Review of Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley

Lauren Grahame has spent her whole life thinking something special was going to happen. She didn’t know what it was, she just knew it would one day be hers. But she learned the hard way that special wasn’t on offer.

So, after divorcing her cheating husband, Lauren searched for nothing special and she thought she found it when she landed a job as a waitress in a biker bar in Carnal. It was perfect: a nothing job in a nowhere bar in Nowheresville.

Then Tatum Jackson walked in. Part-owner of the bar, he took one look at high-class Lauren and wanted nothing to do with her. And he made this known, loudly.

Tate’s angry insults seared in her brain, Lauren decides the feeling is mutual and she doesn’t want anything to do with the gloriously handsome Tate Jackson. The clash of the bartender and barmaid begins but, even though Tate makes his change of mind clear (in biker-speak, a language Lauren is not fluent in), Lauren is intent on going her own way.

Until a serial killer hits Carnal and Lauren finds out Tate isn’t a bartender, he’s a bounty hunter. He stakes his claim for Lauren before he goes on the hunt for a killer but Laurie doesn’t speak biker nor does she understand bounty hunters and Tate comes back from the hunt to find his old lady has moved on.

Life throws curveball after curveball at Laurie and Tate. As secrets are revealed, women are brutally murdered, and Lauren tries to find her inner biker babe.

***** 5 STARS:  I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK!!! I really can't write a review to do this book or its characters justice. I'll just say that if you like alpha males, humor, steamy love scenes, and a little suspense...DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK. Tate is the ultimate alpha male: sexy, possessive, tough, rude, demanding, crude, hardworking, devoted, and an ex-football player/ex-cop/bounty hunter/biker. After reading this and The Gamble by K. Ashley, I'm seriously considering moving to the Colorado mountains! Damn, you gotta love those macho Colorado mountain men! I really liked Lauren's character as well (much more than Nina in The Gamble). She was interesting, smart, funny, sweet, and fun to watch evolve over the course of the book and I loved her makeover.

The book was self-published, which means there is room for a lot of editing and cutting back on some scenes, BUT Ashley's writing is first rate.  Her character development is vivid and amazing.  Her stories have humor, suspense, drama, sexy/steamy/erotic scenes, and a wonderful secondary cast of characters.  She creates a whole town with eccentric people (hippies, bikers, business owners, cops, bounty hunters, psychopaths, cute children, etc.) and they all jump off the page at you. 

Here's my Tate: