Reviewed by Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading on

4 of 5 stars

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Settling Ashes by Diana Gardin continues the story of Page and Clay whom we met in Out of the Ashes. Now after the cliff-hanger ending in Out of the Ashes I needed to know what awaited Clay and Paige. Will they be torn apart or will their relationship grow stronger were the two (2) questions on my mind. So I grabbed a copy of Settling Ashes through Kindle Unlimited to get answers to the burning questions.


The story picks up where Out of the Ashes left off. Paige and Clay’s relationship came under threat leading to a separation. The separation has taken a toll on them both with Paige believing Clay betrayed her and Clay having a murder charge hanging over his head. Having no family to rely on, Paige turns to the one person who has to connection to her college life, her ex-boyfriend Beau. She intends to return to her friends and college. She, however, needs sometime to come to terms with she perceives as being Clay’s betrayal as well as the murder of her nemesis.

The tale that unfolded intrigued and kept me wondering as to the identity of the villain. I thought I guessed the identity of said villain. Well, I got it wrong, although I wasn’t too far off. The person whom I suspected played a role in some aspect of it. However, it was not clear what they hoped to gain.

It warmed my heart to see Clay and Paige find their way back to each other despite threats from outside forces. Their love for each other was stronger than any threat. Initially, I had a hard time warming up to Paige’s ex, Beau. I found him to be overbearing, however as the story progressed it became how much he truly cared for Paige. The sacrifice he made in the end brought tears to my eyes.

The suspense aspect of the story needed some more development. I say this as no information was provided regarding the outcome for the villain and their accomplice, leaving readers to make assumptions. As much as I enjoyed the story, it needed a good round of editing. Several spelling and grammatical errors were spotted throughout the story

Settling Ashes delivered a fitting conclusion to Paige and Clay’s story. Now, I can’t wait to their friends, Gillian and Drew’s story.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 12 April, 2023: Finished reading
  • 12 April, 2023: Reviewed