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If you’ve read many of reviews or weekly round ups over the last few months, you will know that whilst I am quite late to the party in discovering Kristen Ashley, but it didn’t take me long to become somewhat addicted. I first discovered her books on the hunt for a biker romance, so I ended up reading Own the Wind, a spin-off from this series first, which then led to Motorcycle Man the fourth book in this series first and then went and read the rest in series order.
The series starts with Mystery Man. The heroine is Gwen who is funny and sassy and has a serious shopping skill I can highly respect her for. After meeting a man in a bar for a year and a half they’ve had a strange relationship where he comes to her at night, they share a wild passion and then he goes again, but Gwen doesn’t even know his name.
Then things start to get crazy on her and her normal life blows out of control, courtesy of her crazy sister Ginger. We’re talking shoot-outs, fire bombs and kidnapping kind of crazy. Luckily it turns on Gwen’s ‘mystery man’ happens also to be a mercenary and is just man to help a girl in trouble. The plot is like a whirlwind, but it is funny, sexy and full of some great characters, I found myself immediately submersed in the story and barely able to put it down.
As Motorcycle Man was my favourite of the series, it was great to see a younger and pre-Tyra Tack (the hero of Motorcycle Man) in this book. Phewee I think he might have been even hotter in Mystery Man and had a real thing going on for Gwen too, adding a nice amount of spice to the romance. There’s nothing like a bit of competition! Image may be NSFW.
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Hawk was mega hot. Plus he bought Gwen a pair of Jimmy Choos, yes Jimmy Choos, there is no way he could not be mega awesome hero material after that!
I really enjoyed Mystery Man. The story never let up, it was one explosive action or smouldering romance scene after another. It was un-put-downable. A fab start to the series. 4 Stars.
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As I started to read Wild Man, I began to realise that Ashley’s heroes kind of stay the same, just in slightly different packaging, but each time around we get a new heroine to add that unique quality to the story. This isn’t really a criticism, because I still thoroughly enjoy them all.
Our heroine this time around is cake baking extraordinaire Tess. She hasn’t dated for years until the rather delicious (see what I did there ;-)) Brock enters her bakery. But it turns out Brock is actually an undercover cop and only dating her to investigate her rather despicable ex-husband much to Tess’s dismay.
I loved Tess in all her cake baking glory, my mouth is still watering to taste some of her cupcakes! She is very sweet and caring. Brock is bossy (of course), sexy (again of course) and hot (you know what I’m going to say!). Brock comes with his own issues including two sons, which also provides an interesting side story with his ex-wife. There seems to be a repeated theme of evil female exes in Ashley’s books and Brock’s was very high on the evil scale.There were less exploding cars in this book, and instead it focused on the dynamics of Brock and Tess’s relationship, his children and the issues they face as both a family and a couple.
Elvira is flippin hilarious, I’m not quite sure how Ashley managed to write her into this book, but she did and it was great and worth it for the Thanksgiving chapter alone. She was great in Mystery Man (as Hawk’s PA), but I think she is even funnier in Law Man. Lots of action, sex and several alpha heroes to drool over written in Ashley’s addictive style. Great book. 4 Stars.
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Law Man is probably my least favourite book of the series. The hero of Law Man is a character we’ve met in both books prior to this in the Dream Man series, it’s detective Mitch Lawson. I was glad Ashley gave him his own book. I thought that Mitch might be a gentler hero to Hawk and Brock, but it turns out he’s just as bossy and on occasion even a little over bearing.
Our heroine Mara is quiet, shy and has no self esteem whatsoever, referring to herself as a two point five out of ten. I really liked the beginning of this book when we saw timid Mara fumbling through her encounters with Mitch, and hiding from him when he knocks on her door. They made me laugh and smile and I thoroughly enjoyed each of their encounters.
Then things seemed to progress all a bit too fast for my liking, Mara hits a crisis and gets custody of her cousin’s two children. Mitch steps into help and virtually takes over, moving from sweet and hot, to over the top and he kind of annoyed me if I’m honest. I wanted a bit more build up and slightly less bossiness. I know Ashley’s heroes are bossy, but I felt like Mitch crossed the line a couple of times. Once the book moved past this annoying stage, and we sunk into the main part of the romance, I was once again back in familiar Ashley territory, sexy, funny, cute and hot.
Law Man wasn’t my favourite of Ashley’s or of this series, Mitch was just too bossy, but don’t let that put you off this was still a damn good read. 3.5 Stars.
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As I mentioned at the beginning I read Motorcycle Man first and then subsequently went and read the rest of the series. I read this after Own the Wind (which is a spin-off series following on from Motorcycle Man) and you should definitely read them the other way around. A) because this is better and b) there is so much back story in this book that Own the Wind unfortunately gives away some of the story for this one.
The story begins with our heroine Tara having a one night stand at a party, only to discover the following Monday that the same guy is her new boss and even worse, he’s a total arse. But Tara needs this job and she’s got a temper that can more than match Tack’s, and she’s determined to keep it.
Tack is an awesome hero, apart from the goatee, I’m not sure about the whole facial hair thing personally. A tattooed, rough, tough motorbike club president. And at the beginning he really was a total jerk, you have to let him grow on you and when he redeems himself trust me he completely redeems himself! Image may be NSFW.
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Tyra is hilarious, I love how much she gives it to Tack, their sparring is so funny, her wardrobe is awesome, wearing pencil skirts, blouses and high heels to work in a biker in a biker shop, how can you not love a woman who does that? The stark difference between Tack and Tyra adds to the appeal of the story.
The action comes in the shape of a Russian mafia sub plot with Tyra’s best friend Lanie (who also has her own book in the spin-off series Chaos, Fire Inside), and around Tack’s children and hideous ex wife (his daughter Tabitha is the heroine of Own the Wind). I fell for Tyra even more during a scene when she goes after a boyfriend who treats Tabitha like dirt.
The chemistry is explosive between Tack and Tyra, this book is seriously sexy, but I also loved the emotion and relationship between them. The action backdrop is brilliant and adds plenty of tension. I also really enjoyed the dynamic and relationships between each of the bikers and the sense of family and friendship.
This is a great book and my favourite of Ashley’s so far. I think it’s the funniest and the romance swept me away, plus there is some really great action and I actually don’t mean in the bedroom although there is plenty of that too! 4.5 Stars.
Overall Verdict
The Dream Man series was all in all totally fab. Ashley is completely on my auto-buy list and while Law Man did take a step back, Motorcycle Man more than made up for the small flounder. If you like funny, action-packed romances with seriously bossy, alpha heroes, written in a style that is so utterly addictive you can’t put the books down, then look no further.
Series Rating: 4 Stars
Mystery Man / Wild Man / Law Man / Motorcycle Man by Kristen Ashley
Contemporary Romance
Self Published (2011-2012)
Ebook: 350-400 pages
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