Mystery Man discussion

I really wanted to love this book but it actually annoyed me a lot - granted I could picture how Hawk is but I could not get passed Gwen and how annoying she was to me - I know the author wanted to make her a fun loving funny character but I did not laugh once at her antics it just truly annoyed me and what was more frustrating to me was the OVERUSE of Babe and Baby, OMG I wanted to scream in frustration everytime the characters said it. I loved all the boys but come on really does one girl have that much power over one guy and I did get angry at one point the way she would jump into Tack's arms when something went wrong with Hawk.

I wanted to love this book and I could see the potential but I just couldn't get past how annoyed I was when reading this book.

Yea I totally agree with the Tack and Hawk jumping thing, that pissed me off completely! I didn't see how they weren't pissed at her about that. It was like they didn't even notice it happening or something or like she had a giant get out of jail free card lol!

I, too, agree. I couldn't stand how often babe/baby was used. In fact, everything just seemed so far from reality that it hurt to finish this book. I mean, how many times does it take for a woman to be kidnapped by a gang and then switch to another gang before she ought to have been killed or something! I wanted to like it, I just couldn't.

Well this wasn't my first read by KA nor even my first in the series since I read it out of order by accident so I've learned to ignore the baby/babe mantra that is present in all her books. Also depending on what I'm in the mood for reality doesn't have to play a huge part all the time either I think the thing that keeps me from absolutely loving KA's books is that her female characters are all lacking something. I want to punch all of them in the nose for one reason or another its like she can write men perfectly but women not so much, it's either too much or too little.

This book, book 1 was decent enough but not good enough for me to do a re-read down the road. I can't stand Gwen either and she got on my nerves with the following books in this series as well. I didn't understand how all the guys in her book was all falling over her. That wasn't realistic, yeah she's an attractive woman and I could totally see the guys wanting to maybe hit it once or twice, but to be jonesing for her for a long term status relationship? I wasn't buying it and it was irritating to watch it play out. I mean a man can find a woman attractive and not want to get with her or be in a relationship with her. The fact that all these men were alpha men sure, but they were still quite different. It didn't ring true that they would all want to be tied down to the same female. And Gwen, while she was nothing to sneeze at, there was nothing strikingly remarkable about her either. So this aspect of the book was very much an irritating over play. I think that KA could have introduced all of these males who were going to get their own story, in a much better way than the avenue she chose, (all of them pinning for Gwen)

The 2nd book "Wild Man" I loved. That was Brock Lucas and he was the only guy in the dream man series who was not trying to get with Gwen in book 1. Granted he had a brief part in book 1 but he was paying no attention to Gwen, so I loved him right out the gate. Plus his woman Tess was solid. I loved her character.

The rest of the books in this series were pretty good. Although I didn't like Mitch's book much. But this was mainly cos I didn't like his woman. So My faves in this series are Book 2(Wild Man) & Book 4 (Motorcycle Man) Tack's book.

Shantel wrote: "Well this wasn't my first read by KA nor even my first in the series since I read it out of order by accident so I've learned to ignore the baby/babe mantra that is present in all her books. Also d..."

Exactly how I feel Shantel - it was Gwen more than anything. I really could love the men but I just felt really annoyed by her.

I loved this book BUT hated how fast she went to Tack -it made her once independent self seem so helpless to me.

I LOVED this series, but the one thing that drives me crazy about KA is how she uses British Slang in her writing. "It cost WACK", "I got Shot of that" and the word "Yeah" Trust me, NO ONE from Denver or Colorado talks like that (I'm from Denver). Also, sometime she makes her Hot Alpha men sound uneducated and stupid.

Julie wrote: "I LOVED this series, but the one thing that drives me crazy about KA is how she uses British Slang in her writing. "It cost WACK", "I got Shot of that" and the word "Yeah" Trust me, NO ONE from D..."

Funny you mention that b/c I always wondered if it WAS a Denver thing b/c I don't know any "modern" 20-30s that use those sayings!

I liked the book..i like most of KA's books, but there is no real basis in reality in any of them. What I could not stand was the heroine in this book. She seemed wimpy and submissive from the beginning (I mean page 1). Really.. what woman would sleep with a man for a year or more and never ask him his name even! I don't get that. She knew nothing about him at all. just submissively let him break into her house and spend all night with her. No question about him being married/involved etc. I almost didn't read the whole book when I realized this. That more than anything still drives me nuts when I think about. Strong, modern women would not do something like that I think. A one night stand..yes...not for that long though!

Selena wrote: "I liked the book..i like most of KA's books, but there is no real basis in reality in any of them. What I could not stand was the heroine in this book. She seemed wimpy and submissive from the begi..."

