Deacon (Unfinished Hero, #4) in Turning Pages At Midnight

Sep 13, 2014 Diana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-favorites

5 warm and squishy stars

KA does it again. Not only does she deliver a hot, alpha, bad ass in Deacon, she also gave us an awesome heroine, Cassidy. She was ornery, stubborn and didn't take any crap. I loved how she gave it right back to him in their badass/ornery chick stand-offs.

Yea, the story was slow moving, but I loved it. I also loved some of the character cross-over.

The ending had me thinking......is there more to come? ...more

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Sep 25, 2014 Lisa Cullinan rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Ok, let me just start by saying that I am a huge KA fan and I've read just about every book she's written. I've decided to make a pro's and con's list for this book: here goes ~
PRO'S:
1. Deacon ~ what can I say other than he's hot and bossy. Just the way I love my men.
2. Cassie ~ she's a real spitfire who can hold her own ... smart and sweet
3. Their dog Bossy
4. Colorado ~ I've never been there but EVERYTIME I read a KA book where the story takes place there, I want to pack up and move
5. Character Ok, let me just start by saying that I am a huge KA fan and I've read just about every book she's written. I've decided to make a pro's and con's list for this book: here goes ~
PRO'S:
1. Deacon ~ what can I say other than he's hot and bossy. Just the way I love my men.
2. Cassie ~ she's a real spitfire who can hold her own ... smart and sweet
3. Their dog Bossy
4. Colorado ~ I've never been there but EVERYTIME I read a KA book where the story takes place there, I want to pack up and move
5. Characters who make cameo appearances from other KA books

CON'S:
1. Deacon ~ yeah! he was deep in the underbelly of the scum of society but how many times was he going to enter and leave Cassie's life? And this goes on for years ... I felt terribly for his dark past but for a badass he should have gotten a handle on it sooner. Why would he want to put himself in a position of losing a second chance for a good life is beyond me.
2. Cassie~ as much as I liked her sass I found her bossiness trivial! After a while, it bored me; the constant bickering of who was going to pay for what ... and so on ...
3. The fullness of the story. No one in serious trouble, no imminent danger, nothing ...
4. Their relationship ~ the relationship itself isn't a con. I actually think they were good for each other. I just had trouble with Deacon's reasoning behind some of their kink, come to think of it, I'm shocked that KA had one of her alpha's into something that no other character of hers has done. I love erotica, but what I didn't like AT ALL was how Deacon let Cassie do a certain thing to him ( on more than one occasion) for the sake of Cassie receiving his trust that he'd do ANYTHING "for her".. Just admit it Deacon, you like it. . Maybe at first it was a trust issue, butt (pun intended) not when it's done over and over again. That was a huge turn off for me and tipped the badass scale NOT in his favor.

I love Kristen Ashley's style of writing. I, for the most part, love all of her characters. I love her attention to detail as she explains the decor in a house to a pair of strappy sandals, to a certain dip or meal. Something was just off with Deacon. I was expecting him to blow my mind like Knight did. This proves to me that there is no other true, alpha, badass, daddy like Knight. Will I keep reading KA's books? Hell yeah, but please, no toys on boys ... ...more

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Mar 09, 2015 ~Kristin~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4 Stars

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Oct 27, 2014 Merrie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is book #4 in the Unfinished Heroes Series and by far, this book was my favorite. KA issues a slight "warning" in the beginning of this book, alerting the reader that Deacon is an anti-hero and that this book is an ADULT EROTIC book. She goes on to say that it contains light dominance, bondage, and anal sex. She brings this to the readers attention so if you have an issue with this, this book may not be for you.

Now, in my review for Raid, I said that, that book COULD be read as a stand alo This is book #4 in the Unfinished Heroes Series and by far, this book was my favorite. KA issues a slight "warning" in the beginning of this book, alerting the reader that Deacon is an anti-hero and that this book is an ADULT EROTIC book. She goes on to say that it contains light dominance, bondage, and anal sex. She brings this to the readers attention so if you have an issue with this, this book may not be for you.

Now, in my review for Raid, I said that, that book COULD be read as a stand alone, and I still think that. However, I think that in order to really enjoy THIS book, you need to read the previous three in the series. I don't think that it is necessary, I just think that this book is more enjoyable if you have read them. If you choose to read this as a stand alone, know that characters from the three previous books make an appearance(s) in this book. One of the qualities I adore about KA's writing is she intertwines her books from her other series in with, well books from her other series. For example, the cabins that Nina Sheridan visits in The Gamble, is the setting for this book. There are other examples, but why ruin the fun, it's much more enjoyable when you come across it yourself. So, I love that she makes it to where you want/need to read her other series to really get the full enjoyment out of whatever her current book is. So, here we go.

This book is told MOSTLY from the POV of Cassidy Swallow. Since she was 12 and had her first visit to Colorado with her family, Cassidy has dreamed of owning her own little part of it. The opportunity appears and Cassidy and her boyfriend, Grant, are off to live her dream. While Cassidy is working hard at bringing her own dream to fruition and setting up her cabins, she realizes that maybe Grant isn't The One to live her dream with. During one of their fights, is where she first meets Deacon or as he introduces himself, John Priest, when he shows up to rent a room. The story will take off quickly and fly through the first six years of Cassidy's life in Colorado. During those six years, John Priest stays in cabin #11 several times a year. While they never really develop a close relationship during those six years, Cassidy would always try to keep that cabin open and even decorates it to what she thinks he would enjoy. So, while she never really knew how he felt towards her, she always really felt a connection towards him, even if it was one sided.

There relationship takes off once Deacon (still John Priest in the book) reveals to Cassidy, that he continued coming to the cabins for six years, in the hopes that he would discover that she would be taken and not be drawn to come back. Once they admit their attraction to one another, John Priest becomes Deacon and in true KA fashion, is the alpha male we all love from her books. Now, she describes him in her opening "warning" as an anti-hero, and once I discovered his past, I understood that description, I just don't agree with it. Now, he refuses to share his work with Cassidy, but only because he didn't want it leading to her doorstep, so maybe it was him not opening up, but understandably so. While he did keep a part of his life secret, he didn't talk about his work or family, I thought the reason he gave Cassidy was fair (this could be my heart and not my brain speaking). For me, Deacon went to the top of the list for the Unfinished Heroes, and I LOVED Creed, so this speaks volumes.

This story does not really focus at all on Deacon's work, which if you read Raid, you understand what he does for a living. It really is the story of love and that love bringing a dark soul into the light. I think this is true for both Deacon and Cassidy, while Deacon was most certainly a dark soul, he was able to bring Cassidy something she had been missing and needed. She just didn't know she needed it until he gave it.

Let's get to the nitty gritty good stuff. The sex in this book is A-F**KING-MAZING!! I sure hope that KA has a sex life that's out of this world or at least has one planned, because the way she writes her sex scenes, can really give a girl some ideas. She really impressed me with this book though. I won't give anything away, but I personally was not disappointed, so kudos to you Ms. Ashley.

I so want you to read this book. It was so fantastic. I was very happy with my decision to read the first three books in this series, before enjoying this one. Truth be told, I even re read them, since it had been so long since I read them. Just like the other three books in this series, this book isn't especially long for a KA book, but worth it all the same. I really hope you enjoy this book and I don't know if this is the last in this series, it would be fun if the next book was a tie in of all the books and brought all the characters together. Just a fantasy. ...more

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