Violet Winters once
had it all but lost it when her husband was murdered by a criminal madman.
During a cold winter night Violet has to leave her warm bed to tell her
neighbor to turn the music down. And that’s when she meets sinister, scarred,
scarily attractive security specialist, Joe Callahan.
She wants to deny it, but Violet can’t beat back the hunger
she feels for Joe so she gives in again and again. Feeling it himself, Joe
feeds Vi’s hunger, breaking his own rules to keep her in his bed.
Even though Violet had only one man in her life, she’s sure
Joe is giving her the signals and Vi decides she’s ready to take a second
chance at life and, maybe, love. But Violet doesn’t know the dark secrets in
Joe’s past, secrets so soul-wrenching, they’ve drained him dry. With nothing
left to give, Joe’s determined to live his life alone and he breaks Violet’s
heart.
Crushed by Joe’s betrayal, Violet comes to terms with the
fact that, no matter what signals he gave, Joe was not theirs to win. But
Violet’s husband’s murderer is obsessed with her and heartbreak again haunts
the door of the Winters home. When it does Joe is forced to face the knowledge
that he can’t fight Violet’s pull, she’s under his skin and filled him full to
bursting.
Joe needs to win her back and put his life on the line to
keep Violet safe. But, having had it all once, can Violet endure losing Joe?
★★★★★
From the first page to the last,
At Peace brings so
much heartache, so much family drama, and yet, so much hope, humor, passion,
love and devotion… I can’t remember how many times I was in tears, but it was
often. Vi and her daughters, Kate and Keira, are awesome, and then with Sam,
Mel, Bea, Gary, Pete, Vinnie, Theresa… we got an incredible supporting cast who
I loved getting to know, as well as revisiting with many of the folk from For You . And Tim…
wow… even in death he had a powerful presence and I loved getting to know him,
and mourned him as though he’d been right there all along. But then again, in
ways he was. The bottom line – Time and time again, Kristen Ashley
has given me stories I can immerse myself in, characters I can believe in, and
she has given me hours and hours of absolute reading pleasure. As with most of
her books, the page count is huge, and yet, never enough.
While the physical stuff was
toe-curling and all, the emotional aspects of the Joe/Vi relationship is what
really sold me, and had me reluctant to put my e-reader down. Joe and Vi's relationship
was filled with ups and downs, break-ups and intensely passionate makeups. Joe
thought he had nothing left to give a woman besides sex, and when Vi realized
that he may be right and she was tired of expecting more from him, she had a
terrific scene where she laid it on the line for him...
Well I could go on and on, giving up
plenty of scenes that touched me emotionally. But I'm not going to do that. I'm
just going to suggest that anyone who enjoys a tortured hero, a bad boy, a bad
a**, a dominant lover who takes what he wants and then wants some more, a guy
who takes no s*** from anyone, be they male or female...a
guy who protects what's his and you'd better not mess with what's his...if you
like a hero like that, then Joe Callahan is for you. And when Joe finally lets
himself have what he fights against for most of the book, when he finally is
"at peace", you're going to love the man that he becomes, the man
that was buried deep for 17 years.
If you haven't given this author a
try yet, do yourself a favor and pick something from her
extensive catalogue. Even though this is the second book of this particular
series, it can be read as a standalone (if you don't mind a few
spoilers). I am so grateful to all my Goodreads friends for their reviews and
suggestions...and once again I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to react to
their suggestion! If you're looking for a book that will grab you emotionally,
make you squirm and blush with the sheer audacity of some of Joe's actions and
declarations, and have you rooting hard for the heroine to have another shot of
happiness in her life, then this is the book for you. I think that now that
I've gotten all that out of my system, I'm ready to move on to another Kristen
Ashley book. My only concern is....how's she going to top At Peace? 5 stars!!!
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