Jagged (Colorado Mountain Series Book 5)

Ashley just doesn't disappoint. Two damaged individuals who find each other, can't seem to get over their personal trauma and separate. They somehow always keep touch and eventually reconnect. Ham and Zara finally put aside their bs and get their happily ever after, that's after more drama and jealousy. I love how real these characters are. They're not always right, but they try to be. It's nice to see the struggle is real.

Ham and Zara’s story is delightful. I’m so happy I read it. I love the Colorado Mountain series by Kristen Ashley. Truth be told, I love pretty much everything Kristen Ashley writes. I’m usually into darker romances, but KA is my big exception to that genre. She’s so talented and her books are engrossing, sexy, action packed, beautiful, and just all around awesome.What I learned from reading Jagged, an excellent novel that’s left a huge smile on my face, is that book reviews are a reflection of the reader and not the book. I read a review of Jagged a while ago that stuck with me. It said Ham wasn’t a great KA hero and Jagged was their least favorite of the series. That review had it so wrong, in my opinion! Lucky for me, I got to read a great book today that I would’ve finished months ago. It made my day. Jagged was definitely worth the wait.Ham is unique in that he’s spent a great majority of his adult life living without roots. He’s also a bartender, which isn’t exactly the same as most well-to-do leads nowadays. But his unusual history suits him well. It’s clear Ham cares about Zara genuinely from the start of Jagged, but he lives a wandering life and doesn’t initially fight for her when she lets him go. That said, it is very clear he thinks the world of Zara from start to finish of Jagged. And when Ham gets the chance to reunite with Zara and demonstrate how much he cares about her, Ham is just as mouth watering, heartwarming, and wonderful as only a lead in a KA novel can be. Ham is perfect- a big, strong bear of a man who is wise, giving, and intense.Zara is cool. She’s someone who’s had to weather a lot of bad and she’s capable of loving Ham as he is, even when that hurts at first. She’s unfailingly kid unless she’s triggered. It takes a lot to shake her. When we meet her, she’s weary. Pretty soon, the life Zara has worked hard for is falling apart, and she’s trying her best to survive some rough knocks. She loves Ham from afar and it’s easy to relate to her internal struggles when he walks back into her life.One thing I found surprising I’m Jagged was the intensity of the fights between Ham and Zara. They don’t fight often, but when they do it’s with the gloves off. Luckily this didn’t happen often, and Ham and Zara get along easy and don’t give each other very much reason to fight. I found this to be an element of Jagged that made it more realistic and unique. Not all couples fight fair. These two are much better lovers than fighters.The city of Gnaw Bone, with all its lovable inhabitants, made a great backdrop for Jagged. Gnaw Bone is also the setting for The Gamble and Breathe, and I was thrilled to reunite with the characters and check in on how they were doing (Jeff and Mindy- yay!). Kristen Ashley must inject magic into her books because her side characters seem to come alive and make each story one you don’t ever want to leave.The drama is centered around the history and future of Ham and Zara, Ham building a life with a well loved woman in a small town, and the actions of Zara’s abusive family. It was enough to keep me flipping pages eagerly, and if it wasn’t an amazing ending (which is so was), I wouldn’t want Jagged to end.So, don’t listen to the negative reviews. Make up your own mind. If you’re a fan of Kristen Ashley or you just want to read a great, page turner of love story with memorable characters, you won’t want to miss Jagged!

Zara and Reece take you on another emotional journey of high and lows, fear, laughter, anger and love in Kristen Ashley’s ‘Jagged.’

