Sunday, April 8, 2012

Knight (The Unfinished Hero Series #1) Review

Knight (The Unfinished Hero Series) by Kristen Ashley is another amazing KA treat... mouth watering hero and a sweet but strong heroine that will leave you craving more!!!

Book description...
Anya Gage has learned that to get anything good in life, you have to work for it. She has no expectations, no dreams.
Then she finds herself at a party where she doesn’t want to be and she meets Knight.
Knight Sebring knows who he is, what he wants and what he likes. And he gets it. But he never expected something as sweet as Anya Gage to wander into his bedroom during a party he did not expect to be having to borrow his phone.
Knight tries to leave Anya to the life she deserves of white picket fences and a man who watches football on Sundays – good, normal and clean. But when Anya comes to his nightclub and finds herself in a situation, he knows someone has to look after her, he can’t fight it anymore and he decides that man will be him.
Knight teaches Anya that, just as with the bad, in life you should also expect the good. And he teaches her this by giving it to her.
But Knight has a dark past and just as he desires Anya for exactly who she is, he fears when she finds out exactly the man he has become and always intends to be, she’ll leave him for good, normal and clean.



As a member of Team Action (a name given to us by Kristen herself), I have decided that I could not do this review alone so I requested that my Team Action girls help me out here and throw in their opinions too.  So let me introduce you to Team Action..... 

Jenny, Nikki, Gitte, Sali, Shelley, and Lori. 

About Team Action... It all started as a crazy book club and ended up turning into an amazing bond between women all over the world.  We talk daily and have regular video chats, we all come from different backgrounds, and willingly teach each other new words whether they are in the dictionary or not... LOL ... we've become super close and I don't think any of us would know what to do with out each other.


About Knight.... (Previously posted by Nikki on Goodreads)  KA pulled a swifty on us and allowed us the amazing opportunity that we've been able to now bring out into the light. We feel honoured and humbled to be chosen to represent KA fans from all over.

Instead of doing a typical review we have decided to do a Q&A type review... We hope you enjoy reading our responses to this book, we are all obsessed KA fans and took this job to beta read for her seriously just like we look at Knight as if he were a real person... well of course he is... Right?... Right!!!   Hold on my friends because Team Action is reporting for duty....


1.  How do you feel about KA exploring more of an erotic avenue?
Gitte: I knew she could do it because her "Yummy" scenes are HOT but could be so much more so about bloody time. She writes them so well and Knight...WOW ...yep KA DID IT!!!!
Lori: I had all the confidence in the world she could turn up the heat in what she's already given us... I mean the vision of Ty in the shower is burned into my brain... CAM!!!! 
Nikki: I loved it. I totally got her apprehension about going down that path though.... I know (as all us girls do) that she didn't want to alienate her readers by going more erotic. But to me it feels like a natural progression. The sexy times in her romance being what they are (well written, hot, exciting, pant-worthy), I knew that she could take it that step further. I think in one of my phone convo's with Jenny we had actually agreed that we felt that KA had almost gotten to that more erotica feel with the sex scenes in Games of the Heart. Mike was SERIOUSLY hot in that one. 

Shelley: Finally, YES,  she is going to give it to us, because you know she wants to, and I/WE always wanted her to do it. So Yeah...totally awesome that she did , and did it so well.
Sali: Ummmm.... YAY!!!!!
Jenny: I was beyond excited when Kit mentioned that she wanted to enter the erotic romance genre.  I felt she always intended to go there but maybe didn’t have the confidence to do it.  Each book was getting closer and closer and in this book she proves that she always had it in her, because, let me tell you,  she nailed it.  This book is HOT!

2. What did you love about Anya?
Sali: Her down to earth attitude, her work ethic, and her deep understanding and acceptance of Knight
Jenny I just adored Anya!  She reminded me a lot of Lexie.  She was compassionate, caring, nuturing and just an all round beautiful soul.  She knew her mind and she didn’t beat about the bush.  If she had something to say she communicated (yay for Anya!)  and she was the perfect partner for Knight.  Their relationship was just beautiful (and freaking hot!!!!)