I know then when she did start asking questions she believed everything anyone told her without checking with him first. She wouldn't even give him a chance to defend himself, shed just start running off to Tack, who I did like but HELLO he's the president of a biker gang how safe is he really and how much more do you really know about him idiot?!?!

Shantel wrote: "Selena wrote: "I liked the book..i like most of KA's books, but there is no real basis in reality in any of them. What I could not stand was the heroine in this book. She seemed wimpy and submissiv..."

LOL so true

I think the under-developed damsel in distress characters are an example of KA limited story-telling ability and the need for her publisher to workshop the story like they do in movie and theater development. She can write a interesting male character she should be as bold with her own gender. Outside of a few lines of dialogue by the men professing their love...no their desire to be with that person without using the L word the writing is unmemorable. And the only reason these lines stand out is because it is so incredibly unfathomable but I guess that is why we read these stories. Now, I am reading a fantasy, steam-punk, historical romance adventure where the female lead is just as alpha as the male set in the Victorian age. Totally out of my comfort genre but the spunk of the character is entertaining and the writing is undeniable descriptive and witty.

I just read MM, and I have to tell you I didn't like it. Everyone on GR loves her work so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't impressed at all. I liked Reapers Property and Outlaw way better.

Erika wrote: "I just read MM, and I have to tell you I didn't like it. Everyone on GR loves her work so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't impressed at all. I liked Reapers Property and Outlaw way better."

I, on the other hand, like Kristen Ashley's better, which I took comparison between Reapers Property and Motorcyle Man.

I agree. Gwen got on my nerves! The fact that she could sleep with Hawk for 18 months -- a good part of that time without protection -- without even knowing his real name, whether he's married, what he does for a living or anything is beyond fathomable!!! Then how she kept jumping from Hawk's bed to Mitch and Tack's arms was just ridiculous. Playing 3 alpha dudes would cause WW III if any of them really wanted Gwen's stupid arse.

I enjoy KA books usually but I also agree with the comment that said her plots and characters are not based in reality. As long as I suspend belief and not think about it too seriously, I can enjoy her books. I found KA last year and read the Dream Man series in a binge back to back then 2 other series within a month or two Having read like 12 books of KA's within a short timeframe I found a lot of repetition and lack of originality in many of her characters which bothered me.

BkGurl wrote: I enjoy KA books usually but I also agree with the comment that said her plots and characters are not based in reality. As long as I suspend belief and not think about it too seriously, I can enjoy her books. I found KA last year and read the Dream Man series in a binge back to back then 2 other series within a month or two Having read like 12 books of KA's within a short timeframe I found a lot of repetition and lack of originality in many of her characters which bothered me. ."

This is what's been bothering me too about her books. I love her writing, but the more books I read from her, they are all looking more & more like the same story just different character names & series. I think also when KA writes in 1st person from the female POV, she tends to make all of them sound, think, act, react, & process things in the same manner. & this too is not good for her writing when she is writing about so many supposedly different people under different scopes. after awhile it all starts to sound & feel the same.

Now the books I have read from her most of them I love or like. but cos of her style of writing I'm starting to be a bit more cautious when it comes to picking up a book from her. The last few books I've read from her with the exception of one, have been kinda hit or miss for me. & I still have yet to read the 2nd Chaos novel from her "Fire Inside" even though it's been sittin on my kindle.

~*~Princess Nhya~*~ wrote: "BkGurl wrote: I enjoy KA books usually but I also agree with the comment that said her plots and characters are not based in reality. As long as I suspend belief and not think about it too seriousl..."

I feel the same about them being so similar and I haven't read the chaos series either. For some reason it didn't really appeal to me like the others. I do love her books but if you read them too close together it is almost like reading the same book with different names and places even if the situations are different.

Yeah I was eager for The 1st Chaos novel but was left underwhelmed by it. And then right before that, Raid left me wanting too.

I LOVE KA novels, but I couldn't decide if Kristen didn't want the reader to feel like they knew Hawk, or if she did want us to, and I simple didn't feel like I did. Either way, I couldn't get past how annoying I found Gwen to care.

Hawk was an a** a hot a**, but still an a**
I honestly didn't start to like him till the last chapter & epilogue. I felt like I finally understood him by the end though so I guess I got my answers/closure with him. Still once his story was over all I can say about him is that he's hot but beyond that.. I feel nothing. He's more like a Hero that I just tolerate. We all know how I feel about Gwen *rolls eyes*

I think that Hawk was supposed to unknown as apart of his "bad ass commando" role but for me it didn't work so well because I liked him but I didn't feel like I knew him enough to really love him. She does a better job fleshing out male characters in her other books so I'm not sure why he fell so short.

I've read 3 books of her and now reading my fourth, 2nd Chaos Series. Yes, I feel you all that there's similarity or pattern and it made me just went halfway or skip lots of chapters. Which one is the best book of KA? I kinda interested with The Gamble.

