Blog Tour & Review: Wild and Free

Welcome to the Wild and Free blog tour!! This book is a Paranormal Romance and was published December 29, 2014.

Wild and Free by Kristen Ashley
Abel Jin and Delilah Johnson have lived their lives with a hole in their soul, yearning for something they don’t understand.

Until one night Delilah is in mortal danger and a man who’s otherworldly strong and supernaturally fast saves her. Delilah is then cast into a world where fiction comes to life in the form of Abel, her destined mate, a vampire/werewolf hybrid who claims her at first breath as his.

But Abel knows the danger isn’t done. He’s dreamed for centuries that his mate will perish and he will stop at nothing to keep her safe.

For Delilah, she’s not only coping with fantasy come to life, but a mingling of very different families. Not to mention, she has on her hands a man who doesn’t understand his true nature and has lived his long life thinking he’s a monster.

Abel and Delilah together fills the hole that has been clawing at them for decades. But finally finding each other, it also tips their destinies as the last of The Three. They must unite with the other destined lovers, who with Abel and Delilah, are fated to save the world.

Or die trying.
Series: The Three, #3
Age: Adult
Review: 4.5 butterflies
Wow.

Just, wow.

I’d expected a lot of this book—the end of the trilogy—and it lived up to my expectations. There’s so much to go through so I’ll get right to it.

I loved Abel and Delilah’s relationship. Like all of KA’s heroes, Abel was badass. He was intense, loving, and very protective of his mate. That being said, he also let Delilah do what she wanted—and if he didn’t he explained why and Delilah would talk about it with him. Delilah—or Lilah to those close to her—was so sweet and so very charismatic that I loved reading about her and reading interactions with her.

The novel was primarily in Lilah’s and Abel’s point of view until around 40 or 50 percent into the story, where it would switch between multiple people’s points of view. It was a little weird at first, especially since I was so used to Abel and Delilah, but it worked so the reader could get what was happening. It also helped keep the mystery alive. (And I’ve got to say, what KA did at the end, switching between multiple spectators’ points of view and the action, truly connected with me. I loved that aspect and loved that it gave us such an emotional connection to everything and everyone.)

The novel was long, like most of KA’s novels. It’s 615 pages—and that gets a little hard sometimes. A lot happens. There were times when I’d feel like so much had happened, and then I’d look to check my position in the book and I was only at 40 percent. There’s more? I’d ask. At some points, I’d have to stop and give my mind a rest and then get back to it. However, after about 50 percent, I felt like it was a different story. The first half was Abel and Lilah. The second half was the story of all of The Three. I feel like KA would have benefitted better by splitting this book up into two—making one Abel & Lilah’s story, and the other the conclusion of the action, flipping between everyone’s POVs.

I will say though, I loved seeing the rest of The Three there. I definitely missed Lucian, Leah, Callum, and Sonia.

Like I said before—a lot happens in this book. There is so much action and angst and love that it makes you deeply connect to the characters. Abel’s story is a devastating one and makes me happy that he’s found such a fantastic and loving mate. Lilah’s story is sad, but unfortunately I felt like it paled in comparison to everything else happening and all of the other backstories that I didn’t really connect much to her backstory.

There was so much love, hope, and acceptance in this novel. I always love books that leave me with a sense of love and hope at the end, and this book did that for me.

While it isn’t super-duper necessary to read the other novels in the series before this one, I really, truly, and highly recommend it. There will be parts where you will be confused, but KA does a great job at quickly summarizing everything that goes on. But seriously though, you need to read the other Three’s stories—they’re fantastic too.

All in all, I highly recommend this novel if you love fantasy, romance, action, and a little angst all in one. It’s most definitely worth it.

A free copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Book links: Goodreads * Amazon * B&N * Kobo * iTunes * Google Play

Excerpt

“I’m a monster, Lilah.”

“What?” I whispered.

“I’m a werewolf vampire. I exist on human blood. I can tear a man’s head off and I have. I’m a monster.”

“You—”

“I am,” he stated flatly. “And the first chance I’ve had in all my years to understand why I am as I am is to go to that fuckin’ hotel.”

I stared at him, then straightened my body so I was fully facing him. This caused his jaw to get hard again, but I ignored that and stated, “Okay, let’s break this down.”

“Nothin’ to break down.”

“Humor me,” I snapped, his head jerked, and his lips curved up.

“Carry on,” he muttered.

“Thanks,” I bit out. “First, how many men’s heads have you torn off?”

“Four, and two wolves.”

“That’s it?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“These being the night we met,” I stated.

“Yeah,” he repeated.

“The night some of them were trying to kill me and the others were trying to kill you.”

To that he said nothing.

I kept going, “So you haven’t torn off unsuspecting citizens’ heads willy-nilly, for the fuck of it, or on a psychotic rampage?”

He pressed his lips together and I knew it was to hide his humor because his eyes lit with it before he unpressed them to say, “No.”

“Right,” I said sharply. “Have you ever had a psychotic rampage?”

He shook his head.

“So let’s get to the human blood part,” I suggested. “When you were,” I paused, “drawing from one of your ex-bitches, did you ever kill one of them?”

“Fuck no.”

“Take too much and make them sick?”

“No.”

“Do it against anyone’s will?”

His eyes went guarded, but he said, “No.”

I threw up a hand. “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

He blinked, straightening in his chair, but again said nothing.

“I mean, seriously,” I went on, “I’ve seen lots of vampire movies and TV shows and even the good vamps screw up and overindulge. Hell, Jessica killed three fairies in a ravenous attack. She might have had her issues as a young vampire, but by that time, she was full-on good.”

His brows shot together. “Fairies?”

“Fairies.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

I threw up both hands and cried in exasperation, “True Blood!”

“Jesus, Lilah,” he muttered.

“No, seriously, Jessica is very sweet.”

“For fuck’s sake,” he growled, sounding like he was losing patience, which I didn’t figure was a good thing.

“Okay, back on track,” I began. “Tell me. Tell me one instance in your life where you actually behaved like a monster.”

“I wanna fuck you,” he snarled.

I stared.

“Yeah,” he ground out. “I wanna fuck you, Delilah. Consumed with the need and I have no idea why, but I can guess, seein’ as it’s like you’re a bitch in heat, I’m a dog that catches the scent and his mind is wiped…wiped of anything…but the need to mount you and”—he leaned forward—“rut.”

“Holy fuck,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” he said again. “That make you feel safe?”

“Abel—”

“I can smell your fear.”

I swallowed.

“It turns me on,” he kept going. “Makes me wanna tear into your throat and fuck you and feed from you. Now, does that make you feel safe?”

“No,” I whispered, because it really fucking didn’t.

“Right. No,” he bit off. “So I’m not a monster?”

About the Author

Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorise and she hadn't taken her first breath!).

Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.

Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

Website * Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter

By entering the giveaway, you are accepting my giveaway policy.
1) Grand prize winner receives all three books in THE THREE Series in eBook, a Rock Chick Rendezvous T-shirt and all KA swag.
2) Three winners will receive all three books in THE THREE Series in eBook plus all KA swag.
3) One final winner will receive WILD AND FREE in eBook.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Yours,




The giveaway is sponsored and administered by the author.

Labels: , , , , , , , , ,