This is a lovely story about Chloe and Judge, although it took me a bit to warm up to Chloe. I really loved her character in After The Climb and couldn’t wait to read her story, but she was a bit hard to take at first. Chloe is pretentious and uptight, at times insufferable, but once she opens up and shows her vulnerability, she won me over. She has a lot on her shoulders but it’s mostly self-imposed and Judge is going to help her lose that burden and be whole again.
Judge is a fantastic character: hot, sweet, kind and funny. He runs a non-profit to get kids interested in nature and the outdoors, living modestly despite the fact that he comes from a billionaire family. They’re perfect together and Chloe is terrified of that at first, but he quickly wins her over. They both have family issues to deal with but having one another to lean on makes everything easier.
The supporting cast is fabulous. I really enjoy Chloe’s family, especially her stepbrothers, Gage and Sully, who provide some much-needed comic relief. Judge’s family isn’t as prominent but they’re just as likeable. Judge’s friend Rix is probably my favorite and I really hope we get to read his story very soon. This book has a bit too much description. We don’t need to know every time he touches her that his hand moved from this place to that and we certainly don’t need a description of everything everyone wears every day, it’s boring and tedious. Despite that, I really love the characters and enjoyed their story very much. Their story is beautiful and sweet. I received an ARC from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review.
Chasing Serenity on Amazon
Chasing Serenity
by Kristen Ashley
River Rain book 1
Published 2021
From a very young age, Chloe Pierce was trained to look after the ones she loved.
And she was trained by the best.
But when the man who looked after her was no longer there, Chloe is cast adrift—just as the very foundation of her life crumbled to pieces.
Then she runs into tall, lanky, unpretentious Judge Oakley, her exact opposite. She shops. He hikes. She drinks pink ladies. He drinks beer. She’s a city girl. He’s a mountain guy.
Obviously, this means they have a blowout fight upon meeting. Their second encounter doesn’t go a lot better.
Judge is loving the challenge. Chloe is everything he doesn’t want in a woman, but he can’t stop finding ways to spend time with her. He knows she’s dealing with loss and change.
He just doesn’t know how deep that goes. Or how ingrained it is for Chloe to care for those who have a place in her heart, how hard it will be to trust anyone to look after her…
And how much harder it is when it’s his turn.
