Avenging Angels: Back in the Saddle by Kristen Ashley Published by Rock Chick LLC on December 3, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Pages: 507
Format: ARC, eBook, Paperback
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Jessie Wylde is on a secret mission. She’s trying to find her brother. She hasn’t told her friends; this is about family.
She doesn’t think it’s dangerous.
Eric Turner disagrees.
Eric is a member of the Nightingale Investigations and Security team. Therefore, Eric knows what he’s talking about.
Eric isn’t only badass, he’s also a seriously gorgeous guy, and Jessie has a huge crush on him. She doesn’t think he knows she exists…until now.
Eric steps in, and so do Jessie’s besties, the Avenging Angels. Soon, the Angels and the Hottie Squad are on the case to find Jessie’s missing sibling.
There’s more happening when it comes to Eric, though. Jessie’s so worried about her brother, she’s not paying attention. Eric sets about changing that, and just like all the Hot Bunch before him, when he finds his one, he doesn’t mess around.
However, something is afoot in Phoenix. And as the Angels uncover the sinister workings behind people going missing, and Eric and Jessie unpack their emotional baggage, the Angels dive deeper into the dark underbelly of the city…
Finding heroes, more hot guys, lots of hijinks…and heart.
I enjoyed Back in the Saddle, but was disappointed in the relationship development as it got lost with everything else going on in this story. ~ Sharon – Simply Love Books
I know the Rock Chick series is hugely popular with Kristen Ashley fans and while I liked it, I didn’t love it but I understood why people are totally ga-ga over it. For me, I was always irritated at the women putting themselves in danger even when asked not to and then being in situations they had to be rescued out of and that ticked me off. One thing I can say about the Avenging Angels series is there isn’t a lot of that, the women seem to understand the danger better and are more prone to listen. In this book Eric Turner (one of the original Hot Bunch from the Rock Chick series) finally, finally gets his story and I know that’s going to make a lot of readers thrilled. Me, I would have liked a bit more relationship development but I’ve always felt that way about the OG series and the first book in this series. It was a decent story, my favorite part was seeing so many of the OG characters that made appearances in this book and also gave out some pretty good advice.
Eric is now in Phoenix leaving behind an ex-wife and moving on to be a solid presence in the new NI&S branch. Jessie Wylde works with Rachel (from book 1) at The Surf Club a coffee shop/restaurant where the owner is a pseudo uncle/mentor. Jessie is looking for her brother who has disappeared and she believes off his bi-polar medication and has been searching for him around a large homeless encampment where she’s made friends with Homer, the King of the Encampment something Eric doesn’t like. She was also made a member of the Avenging Angels, a bit of a female vigilante group, who helps those in need. Again something Eric and the NI&S don’t like. There’s a 10+ year age-gap between these two, so it stands to reason they don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but one thing they agree on is finding her brother.
I liked both of these characters and probably would have enjoyed their romance more had there been more of a build up because they really just kind of fell into a relationship without a lot of getting to know you or dating. I felt that part of the story was rushed.
I do appreciate the community Ms. Ashley is building in this series and the fact that besides the crime and the gritty underbelly of large cities, she also shows that some people are simply doing the best they can even when they have very little and no resources. There are quite a few touching moments with people in the homeless encampment and I loved that she didn’t shy away from the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of homelessness.
In addition to Tex relocating to Phoenix and becoming more involved with The Surf Club and Tito the owner, he also has a vested interest in The Angels. On top of that Titus was introduced, and ex-con, who keeps an eye on the things going on in the city and an ear out for danger and I’d compare him to Smitty of Rock Chick fame. They make for an interesting group of men who all have made it their mission to protect The Angels.
At times I felt like this story wandered a lot and there was so much going on that Eric and Jessie got lost in it all. Sometimes it takes a new series to settle in and I hope going forward we’ll maybe the relationships will develop a bit more and the outside “stuff” will be there to forward the story without getting in the way of the couple.
About Kristen Ashley
Kristen Ashley is the New York Times bestselling author of over seventy romance novels including the Rock Chick, Colorado Mountain, Dream Man, Chaos, Unfinished Heroes, The ’Burg, Magdalene, Fantasyland, The Three, Ghost and Reincarnation, Moonlight and Motor Oil, Mathilda SuperWitch, Dream Team, Wild West MC and Honey series along with several standalone novels.
She’s a hybrid author, publishing titles both independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in fourteen languages and she’s sold over four million books.
Kristen, born in Gary and raised in Brownsburg, Indiana, was a fourth generation graduate of Purdue University. Since, she has lived in Denver, the West Country of England, and she now resides in Phoenix. She worked as a charity executive for eighteen years prior to beginning her independent publishing career. She now writes full-time.
Although romance is her genre, the prevailing themes running through all of Kristen’s novels are friendship, family and a strong sisterhood. To this end, and as a way to thank her readers for their support, Kristen has created the Rock Chick Nation, a series of programs that are designed to give back to her readers and promote a strong female community.