Lori: Everything.... this is one heroine where I did not have any complaints, she didn't get on my nerves and I loved how she treated everyone... like they mattered.  She didn't have the greatest upbringing but yet she still matured into a woman I would love to get to know, a woman I would love to be friends with!!!
 Shelley: A heroine who is accepting, understanding and only has love to give, You cant help but not love her. She has none of the annoying self-centred issues that so many other female characters have. She is the light to his dark.
Nikki: Ooh I really loved Anya from the first page. Standing in the corner at a party that she didn't really want to be at and spotting Knight walking into the apartment like a volatile stormcloud? Nom. It was like Joe or Luke all over again. Anyhoots, I'm complete off track here..... I'm just saying that I identified with her from the very beginning. She was unassuming and sweet. She'd been dealt a pretty rough hand throughout her life and worked hard to get out of that. She didn't expect handouts or a free ride. I liked all of this about her because it proved that she had a strong sense of self. And I loved that she didn't whinge or create drama. And she accepted Knight for who he was.

Gitte: She was open, honest, beautiful, sweet and knew her own mind. She wasn't afraid of going for what she wanted and she loved Knight despite his "flaws".....I LOVED Anya and how Anya loved in return...Oh and she calls her round tummy her "Buddha Belly"....CUTE!!!!

“Did you wear the red for me?”
For some reason I felt timid suddenly but still I answered, “It’s your favorite color.”
I was rewarded immediately. His face got soft, his eyes got dark and his beautiful lips whispered, “Baby.” - Ok I cried a little bit here!!


3.  What did you love about Knight?
Jenny: Oh god Knight!!!! Where the hell do I start!  This guy had it all.......... Hot, Alpha, no nonsense, says it like it is – an absolute stud muffin between the sheets. He loves Anya unconditionally – he verbalises  and he’s as possessive as all hell  – wow I just freaking LOVED this guy!!!!!!!  He can put his expensive shoes under my bed any day!  I’ve come to the conclusion I’m a fickle tart where KA’s men are concerned, but Knight is up there as one of my faves. 
Sali: Umm...hello?? Fucking hot as hell control freak who fucks like a god.  What's not to luv?
Lori: Yeah!  Totally what Jenny and Sali said!!!  There is always something about KA's men that get my attention like no other... they are pure alpha, know what they want and go after it... in this situation Knight was trying to protect Anya (and you'll understand once you've read the book) but I found that hotter than anything else... he wanted her, but he thought she deserved more than she'd get with him... HOT!
Nikki:Jesus, what DIDN'T I love about Knight? Okay so to start with you sort of think he's a bit rough around the edges, mysterious and extremely alpha. That's pretty much spot on because what you see is what you get with Knight. I loved THAT about him. Unapologetic, demanding, HOT. And the feelings he had for Anya were just divine. You could so see the magic there. And the sexy times? Jesus. I had to read this with a fan going at all times. I ADORED the erotic flavoured sex scenes in this book. They were honest and hit a secret spot deep inside of me. I loved Knight and Anya's interactions in those scenes... perfect.
Shelley: Well he's a Kristen Ashley Alpha with extras....enough said!!
 Gitte: Absolutely EVERYTHING...Knight has it ALL. Pure unedited alpha HOTNESS. He has style, class, he is protective, possessive, shows pure aggression and he is the ultimate fantasy...

"He jerked my hand as he turned and I started falling. He caught me, swinging me up in his arms as I cried out in shock and grabbed on like I did the night he carried me over the coats."

OMG he sweeps her up and carries her *swoon*

“You… do not… leave your house… dressed like that… without being on the arm of a man like me,” ... “A man like you?” I whispered......“A man who’d shoot another man in the face he even looked at you. Yeah, Anya, a man… like… me.” - TOTAL badass alpha male protective comment!!!

"Your face is a face that launches a thousand hard-ons" - Whoa total CAM!!! hahahaha

“No, Anya, no fucked up shit outta that sweet mouth. I’m not gonna listen to it and I’ll work my balls off, I don’t care if it takes decades, to make you stop even thinkin’ it. Instead, you gotta know that every second I spend with you it becomes more and more clear you were made for me. A gift I don’t deserve, didn’t earn but I’m not giving it back.”

- Seriously KA...he is PERFECT!!!