The best KA novel that I've ever read to date, is "The Golden Dynasty" the 2nd novel in her Fantasyland series. IMO, its the best cos its unlike anything that I've ever read of her work before. The fact that everything about the novel is on point, from technical grade to artistic originality to the characters & plot, solidifies this fact for me.

the second and 4th of this series are my favorite this one i liked but sometimes i thought he should be smacked with the sencitivity stick liked the ending.
stick with the series you will love it

for me my faves of the KA books are the Colorado series ALL of the Colorado books are great. i dont know how she does it but i feel like she sprinkles crack on the books to get you addicted (i have a kindle) lol

Yineth wrote: "the second and 4th of this series are my favorite this one i liked but sometimes i thought he should be smacked with the sencitivity stick liked the ending.
stick with the series you will love it"

I agree. with this series the 2nd book & 4th book are the best to me as well. I liked all the books in the CM series. Though the Gamble was my least fave.

~*~Princess Nhya~*~ wrote: "Yineth wrote: "the second and 4th of this series are my favorite this one i liked but sometimes i thought he should be smacked with the sencitivity stick liked the ending.
stick with the series yo..."

My most fave is Motorcycle Man actually. I only read Mystery Man and Motorcycle Man.
Really? The Gamble is the least fave of yours? I was attracted by the synopsis of The Gamble, that's why.

Yeah, the Gamble was just an alright read to me. But this is mainly cos of the female Nina. The blurb didn't grab me, so I actually read the Gamble last. I read books 2-4 in order then went back to book 1. I really feel like if I had read The Gamble first, I most likely would not have continued the series. & what a shame that would have been. so I'm glad I read it in the order that I did.

~*~Princess Nhya~*~ wrote: "Yeah, the Gamble was just an alright read to me. But this is mainly cos of the female Nina. The blurb didn't grab me, so I actually read the Gamble last. I read books 2-4 in order then went back to..."

Thank you. I think I'll read the first book, let's see if it makes me stop halfway or another. If it fails me, then I should do the same like you did ;)

Ur welcome. Hope u enjoy it, but just remember, that series is awesome & every book gets better & better but my fave out of that series is book 3

~*~Princess Nhya~*~ wrote: "Ur welcome. Hope u enjoy it, but just remember, that series is awesome & every book gets better & better but my fave out of that series is book 3"

Noted. :)

Julie wrote: "I LOVED this series, but the one thing that drives me crazy about KA is how she uses British Slang in her writing. "It cost WACK", "I got Shot of that" and the word "Yeah" Trust me, NO ONE from D..."

YES!!! Especially Brock. Reading his dialogues made me lose several brain cells. KA defnitely goes overboard on her characters. And sorry to say, but I think she gets most of them wrong. Because, on top of everything else that was wrong with Gwen and Hawk, a Camaro? And the overly descriptive clothes descriptions of clothes that are out of style? And the big hair? You know Julia Roberts needs her hair back for the Pretty Woman 20-year Anniversary Re-Release.

Erika wrote: "I just read MM, and I have to tell you I didn't like it. Everyone on GR loves her work so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't impressed at all. I liked Reapers Property and Outlaw way better."

Erika: If you read my reviews of KA, you'll see that not everyone loves her books. I loved certain of her books and those kept making me come back to her like an addict needing a fix. However, what I've found is that it's really hit or miss with her books. Please try Play it Safe and Three Wishes. Those, and now Law Man, are my favorites of her works so far. Personally, I HATED MM and it had to do with a lot of the comments we see here about Gwen. Except on top of hating Gwen, I also hated Hawk. Even the Epilogue, which saved the book for a lot readers, did nothing to rehabilitate Hawk or Gwen for me.

Mystery Man is my least favorite of all her books in this series for much the reasons already mentioned. I totally disliked her paranormal books and could not get engaged in the Rock Chick series, although I gave it 2 chances. I get the attraction to KA because I get addicted to her style of writing. True, some of the dialogue can get to be a bit much (example of this is that she has a tendency to write one sentence of dialogue that fills up an entire page.) No one really talks like that but, hey, this is fiction and it is fun to make believe some badass would talk like that. My personal favorite books are Lady Luck from the Colorado Mtn series (unique storyline), At Last from the Burg series, and Play It Safe stand-alone. I am liking the new Chaos series since they are light on evil bad guy drama and heavy on the relationship factor. I think is is safe to say that, no matter your taste in this genre, KA has a book to satisfy you. You may not like them all, like me, but you'll find a couple of jewels worth reading and re-reading.

