Geri's Ever After Romance

Buddy read with Kim, Irene, .Chel and Vera. Thanks girls!5 Righteous stars!!Because it wasn’t perfect, none of it. But it was a fairytale. And people needed to believe in fairytales. Even flawed ones. Maybe especially flawed ones. And they needed to believe always.First off, I just want to let you all know that this review might a tad bit bias. See, I knew already going into this book what my rating is going to be. I never do that. But I’m making an exception here. It’s no secret that while the Rock Chicks Series may not be my favorite series among Kristen Ashley’s many, many series (That honor belongs to Colorado Mountains, by the way), it is the one closest to my heart. Plus, it’s no secret that I love Ally and Ren stole my heart during Rock Chick Revenge. So going into this I knew I won’t be able to give this book less than 5 stars. So bear with me here.The Rock Chick Revolution is my most anticipated book from Kristen Ashley. Aside from the obvious that this is going to be last book from this series, this was also Ally’s book. Ally Nightingale is the second half of the original Rock Chick duo of Indy Savage and Ally Nightingale. They started it all. So it’s only fitting for them to get the first and the last installment in the series. I loved Ally since the very beginning. I knew that there’s something different about her the moment she found Rosie when no one else, not even Lee could find him. I also knew her story wouldn’t follow the usual pattern of a Rock Chick finding her hot guy. For one, she’s a Nightingale. Anyone who has read the series knows what that means: BADASS. But she’s also girl and she’s a Rock Chick. Meaning, she should have her hot guy and her fairytale. Sadly, that didn’t happen for her or so she thought. So she watched all her friends got their hot guy and their fairytale thinking to herself it might not happen to her. But it did. Problem is he has no clue he was her fairytale come true. Lorenzo “Ren” Zano was introduced to the series during Rock Chick Revenge. He was Luke Stark’s rival for Ava’s affection. While he didn’t succeed in getting Ava, he did succeed in getting himself noticed in a big way. And boy, did I notice Ren. He was just hot and a little mysterious. It was during that book that I knew that something is going on with Ally and him. Like the rest of the readers, I didn’t exactly know what it was but KA had set it up in a way to keep us guessing. And holy hell, did KA made us wait for this one. But in the end, it was totally worth the wait. Badass and brave runs in the family. And as far as I’m concerned, I got those genes. It’s just that no one agrees with me.I really loved the romance between Ally and Ren. The fact that he belongs to a crime family and she’s ‘tangled up in blue’ made their story more tenuous. Plus, there was this Ava angle that was resolved early on in the story. So this wasn’t your usual Rock-Chick-pushing-away-her-hot-guy set up. Ally did some pushing but only up to about 20% of the book. After that, she was pretty much in there with Ren. But there were other very legit reasons for them not to work. Ally’s dream of following in her brothers’ footsteps doesn’t sit well with Ren’s idea of a family life. And Ally being Ally wasn’t going to give an inch. Not only that, there is the fact that Ren is tangled up in some not-so clean business with his Uncle Vito. “Anyone who would feel that badly about being mean and care so deeply about another human being’s fucked up life I knew was the woman for me. You gave me a run for my money, and once I stopped finding it a pain in my ass and started enjoying it, I did nothing but. I enjoyed every fuckin’ second, Ally. And every fuckin’ second I’ve never doubted how I was feeling. And just to be clear, how I was feeling, every day through this game we’ve been playing, was that I was falling deeper in love with you.”But they did work and it was absolutely wonderful to watch. They both gave it their all. Ally accepting Ren and his background and Ren finally helping Ally realize her dream. I just loved it! There was drama, of course, but not too much. And unlike the others in the series, the ‘chase’ wasn’t drag out throughout the book. It was totally different. I found that refreshing to be honest. It was totally Ally and Ren. “You do know you aren’t bullshitting me. There is no semi-sweet Ally. She’s pure honey all the way through.” I slid my fingers along the dark stubble at his jaw and whispered, “Don’t tell anybody.” “Baby, your secret’s safe with me.”“So, I want a stay-at-home mom and you give me a badass PI. You accepted a wiseguy and got whatever I am. We’re a fuckin’ pair.”And Ren was just…gawd…where do I even begin to describe Ren Zano? I mean, this guy just became my number KA hero ever. No joke. He was just perfect. Perfect for Ally and an all around wonderful hero. He was sweet, funny, hot, gorgeous, smart, thoughtful and he can cook. And he has a wonderfully dirty mouth that was a total contradiction to his choice of clothing: suits. He knows asshole but he also knows how to say sorry and admit he’s wrong. I wasn’t sure how he’s going to be with Ally knowing that he did make a play for Ava, but boy, he left no doubt whatsoever in my mind about what he feels for Ally. He was perfection! This book already has my 5 stars for Ren Zano alone. “You really love me,” I whispered. “Do not ever doubt it,” he whispered back. “How did that happen?” I kept whispering. “You accepted my devotion to the Bears only dishin’ out minimal shit.”“I’m not a maximum contact sleeper, Ally. You are.” “Never held a woman all night in my arms in my life… until you.” “Baby, you take your clothes off right now, you do it to this song, for me. My guess, those four posts’ll hold. If you break the bed, I don’t give a fuck.”