4.  At what point did you swoon over Knight?
Gitte: He had me from the beginning when he sweeps her up and carries her over the coats...but it was cemented when he said:
“Wars fought over a face like this,” he murmured like he was talking to himself, my heart stopped beating and his thumbs moved lightly across my cheeks. “A man would work himself into the ground for it, go down to his knees to beg to keep it, endure torture to protect it, take a bullet for it,” his eyes came to mine, “poison his brother to possess a face like this.”

- OMFG KA... PURE GENIUS...he showed the romantic side after all the control!!
Nikki: My point-of-first-swoon was when Knight lifted Anya up in his arms and walked her over the pile of coats in the hallway. That did it for me.... I was a goner
Lori: Def the coats... That whole alpha male taking charge of something is a major turn on.
Sali: OMG Chapter 5.... Wars were fought over a face like this  
Shelley: When he looks intense and says "Come here"  Eeeeeek Definitely when
he picked Anya up over the coats……swaaaaaooon – you will all see what I
mean!
Jenny: Definitely when he picked Anya up over the coats……swaaaaaooon – you will all see what I mean!

5. How did you feel about Knight's sexual endearment for Anya?
Nikki:I... LOVED it. It was one of those things that I completely identified with in regards to my response above of the sexual stuff hitting that secret spot inside of me. I loved the sexual endearment; I TOTALLY got it, but can understand how some people could feel trepidation about it. It was something that worked for Knight and (after a little while) Anya, though. And it totally worked for me.

Sali: Fucking Hotballs!!!!!!
Shelley: At first...nuh uh...no way!! I am from a different back ground to my USA girls and really didnt get it. A had to cringe, then we discussed this endearment and once I understood the different meanings and uses, I re-read those scenes with more acceptance. I have to say that in no way detracts from the scenes...well not for me, not anymore.
Lori: It was like total CAM and then a major BAM... Then I had to wonder... does KA have a microphone in my bedroom or something.. yeah I'm a dirty bitch ;)
Jenny: One of my TA girls accidentally mentioned the endearment to me before I got to it in the book and I actually sighed, and not in a good way.  I thought this was something that might turn me off the characters as it’s not something I have ever personally liked.  Well, I should have had more faith in KA.  How wrong I was and how much I’ve come to love those bits of the book. Knight and Anya have a very special relationship and the endearment enables the reader to grasp that through this.  Can I say that never, ever did I think I would find this term hot, but KA managed to do that for me and it is actually one of the things in the book that made me blush when reading it, it was THAT hot! 
Gitte: At first I wasn't so sure. I've never heard it used in that context before. However, it didn't take me long to completely CAM every time he used it and it became one of the HOTTEST things I've ever heard because of the intensity of Knight and the way this endearment is meant!!


There ya go my friends... Team Action totally loved Knight as I'm sure all of you will.... The relationship between Knight and Anya was beautiful, it pulled at all of our hearts, it kept us wanting more, and most of all it proved what a natural KA is when it comes to giving her readers a fantastic story and leave them wanting more!

I know we all feel the same about Kristen... we absolutely love her not only as one of our all time favorite authors but as a person and as a friend!  She's down to earth, funny, and genuinely cares what about her readers!   She's beautiful inside and out and we all thank her from the bottom of our hearts for choosing us to be a part of this amazing journey she is taking... We ♥ you Kit!!!!!

A portion of the Acknowledgments from Knight....  




Definitely check out Knight (The Unfinished Hero Series) ... I'm sure you will fall in love just as we did!

Team Action Over and Out!!!!

Happy Reading!

 

4 comments:

  1. omg ....i luv ur review baby .....hmmmm when i popped my aswers to ur questions on fb i should of though "hey if lori's putting these on the blog mayb i should write a few more lines & watch my swearing " lmao .....oh who am i kidding its just not "sali-stlye" if i dont swear.....so fuck it lol enjoy this all u awesome bitches following my girl lori's review . she is the shit & i fucking luv her .......ok now thats some sali-style lol

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    1. Awww Sali babe.. I just <3 you and all your dirty words. You make my heart happy!!!! I LOVED beta reading this book with you and the rest of Team Action and hope we can all do it again real soon... You girls are amazing and I just love you all to pieces... RAWR baby!!!!

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  2. Awesome job Lori! Keeping us lot organised was a major task and you did it well. xx

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    1. Thank babycakes :) You my love are so special to me and the fact that we got to do this together was amazing. I adore you Jenny, more than I can ever say out loud! Muah!!!!

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