the book ended cuz Id been reading it without stopping.
Surprisingly almoststar read from a new author I tried! Alessia is running away from her moms bf who tried to feel her up enough times in their trailer park single wide.
Shes poor but shes been preparing for this trip for a while, She has every imaginable techie gadget when she finally lets out camp in the middle of nowhere in some Oregon wilderness.
She has enough water and even solar powered battery chargers for her laptop and phone, A knife and some other funky stuff that Id think youd have to be some kinda mountainclimbing pro to have all this survival know how.
Close by lives another hermit who has resigned from the military and lives peacefully in this nowhere place.
He detects Alessia as a new face outside a local diner and then spots her hitchhiking on the highway.
Jax is intrigued and curious to know what this little missy is doing acting all tough,
And so Jax and Alessia meet when Jax spots her in the woods camping out comfortably without any fear of bigger threats to human life like grizzlies and coyotes and such.
Alessia is extremely stubborn and acts like shed been up on a high horse all her life.
Her come backs and high handed snappy attitude would make sense if she was a spoilt rich girl.
Given her beyond humble, trailer park background I was shocked to see her act so rudely to Jaxs offer of help.
Their sparring picks up and their chemistry hits the flame pretty quick, This was a slow burn of sorts but a few chapters in, the book flew so smoothly that I just couldnt put it down.
With every turn of page the story kept moving forward and I was about to combust myself if these guys didnt make out already.
But they didnt. Yet again.
I loved their budding romance and Jaxs over protective alpha presence, Hes very masculine but also has a tender bone inside of him, Despite him feeling for Alessia, he doesnt touch her incase he scares her away, Alessia also grew on me and I found her to be sweet and considerate, I couldnt wait for them to reach their HEA already,
The ending is a little gruesome, without Alessia finding out the truth, but there is no suspense or OW, OM drama.
Very safe! Wish the writer wouldve given them a more permanent HEA with marriage and kids, I loved this book and will reread again, .