Kristie J’s review of Lukas (Ashes & Embers, Book 3) by Carian Cole
Contemporary Romance published by Carian Cole 28 Jul 16
When I read Storm, the first book in this series, I was completely captivated by it, and even before finishing it, I picked up the rest of this series. I skipped over Vandal, because the author said it’s more of a dark story, and while I love a dark and tortured hero/book, I have to be in the mood for it. I know I’ll go back and read that one, but, in the meantime, I skipped to Lukas, the story of Vandal’s younger brother. And oh my, oh my, oh my!!!!
I LOVE it. Simply mad for it. I had good feelings going into the story, it’s an older woman/younger man book, and that’s one of my favourite kind, but I couldn’t have anticipated how much I would enjoy it.
Ivy, our heroine, thought she had a good marriage; she and her husband were high school sweethearts. They had good jobs and two wonderful children. Then she happened to pick up the phone one evening the same time as her husband and heard him talking to another woman – lovey-dovey sex talk. When she confronts him after the call is over, he doesn’t deny he’s been cheating on her for more than a year with a dental hygienist! One who has had her hands in Ivy and the children’s mouths! And the cheating dog she’s married to has no real reason why, just that he’s not happy and want’s a do-over in life – without her.
Several months later Ivy is still coming to terms with the direction her life has taken, but she’s ready to take the bull by the horns and do the things she’s always wanted to do. And one of them includes getting a tattoo, a real nifty, keen one all down the outside of one of her legs. And thus she meets Lukas, the hero of the book. I could wax on poetically for pages and pages about how great a hero he is, but I’ll try and cut it down some. He has the soul of an artist. He’s not just a guy who does tattoos. He’s an artist whose canvas is skin. The parlour where he works is an old converted church and he lives in the back. Just reading the description of his home makes me want to visit. He’s not only an artist with an ink gun, he’s also a self-taught violinist. Although only twenty-four, he’s on old soul. His childhood and young adulthood is truly heartbreaking, and to see the man he has turned out to be, well, it warms the heart.
Another thing it does is make it believable when he falls for Ivy, who is thirty-six. She is it for him one hundred percent. Despite his age, what he wants most in the world is to find someone, get married, and have a family, one he didn’t really have growing up. I just love him, love him, love him. He truly is the best written hero I’ve read in a while and he is up against some very stiff competition in heroes I’ve read lately.
And while Lukas is the star of the book, Ivy really holds her own too. She has fallen just as hard for Lukas as he has for her, but the age difference is much more concerning to her. She has a very hard time believing that someone as young, successful, and attractive and an all-round pretty much perfect guy would want her. Plus, she’s carrying the betrayal of her ex with her. She’d thought they had a good marriage before she was gobsmaked by what he did. So when an issue of trust comes up, she doesn’t handle it the way she should. And are hearts hurt for how devastating this is to both Ivy and Lukas.
But, thankfully this is a romance book, so…..
This is one of those special books that I know I’ll still be rereading for years to come. I’m just not ready to let him go. Get it! Read it!! I’m urging you.
Grade: A+
Summary:
Storm’s younger cousin.
Vandal’s little brother.
You’ve met him in the background.
The sweet one.
The nice one.
The one they can all rely on.
The good one.
He’s a tattoo artist. He plays metal and classical music – on the violin.
He’s got a body built for sin.
He’s 24.
In comes Ivy. She’s a 36 year old single mom who hasn’t dated in 18 years.
All she wanted was a tattoo.
She got a helluva lot more 🙂
Being good has never been so bad.
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
