Complicated

by Kristen Ashley

[stacey_is_sassy]

Really enjoyed my re-read/listen and feel a wee bit emotionally wrung out. Loved the family dynamics once the dead weights were removed. Nice to revisit Kristen Ashley's Complicated world.

**********

Learning to love complications.

What a journey!! Of course, it was supposed to last longer for me but how was I supposed to keep my listening pleasure to just my journeys to and from work? Obviously, when it’s a Kristen Ashley, it is impossible. So, in less than a week I have listened to 18 hours of KA goodness. A couple of trips to and from work, two baking sessions (come on…my kids love cookies) and listening while my son was at baseball training (...and ignoring all the parents). I may have baked a wee more than usual and was a little ruder and standoffish than I am normally...but it's KA!! Like I said, who could blame me? A new KA, made for audio and a new Alpha male to check out…of course I made more time.

I started Complicated and admit that I got a little thrill. It was kind of weird (well, weirder than normal). The thrill wasn’t necessarily that it was a KA, it was more to do with the fact that our hero stuffed up…BIG TIME!! Yes, I know that's strange, but there’s this little part of me that gets a kick out of seeing the big lug head stuff up, learn that he stuffed up and then suck up to get back in. Well, ladies and gentleman, Hixon Drake stuffed up, sucked up, stuffed up again, and then finally got his head screwed on and became a KA hero to make me swoon.

Hixon has just signed the papers to finalise his divorce with the woman he was married to for 19 years. He loved her and even after 12 months of separation, he’s still unsure where it all went wrong. We start Complicated with him moving on for the first time after the divorce…and…it’s pretty bloody obvious that he wasn’t as ready to move on as he thought he was.

Greta is a hairdresser by day and a part-time singer at night. She’s been divorced for a little while now and when she connects with Hixon Drake, she mistakenly thinks that it is more than physical attraction. That lesson was a tough one to face when he wham-bam, thank you Maám’s her, but she’s faced a lot of heartache and pain in her 38 years, she’s kind of used to it. Unfortunately, for a small town in Nebraska, it’s big news for the newly divorced Sheriff to sneak out of the local hairdresser's house in the middle of the night. Greta won’t be able to lick her wounds in private because everyone knows about it.

Hixon and Greta’s love story is not an easy one. In typical KA fashion, there are ups and downs, with sideswipes in-between. I admit, there were a few tears shed on the train as we see them come to blows, face blows from outside forces, and witness blows that shake the town.

Both Greta and Hixon have past loving relationships that went wrong and in some ways, their war wounds help them to move on together.

Greta’s mum is an evil woman that had me squinting and scowling more than once and Hixon’s ex is a piece of work for more than half of the story. While both have burdens to bear with their ugly relationships, they also have magic in the form of Greta’s brother Andy and Hixon’s wonderful kids.

Complicated is set in a small town where everyone knows your name. I loved the setting of the story. It’s a mostly peaceful town that is rocked by the murder of a much-loved husband and father. Tracking down the murderer is the top priority for Hixon and his deputies.

Poor Hixon, scraping off the old love, starting a new love, keeping the peace with his kids, dealing with his new loves psycho mum and finding a killer…only a KA Alpha can handle that. Greta, well she’s got to get a new man up to scratch, steer clear of his ex, deal with her psycho mum, work, and make time for her brother who suffered a head trauma when he was a teenager…only a KA sweet and slightly quirky heroine can handle that.

I loved Complicated and couldn’t stop listening. Yes, I found the male narrator’s female voice funny, but find me a male narrator doing a female voice well, and I’ll eat my hat. The female narrator has a sweet voice. I never struggled to identify when the characters changed and found their voices clear and easy to listen to. I will admit that it took a little more concentration than normal because I normally reserve my audio’s for re-reads. Obviously, as this is an audio exclusive, I haven’t read the story beforehand and couldn’t be distracted. A couple of times I had to rewind to make sure I hadn't missed important information, as life tried to distract me from my KA fix.

It’s KA, so of course, I’m a little bias, but if you like audio, enjoy a love story with an older, more experienced couple and enjoy the small town setting, this could be right up your alley. For me, I was in KA heaven.