*A free copy of this book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*4-4.5 starsThis was a very good book. Graham Reece first shows up in the book “For You” from KA’s The Burg series. I really liked what I saw of Reese in that book and have been looking forward to his book. Zara and Reece are really good together and I enjoyed their story.Zara grew up in an abusive home and now has nothing to do with her family. She has made her way on her own for years and things haven’t been easy for her. She met Reece around 8 years before the current time of the book, when he happened to be working in her town for a while before he moved on. She knew he was her “one” but also knew she couldn’t keep him. For 5 years he’d visit and be there for her at some points when she needed help but he’d always leave again so she ends up being forced to break things off with him and tell him she’s moving on.Reece is a good guy but he was screwed over early in life and it made him untrusting of women. Only 2 women have broken past his barriers at all, and that’s Zara and February (the heroine from “For You”). He cared for Feb and his involvement with her for a while earned him an attack by a stalker/serial killer that was killing off past lovers. Once he recovers from his attack he starts to examine his life. He realizes he wants to find a home and build a family, so he goes after the woman he’s always known he was a fool to walk away from, Zara.Things didn’t go well for Zara after she ended things with Reese. She got married to a nice man but she was settling and knew it. She thought she loved him enough but once they were married she found she was losing herself to try to work things out with him. She had to end the marriage (for which she carried a lot of guilt) and around the same time the recession hit and financial issues came up which forced her in to a cheap but not very safe apartment and a low paying job. Reece did show up right after his attack and her divorce but neither of them was in the right state of mind at the time and they just ended up fighting. Reece leaves and gives her some space for a while but shows up again when she needs him and convinces her to move in with him (but only as a roommate) while also offering her a higher paying job. Zara still has feelings for Reece and knows it’s not a good idea (for her emotional well being if nothing else) but agrees because she’s in dire straits.Zara and Reece are just roommates at first. They get used to each other again and become friends again but there are also fights at times as they’re both attracted to each other but not together so there’s tension. Eventually, in halting steps, Reece and Zara get together as more than just roommates. It’s not easy and their communication skills aren’t the best. I’ll admit there were times when Reece didn’t handle some of Zara’s issues the best but he did eventually get very good at expressing his feelings and in very sweet and meaningful ways. Zara didn’t always listen very well and made some misjudgments herself but she came around and learned to trust what Reece was showing and telling her and started bringing her own goodness to the relationship.Soon after Reece and Zara finally come together as a couple, Reece shows his supportive side to Zara as issues with her family come to light. Reece is great about helping Zara with the heavy problems she has to deal with. He is very protective of her and does what he can to lighten her load…I have to admit to falling for him a bit myself. The family issues do get sorted out and the book ends with a satisfying HEA for Zara and Reece.This was a very good book. I really liked Reece and Zara and was happy they got their HEA especially since it was years late. This was a good addition to the series (it reminded me of book 1, The Gamble). I’d recommend this book. Thumbs up. :D* note - I got this as an ARC but liked it well enough that I did purchase a copy from Amazon as well as I intend to reread it in the future.

Ms. Ashley has the ability to write memorable protagonists; characters that are charismatic, funny, likeable even when they shouldn't be. If she really likes a male character, everything about him glows from the page. If she really likes a female character or worse, Mary Janes that character, then she writes a female character that for some mysterious reason is irresistible to all males in the story, unforgettable to them. Unfortunately Ms. Ashley links her stories and her characters storylines from different books cross. This means that the female protagonists Ms. Ashley relates less to or does not Mary Jane come off worse in their love story. Don't get me wrong, they get their happy ending with children and marriage. What they do not get is a man who is 100% invested in them. In this book Ham is hung up on Feb and his explanation for his pain at losing Feb is not one I believe. It left me with the feeling that Zara was second best. So the story itself left me unsatisfied.Then we have the dialogue; doin', sayin', I make a play, you make a play. As memorable as her men are, I wish she would make them sound a bit more intelligent in their dialogue. Plus all the stupid whispering jars me from the spell the story is supposed to weave. It's hard enough having to re-read the long sentences to catch her exact meaning but then on top of it is all the whispering.

This one is a slow burn that takes off in the last 40 minutes!Zara Cinders and her sister Xenia grew up in an abusive household, her father ruled with an iron fist and their mother did nothing to shelter them. Age 18 they left and never looked back, Xenia never got over the abuse and sank jnto drugs and alcohol until she got pregnant.Go forward 10 years, Graham Reece already knew what he left behind before, now he is back to take it all, hoping that Zara is ready as the deluge from her poisonous family is about to become a tsunami.

I was really looking forward to this book but when it finally downloaded, I was really put off by the green highlighted, words and chunks of text, in it. I've never seen that before and wondered if the version I had wasn't the final one but a working copy. It spoilt the story for me though as I couldn't get into it.After contacting Amazon I got another version which was much better ( there are still a couple of green bits in it) and I got into another of Kristen's great stories.Zara has always loved Graham Reece, she calls him Ham, and after he is attacked by the serial killer who killed for February Owens in another series, he realizes how special Zara is to him. Zara is living in poverty after divorcing her husband and he goes to help her and the story begins.I always like the characters from her other books being involved, in this case Nina Maxwell and Cotton amongst others, and finding out how they are doing. However I felt this book was too much about Zara getting mixed up and not enough storyline. It didn't have me desperate to read it and usually Kristen's stories do that. The second half was better. As always it was well-written.

Yes the Colorado Series has a format that follows in all of the books but each story is individual and a worthy read. Damsels in distress and big mountain men who swoop in to the rescue. With this series yes some characters from other books do pop up and if you've read the other series's then it's great but it doesn't matter if you haven't and doesn't ruin the book. I've seen a lot of reviews bitching that it's same old same but it's a series so surely the format would carry through? I've loved each book and am about to read book 6 which has had rather pants reviews and I bet I will love this one just as much as the others. So I say read it for yourself and make your own mind up as some of these negative reviews are, well same old same..... Loved this book

DNF. I'm in love with all of KA earlier work but it's gone down hill so badly. I miss the days of the rock chicks, the hot dream man or Colorado mountains earlier books. They aren't the same.DNF so I'm not sure if it got better.I always find myself skipping through a l9t of descriptions or repeat phrasing in a KA books as its pointless and offputting, but this was different.I notice a lot of other readers comment on the same thing, everyone wondering where the KA we love and know has gone.