WALK THROUGH FIRE (Chaos #4) by Kristen Ashley-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 27, 2015

Millie Cross knows what it’s like to burn for someone. She was young and wild and he was fierce and even wilder-a Chaos biker who made her heart pound. They fell in love at first sight and life was good, until she learned she couldn’t be the woman he needed and made it so he had no choice but to walk away. Twenty years later, Millie’s chance run-in with her old flame sparks a desire she just can’t ignore. And this time, she won’t let him ride off . . .

Bad boy Logan “High” Judd has seen his share of troubles with the law. Yet it was a beautiful woman who broke him. After ending a loveless marriage, High is shocked when his true love walks back into his life. Millie is still gorgeous, but she’s just a ghost of her former self. High’s intrigued at the change, but her betrayal cut him deep-and he doesn’t want to get burned again. As High sinks into meting out vengeance for Millie’s betrayal, he’ll break all over again when he realizes just how Millie walked through fire for her man .

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REVIEW: WALK THROUGH FIRE is the fourth installment in Kristen Ashley’s contemporary, adult CHAOS erotic romance series focusing on the motorcycle club Chaos. This is event planner Millie Cross, and MC member Logan ‘High’ Judd’s storyline-a second chance romance for two broken souls. WALK THROUGH FIRE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from previous storylines is revealed where necessary.

Told from first person point of view (Millie), as well as several third person perspectives including Logan, WALK THROUGH FIRE follows the rekindling of a love between two people whose lives were destroyed when Millie pushed Logan out of her life twenty years before. Now in the early forty’s, Millie and Logan have once again crossed paths but Logan’s anger at Millie increases with every encounter and memory of the past. Millie wants to set the record straight why she walker away twenty years earlier but Logan wants nothing to do with the woman who broke his heart and destroyed his soul. But when a rival MC targets Millie, Logan is all about saving the first and only woman he has ever loved.

The storylines follows the rebuilding of a friendship; a relationship that was destroyed when Millie discovered that she could not give Logan what it was he wanted in life. Millie’s decision destroyed both she and Logan, such that Millie never had another boyfriend and remained faithful to the only man she has ever loved. Logan’s hatred for Millie, and the resulting destruction has found our heroine ‘persona non grata’ in the eyes of the Chaos MC. Millie was Logan’s old lady, and when she left she destroyed a good man whose life revolved around the woman that he loved. The $ex scenes are aggressive, erotic and intense. There is some dubious consent in the early pages of the storylines when our heroine gives into Logan’s demands and orders.

WALK THROUGH FIRE has a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Tabby and Shy (Own The Wind #1), Lanie and Hop (Fire Inside #2), and several members of the Chaos MC-Elivira and Malik; Boz, Hound, Big Petey, Tack and Tyra. We are introduced to Millie’s friends, employees, and her very protective sister Dottie and brother-in-law Alan who know that for Millie to walk away twenty years earlier has left a broken soul and deep emotional scars. And we can’t forget about Cleo and Zadie; Chief and Poem.

Told from memories of the past and present day text WALK THROUGH FIRE takes the reader on an emotional and heartbreaking journey of romance and love, revealing the growing love between two people meant to spend eternity in one another’s arms that was all but destroyed by a perceived betrayal and thoughts of what was to come. Logan’s treatment of Millie is heartbreaking, vicious and destructive. The world building continues to focus on the Chaos MC, and an impending war with a rival MC for territory and power.

I did have some issues with the storyline and there is some purposeful ambiguity in my thoughts to avoid spoilers but one in particular bothered me throughout the story:

As is pertained to the reason Millie walked away. We are given no details or explanation. There was no mention of seeking help or trying to correct the problem-what was the issue? Could it have been corrected? There are usually several methods to try and fix the problem but nothing was brought to light or attempted? It was as though our heroine gave up and walked into the sunset never to be loved or love again.

WALK THROUGH FIRE is an entertaining and engaging storyline about two people given a second chance at romance and love. There is plenty of drama, palpable anxiety and tension, and sexual energy. The storyline conflict is multi-layered; Millie’s re-emergence into Logan’s life upends family, the MC, and Logan’s plans for the future. The premise is gripping and profound; the characters are emotional and impassioned; the happily ever is revealing and hopeful.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy