Review & Excerpt: Wild Fire: A Chaos Novella by Kristen Ashley

 She didn’t like bikers, until she met him. 

Wild Fire, the all-new consuming and must read 1,001 Dark Nights and CHAOS, Black Brothers novella from New York Times bestselling author Kristen Ashley and is available now!

“You know you can’t keep a good brother down.”

The Chaos Motorcycle Club has won its war. But not every brother rode into the sunset with his woman on the back of his bike.

Chaos returns with the story of Dutch Black, a man whose father was the moral compass of the Club, until he was murdered. And the man who raised Dutch protected the Club at all costs. That combination is the man Dutch is intent on becoming.

It’s also the man that Dutch is going to go all out to give to his woman.

**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

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Excerpt

“Invisible Man, this for you, or someone else?” Duke asked, taking Dutch’s attention, and Dutch realized he was so lost to his thoughts, he was working on autopilot and hadn’t noticed he’d approached the register and laid down his books.
“Someone else,” Dutch answered.
“You read it?” Duke asked.
“Yeah,” Dutch told him.
“Whole world should read it,” Duke muttered, jabbing a thick finger against the screen of the tablet that stood in for a till.
“Yeah,” Dutch agreed. “Listen, you wouldn’t have any copies of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas that haven’t been shelved yet, would you?”
Duke shook his head. “Not many givin’ up that book. We get one, you want me to call you?”
He could go to Barnes and Noble, easy.
With Tex as her barista, not to mention Indy and her crew all being the subject of those books that had been published, so folks came in all the time, Indy wasn’t hurting for customers, or cash.
Still, Dutch bought his books exclusively from Fortnum’s.
And he had a lot of books.
He had no idea why Fortnum’s was his go-to. It wasn’t about buying local or any of that other millennial shit.
Thinking on it, it was the fact he liked the vibe.
It was the fact that walking in there was like walking into someone’s house.
Like coming home.
To family.
Shaking off his thoughts, he agreed, “That’d be cool.”
“You wanna stay for a cup o’ joe and a talk?” Duke asked, and Dutch hid his surprise.
The man hadn’t approached. Not in word or deed.
There were the looks he gave Dutch, the ones he exchanged with Tex.
But he never said dick.
“No, got shit to do this afternoon,” he lied.
He had no shit to do that afternoon.
Or at all.
Ever.
“Boy—” Duke started.
“I’m not a boy,” Dutch bit.
His temper wasn’t usually short, but these days, it could be.
This was why Duke blinked.
He then said, “Son—”
“I’m not your son either,” Dutch returned.
“Right then.” Duke’s voice was no longer a friendly rumble. It was tight. “First, my age can’t have escaped you, considerin’ all this gray hair and wrinkles, so you are a boy to me, and you will be until you’re sixty and I’m dead. And second, any man’s a man at all, a man that’s younger than him and obviously struggling is his son. A son he looks after.”
Christ, was he not hiding it?
“I’m not struggling,” he lied again.
“Dutch—”
“Brother, just ring me up so I can get on with my day,” Dutch demanded.
Duke was silent a beat.
He then finished ringing him up, and Dutch paid.
“No bag,” he grunted.
Duke slid the books over the counter toward Dutch.
Dutch had turned, avoiding Tex’s eyes as he did, and started heading toward the door when Duke called, “You know that door is always open, but the one to my cabin in Evergreen is too, man.”

 

What I thought about Wild Fire:A Chaos Novella

So, full disclosure.  I love Kristen Ashley's Chaos series (all except the last book, and we won't go there) and so I was thrilled to see there would be a story for the Black boys.  Wild Fire is Dutch Black's story.

 

Dutch and his brother Jagger know what the Chaos brotherhood is all about having grown under their protection and with Hound as a surrogate father after their father is murdered. They are both patched into Chaos now.

 

When Jagger asks his brother to pick up his woman's sister at the airport, Dutch does so reluctantly.  He's got some problems he's working out on his own, one of those helping a young man who just lost his father in a manner similar to how Dutch lost his, and the other is his search for his place in the world.  He just hasn't found his calling yet.

 

Georgiana is an investigative reporter with a smart mouth and she's not afraid to use it.  She's not thrilled with being picked up by a biker and they have a bit of verbal sparring on the way back from the airport.  Yeah, you know how that goes in romance -- it isn't long before she's watching the Chaos documentary and helping him with Carlyle, the young man who witnessed his father's murder.

 

There's quite a few characters from the Rock Chick series in this longish novella, and there's a good dose of drama with Georgie's sister (yep, the one seeing Jagger). With help from Chaos and Lee Nightengale's crew, Carlyle's situation is resolved, leaving the new Chaos energized for more. I loved seeing all the old MC in this book, even if it was just a few lines.

 

But the  best part of this novella is Georgie and Dutch.  They are just so good together. Dutch is just so sweet in that MC way, working hard to take his time getting Georgie in bed cause he knows she's the one for him.  It's really the best part of this story and there's some really great moments between Dutch, Georgie and his family that I'm going to probably read over and over again.

 

So, a surprising return to Chaos for me.  I thought I was done with this series and this author after Rush's book. I really enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to Jagger's story. 1001 Dark Nights delivers again with a terrific story. This works as a standalone, but you might want to read the rest of the Chaos story to get the full effect.  

 

An ARC was provided. This is my honest review.

 

About Kristen

Kristen Ashley is the New York Times bestselling author of over sixty romance novels including the Rock Chick, Colorado Mountain, Dream Man, Chaos, Unfinished Hero, The ’Burg, Magdalene, Fantasyland, The Three, Ghost and Reincarnation, Moonlight and Motor Oil and Honey series along with several standalone novels. She’s a hybrid author, publishing titles both independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in fourteen languages and she’s sold over three million books.

Kristen’s novel, Law Man, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Romantic Suspense. Her independently published title Hold On was nominated for RT Book Reviews best Independent Contemporary Romance and her traditionally published title Breathe was nominated for best Contemporary Romance. Kristen’s titles Motorcycle Man, The Will, Ride Steady (which won the Reader’s Choice award from Romance Reviews) and The Hookup all made the final rounds for Goodreads Choice Awards in the Romance category.

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