Fragments of Ash

It's not very often that you get three love stories in one romance novel. Obviously the main romance between Ash and Julian is lovely, but I absolutely adored that Gus the fairy godfather has found his happily-ever-after too, and the third romance (which I won't spoil as it's kind of key to the plot) is surprising but moved me to tears. I like the contrast between the gritty/dark/disturbing bits and the sweet ones in this book.

 

~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
I haven't read anything by this author in a long while, but I was super intrigued by the unconventional Cinderella retelling (evil step-father, step-brothers, fabulous and gay fairy godfather) plot. So when the author approached me, I said; “send it my way tout suite!” (lol). I LOVED it. Seriously L-O-V-E-D it! From beginning to end it was total perfection. The writing was excellent. It is told in a dual POV format. We also get a bit of insight into TIG (the heroine's mother) through her diary entries. The pace was impeccable. The plot was engaging, and more importantly...UNIQUE. Last, it was all wrapped up in a very sweet ending. I MAYBE would have liked a further into the future epilogue for this couple, but I ain't going to complain too much. ;D


~HERO~
JULIAN...Julian was such an ASS to Ashley when they first meet. I wanted her to give him a giant kick in the nuts. That said, he does get his head out of his ass fairly quickly, and from then on he is an amazing hero. He was sweet. He was protective. He was caring. I adored him.


~HEROINE~
ASHLEY...I adored Ashley just as much as I did Jules (although there were a couple of times were her naivety was maybe a bit hard to believe). However, given her upbringing and the circumstances of her schooling for the past five years, I cut her some slack.  Her character was just so sweet and heartbreaking. She had a huge heart for sure, and I couldn't help but root for her to get a happily ever after.


 


~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
There wasn't a ton of secondary characters in this book, but the ones we got were amazing. I loved Gus. I loved his relationship with Ash. I loved Julian's sister. I loved Jock, Gus's partner. I even may have shed a tear or two for Anders. That said, I never warmed up to Tig. I felt bad for her at times, but I thought she was a crap mother and a shitty human being.


~HEAT LEVEL~
LOW...this was a seriously S-L-O-W burn romance, and you know what? I hate slow burn romances, but this is the second book I have read recently that had a super slow pace to the romance, and both times I haven't been bothered by it. Color me surprised, but again, it just worked in the context of the story. On top of that, the story was just so engaging it kept me interested even without there being a ton of sex.


~ANGST LEVEL - SEXUAL HISTORIES~
LOW...this wasn't a very angsty read at all. I would say it was fairly insta in fact. Although, like I mentioned the hero was an ass for a brief bit when they first meet. But there really isn't any pushing away or anything like that. The heroine is a virgin. Not a fan of virgins usually, but again, in this instance given her age (just turned 18) and her reality for the past five years, it was a totally believable scenario. The hero was 24 (not a virgin), but also not a manwhore. It had been weeks since he had slept with anyone, and there was no OW or OM drama.


~IN THE END~
Did I enjoy it? SOOOO very much YES!   
Was it perfect? It was for me. 
Would I recommend it? YES! YES! YES! 
Who would enjoy this book? Pretty much everyone.