Oh I hate the clothing descriptions with the guys wearing like tweed sports coats and corduroy pants or something like that and the overdone LBD that every female has!! I love Mitch though I hated Mara almost the entire book of Law Man, it's my favorite of the series as well. Colorado MM is her best entire series in my opinion. I couldn't get into rock chicks either, I thought the first one was ok but the second one just wasn't holding my attention. I've also read a few of the paranormal as well and some of them are pretty good. I do agree that her books are hit or miss but I still read most of them. Play It Safe was pretty good and I really liked Heaven and Hell as well, it was different but similar to her others but the differences made it better.

I havent read the rest of this series because this first book annoyed me so much, after hearing your comments I might give the next one a try when i have nothing better to read... still not in a rush!

Peta wrote: "I havent read the rest of this series because this first book annoyed me so much, after hearing your comments I might give the next one a try when i have nothing better to read... still not in a rush!"

Here are my two cents that you try Law Man because Big Hearted Mitch is just awesome. I've seen a lot of comments from people that they couldn't stand Mara, but I actually didn't have a problem with her. Yes, she scores people, but I don't think that's sooo crazy. I think the reality is that many people out in real life score people. They may not go so far as to actually give them a number, but we all instinctively do it. You see someone really hot, you unconsciously give them a score, then you actually talk to them and realize that they're stupid and unlikeable and their scores unconsciously start going down.

Wild Man was ok. Tessa is normal and Brock isn't crazy or anything, but his dialogue makes him sound really stupid. And he does this thing where he grunts "mouth" or "eyes" at Tess that just grosses me out.

This is the first KA book i read and I can't see myself re-reading this book. I give it 3.5 stars.
I DID NOT like Gwen, I tried to, honestly, tried really hard to connect with her character but I just could not!! She was beyond annoying. I know her character is to be cute and girly but it just did not work at all.
Reasons I didn't like it:
1. I hated Gwen's obsession with the stupid cookie dough. It ain't cute!!
2. Hated the way "baby" was used so many times as if there isn't any other terms of endearment in the world.
3. Hated how she kept jumping between Tack and Hawk.
4. Troy
5. What was her deal with Elvira? She was only tryna be friendly and join the girls and I know she kind of invited herself but so what.
That's all I can think of right now but all in all it was an okay book.
On a more positive note, I f*cking loved Hawk. He was so perfect and so Alpha! He was bossy and arrogant and so perfect. I only finished the book for him!

All I have to say is Gwen is a dirty, dirty slut. I mean who sleeps with a guy for a year and a half without knowing his name and with no concern about how he is getting into her house at night? I know he's hot but, come on that is ridiculous! Did not like this book but really liked Wild Man and LOVED Motorcycle Man.

Wild Man was pretty good but to me it was lacking something, but what I have no idea. It may have been because of Brock's dialogue I'm not sure. I disliked Mara in Law Man not because of the grading scale she had but the excessive talk about it and inner monologue that just went on and on. I mean now you have other things to take care of put on your big girl panties and do what you need to do! Once all that stopped I really did like her but that was about 75% through the book, maybe a little less. Motorcycle Man was good too, I didn't have a huge problem with either of the characters like I did with Gwen, and she aggravates me every time she pops up in another book still. I mean what gives her the right to judge another man's choice of woman as if you have some kind of say in what he does?! It really annoyed me in Law Man because she didn't even speak to Mitch anymore! If I was Mara I would've been like who the fuck are you?!

Gwen acted more like a high school student or an early 20-something than the 30-something divorcee she was supposed to be. Beside what I already mentioned that was my main pet peeve with her character portrayal.

I know! What's with Gwen continuing to pop up in the series and acting like she still has a claim on Mitch and Tack? As though Mitch needs her (or her equally crazy girl posse's) opinion or permission on the girl that he decides to date.

Gwen was even more of a skank in Motorcyle Man towards Red. If I were Red, I would have just stood them up. And if that skank Gwen tried to sic Elvira on me, I would have then told her to tell Gwen to fuck off and stop sniffing around my man like the bitch in heat that she is.

What's also strange to me in this series is that while reading MM, I had no clue (none!) that Gwen was "gorgeous." Now, suddenly, in both Wild Man, Law Man, and Motorcyle Man, I learn that Gwen is a "gorgeous" blond. KA puts so much effort into describing clothes, shoes, decor, home layouts and I wish she would just give one good physical description of a main character other than "hot" for the guys and "gorgeous" for the girls.

Arlene wrote: "I really wanted to love this book but it actually annoyed me a lot - granted I could picture how Hawk is but I could not get passed Gwen and how annoying she was to me - I know the author wanted to..."
I agree 100%. But I actually enjoyed the book near the end. I think I liked it the best in the series.

I totally loved this book. Kristin Ashley is such a great writer. her characters are a little crazy and over the top but I feel like it's all part of her style and its what makes her books so enjoyable. gwen and hawk were great together.