Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley

This is one of those romance series that seems to improve with the addition of each novel.

What’s it About? 

The ride of her life. . .Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage, motherhood: everything came easy—until she woke up to the ugly truth about her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire, Carissa’s pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her rescue on a ton of horsepower.

Climb on and hold tight. . .In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he’s the hard-bodied biker known only as Joker, and from the way Carissa’s acting, it’s clear she’s falling fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker’s secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must decide whether to ride steady with Carissa—or ride away forever . . .

First Impressions

The standout feature of this novel which sets it apart from all the others which came before is our heroine. Simply put she’s an outsider, one completely removed from the motorcycle world. The previous two novels dealt with women who knew the customs and traditions of a motorcycle club, and what it meant to be a man’s “old lady”. Carissa is getting a crash course in these customs after Joker comes to her rescue after her car breaks down on the side of the road. What’s particularly fascinating though is that the club seems to claim Carissa before Joker does.

It’s not just that Joker has expressed an interest in her that the club has chosen to envelop her into their world, although that is certainly what drew their attention to her in the first place. Rather, it’s after this initial introduction when they work on her car that they hear her story. They see a woman who is being mistreated and emotionally manipulated at the hands of her ex. A mother who wants nothing more than to care for her child. This is what causes the entire club to rally behind her as though she were already one of their own. It’s a beautiful reflection of what this motorcycle club of seemingly rough and intimidating alpha men is all about. They’re looking out for those less fortunate, and should they have the means to remedy the situation in some way they throw everything they can at it.

The Growth of a Tigress

Something even more intriguing than the development of Carissa and Joker’s romance was the evolution of her dynamic with her ex-husband. At the start of the novel, he’s doing anything he can to make Carissa’s life a living hell, and using his stature within the law community to take advantage of their separation. Our story opens with a focus on Carissa’s many burdens. From a lack of child support payments, to a mountain of lawyer fees she can ill afford, and the increasing loss of custody of her son to the point where she’s considering desperate measures to attain a sub-par lawyer to represent her against her cutthroat ex. This is when Joker and the Chaos Motorcycle Club come in. They support her in any way they can. But it’s not as though they just throw money at her in the hopes her situation will improve.

They bring her in as one of their own, and become an emotional support and shoulder to lean and cry on that she was desperately in need of. Joker shows her and her son a selfless expression of love that she’s never experienced up until this point in her life, even from her ex-husband. They become her family. And it is through their support that Carissa finds her own inner strength, and the will to stand up for herself and her son in the face of her ex’s intimidation tactics. However, it is only after Carissa starts to exude confidence, and following the introduction of Joker to her ex that he starts to re-think their separation entirely. He adopts a renewed vigor to win her back after he sees another man encroaching upon his assumed territory. The question soon becomes, which was worse? His desire to push her down, or his tricks to try and win her back?

Series: Chaos, book 3. Hands down, my favorite story of the series so far.

Final Impressions: In a way, the romance between Joker and Carissa is almost a second chance at love. They both crushed on each other in high school, but he ran away before they could ever voice their feelings for each other. All these years later Carissa is a single mother, and Joker is a tough-as-nails member of a motorcycle club, but none of that can interfere with their long suppressed feelings from coming to the surface. This novel also finally provides us with the introduction of some club drama with a rival gang, though it still takes a backseat to the developing romance between Joker and Carissa. What helps this novel supersede the others which came before is that the plot doesn’t just focus on our lovers learning to navigate their relationship, but we also have the added intrigue of them learning how to navigate the intrusion of Carissa’s ex into their relationship.

Smut Level: The sex scenes between Carissa and Joker often involve her desperate pleas for him not to stop. While definitely steamy, they also reveal a deep-seated neglect at the hands of her ex to fully satisfy her sexual needs.

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $5.99 Kindle Price. Forever Publishing. 628 Pages