About the Book
Charlotte “Lottie” McAlister is in the zone. She’s ready to
take on the next chapter of her life, and since she doesn’t have a man, she’ll
do what she’s done all along. She’ll take care of business on her own. Even if
that business means starting a family.
The problem is, Lottie has a stalker. The really bad kind. The kind that means she needs a bodyguard.
Enter Mo Morrison.
Enormous. Scary.
Quiet.
Mo doesn’t say much, and Lottie’s used to getting attention. And she wants Mo’s attention. Badly.
But Mo has a strict rule. If he’s guarding your body, that’s all he’s doing with it.
However, the longer Mo has to keep Lottie safe, the faster he falls for the beautiful blonde who has it so together, she might even be able to tackle the demons he’s got in his head that just won’t die.
But in the end, Lottie and Mo don’t only have to find some way to keep hands off until the threat is over, they have to negotiate the overprotective Hot Bunch, Lottie’s crazy stepdad, Tex, Mo’s crew of frat-boy commandos, not to mention his nutty sisters.
All before Lottie finally gets her Dream Man.
And Mo can lay claim to his Dream Girl.
My Thoughts
Having read many (50+) Kristen Ashley books, there’s clearly
something about her writing that appeals to me. Having said that, I’ve been
disappointed by more recent releases, so when I picked up QUIET MAN, I wasn’t
entirely able to slough off my preconceived impressions.
Did I like the book? My first instinct is to say yes. It’s
certainly a lot better than I expected. However, exceeding low expectations is
hardly the hallmark of a great read, is it?
Charlotte “Lottie” McAlister’s life is in danger. Someone is
threatening her, so Smithie, the owner of the strip club Lottie works in
decides to get help to protect her. Enter Kim ‘Mo’ Morrison. He’s been assigned
to guard Lottie 24/7. Wherever she goes, he goes.
I liked Lottie. She knows what she wants and she takes steps
to get it. She was attracted to Mo from the start and was not coy about letting
him know. Lottie never exhibited any too-stupid-to-live moments; she believed her
life was in danger, and did what she was told in order to keep safe as possible.
I liked Mo. He is the ‘quiet man’ in this story. With four
older sisters, an intimidating body type and a career in the military, I believe
he learned early about the benefits of keeping quiet.
I liked Mo and Lottie together. I liked that Lottie called Mo her “mound of hunkalicious boyfriend”. The time they did spend together was
comfortable; they were opening up to one another, they enjoyed each other. And
the physical attraction between them was hot.
So what didn’t work for me? For starters, Ashley’s writing
style here. Ashley relies heavily on one word sentences or sentences with so
many words that I often needed to reread to understand them. She’s employed
this style before but I have read other books where her writing was much
smoother and polished. I prefer the latter.
Like other books, a disproportionate amount of time is spent
on the irrelevant. Why give people a running commentary on a house’s entire
decor and not allow readers to spend more time with the characters? I would
have loved to have more Lottie and Mo time. I would have loved to spend more
time with Lottie’s and Mo’s families. Instead we learn about curtains and
cushions.
Speaking of irrelevance, the mention of just about every
Denver-based character in Ashley’s books was unnecessary. The majority of these
characters played no role in this story, so why introduce them? If I was a new
reader I would have felt totally overwhelmed. As a fan, I would have felt
cheated.
Another thing I’ve noticed in Ashley’s more recent releases
are the scenes designed to educate us on standards of behaviour. Both Lottie
and Mo have interactions with secondary characters that did fit the story but my
issue with them is that Ashley doesn’t know when to stop. We get it. There’s no
need to continue bashing the point over the readers’ heads.
Finally, and this is a minor point, I was not really a fan
of this book as the set up for the new Dream series. Quiet Man names all the
couples and we’ve also learned more about the hero of the first book in the
series than I felt was necessary. All the mystery and speculation is gone.
In conclusion, Quiet Man was more than an okay read but I
can’t say that I universally liked it. What it has done is made me interested
enough to want to read Dream Maker, the first book in the upcoming Dream
series. Well played, Kristen Ashley, well played.
About the Author
Kristen Ashley is the New York Times bestselling
author of over sixty romance. She’s a hybrid author, publishing titles both
independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in fourteen
languages and she’s sold over three 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 now she resides in Phoenix. She worked
as a charity executive for eighteen years prior to beginning her independent
publishing career. She currently writes full-time.
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