“Bullshit, baby. I get you breathy and tell you I want your mouth, you’ll suck my cock deep so fast I won’t be able to blink.”But Rock Chick Revolution isn’t just about the romance between Ally and Ren. It was as much about Ally finally finding her calling and taking a step towards fulfilling that. We know from the very first book that Ally pretty much bounced from one career to another. She tried almost everything, from doing nails, radio tech, barista and bartending before she realized that being a PI is what she wants to do. And she’s good at it. This didn’t sit well with the men in her family who thinks that this PI business will put her life in danger. Ally being Ally fought for her dreams. I just loved seeing the Nightingale family dynamics came into play in this book. It was touching and I have to admit that I’ve shed a healthy amount of tears during Ally’s interaction with her family about her choice of career. Maybe because I personally related to that. I know how it feels to have to fight for something you want. And Ally wanted it all. She wanted her fairytale and a kickass career. As a woman, I had to salute her for that.When you’re a kid and a girl, dads had superpowers. They could heal any hurt, usually with a word said just like that one. Or, if shit was extreme, if he added a hug, it would all go away. My dad’s superpowers were finely honed. But they didn’t extend to this kind of healing. I know others might not feel the same way about this but for me, this is what separates RCR from the other Rock Chick books. Don’t get me wrong, I loved them all. Mostly. But this one has that element of being more character driven than the others. Explosions, kidnapping, ditzy heroines, long-suffering heroes are all trademarks in every single Rock Chick book. They are more prominent in some but that element was always there. It wasn’t really present here at all, or at least I didn’t see it. For one, Ally was a capable lead character. She didn’t suffer from the usual indecisions that plagued the other Rock Chicks. Meaning, she didn’t get herself into love triangles, squares or anything. She was also more cautious and level-headed. She took calculated risks which paid off for her. This means less explosions, less kidnapping, zero sex talk and not a cat fight in sight and none of the Rock Chicks get use their taser gun. For those who were expecting the usual Rock Chick craziness, this would be a boring read. I kid you not. The Ally we met during first book grew up to be a capable young woman who learned to roll with the punches, took care of her business without complaints. I for one loved it. It’s different, yes, but not necessarily bad. I’d even say I’m happy with the direction KA has taken with this book. Totally righteous. Fave Moments, Quotes, Secondary Characters, etc…- Darius and Ally’s partnership. I cannot do a RCR review without mentioning Darius. He played a big part in Ally and Ren’s story. He was the first person who believed in Ally, but then Ally continued to believe in him even he had lost his way. I knew their relationship was special during RC 1 when Ally reached out to him. I got emotional when I read Darius story and I can’t wait to get to his story. It’s going to be awesome for sure. “I love what I do. I’m going to love doing it for a living. But the thing I love most is that you always believed in me.” Darius held my eyes a beat before he looked down to the seat. When he lifted his eyes again, I took in a hissed breath at the unconcealed pain there. “And I love it that you always believed in me,” he whispered. - Hank, Lee and Ally’s relationship. Fascinating. We finally get an in-depth look at the dynamics of their relationship. Lee and Hank, the big brothers any sister should have. They were overbearing, protective, bossy and they love Ally very much, it’s practically leaked off the pages. - Loved that dinner when Vito invited himself and the whole Zano clan. LOL! The Capulet and Montague reference was spot on. - Daisy and Shirleen. Oh Daisy was wonderful here. She was always wonderful but she really came through for Ally and Ren. Plus her interactions with Shirleen were hilarious. And Shirleen was her same awesome self. Totally glad she had Ally’s back. “Not with you, with you, like, in the field. I’m gonna be Shirleen to your Lee.” “Oh no, child,” Shirleen entered the conversation. “You got a choice spot here. You don’t move some old desk into it, slap a computer on the top and say ‘I’m in business.’ You gotta send the right message. And that message is you ain’t Rockford. You’re Allyson Nightingale, a fine piece of badass ass with class who can take care of biz-nezz.”- The Rock Chick/Hot Bunch wedding assignations. Cloakroom or handicap bathroom? LMAO!- Luke and Ava’s wedding, and Luke doing some vertical dancing. Finally!!- Tex. ‘Nuff said. - Castle night and Ren thinking Ally watches the show because the lead female looks like her when it was actually Nathan Fillion she was perving on. LOL! - Rock Chick tours. Where can I sign up for that? - Ren. Yes, Ren again. Ren doing just about anything; Ren in his pajama bottoms, Ren in a suit, Ren calling Ally baby, Ren smiling, Ren being a badass, Ren losing his temper, Ren cooking, Ren talking, Ren…oh, you get my drift. - The Epilogue. Totally KA, totally sweet—or should I say, bittersweet. Final Thoughts…That said, this book isn’t perfect. Not by a long shot. There were things I would have wanted to know more of like the Zano family angle for example. I wanted more of it but I didn’t get it. I was looking forward to Ren dealing with his side of the family the way Ally dealt with hers. Another thing I feel ambiguous about, was the way real life found it’s way into the pages of RCR. Yeah, it was funny but I wasn’t quite sure it totally worked for me. I found myself cringing every time it came up. Third, we hardly heard a peep from Indy or the rest of the Rock Chicks for that matter. I understood why but I kinda missed the sex talk between the girls and their crazy powwows. Fourth, there were way too many people calling each other honey for me. Fifth, Ally's cases were too random. It was too all over the place. I would have liked it more if the book only has one major bad guy to deal with but that wasn't the case.And yet, in spite of those issues, I truly loved this book. For me, it had the right amount of romance and badassness combined. And I loved how KA tied all the loose end together at the same time preparing us for the spin-off series. A wonderfully bittersweet ending to a series that is so very dear to my heart. I shed a tear or two knowing that this series is over. And while we have something to look forward to in LA, I’m going to miss staying in Denver. I truly am. >*sniffRock on! m/For more of my reviews, check out my blog at http://everafterromancebookblog.blogspot.com/. ♥